THIS IS A TEST
INTRODUCTION
The title of my “whatever this is” this morning is: “This Is A Test!”
This morning, instead of a homily, I would like to give all of us a test. Now I know everyone hates tests: Driver’s Tests, Doctor’s Tests, School Tests. However, as I read today’s gospel, I heard John giving his early Christian community a test - a test about some heavy duty stuff. So I took the test. I didn’t like the test, but it made me think. So instead of a homily this morning, I decided to give you the same test.
Relax. Nobody is going to see your mark. Relax. This is a self test. Relax. You give yourself your own mark - because you’re the only one who knows your answers.
Okay. Ready. The test has 3 sections and takes less than 10 minutes. It’s even shorter than a Sunday Homily.
FIRST SECTION: IN GENERAL
1) Name three people in your life, if they called you on the telephone, you would recognize their voice every time - even if you hadn’t talked to that person in 5 years? 1) _______________ 2) ______________ 3) ____________.
2) On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the highest, how good are you in detecting just from another person’s voice what they are feeling at the moment they are talking to you: for example, they are nervous, they are tired, they are very joyful, they are worried? _____________
3) Do people treat a rent-a-car any different than if they owned the car? Check one. More careless, e.g. throw Wendy’s wrappers under the seat, flip bitten off bits of finger nails on the carpet, let it get dirty, don’t step over muddy puddles before getting into the car? _____ Treat it just the same? ____ Treat it better? ___ It all depends ____.
4) Yes or no. Does a mother treat her baby better than a baby sitter would, that is, giving it much more attention, more holding, more talking to, more smiling at, more tickling, etc.? ________
5) Yes or no. Does a father treat his baby better than a baby sitter would, that is, giving it much more attention, more holding, more talking to, more smiling at, more tickling? _________
6) Check one. Does it make a difference it the baby is the first born or the third born? The same? __ It all depends? __ Very different? _____
7) Does a person who owns their own company work any different than someone who is hired and is then one of 21 people on the third shift? Check one: The same? _____ It all depends? ____ Very different? _________
SECOND SECTION: JESUS
1) Jesus was a carpenter. Joseph was a carpenter. Yet in today’s gospel Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd.” Why didn’t he say, “I am the good carpenter”? Check one: I don’t know. _________ I never thought about it __________. He figured more people would get the shepherd image than if he used the carpenter image. ____________.
2) When Jesus was in the garden on the night of the Last Supper, on the night before he died, he said to Peter, James and John, “Would you stay here with me awake while I pray.” They fell asleep. He came back and said, “Couldn’t you stay awake an hour with me?” Did they notice any fear and trembling in Jesus’ voice? Did they notice any difference in the way he spoke at that moment compared to the way he spoke a few hours before at the Last Supper? Check one: I don’t have a clue? _____ No ____ Yes _____ I need more time to think about this one ______.
3) Once when Jesus was in a crowd, a woman came up to him saying to herself, “If I just touch the tassel on his cloak, I will be healed.” She did and Jesus said, “Who touched me?” And his disciples said in so many words, “Are you crazy? There’s a whole crowd here and you ask, ‘Who touched you?’” And the woman who touched Jesus and was healed, then spoke up and Jesus had a healing conversation with her. On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the highest, how good are you in awareness of seeing specific people in crowds? Do you tend to see just crowds? Or do you tend to see specific people in crowds? ___________
THIRD SECTION: ME
1) When you are in a restaurant, - including a Burger King type place, do try to get the name of the waitress, waiter, bus boy, person at the cash register and say at the end of a transaction: “Thank you Susie;” “Thank you Walter!” Yes or no? __________
2) Do you ever clean up a counter, pick up a piece of paper on the floor, etc. in a women’s or men’s room on a highway or in a restaurant? ____________
3) If your job was to keep rest rooms clean on a high way or in a restaurant, on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the highest, what would your rest rooms score for cleanliness? _______
4) In today’s gospel, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is no shepherd, nor owner of the sheep, catches sight of the wolf and runs away, leaving the sheep to be snatched and scattered by the wolf. That is because he works for pay; he has no concern for the sheep.” Question: Name the people you would lay down your life for? _____________.
