February 12, 2017
It is scouts Sunday – so I would like to center my homily around the fact that as scouts you have to make choices: the choice to become a scout, the choice to act like a scout. Christian faith is a relation to Jesus, to the person of Jesus, not to a building, a temple, a statue, laws – no: a relation to a human person. And real people are always subject to change. Both in Jesus and Yahweh, we are called to follow someone who puts people at the center of their existence. And as you know, in a friendship we try to be near to someone, try to keep the friendship alive, we try to be trustworthy in this relation to a friend. And if we want to be loyal to someone, this is our free choice. Freedom – most of our actions have nothing to do with freedom: they are habits, or we do things because we fear the negative consequences if we do the opposite, or we do something because it corresponds to the image we have of ourselves or it corresponds to the image we want to give others of ourselves. We rarely do anything which is totally free. The author of Sirach already reminded his readers that their Jewish faith revolves around making free choices. “God has set before us,” he writes, “fire and water ...life and death, good and evil, whatever we choose shall be given us.” We have at least some control over our lives. Concerning this topic, Paul reminds this Christian community that it is not the easiest thing in the world to find out what God really wants us to do. Obviously not everyone who claims to know God’s mind actually knows it – neither religious nor political leaders. According to the Apostle, the “rulers of this age” often have no clue, have no idea of God’s will. Unlike the risen Jesus, these leaders are often leading us away from God’s “mysterious, hidden wisdom.” That’s why it is essential for us as friends of Jesus to be open to his Spirit. Matthew is dealing with a community of Jewish origin, they believed that they understood God’s mind long before they came in contact with Jesus. But that encounter with Jesus turned everything upside down. For the former Jews, the relation to the law of Moses was of utmost importance. That seems to be behind Jesus’ assurance, “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill the law and the prophets.” There was nothing wrong with what the community members did before they encountered Jesus, before they became friends of Jesus; Jesus is simply taking them to a new level. Jesus is concerned not with the afterlife, but with the here and now of entering “the kingdom of heaven”, With experiencing God working effectively in their daily, maybe boring and unexciting lives. To achieve this, they have to freely choose to go beyond the 613 Laws of Moses. Modern moral theologians often remind us that God will eventually judge us only on the things we freely chose to do. Whatever we did out of force or fear – like going to Mass on Sunday because our parents gave us no other choice – will play no role in our eternal future. The historical Jesus, and the risen Jesus certainly wants us to make free choices. Choices which will not only get us into heaven one day, but will even now enable us to experience the heaven that is already around us. We just have to open our eyes and ears. It is scouts’ Sunday – when I read your Scout Law, I see so many things a scout should do: among other things, a scout should be helpful, friendly, courteous and kind. I am convinced that Jesus would count you among his friends, because as scouts you also put people at the center of your activities like Jesus did. You, the scouts and guides here in this Church, you may be young, but you are never too young to make a positive impact in the world. Remember to keep your spirit directed to the good and to always be courteous and friendly to others. In doing this out of your free will, you will find plenty of opportunities, as boy scouts and girl scouts, to make this world a better place. cf: www.dignityusa.org/bots
Fr Wolfgang Felber, SJ