Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Deacon's Bench

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Work in progress: Homily for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Work in progress: Homily for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Last updated on: October 26, 2019 at 12:04 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

Work in progress: Homily for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2019-10-26T12:04:13-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

by Deacon Greg Kandra

There’s an old joke: New York will be a great city — if they ever finish it.

The city is constantly being dug up and paved over. Buildings are being torn down and rebuilt– and the older ones are always in a state of repair or renovation.

You can’t walk down a city block without having to go under or around one of those green scaffoldings. You see them a lot here in Forest Hills – they had one up around my building a couple years back. By law, they’re required to re-point the bricks of buildings of a certain age, or they’re considered a safety hazard. It costs a small fortune and takes months and it’s an eyesore. The head of our co-op board put it succinctly. He said: “The only people who come out ahead are the scaffolding companies.”

In fact, I’d wager if there’s one name that everybody in New York knows, it’s not necessarily Bloomberg or Giuliani or even A-Rod.

It’s “Spring Scaffolding.”

A few months ago, a friend was giving me a ride from Manhattan out to Flushing, and we went through Long Island City. We passed the Spring Scaffolding warehouse and I was so excited. I wanted him to stop the car so I could take a picture. It was like seeing the Hershey Chocolate Factory. THIS is where all those scaffolds come from!

I have a feeling those scaffoldings will always be with us. The fact is, New York City is, and probably always will be, unfinished.

It is a work in progress.

And so, for that matter, are we.

That is what makes the parable Jesus tells us in today’s gospel so powerful – and so poignant.

The Pharisee seems to think he’s just fine the way he is – and God should be congratulated because this Pharisee turned out so well.

But then there is the tax collector.

He stands apart. Alone. He can’t even bring himself to look up to heaven. And he prays only this:

“Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

In other words: Oh God, help me. I’m unworthy of You. And I’m deeply flawed. Help me to be better. Help me to complete what You have begun. Because I am a work in progress.

It may be the most brutally honest prayer any of us could give. It places us at the service of the one who made us – and it pleads for Him to help us. And it admits that we have work to do.

And THIS is the prayer God hears.

The first reading from Sirach puts it so beautifully:

“The one who serves God is willingly heard. His petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.”

Who wouldn’t want their prayer to do just that?

When I was in high school, I remember a teacher who used to wear a pin:

“Please be patient: God isn’t finished with me yet.”

That is the attitude of the tax collector. And that should be the attitude of every Christian. God isn’t finished with us yet. He is still working on us. We are clay in the potter’s hands – and our prayer should be that he shapes us as He wants.

Which, of course, is central to that other prayer that each of us knows by heart, one of the first prayers many of us learn.

Thy will be done.

Make of me what you will – not what I will.

And be merciful to me, a sinner.

I am a work in progress. And I know I have work to do.

To acknowledge that is to admit that we need to put up scaffolds and continually repair what is cracked, or crooked. People may not be able to see our imperfections from the street. But we know them. God knows them. They are the crevices and cracks that let sin seep in. Pettiness. Selfishness. Hostility. Anger. Jealousy. Hardness of heart.

It’s slamming the door when you leave the house after you’ve had a fight with your husband.

It’s refusing to answer your cell phone when you see that it’s your mother calling, wondering why you haven’t come home.

It’s gossip around the coffee machine, and lies around the dinner table.

And the cracks widen. And the holes deepen. And the pain threatens to pull you apart.

And we can so easily forget the words to point us on the path to holiness.

Be merciful to me, a sinner.

I am a work in progress.

What we so often forget is this: everyone is a work in a progress. The boss who annoys you, or the spouse who irritates you or the mother who keeps pestering you about your curfew…they are all clay. All being shaped by unseen hands. All struggling to become what God wants them to be.

Because He isn’t finished with any of us yet.

Friends, our great comfort, and hope, is that God hears the prayers of all of us who are struggling to be better. We pray that our cries to Him can even pierce the clouds.

And we pray for the grace to do the best with what we have. We erect scaffolding and work on our souls.

Thank God, it’s not a union job, or the overtime would kill us.

And it demands a lot of overtime. Because it’s never really done. That’s both the joy and the frustration of the Christian life: unlike the Pharisee, we live in the knowledge that there is always more to do on ourselves, more progress to be made on this “work in progress.”

It is the great adventure of living.

Meantime, we can take some consolation in this unchanging fact of life:

Creation continues in each of us. May the sacrament we are about to receive, awaken in us humility and hope. May the presence of Jesus in our hearts and in our lives rekindle in us the desire to follow Christ more closely, more deeply, more completely.

Creation continues. God isn’t finished.

And He’ll probably never finish New York, either.

— originally preached on October 28, 2007

Homilies

Homily

Previous Post

October 25, 2019

Pope on statues dumped in the Tiber: 'I ask pardon of persons who were offended by this act'

Next Post

October 28, 2019 WATCH: The cheerleading dancing priest, Father Ricardo

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism Education education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution politics Politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized Vatican VATICAN vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Paul say is the wages of sin?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Separation from God Death Punishment Hell

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »