A small town in New Mexico decided to have an auction to raise money for a community center. The townsfolk looked through closets and drawers, investigated their attics and garages and finally managed to gather a rather impressive collection of trinkets, white elephants, bits and pieces of furniture and other slightly more valuable items.
On the day of the auction things moved along pretty well, several thousand dollars had been raised by the time the last item was brought forward - an old violin covered with flecks of paint and coated with dust and grime. It had obviously been in the back of someone's garage for years.
"What am I to bid for it", asked the auctioneer, holding it out at arms length. There was only silence. "Come on," he persisted, "say something". Finally someone yelled out, "fifty cents", and everyone laughed. Then, from the back, an old man, whom no one knew, came to the front and asked to see the violin. He took it into his arms and began to play it. Its beautiful sound filled the room and touched everyone's heart. When he finished, he handed the violin back to the auctioneer and walked away. "What am I to bid", the auctioneer called out again. "$200! $300! $400!" and so the bids went on. Dusty, dirty, old, it was worth only fifty cents until it was played. Once it was put to use, it was worth hundreds of dollars.
Keeping this story in mind, let’s look at our second reading from St. Paul to the Corinthians. St. Paul felt it was his duty to spread the gospel in every way possible to reach as many people as he could. Furthermore, St. Paul felt no need to pat himself on the back for doing this. Instead, Paul realized it was his responsibility to preach the gospels and said, “woe to me if I don’t!”
At a time when traveling was difficult, dangerous, and incredibly time consuming, the apostle St. Paul travelled the world: Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Samaria, Syria - he went to almost every place known to the "western" world of the time. In his travels Paul endured beatings, imprisonment, stoning, hunger, shipwreck, heat, misunderstanding, and abuse.
Everywhere Paul went he shared the good news of Jesus Christ:
- he shared it with his jailers while in prison,
- with the Roman governor while on trial for his life,
- with crowds at the market place and in the synagogues in numerous towns and cities,
- and with countless individuals in their homes.
And as he went from place to place presenting the gospel, it was necessary that he adapt his preaching so his message could be more easily heard and understood. He says that “To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.” And while we might say that Paul had a special calling to go forth and proclaim Jesus to the world, the essence of his calling is not special at all; in fact each of us sitting in church today is called to be an evangelist.
We, like St. Paul, are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ; to actually tell others about the Savior who has come to us, the Savior who has affected our lives, the God who has made us whole and who is even now changing us from sinfulness to holiness.
Unfortunately many, many Christians have no zeal what-so-ever for this task. Some think that it is rude or inappropriate to tell others about Christ, that faith is entirely personal and not to be discussed with others. There are also those who find it embarrassing to talk about their faith. Some avoid their calling by saying that they don’t want to confront others or make them uncomfortable. Many more say that they don’t know enough about their faith to share and yet do nothing at all to learn more about the one thing that can save their souls and the souls of others. Still others say nothing at all because faith just isn’t that important in their day to day living, it is not who they are or how they see world, it is more like an accessory. All of these are completely in contrast to St. Paul, who tried to be all things to all people so that at least some could be saved!
Paul’s faith was vibrant and strong. It was not set aside and forgotten about. His faith was like the violin that was played often and well, giving it incredible value and beauty. Is our faith like that of Paul’s? Does it permeate all areas of our life? Does our faith affect the way we live our life and treat the people in our lives. Or do we forget it; silence it and set it aside to collect layers and layers of dust?
This is an urgent question for us today as we have listened the Archbishop’s response to a very troubling situation that is developing in our country. As you heard at the beginning of Mass, our president and the department of health and human services is requiring employers, regardless of their beliefs and values, to provide contraception and sterilization to their employees. This is an unprecedented attack on religious freedom and Catholic morals in this country. But as awful as this new policy is, (and it is truly evil), I think we have arrived here because far too many Catholics have failed to be zealous in sharing their faith and allowing it to inform the way they make decisions. For many of us, our faith has been like a little old violin, left in the corner of the garage or hidden in the basement, out of tune and unable to move those around us.
However, politics is not the only area where this lack of zeal shows itself. We need to ask ourselves how ready we are to live as St. Paul did, trying our best to be all things for all people so that at least some might be saved. For example, might we go forth from here, a little braver and more willing to defend our faith when people criticize the Church’s opposition to the president’s new mandate? Or will we remain silent? Or what about inviting a friend or co-worker to come to church with us some Sunday to see if our faith might fulfill something that might be lacking in their life? Can we call upon the zeal and courage of St. Paul by allowing our faith to drive everything that we do? Will we be secure enough in our relationship with God that we will not be afraid to publicly share our faith knowing that an obligation has imposed on us to share this wonderful gift with the world?
In the final analysis, we have all failed at times to do this, even us priests. The important thing is not so much to wallow in our past failings but to look forward to what we can do better in the future. You and I are called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, perhaps in different ways and to different people, but to witness to him nonetheless. And if we do not, out of embarrassment, or fear, or laziness, well, St. Paul says, woe to us! For your sake, and the salvation of others please adopt the zeal and stewardship of St. Paul. Preach the gospel with your words and with your life, in season and out of season, strive to be all things to all people, so at least some might be saved. Do these things for the sake of the gospel and then trust that you too will enjoy a share of its saving power!
