How’s That Working for You?
Homily for the 6th Week of Ordinary Time
February 12, 2023
9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. – St. Hilary – Fairlawn, Ohio
1. CBS just announced this week that it canceled the Dr. Phil show after 21 years of
being on the air
- Dr. Phil McGraw was made famous when he appeared on Oprah and was great at
giving people some common sense advice for their ordinary and extraordinary
problems
- he became known for his blunt and no nonsense responses to folks
- I remember an interview in which a woman confided in him that 2x month
her husband would come home drunk and become violent
- her plan was to become a more docile wife, hoping he’d stop drinking
- Dr. Phil asked, “How’s that working for you?” “Are you getting what you want
or need?”
- of course, it wasn’t working at all – that’s why she was on the show in the first place
- Dr. Phil’s approach seems so obvious
- but what’s obvious to us is that we often not only make mistakes – but we make
them over and over again
2. Today’s 1st Reading from the book
of Sirach would appreciate Dr. Phil’s
methodology
- it lays out our moral choices in a
blunt – no-nonsense way
- our choices are good or evil, life
or death, water or fire
- we can choose any one
- but if we choose the evil, we
shouldn’t be shocked to find out we’re unhappy
- if we put our hand in the fire, we
shouldn’t be surprised when we are burned
- Sirach is telling us that God’s commands
are not an arbitrary set of rules to test
our obedience
- God’s commands are the way to life
- if we follow them, we will be happy. If we choose something else, it will harm us
3. We all have made choices that have harmed us
- we know that Jesus tells us to
serve others – especially those in greatest need
- we should be people of generosity
who give to others out of our abundance
- we have received a lot – enough to
make a difference
- but if we choose to sit in front of
the TV or computer screen and waste our time,
life becomes smaller and smaller
- it takes on an emptiness and we
wonder, “why does my life have so little meaning?”
4. Jesus tells us that all people have value and
everyone deserves respect
- yet it’s so easy to become biased,
to base opinion on what we hear or see without
delving deeper
- we may demean a group because of
our strongly held opinions
- for a while it may feel good to feel
superior
- but, in time, we our prejudice
hardens us
- in refusing respect for any part of
humanity we reduce the ability to love the
people we want or need to love
-
at times we may think – it’s okay to be harsh or judgmental or intolerant
-
but, over time, it piles up and we can become angry and bitter and negative
5. Each time we choose selfishness or
prejudice Jesus is at our side saying, “How’s
that working out for you? Is it making you happy? Do you feel whole and complete?
Is it leading you to life? If not, it might be time for a change
6. Life is about choices
- if you decide to spend more time on
your career, your family may suffer
- if you decide to spend more time
with your family, your career may suffer
- if you decide to give to the poor,
you may be happier
- if you decide to hoard what you
have you may be miserable as a result
7. In the Gospel today, Jesus speaks with
great authority
-
the word used in Greek is “exousia” which means that he was authentic
-
Jesus’ power wasn’t dominating, it was contagious – others saw his life and
said,
“whatever he’s got, I want”
-
he had the ability to influence others for good
-
his message was convincing people that their choices mattered – here, and in
the
life to come
-
he talks about the law’s fulfillment – in other words, it sets forth a way of
life
-
it assumes that God has the whole picture, God understands humanity better than
we do
8. God sets before us life
and death, water and fire
- the scriptures today call us to
choose life instead of death
- to put our hand in the water and not
the fire
-
to live in such a way as to fulfill the demands of the law
9. Our God is not a dominating God who demands
or dictates what we should do
-
he gives us free choice – he sets before us life and death
-
how we decide makes all the difference in the world
-
Like Dr. Phil, we may need to ask, from time to time, “How’s that working for
you?”
- if the choices we make are not
working, it may be time to make another choice
