Dec72025
Listen to the Homily
Read the Homily

Rootball.

Every spring, people ask me, “What beautiful tulips, there are so many of them. Did you just plant them? I tell them, “No! I plant the bulbs in the fall. During the winter, they do their magic. You just can’t see them.” They respond, “Ohhh.” City people!

Kobe Bryant was seen as one of the greatest basketball players. What people did not see is that he would get up at 3 in the morning and do a massive workout. Then eat breakfast, then go to the gym and work out like the other players. Every day, he had one workout more than the others. Add that up over five years, and the competitors will never be able to catch up with him. You watch him play, but it is what you don’t see that makes him special.
They did a study on virtuoso violin players. What makes these solo performers so unique and special? The research concluded this. After the Thanksgiving meal, instead of taking a nap or watching a football game, they would go into the basement and practice scales till they go to bed. It’s what you don’t see that makes them so special.

My professor liked my thesis. He asked me where I studied. I named some of my professors from Princeton. He said, “That explains everything.” I said, “Do you know them?” He responded.” They were my classmates when I studied in Harvard.” My professor saw my root system and liked it.

The prophet Isaiah often refers to the sprout of Jesse. When you look at this sprout coming out of a big tree trunk, you have to wonder what good that is going to do. How many apples can I get out of that? What you don’t see is the root ball underneath it. This tracker trailer of a root system will feed and power this sprout.

The question is what feeds you? When you come to Mass, you hear the readings. Then you come to communion to receive the Lord. But just before you do that, you say the word amen. Do you know what that word means: “Rootball.” When you leave to go out in the world, they do not see your roots, but that is what makes you special. 

Back to All Homilies