My Greatest Years

Cooperating with God’s grace to do great things

Isaiah 58:7-10b 

Thus says the LORD: Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

          A few weeks ago, Trinity Junior High hosted a “Sixth Grade Day,” where we welcomed sixth graders from the three Catholic elementary schools, as well as local public schools. We wined and dined them on pizza and soft drinks, and wowed them with our cheer and dance teams. Nothing like a pretty cheerleader to help you decide what school to attend! During a question and answer segment, one particularly precocious sixth grader raised his intrepid little hand and asked our principal: “Dr. Hollenbeck, can you assure me that these three years at Trinity will be the greatest years of my life?” Can’t you just imagine that kid at some job interview someday asking a potential boss: “Can you assure me this will be the greatest job I’ll ever have?” That’ll be the last job he will ever have! Dr. Hollenbeck wisely replied: “These will definitely be some of the greatest years of your life, but that will depend mostly on you.” It’s comical but curious how we expect others to be responsible for our happiness; we want them to assure us our life will be great. Don’t we sometimes strike this spiritual attitude with God, asking, “God, if I take Christianity seriously, can you assure me these years will be the greatest of my life?” It’s very tempting to treat others as responsible for our happiness, but it also depends on us.

          In the first reading today, the prophet Isaiah seems to answer a similar question (almost as if he were being asked by an invisible, intrepid Israelite), and he sounds a lot like Dr. Hollenbeck in his answer. He says: “If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday” (emphasis added). In other words, your happiness, your glory, your greatest years, will not be handed to you on a silver platter by God. Rather, you must work with God’s grace to achieve anything. As Dr. Hollenbeck said to the sixth grader, “these years will be some of the greatest of your life, but that will depend mostly on you.” Let me add an important caveat: every Christian knows there is nothing good we can achieve without God’s grace undergirding it from beginning to end. Only grace makes anything good. Nevertheless, Isaiah says that God desires some effort from us, too: we must remove oppression, false accusation and malicious speech, we must feed the hungry and satisfy the afflicted. Our greatness also depends on us.

          Last week the Trinity students had a competition to produce a promotional video for the school. The video challenged their creativity, their love for the school, their proficiency with videography and flying drones, and even some acting. Jacob Biddle won with his video with featured short interviews with students and staff. Jordan Geoates said, “God is important to me, and I get to go to church on Tuesdays. And I get to have religion class every single day.” Did all you parents catch that: there are teenagers who love God and Mass and religion class! This is surely a sign of “the end times.” But notice the underlying purpose of producing a video: students learning that making these three years at Trinity great depends on them, too. What ingredients do they add to the stew of human greatness?

          Two weeks ago I announced to the Trinity student body at Mass that I was going to run in the Fort Smith marathon to raise money for the school. One 8th grader, Josue Sanchez, said he wanted to run with me. I said, “Sure, I would love to run with you, but only on one condition: you can’t beat me. You have to let the priest win.” He laughed, but he didn’t agree. Josue realizes that making his three years great at Trinity not only depends on his God-given talents, but also on him, and how he develops those talents.

          Many of our students get involved in extracurricular activities, besides having very high grades. For instance, Kate Goldtrap does band, twirling, dance team, Pure Heart Girls, swimming. Matthew Hollenbeck does football, cross country, band, student ambassador, basketball, and track. Lauren Redding does basketball, student ambassador, cheerleader, Pure Heart Girls. And Jayson Toney does cheerleader, drama, Pure Heart Girls, and beauty pageants. When do these students sleep?? (Probably Sunday morning at Mass.) But notice what they are learning besides their books and these activities: the greatness of these years depends on them, not just on the principal and not just on God.

          Recently, I was leafing through the pages of a book on religious addiction that Fr. Greg Luyet, our former pastor, left behind. Maybe he thought I could use it. It’s called When God Becomes a Drug by an Episcopal priest named Fr. Leo Booth. It’s fascinating reading how people see God as a “drug,” the one to make them high and happy. Listen to how Fr. Booth describes “spirituality.” He writes: “[Spirituality] is related to the word spirit – not a child’s concept of a white-sheeted Holy Ghost flying in an out of our lives, but an inner attitude that emphasizes energy, creative choice, and a powerful force for living” (emphasis in original). He continues: “It is a partnership with a Power greater than ourselves, a co-creatorship with God that allows us to be guided by God and yet to take responsibility for our lives” (When God Becomes a Drug, 55). Healthy spirituality is always a partnership with Jesus. He does the heavy lifting, to be sure, but you must lift a little as well.

          This weekend I want to encourage parents to send their children to Trinity and to encourage all of you to help in the second collection. But please remember this: lots of graduating sixth graders walk into Trinity Junior High, and some want us to make these the greatest years of their life. But by the time they graduate as 9th graders: they will all walk out of Trinity having learned a very important lesson: greatness also depends on them.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!