Gospel-Homily for Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (2024)

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The Greatest Lifetime, Unlimited, Warranty.

When I bought my first cell phone, the salesman convinced me to pay fifty dollars for the limited warranty. A few months later, I was out in the rain with my phone. The phone, of course, died, so I returned with my limited warranty. I handed it, together with the phone, to the repair man.  He looked at the phone, and he looked at the limited guarantee, and he said, “We don’t cover water damage. Would you like to buy a new phone?”  From that moment, I decided never to pay for a limited warranty because they are worthless.
Then my brother bought me a fly reel for the salt water. It was a pricy gift. On the box, it stated, “Lifetime Unlimited warrantee.” That is very different from a limited warranty. A year later, it jammed on me. I tried to pull it apart with a lot of force and turned a two-piece reel into three pieces.  I broke it.  So I called the company, and a guy answered, “Repairs.”  I said, “Yes, well I sort of tried to take the reel apart when it was jammed and I have no idea what happened but it happened.”  He continued, “Name.”  “Oh, my name is Peter Grover.” “Address?” So I gave him my address.  He said, “Okay, I’ll send you out a new reel today.”  I told him, “Wait a minute. Don’t you want me to send you a receipt?”  “No,” he replied.  “Do you want me to send you the broken reel?”  “No,” he said, “We trust our customers.”  I asked him, “You don’t happen to sell cars do you?”

If you ever get a product with an unlimited lifetime warranty, buy it. It may cost you a little more, but it is worth it. Let’s say I gave you a million dollars.  Think of the good you could do with that money. You may have a friend who is a research scientist looking for a cure for cancer. You may know someone who could use it for housing, or you could offer a great education. That money is a limited guarantee that will be used to help people. We can have all the good intentions in the world but money has a way of changing things.

Christ had no money and did not own a business, home, or even a place to lay His head. He had a tunic, and they took that away from Him. And yet, no one inspired more or made an impact on people more than the Lord. He did it with the Word of God. That is the meaning of the mustard seed. It means the Work of God has a lifetime unlimited warranty that will make your life better and help you make the lives of others better.

I always say you only get one shot at life, so you want to make sure that you have everything you need to make the most of it. The Word of God is a good guarantee.