Do I Smell Like a Rose?

 

Deacon Dave · Do I Smell Like a Rose?

Homily for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feb. 20, 2022. Gospel of St. Luke 6:27-38. Topic: Do I Smell Like a Rose? 

During his college years in England, the famous Hindu activist, Mahatma Gandhi, began reading the New Testament out of curiosity. Jesus’ words made a deeply positive impression upon him and he was especially fascinated by the Gospel passage we heard proclaimed today: “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” He told a friend, “If you Christians lived these words of your Master, you would become a significant force for peace and justice throughout the world.” 

Having read the Gospels, Gandhi was inspired to do a bit of exploring into the possibility of becoming a Christian himself. So, he decided to attend a Sunday service. When he reached the doors of a local upscale Episcopalian church, he was stopped by a clergyman who said to him, “Where do you think you are going, you (here insert a derogatory slang word for a person of color). There’s no room for your kind in this church. Get out of here or I’ll have my ushers throw you down the steps”. Gandhi’s path to Christ had been road-blocked and detoured by the scandalous behavior of someone who claimed the name of Christian. 

After he became famous, he was once asked what would be the best way to spread the transforming message of Christ in the modern world? Newspapers? Radio? Television? Or in our day, we could add social media? He shook head and replied: “A rose does not need to preach. It simply spreads its fragrance on its own. The fragrance is its own sermon.” 

And so that made me ask myself a few questions: How many people have I turned away from Christ because of my lack of courtesy or gossip or other un-Christian behavior? Does my Christianity smell like a rose, attracting others by its fragrance to investigate the person and message of Jesus? Or does it smell more like a stinking drive down HWY 5 by the cattle fields of Harris Ranch? 

You see, the problem isn’t that we don’t know what Jesus is teaching us. The problem is that we do not choose to live it. We all know what it means to love, to treat others with kindness no matter who they are, and to forgive those who offend us even when it’s tough to do. We know what it means to not judge the reasons for a person’s particular actions because we cannot see into their minds, into their hearts. We know that only God can look into those secret chambers of the human person, and thus, only God can truly and honestly judge each one of us. 

Yet we fail rather consistently to put into practice what we preach and I am at the front of that line! We are interiorly drawn to live like Jesus but we find ourselves falling short of the mark in our exterior actions, even if we start off the day with the best of intentions. The Scriptures tell us that the reason for this moral weakness is what we call “the wound of original sin”, a path of least resistance within all of us when it comes to doing what is right and choosing what is good. 

But it was precisely to heal this wound that Jesus came to us as Brother, Savior and Lord. He is not a cruel Master who teaches us a lifestyle that is impossible to live. Rather, He promises to be with each one of us always, to live within each one of us, making it possible for us – by His divine presence and power within us - to say “yes” to love and mercy, to say “yes” to forgiveness and unity. And not to just say “yes” with our lips, but with the concrete actions of our behavior. 

It is primarily through the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Real Living Presence of the Risen Lord Jesus in Holy Communion, that this divine power and in-dwelling comes to us. When we receive this sacrament with faith and mindfulness and not simply out of routine or habit – we are filled with spiritual power enabling us to love and to live as true Christians. We know how much we need Jesus to live within us so that we do not become a road-block or a detour in someone’s path to Christ. We know how badly we need Jesus dwelling within us always, so that his grace can help us become like roses, whose sweet fragrance of Christianity captures the attention of those around us and attracts them to the person and message of Christ.