Learning everything is a gift from God
Matthew 10:7-15
Jesus said to his Apostles: “As you go, make this
proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the
dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received;
without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your
belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking
stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look
for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a
house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if
not, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or listen to
your words— go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and
Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”
I have one
simple rule for being a happy and healthy and holy priest: “never say ‘no’ to
food.” I shamelessly beg for food from
the pulpit (like I just did) and then eagerly accept invitations to
dinner. People often ask me, “Father,
what is your favorite meal?” I always
answer: “I have two favorite foods: free food and food I didn’t have to
cook!” I look at food like “manna from
heaven.” Just like God miraculously sent
food from heaven for the Israelites in the desert, so I trust God will feed
me. I’ve come to realize, though, that
food is not all I’ve received freely; everything I have has been given to me at
no cost. For instance, I did not pay for
the house I live in (you did!), someone gave me my car as a gift, even my
clerical clothes are hand-me-downs from another priest, my shoes were a gift
from a Hispanic family, my body was given to me by my parents, my soul was
infused in me by God, my talents and abilities are merely on loan. St. Augustine said that the only things truly
and completely our own are our sins! The
secret to being a happy, healthy and holy priest is free food: realizing that
everything is a gift from God.
In the
gospel today Jesus is trying to teach this basic rule of free food to his first
priests. He says, “Without cost you have
received, without cost you are to give.”
In other words, everything you have is a gift from God. Therefore, give all you have freely, also as
a gift. He clarifies further: “Do not
take gold or silver or copper for your belts, no sack for the journey, or a
second tunic, no sandals or a walking stick.”
Why? Well, because the people of
God will give you new sandals for your feet, and a Toyota Avalon for a walking
stick. You see, the secret to being a
happy, healthy and holy disciple is also free food, relying entirely on God's
goodness.
A
Protestant friend once explained how he finally learned to tithe ten
percent. He said, “It was always hard
for me to give away my hard-earned money.
Then one day our pastor explained that everything we have really belongs
to God, and he just lets us borrow it briefly.
Once I realized that 100% of what I had belonged to God, then giving him
10% wasn’t so hard.” I thought: Yeah,
that’s good, but Catholics will never buy that.
St. Paul asks rhetorically in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that
you have not received?” Take a little
time today to think about your life, your house, your body, your soul, your
car, your shoes and your talents. Where
did you get all that? It’s all a gift
from God. The only things you can take
any credit for are your sins. Congratulations.
My friends, the secret to being happy, healthy and holy for anyone is
free food.
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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