Feast of Christ the King 'A'

Friday November 21, 2008

“ I’ll Do It Myself ”
Only so that you will know how

I used to ‘dilly dally’ as a kid when asked by my mom to do a chore or two but after some cajoling on her part, with exasperation she would say, “Alright, I’ll do it myself.” Of course that would motivate me to ‘get the job done.’ Other times she would indeed do it herself as I watched so that the next time I performed that task, I would do it right. There’s something to be said for that. I’m thinking of the millions of dollars that could be saved in this country if the job were done right the first time around!

In his book, “A World of Stories,” [XXIII Publications] Father Bill Bausch shares this wonderful story about Fiorello LaGuardia who was the mayor of New York during the great depression and World War II. “The Little Flower,” as he was called because he always wore a carnation in his lapel, would ride the fire trucks and raid speakeasies with the police. He also took orphans to baseball games and read the Sunday “funnies” to the kids on the radio whenever the newspapers were on strike.

On a bitterly cold night in January of 1935, he turned up in a night court that served one of the poorest districts of the city. Dismissing the judge for the evening, he took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter’s husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom she stole the bread refused to drop the charges. “It’s a bad neighborhood, your Honor,” the man told the mayor. “She’s got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson.”

LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, “I’ve got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions — ten dollars or ten days in jail.” But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor reached into his pocket, took out a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero, saying, “Here’s the ten-dollar fine which I now remit, and furthermore, I’m going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.”

Word got around fast that forty-seven dollars and fifty cents was turned over to a bewildered old woman who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner. The mayor received a standing ovation.

Ezekiel describes God as one who takes matters into his own hands because those who were designated to represent him as “shepherds” fed themselves instead of feeding the sheep.

“I myself will search for my sheep; I will seek the lost; I will bring back the strayed, I will bind up the injured; I will be the shepherd of my sheep; I will feed them with justice.”

Because no area of human experience is beyond the interest or concern of God, the prophet brought the word of God to bear on social issues, economic concerns and political affairs as well as on religious and spiritual matters. No person is beyond the pale of divine scrutiny, not even kings, presidents, priests, bishops and the Pope himself.

The gospel story describes in metaphoric but graphic language what we might call the divine audit. Jesus became the shepherd to show us how to shepherd one another. We really don’t know what the divine judgment will be like but it is clear not only from this text but also from so many other Gospel stories that the quality of our Christianity is measured by the quality of concern for others. And this concern is to be reflected in justice and charity.

At the heart of the Gospel is the goodness, indeed the ‘Godness’ of Jesus Christ demonstrated by specific examples of concrete actions. At the heart of the Gospel is the fact that each of us is personally responsible for the well-being of others — not just in extending our hearts and hands at special times of the year but also by using our power of persuasion and political action to initiate changes in political, economic and yes, even in ecclesiastical systems that oppress.

The great religious reformer and mystic, who was eventually declared a doctor of the Church, Teresa of Avila was a cloistered nun for twenty years before she experienced a true conversion to the way of Christ. Among her many prayers she has shared with the world through her writings is this one:

Christ has not body on earth but yours;
No hands but yours;
No feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ’s compassion is to look out to the world.
Yours are the feet with which Christ is to go about doing good.
Yours the hands with which Christ is to bless all people now.”
[St. Teresa of Avila]

If not your hands, whose hands?
If not your feet, whose feet?
If not your heart, whose heart?
If not now, when?

This is our faith; it is the faith of the Church; it is the faith that has come to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory and praise forever and ever.

Let God’s people say, “Amen!”

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