5th Sunday Year A - Homily 5

 Homily 5 - 2020

I was captivated to hear Ash Barty interviewed two weeks ago after she was nominated “Young Australian of the Year”. Quite calmly she promised, “I’m going to stay true to my values all throughout the year, all throughout my life. Every single day I want to be kind, I want to be honest, I want to be humble, I want to give the best that I can. That’s all that matters for me.” I was also edified when I heard Leila Abdallah, the grieving mother of three of the children run over and killed in a car accident in Sydney early this week. When asked how she felt about the driver of the car that killed her children, she answered, “I think in my heart I forgive him, but I want the court to be fair, right? It’s all about fairness. So I’m not going to hate him because that’s not who we are. And that’s not what our religion tells us. I forgive him, but I want it to be fair.”

For me both women were wonderful examples of what Jesus was talking about in today’s Gospel passage: "You are the light of the world… Your light must shine in the sight of [others], so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.” However, in view of a few commentaries I have read, I think that the last few phrases might be better translated, “… noticing the fine things you do, they may give glory to your Father in heaven”.

I don’t think “good works” does justice to what Jesus was saying. For one thing, it has become a hackneyed phrase, and can be as much off-putting as attractive. The original word translated as “good” carries the possible meaning of “beautiful” or “splendid” [or a little less dramatic], “fine”. I think that “fine” suggests another dimension simply than “good”, and refers not only to the things done but to the way they are done.

Things done with an air of superiority or from the moral high ground can be demeaning and offensive. Things done with a degree of personal warmth or respect, on the other hand, can somehow engage with their recipients or observers, and be more easily appreciated. They can generate more attractive, more constructive, “vibes”. They can give life. The Gospels give the impression that that was the effect of the things that Jesus said and did and that led so many to comment on his unusually life-giving “inner authority”. They certainly occasioned significant responses from people. It would be things done by disciples with that added personal dimension that Jesus was referring to when challenging them to be “the light of the world”.

There is another noteworthy point made by Jesus – the matter of “giving praise to your Father”. The original word can be translated "praise"or "glory" A saint from way back in the second century, St Irenaeus, is often remembered for his quotable “one-liner”, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive”. I think that that is what Jesus was talking about here. He was not talking about a God obsessively hungering for "praise." Any consideration of praise would automatically kill any genuine engagement in a truly charitable, truly life-giving, interaction between people.

However, “fine things done” with genuine care, respect and real connecting can be truly life-giving for all involved. Through such interactions, doers become more alive, more truly human; and those on the receiving end, or even who merely observe, can be helped to recognise, to rejoice in and to take firmer hold of their true human dignity. Even though no one may be thinking explicitly of God, as both parties take a deeper hold on their humanity, God is glorified.

Ash Barty’s simplicity and Leila Abdallah’s generous determination to begin her journey into ever deeper forgiveness helped them both to become more authentically human and gave to many of their hearers a gentle boost to grow similarly. Both have brought “light to the world”; and God has been glorified.