15th Sunday Homily - The seeds of Wisdom

Ever watch cat videos? And if they get surprised, they initially jump! It's kind of fun to watch. This is an example of the fight or flight part of the brain. They fly!  All animals have this, including us humans. 
It is that basic part of us that reacts to threats; to keep us safe. It gets triggered all the time, in big ways and small ways. It is that fun in the haunted houses in the fall. It is that reaction we have when a car pulls out in front of us, and we slam on the brakes, and then get really angry and slam on the horn.

It is also that part of us, if not monitored, keeps us too animalistic, and does not allow us to evolve into the people we are meant to be.


Spiritual maturity, emotional maturity, is that capacity to discern our experiences, and know how to act, and not merely react.

Sometimes new ideas, new experiences, new ways of seeing reality come into our awareness. They can seem strange. They can scare us; they can threaten the way we see the world and ourselves.  

Mature persons sit with experiences, ideas, thoughts and chew on them and discern them. Mature persons let seeds germinate; not too fast and not choked with lots of other distractions.  They sit with them, milling them about. 
They ask themselves: What if? How does this affect me and others? Why am I defensive? Where is my ego? Will this help me to be a better person? Will them help make the world a better place for more than just me?  There is no rush to post on social media, no rush to yell and fight.  Send off that angry email.

Maturity is not something we can learn by reading, nor watching a how to video on YouTube, nor from a 5 minute homily.  It is something that too must be nurtured and practiced; there must be the soil of patience, humility, love; with a desire to grow and evolve.
God clearly wants us to grow, to evolve, and become all that we are created to be; God's children. Not just for our own individual good, but for the good of all the world, all of creation.

See, Mature people bring peace to this world.  Mature people forgive more readily.  Wise people listen and they hear, they empathize.  They heal and renew.  They experience true Joy in this world.
We celebrate First Communions at this weekend. What do we require of these kids? Just a grain of faith...that this bread and wine which we consume is the body and blood of the Risen Son of God. 

What we need is that they continue to grow as human persons; taking in this grain of faith each week; and to let the person of Jesus form them as God’s children as well.  What we need is they join with all of us to become each day more and more of God’s children.

Since in our world there is so much hurt; too many people lacking justice, lacking food; lacking resources, too many people reacting with anger, selfishness, too many people scared that they could be asked to change...


Mature persons are much in demand.

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