Nov102019
Read the Homily

God appeared to Moses and said, “I want to be your God; what do you say?” And Moses said to God, “What can you do for me and my people, what can you offer us?” And God said, “You are all slaves in Egypt. I can free you. Then you will be in the desert with no food, water, or protection. I can give you everything you need to survive. Next, I will give you property. Not just land, but prime real estate. You will have the best crops, the richest vineyards, the greatest banquets. You will have a great economy. I will take care of your foes. And by the way, I do not lose Super Bowls. What do you say?” So Moses said, “Okay, I guess.” So God became the God of Moses.

Before Moses, God went to Abraham and said to him, “Let me be your God.” And Abraham asked, “What can you do for me?” God said, “You are a wandering nomad with no land. I will give you the promised land. You do not have any children and you are advanced in years. I will give you dependents as numerous as the stars in the sky.” And God became the God of Abraham.

Remember Gideon? He had an army of 32,000 troops. He was about to face the enemy’s 135,000 soldiers. Needless to say, the odds do not look very good for Gideon. So God came to Gideon. Do you know what God told him? He told Gideon that he had too many soldiers. He needed to reduce the number. “If anyone in the army is afraid of the odds or are concerned about the disparity, then he can go home.” 22,000 men turn around and walk away. So Gideon was left with 10,000 brave men. God returned to Gideon. Oh, no now what? Take a guess what God told Gideon? There are still too many troops in his army so Gideon reduced the number to 300 men, and they won. How is that possible? God is the God of Gideon.   

I wanted to catch the sunset one late afternoon, so I went fly-fishing. When I was done I returned to the parking lot, and there was another fisherman there. He came over to me and asked how I did. I told him I caught a few fish. After I told said that, he felt the need to tell me about every fish he ever caught in his entire life. Then he told me about his work. I heard something about how important, great, insightful he was. He talked about his wonderful business career, all the money he had, and his nice house. When he was done talking about himself, he turned his attention to me and asked what I did for a living.  I told him, “Actually, I am a priest, and I have a church in Boston.” When he heard me say, “priest,” he reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a pair of rosaries. I didn’t see that coming. He explained, “When my son was born with Down Syndrome, I turned to God for help. Today my son is the pride of my life.”

Three weeks before Christmas my mother broke her leg. I really felt bad for her because I know how much she loves the Christmas season: no shopping, no decorating, no baking cookies this year. To cheer her up I got a bouquet of flowers. When I got to her hospital room, I had to put my flowers on the floor. There was no place else to put them because there were so many flowers in the room. As I was there my mother’s cousin came into the room. I never remember her name because my mother always referred to her as the “Hot Ticket.” So the hot ticket brought a basket. I figured she brought in some food. I was wrong. She used the basket to sneak in her lap dog. So there was my mother, in a room full of flowers, a lap dog on the bed, with the “hot ticket” telling funny stories. I remember thinking to myself while watching my mother laughing, how is this possible that my mother could be so happy? I will tell you how. God is the God of Mom.

God comes to us and asks, “Let me be your God.” So let Him. Let God be God in your life. 

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