A CAST
OF THOUSANDS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “A Cast of Thousands.”

One of the great ways of reading the Bible is to slowly page through the different stories and books – noticing the different characters and while reading, asking, “Which character is most like me?”

The Bible has a cast of thousands.

The Bible, like a movie or a play, is a big mirror – placed in front of us – in which we can see ourselves.

Shakespeare said all this in Hamlet, where he says, “The play’s the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” (Act 2, ii, 641) The play’s the thing, “To hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image….” (Act. 3, ii, 25)

We sit there in the theater and see ourselves in the play or the movie. We sit there on the boat or the porch, at the beach or in our quiet chairs, and read a novel that makes us pause, makes us cry. Stories can touch the stories of our life.

We sit here in church and hear these readings and the idea is to see ourselves face to face – to see our virtues and our vices, our sweetness and our scorn.

The Bible stories are our stories – in all the different stages of our life. Shakespeare knew us when he says in, As You Like It,

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts….” (Act 2, vii, 139)

Books, movies, plays, the Bible can show us who we are and where we are in our life. Stopping to see ourselves in these mirrors is a great exercise – and can provide some great self revelations.

Or we can ask another, “What character in the Bible is most like me?”

Be ready for interesting observations.

· Am I like Eve or Adam – blamers – going through life blaming others – blaming the snake, when I bite into forbidden fruit and I don’t like the consequences?

· Am I like Noah – or Lot – constantly procrastinating?

· Am I like Lot’s wife – looking backwards – getting stuck in the past?

· Am I like Ruth – staying more with my in-laws than my roots?

· Am I like Thomas – the doubter?

· Am I like Peter putting my foot in my mouth too many times – big on promises – weak on deliverance?

· Am I like Martha or Mary?

· Am I like the Good Thief, knowing that I can steal heaven at the last minute?

· Am I like Saul – who becomes Paul – but first I have to hit bottom before I see that I’m fighting the wrong battles – going down the wrong roads?

· In the parable of the sower, which of the four kinds of soil am I – when it comes to hearing the word of God – rock, shallow soil, good soil but with too many things growing in my garden, or good soil, ready to receive the word and produce 30, 60, 100fold?

NEW JERSEY

I went to a funeral in New Jersey a few years ago. We’re going to a restaurant for some lunch after the cemetery and my sister says to the rest of us in the car, “Good thing the funeral was this Saturday morning and not last Saturday morning.”

I asked, “Why?”

She says, “Didn’t you see the article in the paper about The Sopranos?”

“No,” I said.

So my sister says, “There was a small notice in one of the northern New Jersey papers about looking for people to try out for parts in The Sopranos.” Then my sister added, “Well, 10 to 15 thousand people showed up last Saturday morning and we would have got caught in that gigantic traffic jam.”

We got to the restaurant.

As we were getting out of our car, I spotted someone getting out of another car. I said to my sister, “Look at that guy there. He would be perfect for The Sopranos.”

My sister goes, “Shusssh. He was at the funeral and he’s the son of a Mafia guy.”

I said, “Hey, do I have a good eye for casting?”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Looking at today’s gospel as a gigantic mirror – or a great movie, which part do I play? Which part is more me?

Am I like the scholar – the one who knows all about the law – and I want to know exactly what I have to do to inherit eternal life?

Or looking at the parable of the Good Samaritan in itself, which of the characters am I like?

Do I feel like I’ve been beaten down by life – or others – hurt by others – fired from a job – cheated on by a spouse – robbed of a chance for a better life – still stuck in a hurt – anonymous?

Am I like the priest and the Levite in the story? I don’t want to know. I just want to get by in life. I want to get to where I have to get to and I don’t want anything or anyone along the way to get in my way. I don’t want to get involved. Am I too busy to help others in life – especially the stuck or the hurting?

Am I like the Good Samaritan - the type of person who stops to help a brother or sister who is hurting – even though this other person is so different from me?

Am I like the Inn Keeper – someone who observes life in all its naked messiness and intensity, in its stupidity and its silence, and I go about making a living – always staying in the background?

Which is more me?

The scholar of the Law – having just heard Jesus’ story – when asked by Jesus – “Who was neighbor to the man who was robbed?” had to answer, “The Samaritan.”

And Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading says, “It’s not that complicated.”

Life is not that complicated.

Who of us could write down the Ten Commandments if asked to do that right now? I guarantee you that most of us would – including myself – get mixed up from 8 to 10.

However, all of us could write down the Two Great Commandments in today’s gospel: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all our heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

We know by heart these two commandments and the story of the Good Samaritan that follows.

We know the call to help the hurting – because someday it might be me.

We know the Golden Rule is written on every heart.

Sometimes we’re the hurting; sometimes we’re the helper.

As the song goes, “Sometimes we’re the ball; sometimes we’re the bat. Sometimes we’re the bug; sometimes we’re the windshield.”

What part am I playing in the movie of my life right now?

HOLY REDEEMER

This Sunday, we Redemptorists celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Redeemer. We celebrate the Saving Aspect of Jesus – the Redeeming Side of Jesus. We celebrate Jesus as the Good Samaritan.

When we started in 1732, our Founder, St. Alphonsus, called our group, the Congregation of the Most Holy Savior – because his vision was to reach out with Salvation for folks who were neglected.

In 1748-49, when two of our priests went to Rome to make the petition to the church authorities to recognize us under this title, they found out there already was a group with the name of the Congregation of the Most Holy Savior, so they were asked to take the name the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. C.SS.R. from the Latin: C= Congregatio,  SS= Sanctissimi and R=Redemptoris. So that’s why we are called “Redemptorists.” (Cf. Theodule Rey-Mermet, St. Alphonsus Liguori, Tireless Worker for the Most Abandoned, pp. 437-439)

If you ask different Redemptorists their vocation story, you’ll usually hear something about wanting to help others.

I remember missionary priests visiting our grammar school classrooms in Brooklyn when we were kids. They told us there was a need for priests to work in our missions in Brazil. We used to receive the Maryknoll magazine, so I was dreaming of someday being a missionary in China or Japan as a Maryknoll. Somewhere along the line, I switched to wanting to be a Redemptorist and work in Brazil.

We Redemptorists hope that people around the world whom we serve – people who attend our parish missions, retreat houses, or the parishes that we help staff, all will grow in their desire to bring Christ and his redemption to others.

It’s all the same theme: to help others – to redeem others – to save others – to be a Good Samaritan. Surprise. The road I was planning to take – went from the seminary to Brazil. Surprise. When I received my first appointment, it was a big disappointment. It was 1967 and instead of going to Brazil, I was stationed at Most Holy Redeemer Church, on the Lower East Side of New York City. It was during the Hippie Revolution – and I soon found life and work was fascinating.

Looking back now, it’s been a great trip so far. Thank You, God. Thank You.

CONCLUSION

As they say, life is what happens when we are making other plans. Those who walked down that 16 or so mile road from Jerusalem to Jericho that day had their plans. The person who was beaten up and robbed that day had his plans. The two who passed him by had their plans for that day. The Good Samaritan changed his plans to help the guy who was hurting on the road.

The Story of the Good Samaritan is still playing, is still being told in churches, and in private showings, all around the world – and we’re all invited to try out for the part.