E-00-10-15.....Homily Outline by Fr. Weinlader
October 15, 2000
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time - cycle B
 
Our gospel today answers the important question of:
       "what we must do to share in everlasting life"
 
The answer is simple:
        we must keep the commandments and avoid sin
 
The problem is that we usually do not have the will to avoid sin.
 
There is a saying:
        "Sin will take you further than you want to go.
        Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay.
        And sin will cost you more than you want to pay."
 
G.H. Charnley, in The Skylark's Bargain, tells the story of a  young skylark who discovered one day a man who would give him  worms for a feather. He made a deal - one feather for two worms.   The next day the lark was flying high in the sky with his father.   The older bird said, "You know, son, we skylarks should be the
 happiest of all birds. See our brave wings! They lift us high in the air, nearer and nearer to God."   But the young bird did not hear, for all he saw was an old man  with worms. Down he flew, plucked two feathers from his wings
 and had a feast. Day after day this went on. Autumn came and it  was time to fly south. But the young skylark couldn't do it.   He had exchanged the power of his young wings for worms.
 
That is our constant temptation in life - to exchange wings for worms.
 We are willing to enchange our eternal happiness for a few short enjoyments here on earth.
 
The story is told of an eagle perched on a block of ice just above  Niagra Falls. The swift current carried the ice and its majestic  passenger closer to the edge of the great precipice. The cries of  other birds and animals warning the eagle of danger that lay ahead  were to no avail.   "I have great and powerful wings," he boasted. "I can fly from  my perch at any time. I can handle it."    Suddenly the edge of the falls was only a few feet away. The
 torrent of water rushed the block of ice over the great falls.    The eagle spread his powerful wings to mount up over the impending  doom only to discover too late that his claws had become frozen to the cake of ice.
 
Do I have to say more?
      None of us is immune to the consequences of sin.
      Sin gets such a grip upon us, that we cannot let go.
 
Old age or sickness comes upon us,  we think we can change our ways at he last minute,  but we discover we are to set in our ways and to frozen to our sin.
 
We are all a bit like the man who sent a check for $150 to the IRS and said in the letter that he cheated on his income tax return last year  and has not been able to sleep ever since. Then he concluded by  saying that if he still have trouble sleeping he would send them the rest.
 
We all want to bargain with God.
We are so concerned that we might pay too much for salvation.
We want to live as we like here on earth
Yet we still expect God to save us.
 
God Bless