Homily for Week 6, February 11, 2018

So, how are we doing?  I have to say that I haven’t been this excited since July 21, 1969.  That was a special day.  I was driving back to Layton, Utah from Pocatello, Idaho, when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were landing on the moon.  I was listening intently on the car radio when they announced a three hour delay before Neil would get out and put his footprint on the moon’s surface.  Ah, great. We'll be back at St. Rose of Lima Parish in time to see it.  Unfortunately, the Saturday evening Mass was exactly at the same time.  Ken and I chatted for a moment, then I went out and asked the congregation what they wanted, Mass or to watch Neil get out and put the first human footprint on the moon.  Neil won hands down.  So Ken and I brought our TV into the church, setting it up in front of the altar.  A good time was had by all, and Mass proceeded shortly after.  That was a very spiritual moment and day.  For a brief moment our attention was lifted to the stars and beyond our present moment.

This is why I am so excited today, because I remember that day, that event.  Prayer is often about remembering, celebrating and giving thanks.  Our Jewish sisters and brothers do it at every Passover, remembering that Exodus from slavery to freedom in the promised land; and we do it each time we celebrate mass, remembering the Last Supper and following Jesus command to do it in memory of Him. The other reason that I am excited is that this past Tuesday we launched a red convertible sports car into orbit around the sun.  Wow!  It makes me giddy to think about it.  It may be in orbit for hundreds of millions of years.

Elon Musk, the creator of this event was testing the largest rocket in the world, his Space X Rocket. Normally a payload of cement or steel blocks are used to test the lifting capability of the rockets, but he thought that was rather boring, so he launched his Tesla electric convertible sports car into orbit instead.  Genius.  All the elements of prayer and a spiritual life are contained in this event.  Musk is a visionary.  He dreams large and acts large and he has a very good sense of humor.  He has a sign on the dashboard which reads "DON'T PANIC" from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and David Bowie singing Space Oddity which ran for about six hours before the batteries ran out on the cassette player.

These events get our minds off ourselves. They raise our vision, helping us to dream impossible things.  This is what our prayer should do for us as well.  I believe the world of politics and religion are far too serious.  Oh, sure there are many serious things to consider but we also need to lighten up.  Neil Armstrong, Elon Musk, Jesus Christ all ask themselves, "What extraordinary thing can I pull off today?"  As followers of Jesus our prayer ought to lead us to the same question, what extraordinary thing can I do today — and the bar for us isn’t very high; just act kindly, smile, thank people for the job they are doing, whatever it is - packing up your groceries, taking care of your bank transaction — whatever.  There are tons of extraordinary and spiritual things we can do each day. A sense of humor, that is needed so much today.  Just not to take ourselves so seriously — just don’t panic, nothing is under control.

Jesus knew this, and in today’s gospel I can hear him say, "They won't believe what I just did for him.  Just go and do what your tradition says to do." Jesus didn’t even take himself very seriously, and didn’t care who got the credit for the healing.

The question for us is what kind of a trail are we going to leave behind us today?  We can leave a trail of disaster or hard feelings, or a trail of hope, smiles and Gee, I’m glad we met today, or as Carol Burnett would say I’m so glad we had this time together.