CONCLUSION
This is just a test.
The title of my “whatever this is” this morning is: “This Is A Test!”
This morning, instead of a homily, I would like to give all of us a test. Now I know everyone hates tests: Driver’s Tests, Doctor’s Tests, School Tests. However, as I read today’s gospel, I heard John giving his early Christian community a test - a test about some heavy duty stuff. So I took the test. I didn’t like the test, but it made me think. So instead of a homily this morning, I decided to give you the same test.
Relax. Nobody is going to see your mark. Relax. This is a self test. Relax. You give yourself your own mark - because you’re the only one who knows your answers.
Okay. Ready. The test has 3 sections and takes less than 10 minutes. It’s even shorter than a Sunday Homily.
FIRST SECTION: IN GENERAL
1) Name three people in your life, if they called you on the telephone, you would recognize their voice every time - even if you hadn’t talked to that person in 5 years? 1) _______________ 2) ______________ 3) ____________.
2) On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the highest, how good are you in detecting just from another person’s voice what they are feeling at the moment they are talking to you: for example, they are nervous, they are tired, they are very joyful, they are worried? _____________
3) Do people treat a rent-a-car any different than if they owned the car? Check one. More careless, e.g. throw Wendy’s wrappers under the seat, flip bitten off bits of finger nails on the carpet, let it get dirty, don’t step over muddy puddles before getting into the car? _____ Treat it just the same? ____ Treat it better? ___ It all depends ____.
4) Yes or no. Does a mother treat her baby better than a baby sitter would, that is, giving it much more attention, more holding, more talking to, more smiling at, more tickling, etc.? ________
5) Yes or no. Does a father treat his baby better than a baby sitter would, that is, giving it much more attention, more holding, more talking to, more smiling at, more tickling? _________
6) Check one. Does it make a difference it the baby is the first born or the third born? The same? __ It all depends? __ Very different? _____
7) Does a person who owns their own company work any different than someone who is hired and is then one of 21 people on the third shift? Check one: The same? _____ It all depends? ____ Very different? _________
SECOND SECTION: JESUS
1) Jesus was a carpenter. Joseph was a carpenter. Yet in today’s gospel Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd.” Why didn’t he say, “I am the good carpenter”? Check one: I don’t know. _________ I never thought about it __________. He figured more people would get the shepherd image than if he used the carpenter image. ____________.
2) When Jesus was in the garden on the night of the Last Supper, on the night before he died, he said to Peter, James and John, “Would you stay here with me awake while I pray.” They fell asleep. He came back and said, “Couldn’t you stay awake an hour with me?” Did they notice any fear and trembling in Jesus’ voice? Did they notice any difference in the way he spoke at that moment compared to the way he spoke a few hours before at the Last Supper? Check one: I don’t have a clue? _____ No ____ Yes _____ I need more time to think about this one ______.
3) Once when Jesus was in a crowd, a woman came up to him saying to herself, “If I just touch the tassel on his cloak, I will be healed.” She did and Jesus said, “Who touched me?” And his disciples said in so many words, “Are you crazy? There’s a whole crowd here and you ask, ‘Who touched you?’” And the woman who touched Jesus and was healed, then spoke up and Jesus had a healing conversation with her. On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the highest, how good are you in awareness of seeing specific people in crowds? Do you tend to see just crowds? Or do you tend to see specific people in crowds? ___________
THIRD SECTION: ME
1) When you are in a restaurant, - including a Burger King type place, do try to get the name of the waitress, waiter, bus boy, person at the cash register and say at the end of a transaction: “Thank you Susie;” “Thank you Walter!” Yes or no? __________
2) Do you ever clean up a counter, pick up a piece of paper on the floor, etc. in a women’s or men’s room on a highway or in a restaurant? ____________
3) If your job was to keep rest rooms clean on a high way or in a restaurant, on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the highest, what would your rest rooms score for cleanliness? _______
4) In today’s gospel, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is no shepherd, nor owner of the sheep, catches sight of the wolf and runs away, leaving the sheep to be snatched and scattered by the wolf. That is because he works for pay; he has no concern for the sheep.” Question: Name the people you would lay down your life for? _____________.
CONCLUSION
This is just a test.
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