“May the eyes of your
hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his
call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance…”
Homily
I've got a stack of graduation invitations this year – and I
was thumbing through them the other day and noticed how each graduate had as
many as 6 pictures on their invitation. Back when I was a senior, you just took a
picture from here to here (upper part of the body) and THAT was your senior
picture. Today, senior pictures tell a
story… a story about WHO this person is.
There were several pictures of them with their tractor, with their
favorite truck or car…Many had pictures with their sports equipment or
trophies. Some has specific clothing on to
tell what awards they had won or what group they belonged to. For High School seniors, this is how they tell
the world Who they are: what they are
passionate about.
Now …picture yourself 20 years after high school introducing
yourself as – Hi – I’m Bob and I was on the cross country team at NE Dubois. Everybody’s like…so what?
That’s perfectly OK and normal when you’re IN high school,
but sooner or later… unless you’re Vic Betz, being on the cross country team will
no longer describe who you are 20 years later.
;)
Who we are changes over time – so how would you answer that
20 years later?
You probably already have noticed, that if you’re a Man, you
would probably say something like – I’m Mike and I work at Alcoa in the IT
department. Or – My name is Jerry and
I’m a Pilot for American Airlines. I’m Isadore
and I’m a farmer. See the pattern? Men define who they are BY THE JOB THAT THEY
DO.
If you are a woman – how you answer that question – Who are
you? Is not quite as predictable as it
used to be. But traditionally, most
women would answer with something like:
I’m Janet – I have a husband, Bob of 27 years and 2 kids, Bobby Jr who
is married to Annette - and Kelly, who just graduated from college…and we have
1.5 grandkids.
See the difference?
More often – not always – women traditionally identify who THEY are by
their family…or by their relationships.
I’m a mother, a wife, and a grandmother….and if they have a job, that
comes secondary.
Men, on the other hand, usually – again, not always –
usually identify themselves by What they DO.
Regardless, the common denominator here is that we ALL IDENTIFY
OURSELVES BY WHAT WE’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT… Our Life’s work defines who we are.
So what is your life’s work?
What work will define WHO YOU ARE?
I was walking around the cemetery this morning and noticed
that even on tomb stones, people put pictures that define who the person was…
pictures of their house, barn, tractor… the tomb stone defines what that person’s
passion was.
So what will be your life’s work? What will be on your tombstone?
Pray about that. No
matter what stage in life we are, God has a plan…God has given you a unique
talent – as it says in the 2nd reading – for building up the body of
Christ. If we’re not asking God what HE
wants us to do, we will likely end up doing something that doesn’t really
fulfill us.
When we reach the end of life and go before the pearly
gates, St. Peter will ask the question one last time: Who are you?
Think about the BEST way to answer that question… and then go…and live that
kind of life.
