Homily for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feb. 23, 2025. Gospel of St. Luke 6:27-38. Topic: Do I Smell Like a Rose or a Cattlefield?
During his college years in England, the famous Hindu activist, Mahatma Gandhi, began reading the New Testament simply out of curiosity. Jesus’ teachings made an unexpected and deeply positive impression upon him. He was especially moved by the Gospel passage that we heard today which says: “...love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…” These words revealed to him that in Christianity there was no room for revenge, retaliation, or “getting even”. Instead, Christians were to intentionally act as peacemakers who choose to break the cycle of violence and aggression when it enters their lives. After reading the Gospels Gandhi exclaimed to a friend, “If you Christians truly believed and lived these teachings of your Master, you would be a powerful force of change throughout the whole world.”
He was so impressed by Christ that he began to seriously explore the possibility of becoming a Christian himself. So, one Sunday he decided to attend services at a local Episcopalian church. But as he reached the doors, his entrance was immediately blocked by a minister who greeted him with a racist insult and then laid into him saying, “There’s no room for your kind in this church. Get out of here or I’ll have my ushers throw you down these steps”. Gandhi’s path to Christ had sadly been derailed by the scandalous behavior of someone who claimed the name of Christian but certainly didn’t choose to act like one. Gandhi himself later said, “I would’ve become a Christian myself, if it wasn’t for the Christians.“ However, he never lost his admiration for Christ.
He was once asked which means of social communications media he thought would be the most effective way for Christians to spread the teachings of Jesus in the world? He replied: “None of them, for a rose does not need to preach and proclaim itself. It simply spreads its aroma and its attractive fragrance is its own powerful sermon.” I think that this poetic response can be a good opportunity for each of us to ask ourselves: Does my Christianity smell like a rose, attracting others by its fragrance to Jesus? Or does it smell more like a drive down HWY 5 past the cattle-fields of Harris Ranch?
I would imagine that while most of us would like to think that we smell like a rose, the truth is that all too often, we reek with the muck of the cattle-fields. The reason for this isn’t because we don’t know the teachings of Jesus or how we should act as Christians. We all know that to love someone in a concrete, tangible fashion means to treat them with kindness no matter who they are or how they treat us. And we all know that we are to forgive those who offend us even when it’s tough to do. And when it comes to judging others, we are well aware that we cannot make a true assessment of anyone’s behavior since we cannot know their minds nor peer into their hearts. And yet…we continue to be rude and to gossip; we continue to judge and condemn people anyway. Why? How come?
The Bible tells us that the reason is because the wound of original sin resides within all of us and acts like a spiritual disability that makes us tend towards selfishness. And this is true for everyone because it attaches itself to our human nature from the first moment that we are conceived. But this isn’t a valid excuse for our ongoing unChristian behavior, because Christ has made it possible for this wound to be healed and for the disability it causes to be gradually overcome. He began this healing process for each one of us at our Baptism and continues applying the spiritual medicine of His grace to us throughout our lives IF, and this is a BIG IF…IF we desire it, IF we ask for it and IF we open our hearts to receive it.
And we’re not left in the dark as to how this can happen for us. At the Last Supper, Jesus Himself told us that the Word and the Eucharist are two special ways by which He would come to live within us, healing us from the inside out. He promised to make His dwelling place within those who love Him and are obedient to His Word and He also said that He would abide within those who eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, filling them with His Divine Presence and Power. And so it’s through Jesus-living-in-us and strengthening us by Word and Sacrament, that we can gradually become like those roses Gandhi was talking about that exude the sweet aroma of Christ to those around us. By our intentional Christian behavior we can draw others to the Lord or at least give them reason to pause and rethink their ideas about Christ and Christianity.
Lent, which will be here very soon, is a time to refocus and renew our relationship with Christ. And at the top of our list of “things to do for Lent” should be an increased devotion to both the Word and the Eucharist. We should ask ourselves how we can make them a more fruitful part of our personal spiritual program. Attending an extra Mass during the week would be an excellent decision because nothing can take the place of actually becoming one with the Risen Lord Jesus in Holy Communion. And in addition to the Liturgy it would be extremely beneficial to spend some quality time with the Word of God every day, for it too brings the Divine Presence and Power of Christ into our hearts. Jesus Himself told us so! And it’s quite simple to do because all you need to bring to this beautiful devotion to the Word of God is yourself and a Bible, so it’s a spiritual practice that can be done by anyone, anytime, anywhere.
We each have the duty to work on our relationship with Christ if we want to claim the name of “Christian”. And in claiming this name, we must be sure to act in such a way that we do not become one of those roadblocks to Jesus, such as Gandhi experienced. Instead, we need to become that fragrant rose that preaches Christ simply by its aroma, that is, by the example of authentic Christianity. You see, we each have a great social responsibility in this regard because, as the late Pope Benedict XVI once said, “...people today need to know that the happiness they are seeking, the happiness they have a right to enjoy, has a name and a face: and it is Jesus of Nazareth.”
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