THE   PAUSE 

THAT  SAVES   LIFE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 2^nd Friday in Ordinary Time is, “The Pause That Saves.”

I like that we human beings have the ability to pause.

I like that we human beings can take the time to stop and think - and also to pray - for light and insight - in cloudy moments.

I like that we human beings have the ability to choose.

Is that what makes us different than the animals?

WOOF!  WOOF!

Father Tizio’s dog, a pug named Wilber, comes into our dining room every morning and he knows where the Cheerios are. It’s in a cabinet below a counter. When someone opens up that cabinet where the cereals are, Wilber puts his two front paws on the edge of shelf - anxious, anxious, anxious - for his fix of food - for a handful of Cheerios.

As that cabinet is opened I see Wilber standing on his back two legs and his 2 front paws reaching up to that shelf I often say to myself, “Here’s a proof for evolution.” At some point humans stopped crawling and started standing, reaching for the higher fruits and berries.

FOOD: THE PAUSE THAT SAVES

Speaking of food, the title of my homily is, “The Pause That Saves Life.”

Human beings have more choice than animals when it comes to food. If we’re diabetic, or we’re on a diet - or if we have to watch salt - then there’s that pause - then there’s that guilt voice that says, “You can’t have that.”

We don’t have to overeat or over sugar or coffee or salt.

We have the power of pause.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

I love today’s first reading. Every one of us at times are looking for a bathroom. It could be on the road or at the mall or at a wedding. We ask, “Could you tell me where the ladies room is? Where there’s a bathroom?”

In today’s first reading from 1^st Samuel 24: 3-21, David finds a cave along the way just for that purpose. It’s a have to and a want to.

While in the back of the cave, surprise, Saul enters the cave and David and his men see that it’s a chance for David to kill Saul.

Instead - in that darkish cave, they choose to sneak up and cut off a piece of Saul’s mantle. They have the thought to kill Saul - yet they pause and think about it and they don’t.

It’s right there that I got the thought for this homily.

THE POWER OF PAUSE

We have the power of pause.

We have the power of second thoughts - not just first immediate reactions.

We can step back and think.

In sermons I like to stress getting in touch with that moment called, “The Pause!” 

We get it when someone mentions Person X - and we know Gossip Y - and we hear an inner voice that says, “Don’t say it!” Our conscience says, “It’s wrong to talk about people behind their back.”

We have that power called “The Pause” when have to decide to cancel going out in the snow storm or not.

To eat that second piece of pie…. To sit there instead of doing some walking and exercising…. To help our neighbor …. To shovel our neighbor’s steps - hey she’s all alone and she’s an 83 year old lady.

CONCLUSION

Today is Pro Life Day.

Today we proclaim the power of human life - the sacredness of human life.

We hope we’re planting in the womb of human brains - the seed of the value of human life and the life sentence, “Hey I got the gift of life. Thanks mom and dad. Maybe someone else would want it too."