14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C July 8, 2007
It was hard deciding what to talk about today. First, I toyed with the 72 disciples. 72 was an Old Testament number for all the nations on earth, so one missionary for every nation. I could talk about how these missionaries were disciples, not apostles. In other words, lay missionaries. Jesus is asking us to pray that the Father send laborers into the harvest is, then, a prayer for all vocations, ordained, vowed religious, and lay, in order to maintain and spread the faith.
Then I thought of another topic, hospitality, since hospitality is such a high priority for our parish’s future as decided upon in our recent planning process. Jesus reminds us that failure to offer Christian hospitality is an intolerable sin, even more serious than the sin of Sodom in the Old Testament. Sodom’s sin was not homosexual rape as is commonly thought, but was the sin of abusing the hospitality owed to a stranger in need.
But finally, for today’s focus I settled on our second reading from St. Paul, who says the rituals of the Law of Moses like circumcision mean nothing. All that really matters is a new creation, meaning being created anew in the life of God through faith. Jesus puts this in other words. He says, “You must be born again,” and to stay nourished in our new life in Him, we must eat his flesh and drink his blood.
Tomorrow [Monday], if someone asks you, “What was the high point of your weekend?” how would you answer? “I sat in a park watching the sunset?” “I hiked up the gorge to Taughannock Falls?” “I enjoyed a wonderful meal with family and friends?” And if your highpoint is a wonderful meal with family and friends would you mean the backyard barbeque, or would you be referring to our time together this morning? “I enjoyed here a wonderful meal with family and friends!” What a challenge, to give serious thought to what really matters.
In thinking about what really matters, I recall an incident when I was in psychology class in college. The subject was time management. One day our professor used an illustration I will never forget.
As she stood in front of the class she said, "Okay, time for a quiz."
Then she pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table. Producing a box of fist-sized rocks, she carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, she asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then she said, "Really?" Reaching under the table she pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then she dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then she asked the class once more, "Is the jar full?"
By now we were onto her. "Probably not," one student answered. "Good!" she replied. Then, reaching under the table she brought out a bucket of sand. She started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more she asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted. Once again the professor said, "Good!" Then she grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then she looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager student raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"
"No," the professor replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all." What are the 'big rocks' in your life? A project that you want to accomplish? Time with your loved ones? Your education? Financial stability? A cause? Finding a future spouse? Teaching or mentoring others? Taking time out for volunteer service? Is your faith and Church one of your big rocks? Is enjoying a wonderful meal with family and friends your biggest rock? Remember to put the BIG ROCKS in first, or, you'll never get them in at all!