Homily for Diocesan Teachers Service Awards Mass

October 13, 2023
Nolan Catholic High School
Fort Worth, Texas

Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Psalm 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9
Luke 11:15-26

Today’s first reading from the Book of Joel is also the first reading for the Mass of Ash Wednesday. The message of the prophet Joel is that each person is first a member of a community, members of one people called to repentance and radical conversion from selfishness to a life directed to love of God and neighbor. The prophet Joel summoned the people for a service of repentance seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness. God, having heard the people’s painful expression of contrition, in turn promised the people of Israel a time of peace and prosperity. The good news is that His judgment is not a judgment of condemnation but a judgment of salvation that liberates us from the power of sin.

In the novel entitled The Great Divorce, written by C.S. Lewis, we read a unique story that depicts a visit to heaven by a group of strangers, visiting heaven from hell. Lewis depicts these strangers as empty and translucent and because of these qualities they are referred to as ghosts. In contrast, the angels and saints of heaven whom the ghosts encounter are solid, and thus Lewis refers to them as solid people. In one scene there is an encounter between a ghost and a solid person, there is a little lizard sitting on the shoulder of the ghost. The lizard is constantly speaking into the ear of the ghost, manipulating it, and drawing the ghost’s attention away from the beauty and truth of heaven that surrounds him. At one point, the solid person, an angel, asks the ghost, “Would you like me to kill the lizard?” The ghost is first confused so he just gives a passive nod of approval, not truly understanding to what he has just agreed.

The solid person, an angel, takes a step forward and at this the ghost is taken aback and does not understand what is about to happen. So, the angel asks once again, “May I kill the lizard?” This time the angel touches the lizard slightly which causes the ghost to writhe in pain. The ghost once again stops what is happening, now repulsed by the pain he has just endured. This prompts the ghost and angel to argue, the angel always asking the same question, “Can I kill the lizard?”

Finally, the ghost surrenders and allows the lizard to be killed by the angel. Immediately a few things happen: the angel grabs the lizard and throws it aside and the ghost writhes in pain due to the suffering he experiences at first from the loss of the lizard. However, very soon afterwards the ghost begins to turn solid, starting from the shoulder upon which had previously sat the lizard, until his whole body finally becomes whole again.

The ghost in C.S. Lewis’ story only becomes solid due to this interaction with the grace of heaven. In his free will, the ghost could have said no to the angel, and the angel would have let him remain with the lizard. The angel, being faithful to God the Creator, would not violate the ghost’s free will. But instead, the ghost decides to cooperate with the angel and then goes through the pain and suffering that is the only way for him to be healed and release him from the sin he carried around with him. In so doing, the ghost comes to understand the Love of God and enter heavenly glory.

The color of the lizard is not important. We know from our experience that these lizards that perch on our shoulders come in all colors. There are blue lizards and red lizards. There are purple lizards and green lizards. There are even rainbow-colored lizards but they each act the same way. They chatter, distract, and discourage us with the temptation to compromise on our love of God and for our neighbor in exchange for a false promise of freedom from pain.

The biblical notion of judgment is not a clinical and distant verdict of behavior. God’s judgment involves His compassionate intervention with grace to ensure that our decision to turn away from sin bears fruit in action. God’s judgment liberates those enslaved by the power of sin, especially through our humble recognition that we are powerless to change on our own power. God is biased for each of us to the extent that we accept our powerlessness in the face of temptation. A contemporary expression of this spiritual disposition may be found in the words of the serenity prayer, written by the Oxford Movement of the late nineteenth century, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Jesus speaks clearly about the power of temptation to habitually repeat our sins. The example of a spirit returning with renewed determination to its prior position in a person’s heart reminds us of the spiritual illness and compulsion of addiction in our world. Everyone has some inclination to repeat sins, especially if we have habituated our performance of them to deny our feelings and to avoid the pain of a real change in our behavior.

Following Christ crucified means we cannot subordinate our faith in God to the esteem of the world, no matter what the lizard tells us. Following Christ crucified is not about passionately launching into self-righteousness, no matter what the lizard tells us. Following Christ crucified is not about self-actualization without God’s help, no matter what the lizard tells us. Following Christ crucified is about remaining steadfast in suffering and in love for Jesus Christ in every relationship of our lives and persevering in through the pain of conversion, no matter what the lizard tells us.