Homily: Cycle12C

Cycle C 12th Sunday in the ordinary time.

Zech 12:10-11; Gal 3:26-29; Elk 9:18-24

Oscar Wilde’s “The Happy Prince” is a beautiful story.

In Autumn Swallows migrate to the warm climate of Egypt. On the way a Swallow took asylum at the foot of a golden statue, ‘The Happy Prince’. As he was preparing to sleep, a drop of water fell on him. He looked up but there was no sign of rain. Again came a drop of water. The Swallow looked up, and he was shocked to see ‘The Happy Prince’ shedding tears. The Prince had precious stones for his eyes, a ruby on his sword hilt, and his body was made of gold. Yet, the Prince was not happy. The Swallow flew up to his shoulder and asked, “Dear Prince what makes you cry? He said to the swallow, “There is a mother who is not able to get medicine for her sick child. Please take the ruby from my sword hilt and give it to her.” The swallow did so, and it felt warm. The Prince said, “You feel warm because you have done a good deed.” The next day The Happy Prince requested the swallow to pull out one of his sapphire eyes and give to a little match- girl, whose matches fell in gutter. Unwillingly the swallow did it. The following day again The Happy Prince requested the swallow to pluck out his other sapphire eye and give to a writer who was not able to complete his book because of his poverty.

Now, the Prince had lost his vision. Taking pity on him the swallow decided to abandon his plan of going to Egypt. He sat on the shoulder of the Happy Prince and narrated whatever he saw to the Prince. The sufferings of the poor people who could not afford to eat and live made the Prince sad. The Prince requested the Swallow to take all the gold from his body to help the suffering poor people. Having lost all his gold and precious stones, he became an ugly statue. Being unable to bear the chill, the swallow died and fell at the foot of the ugly statue.

The councillors noted the condition of The Happy Prince. He looked shabby. They decided to replace the Happy Prince with their own statue. So the statue was brought down and melted. But they threw away the leaden heart and the dead swallow.

“Bring me two most precious things in the city,” said God to one of His Angels; and the Angel brought Him the lead heart and the dead bird.

“You have rightly chosen,” said God, “for in my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for ever, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shall praise me.”

This is the message of today’s Gospel. Jesus said to his listeners, “Any one who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it.”

Here Jesus lays down the conditions of service for those who would follow Him.

The first condition is that a man must deny himself. As Henry Ward says, “It is not what we take up, but what we give up that makes us rich.” Moses was living in the comforts of the palace of the Pharaohs. When he saw the injustice meted out to his own brethren he reacted against it. He knew that he had to give up his luxury, he knew that he had to give up his power, he knew that he had to give up his positions, he knew that he had to give up everything he enjoyed. Moses did it without regret. The Apostles accepted the invitation of Jesus to follow Him. So they had to give up their profession, their interests and their dreams. They did it willingly. St Francis of Assisi set out for Crusade, then he heard the call. He had to give up his ambition to accept the plan of God for him. Jesus justifies his demand on his disciples by his own life. His denial of himself was unparalleled. He prayed, “Father, Let Thy will be done.”

Secondly, a man must take up his cross. Jesus’ listeners knew very well the horrors of crucifixion. The very thought of it made them shudder. They had seen people with a pole fixed across their shoulders being led by the Roman soldiers to be crucified. They had seen people hanging on the cross and longing for death in great agony. In 6 AD, after the rebellion of Judas the Galilean, two thousand Jews were crucified on crosses which were set in lines along the roadside as a dreadful warning for others. All these events were fresh in their minds. So, His message was direct and plain. Whoever wished to follow Him should be ready to endure the worst.

Thirdly, a man must spend his life, not hoard it. Listen to the words of Albert Einstein, “Only a life lived for others is worth living.” So, our motive must be, not “How much I can get.” but, “How much I can give” Not “What is the safe thing to do?” but, “What is the right thing to do?”

When a candle is lit, it spreads light around it at the cost of itself. If it is kept in the locker it will remain there and becomes a burden. “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal." Says Albert Pine.

Finally, Loyalty will have its reward. As Oscar Wilde says, “In my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for ever, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shall praise me.” When the Angel of the Lord came down looking for beautiful things it found a Mahatma Gandhi, an Abraham Lincoln, a Martin Luther King, a Maximillan Kolbe and a lot like them. When we do a little sacrifice in our life for others, our actions too will become beautiful before God.

Satish