Gospel-Homily for Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time (2025)

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Happiness is at the Bottom.

Whenever I go to a fancy banquet and sit at a table in the front of the hall, I always walk away with something: Red Sox tickets, free golf at a private club, a donation for the church, or a used car for the seminary. That is because the rich are always very generous to the church at these affairs. But Jesus is asking me not to sit in the front but in the back of the hall. What? That is because in the back of the hall are the have-nots. And back there, I will no longer be a taker; I will become the giver.

When I was a senior in High School, I was invited to help out on Sunday morning at Medfield State Hospital. They needed a hand transporting some of the patients to the main pavilion for Mass. When I arrived there, they immediately teamed me up with Billy. Billy was a young man who was unfortunately paralyzed from the neck down.  He had limited use of his hands, and he could not talk. After the Mass, I dropped Billy off in his room and joined all the other volunteers for coffee and doughnuts. After the Mass on the next Sunday, I did not join the volunteers and staff. I stayed with Billy. While I was there, they brought in his food, so I was able to help him.  So I picked up a fork, harpooned a few stringed beans, and lifted them in front of Billy’s mouth.  He shook his head NO.  I tapped the chicken with the fork, and again I got a NO.  I said to him, “You’re not going for the delicious chocolate pudding before eating your veggies are you.”  That was the first time I heard Billy laugh, and it was the first time he saw me laugh. We hit it off from that moment. I learned that mealtime was his favorite event of the day because he loved to eat. I learned that his favorite foods were hamburgers, French fries, and anything with chocolate. Just before I left to go home I told him, “I’m bringing the food next week.”

The following Sunday, when I went to pick up Billy, I saw him do something I had never seen him do before. I didn’t find him asleep in his wheelchair. He was waiting at the door for me. 

            The Lord is right–happiness is at the back of the hall with the have-nots. It is at the bottom. That is where we get to be the giver. And that is also the place where we will receive much more than we will give.