They Might Be Giants

Seeing the giants all around us

John 12:20-26

            Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,  and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,  it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me,  and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.

            Sir Isaac Newton, the great English physicist, famously said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”  Obviously he was referring to the great thinkers who came before him – like Plato and Aristotle, Copernicus and Galileo – who sort of hoisted him onto their shoulders so he could discover the laws of physics, like gravity.  But did you ever think there are giants all around us, who also carry us on their shoulders?

            Someone recently sent me this true and very touching story.  On a cold December day in New York City a little 10-year old boy was standing before a shoe store, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.  A lady approached and asked, “My, you’re in such deep thought staring in the window!”  The boy replied, “I was praying and asking God to give me a pair of shoes.”  The lady took him by the hand, and asked the clerk to get the boy a half dozen pair of socks and a pair of good, sturdy shoes.  She took the surprised boy to the back of the store, removed her gloves, washed his feet, dried them and put clean socks on them.  By that point the clerk returned with a new pair of shoes which the lady slid onto the boy’s feet.  She tied up the rest of the socks and handing them to the boy said with smile: “There!  Now you should be a little more comfortable!”  As she turned to go, the boy ran up, caught her by the hand and asked, “Are you God’s wife?”  The lady was obviously not God’s wife, but to that little boy she was a giant of love.  And when that little boy stood on her shoulders, he could see as high as heaven, and glimpse God, and even his wife!  There are giants all around us who put us on their shoulders and allow us to see very far.

            The gospel today describes two men who were giants of faith, namely, the apostles Philip and Andrew.  Some Greeks approach Philip and ask him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”  Those Greeks were like that little boy peering into the window, but the Greeks were not praying to God for shoes, but they were seeking salvation.  Philip told Andrew and together they sort of “spiritually hoisted” those Greeks onto their shoulders to that they could “see” Jesus.  You see, the “distance” the Greeks had to travel to see Jesus could not be measured in miles, like the distance between Athens and Jerusalem.  Instead, it was a “spiritual distance” that can only be crossed on the shoulders of giants of faith, like the apostles Philip and Andrew.  Only when you stand on the shoulders of spiritual giants can you see as high as heaven, and see who Jesus is.

            Do you know two giants in our lives we hardly ever notice and even less often take the time to thank?  It’s our parents.  Just think of all the miles that your father carried you on his shoulders, or how many times your mother held you on her hip while she was cooking dinner.  Didn’t many of us make our journey of faith on our parents’ shoulders, like the Greeks were carried on Philip and Andrew’s shoulders?  You see, our parents were the first “spiritual giants who helped us to see and believe in Jesus.  When was the last time you told you parents, “Thanks for the ride!”?

            A first grade class was discussing a student’s family picture.  One little boy in the picture had a different color hair than the other members of his family.  One of the students suggested that he was adopted.  A little girl said: “I know all about adoption.  I was adopted!”  Another student asked, “What does it mean to be adopted?”  The first little girl answered, “It means that you grew up in your mommy’s heart instead of her tummy!”  By the way, that’s why some kids give their parents “heartburn” instead of stomach aches!  You see, even before we’re born, our mothers carry us for nine months.  The very first giant shoulders we stand on are those of our parents.

            Do you know how I honor the giants who carried me on their shoulders?  I mention them at the end of my daily rosary.  Now, you’re supposed to conclude the rosary with the “Litany of Saints,” and I do.  But I add a few saints that I’ve “unofficially canonized” myself.  Don’t tell the pope!  For example, I mention Fr. George Tribou, who carried me for four years at Catholic High School while I was a selfish, snot-nosed teenager.  I mention Fr. Bill T

homas, who asked me every time he called me, “Have you made your holy hour today?”  I call upon Fr. Hilary Filatreau, who heard by confession for years.  I went to him because he couldn’t hear very well.  I ask the prayers of Karen Howe, a young lady who battled cancer with a smile, so that I’ll carry my crossed without complaining.  I beg Fr. Joseph Correnti to help me have as big a priestly heart as he did.  Everyone who met him felt like they were his best friend.  I pray that Fr. Joseph Mroczkowksi, who was a priest for 70 years and gave me his chalice, will help me be a faithful priest, too.  These are the giants who have carried me, and they still do carry me.

            I realize that these names may not mean anything to you, and that’s okay.  But I bet you, too, can think of giants who have carried you throughout your life: parents or grandparents, coaches or teachers, maybe even a priest or nun.  Do you think you could find some time today to tell them, “Hey, thanks for the ride!”?  You see, not all distances are measured in miles; spiritual distances, like that between heaven and earth, you could never cross except on the shoulders of spiritual giants.  You see, Isaac Newton is not the only one who can say, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”  Each one of us can say that, too, because there are giants all around us.  And occasionally, one or two of those giants might even look like God’s wife.

Praised be Jesus Christ!