Don’t be a fool! It’s true that at most you play the part of a little bolt in that great undertaking of Christ's. But do
you know what happens when a bolt is not tight enough or when it works itself
out of place? Bigger parts also work loose or the gear-wheels get damaged and
broken. The work
is slowed up. Perhaps the whole machine will be rendered useless.
What a
big thing it is to be a little bolt!
St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way
Before Mass
Ever think about what’s holding our roof up over our head? The ceiling is held up by those beams up there are called trusses – it’s what allows long spans without posts. But we learned in the fire department a long time ago that if one piece of the truss fails, the whole thing collapses. But as long as each bolt and piece of metal does its job, the church stands.
You ever notice that bolt right there on the end… I never did either – but for the homily today I want to tell you the story about that bolt… it’s name is Bobbie. Bobbie the Bolt.
In the Gospel today, the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith – then he goes off into the weeds, it seems, talking about servants serving at the table. What’s that got to do with increasing our Faith, Jesus? I admit, at first I saw no connection.
Hopefully the story of Bobbie the Bolt will help us understand.
Homily
When Bobbie was just born, he was nothing more than an unformed piece of metal. He could have been anything when he grew up! He dreamed of being the nose on the front of a jet… He thought about being a bullet that a soldier would use to defend his country… He even thought it would be cool to be the metal canister in a hand-cranked ice cream freezer.
But he was just a blob of metal.
As he got older, his life experiences started squeezing him and forming him into something more recognizable – but Bobbie didn’t like what he saw when he looked in the mirror. Bobbie was forming into a bolt. That’s not what he wanted to be! Bolts are boring! I want to be a jet – not a bolt!
Yet, every job he took – every experience of his life seemed to form him more and more… leaving grooves in him for some unknown purpose. He went through some really hard times which almost melted him – but he came through even stronger than before – he became hardened steel.
Finally, when he reached maturity, some workers picked him up and stuck him through a piece of metal truss beam and tightened a nut on the other end of him. Bobbie was bummed out… he would prefer to be the truss beam, not just a boring bolt! The truss was lifted into the air and the roof was put on, and Bobbie has been in that place in the ceiling ever since…. Holding up the roof of our church here.
So, what do you think – did Bobbie have a good life? Did he fulfill the purpose God gave him?
You and I are like Bobbie. We may have dreams about what we want to be – but everything we do in life forms us into the tool that God needs us to be. See – it’s by doing the job that is in front of us that we become who we are. It’s by Fulfilling the responsibilities we’ve been given that the path to holiness opens up for us.
That’s an important lesson – in fact, it’s one of the central themes of Opus Dei – the organization founded by St. Josemaria Escriva. Literally, Opus Dei means ‘the work of God’. Josemaria’s point was that in doing all of the mundane work of everyday life, THAT is how each person is sanctified – that’s how we become holy – THAT is how we increase our faith.
Each job we do forms us into the tool – or the bolt – that God needs us to be. As each of us does what we’re called to do, we form the Church – literally – it takes every one of us doing our part to hold this church together. Yeah we need Priests – and maybe we need Deacons – but we also need church cleaners, musicians, altar servers, grass cutters, office staff, people to wash dishes after the parish social… I could go on and on… it takes hundreds of people doing their seemingly mundane job to keep this church standing.
Just like that bolt right up there. If we don’t do our job, the whole structure would be compromised.
Now – let’s connect this to the parable in the Gospel. Does Bobbie the Bolt deserve thanks for doing his job? Would we ever THINK of praising that bolt for doing what it was made to do? No – Bobbie is simply fulfilling the purpose that God gave him. He is doing his own Opus Dei…the work of God.
You and I are like that bolt. Without even being noticed, we simply fulfill the mundane responsibilities in front of us every day – as mothers and father, husbands and wives, co-workers and bosses, friends and brothers and sisters, students… our work IS our path to holiness.
- When we humble ourselves to change a diaper, take out the trash, sweep the floor – it teaches us humility.
- When we faithfully get up each morning to earn our pay and provide for our family, it teaches us self-less-ness.
- As we reach out to others in need or offer a kind word to a friend who’s feeling depressed, we learn what it’s like to Be the love of God for each other.
In these simple, mundane tasks appointed to us, we are doing our own Opus Dei – the work of God. Each task leaves a groove in us for some unknown purpose which we may not understand …but we can trust that God will harden us like steel if we need to be.
When we ask ‘Lord increase our faith’ – the answer is: do what you’ve been given to do… and when you look back, you’ll see that you’ve become a hardened piece of steel – made by God for a specific purpose… to hold the Church together.
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