OH, NOW I GET IT!

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 2^nd Tuesday  in  Ordinary Time  is, “Oh, Now I Get It.”

GETTING A JOKE

Have you ever heard someone tell a joke - and everyone laughs - and you say, “I don’t get it.”

Like Father Tizio’s puns in the bulletin.  Has there ever been a pun and you don’t get it?

It’s smart not to lie.  There have been instances when a group of people make up a joke - that’s not a joke. Then someone tells it and the group in on it all laugh. Then those not in on it - laugh. Next one of the group in on it asks someone who laughs. “Did you get the joke?” and the person says, “Oh yeah. It’s a good one.” Then they bust the person - and tell that person it was a set up - like Candid Camera.

And sometimes  there’s a joke and we don’t get it. We feel stupid  that we don’t get it. One of our priests, Joe Austin, had a joke that he told 1000 times and I didn’t get it till a year later. He would say to people, “How long is a Chinaman.”

And people would answer, “I don’t know.”

And he’d repeat himself, over and over again, “How long is a Chinaman.”

Finally I got it, when I heard him tell a frustrated other person. “It’s not a question. It’s a statement. “How Long” -  is the Chinaman’s name. It’s like saying, “Anthony is an Italianman.”  Or “Pat is an Irishman.”

Finally the other person says, “Oh, now I get it.”

Then they add, “Horrible joke!”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

In today’s gospel - Mark 2: 23-28 -  Jesus addresses one of his pet peeves.

It’s the question of the Sabbath. He saw too many people obsessing about the Sabbath to their detriment.

As priest I’ve heard thousands of time  - people feeling quilty for missing Mass. They were on vacation - on a cruise and there is no priest on board the ship.  Or they broke their leg - or they are in the  hospital - or the weather is horrible - and they can’t get to Mass.

Jesus is saying in today’s gospel: you are not made for the Sabbath - the Sabbath is a gift for you.

He saw his fellow Israelites being off on being perfect - no work - no extra whatever - on the Sabbath. People can forget that the Sabbath is a day of rest from the rest of the week.

It seemed that they wanted to give God every second of the Sabbath - forgetting that God was giving them rest  the time of the Sabbath

CONCLUSION

Then at some point, someone gets what Jesus is saying about the Sabbath - and they realize the purpose of the day and they say, “Ok, now I get it.”

They get the whole purpose of the Sabbath as a day of rest - and not only do they stop worrying about getting to Mass when they can’t - but they stop working on the Sabbath - and it becomes a day of rest for them.

Wonderful. 

Amen,