You're Only Old Once

Striving eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts

07/28/2019

Luke 11:1-13 Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test." "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

I want to thank everyone publically for the outpouring of love for my fiftieth birthday, as well as for the outpouring of gifts! May I share some of the more humorous gifts I received? One card read on the front cover: “Once upon a time, a very special person was born who was destined to change the world.” I smiled sheepishly as I opened the card expecting something nice about me. Inside it read: “Calm down. It’s not you; it’s Jesus.” It went on: “I think he’d want you to have a happy birthday, thought.” Another gift was called “Senior Citizen Survival Kit” and contained a small box of Geritol, back-pain relief medicine, Centrum Silver vitamins for men, and Rolaids antacid relief. It also had step-by-step instructions for applying for my AARP card. A third gift was a Dr. Seuss book called You’re Only Old Once, about visiting the doctor when you’re old. When the patient receives his pills, we read this poem: “For your Pill Drill you’ll go to Room Six Sixty-Three/ where a voice will instruct you, ‘Repeat after me…

This small white pill is what I munch/At breakfast and right after lunch./I take the pill that’s kelly green/before each meal and in between./These loganberry colored pills/I take for early morning chills./On alternative nights at nine p.m./I swallow pinkies. Four of them./The speckled browns are what I keep/beside my bed to help me sleep./This long flat one is what I take’/if I should die before I wake’.”/I hope by now you can clearly see,/how my parishioners really love me!

But by far the best gifts I received were the spiritual ones. One person said they would pray fifty rosaries for me, one for each year of my life. Another card said someone would pray for me at their Adoration hour. Another one enrolled me in a novena of Masses by the Sacred Heart Fathers. Now, I have to confess sometimes I got more excited by the cards with the cash. Cuba Gooding Jr. taught Tom Cruise to shout “Show me the money!” in the movie “Jerry Maguire.” I felt that way every time I hoped a card. But I have to remember that the spiritual bouquets of rosaries and remembrances, sacrifices and sacraments, smell far sweeter and are infinitely more valuable. The better gifts are always the spiritual ones.

In the gospel today, Jesus tries to help his disciples discern which gifts are better. He wants them to catch that Christianity is better than cash. The disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray and he instructs them to say the Our Father. But he knows their thoughts are more secular than spiritual, more earthly than eternal. Their prayer amounts to little more than saying with Cuba Gooding Jr, “Show me the money!” Have you ever prayed that God would help you win the lottery because that would solve all your problems? Don’t worry, I have prayed like that, too.

Jesus teaches them, however, to trust God will provide for all their natural needs, so they should pray for their supernatural needs, indeed, for the Holy Spirit himself. Our Lord states: “If you, then who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” In other words, the greatest of all spiritual gifts is the Holy Spirit. St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:31, “Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts,” and then he launches on his legendary ode to love. Love is another name for the Holy Spirit, who is the eternal love of the Father and the Son in heaven. I received the Holy Spirit on my birthday in all the rosaries, novenas of Masses, and prayers at Adoration, even though at first I kind of wanted the cash.

May I share three quick examples of desiring the greatest spiritual gifts, namely, the Holy Spirit? Maybe they will help you think differently about giving and getting gifts. First giving spiritual gifts was the whole reason I wanted to be a priest! As a teenager, I wanted to help people and knew there are two basic ways: on the one hand, you help people materially by giving them food, shelter and clothing, but on the other hand, you help them spiritually by giving them baptism, Communion and Confirmation. Which gifts last longer? Obviously, the spiritual ones, which are also the eternal ones, because they satisfy our longing for God. I became a priest so I could give spiritual gifts, like people gave me on my birthday.

Secondly, this is the great good on offer in Catholic schools. Many things that Catholic schools can do, public schools can do just as well. We have great public schools. But there is one thing that Catholic schools excel at that other schools – public or private – cannot offer, namely, spiritual gifts. If you follow St. Paul’s counsel to the Corinthians and “strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts,” then you will find them in abundance in Catholic schools.

And thirdly, have you ever agonized over the perfect gift to give someone you love? There is no better gift than the Holy Spirit, who comes in prayers and penances, rosaries and remembrance at Mass, at Adoration and anointing of the sick. In case you’re worried the recipient may say: “Show me the money!” slip a $20 in the card. But the better spiritual gift is always the Holy Spirit.

Thank you again for all the birthday gifts you gave me, especially the spiritual ones. I didn’t mind the cash either.

Praised be Jesus Christ!