THREE VOICES
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 5th Sunday after Easter is: "Three Voices."
We all
have two voices within us. One voice says we can do it and the other voice says
we can’t.
One voice
says we can make it and the other voice says we can’t make it.
One voice
says, “You’re a winner.” The other voice says, “You’re a loser.”
One voice
says, “Yes!” The other voice says, “No way!”
One voice
says, “You’ll never change!” and the other voice says, “You can change. You can
improve.”
And
sometimes we can track down these voices to our earlier days. We might have had
a coach or a teacher or a friend who encouraged us or we might have had people
who discouraged us.
Maybe
even a brother or a sister or some classmate who put us down.
Of
course, we have all heard the saying, “No one can put you down without your
permission.” But sometimes negative stuff from others or even from ourselves,
and then reinforced by ourselves, can lead to lots of discouragement or not
giving it our best.
A key
thing to keep in mind is that in time, we are the speaker of either of these
two voices.
THIRD
VOICE
So we
need a 3rd voice that says, “Behold I make all things new.” It’s in
today’s second reading.
We all
need a 3rd voice that says, “With the Lord’s help I can do it.” Or, “I
can do all things in Him who strengthens me.” Or, “I’ll try and with the help
of God and good friends, I will do my best.”
MOREOVER:
HOW GOD SPEAKS TO US
This
third voice is the voice of God. It comes in various ways – if we listen.
We all
remember hearing the story about the man in the flood. I heard it at least 10
times from different preachers. It was good and to the point.
The river
rises. The police come around the neighborhood and announce move to higher
grounds. Everything is about to flood.
This man
says, “Well I ain’t moving. God will help.”
The flood
rises to the front porch. The police come by row boat. “Everybody must leave
their homes.”
Once more
the man says, “I ain’t leaving. I’m praying to God for help.”
He’s now
on his chimney and the water is at his feet. A helicopter spots him and lowers
a rope ladder. The water is going to get higher. Get on the rope ladder.”
Once more
he says, “I ain’t leaving. I’m praying to God for help.”
Well, you
know the punch line. He dies and meets God and complains, “Where were you when
I called for help.”
And God
says, “I sent you a police car, a row boat and a helicopter with a rope ladder.”
Moral of
the story: God is the third voice that speaks to us all the time, but we need
to listen.
EXAMPLES
I was
checking around for some examples on this and found these three that hit me.
They are from King Duncan’s sermons - who provides plenty of examples for
preachers who are stuck for examples.
ROSSINI
The first
example is from Italy.
For many
summers a composer named Gioacchino Rossini would go out to some small village
in Italy – one which could not afford an opera – and he would write an opera
which the people of that village could perform. One summer, he auditioned all
of the talent in this small village, and the only woman who could possibly be
the leading lady was limited to only one good note! It was middle B-flat.
Rossini
was not discouraged; he went right ahead and wrote the opera in which the
leading lady had only one note to sing. BUT, he surrounded that middle B-flat
with such beautiful harmony that when she sang her one note, it was like an
angel from heaven.
CARUSSO
The
second example is from Dale Carnegie’s book How
To Win Friends and Influence People. He tells an interesting story about a
famous musician
Many
years ago a boy of ten was working in a factory in Naples, Italy. He longed to
be a singer, but his first teacher discouraged him. “You can't sing,” he said. “You
haven't any voice at all. It sounds like the wind in the shutter.”
But his
mother, a poor peasant woman, put her arms about him and praised him and told
him she knew he could sing, she could already see the improvement, and she went
barefoot in order to save money to pay for music lessons.
The peasant mother's
praise and encouragement, her sacrifices, changed the boy's life. His name was
Enrico Caruso, and he became the greatest and most famous opera singer of his
age.
A
LITTLE GIRL NAMED RACHEL
The 3rd
example is about a teacher.
Educator
Jeffery Holland tells about a pre-school teacher who faced what she thought was
“burn-out.” She was a committed teacher whose heart particularly went out to
the so-called “disadvantaged child.”
She had
begun to despair over some of the children who seemed so lost, so limited - and
in some cases, so neglected at home.
In her
growing frustration she vacillated between the feeling that there was something
wrong with her, or that there was something wrong with “this current crop of
pre-schoolers. They just don't respond like they used to.”
Then her
mother died. It was necessary for her to take a week off from her teaching
duties to attend her mother's funeral. She was very close to her mother.
Following
the funeral she needed some time alone to deal with her feelings. Her
frustrations at the pre-school seemed like an even heavier burden at this point
in her life. After a weekend of aimless shopping, puttering in the garden and
watching TV, she realized she must return to her classroom. She felt more like
a soldier going into battle than a teacher of pre-schoolers.
The first
day back was about what she expected. Her hurt and despair produced resentment
which she kept carefully hidden. She went through the paces like the competent
professional she was. She smiled at the right times and was admirably patient
considering the environment and her raw feelings.
But then
it happened. She had come around the corner to discover Rachel picking the last
chrysanthemum from the pot in the hall. Rachel, by the way, was the most
distant, most disruptive child in the class. In a stern, trembling voice the
teacher demanded, “Rachel, what are you doing?”
Rachel
held out in her little hand the flowers she had already picked. “Mrs. Terrell,”
she said, “You used to be like a mother. Would these flowers help you to be
like a mother again? I know you are fussed in your mind. Wouldn't you like some
flowers?”
Mrs.
Terrell thought, “fussed in my mind? You mean it shows? To a five-year-old?”
So she
asked, “Rachel, what is a mother like?”
“A mother
is like you used to be,” Rachel said. “A mother likes being with children.”
“But
Rachel,” said Mrs. Terrell, “I like being with children. I've just...well, I've
been...well, Rachel, my mother...passed away, and...”
Rachel
meekly interrupted, “You mean she died?”
“Yes,
Rachel,” said her teacher sadly, “She died.”
Rachel
looked up at her teacher and asked, “Did she live until she died?”
Mrs.
Terrell thought, “What kind of question is that?”
“Well,
honey, of course,” she said, “All people live until they die; they...”
Rachel
interrupted her again. “Oh, no they don't, Mrs. Terrell. Some people seem to
die while they are still walking around. They stop being what they used to be.
Mrs. Terrell, don't die just because your mother did. Be alive while you are
alive.”
CONCLUSION
We need
three voices – and especially the third voice. It’s the voice of encouragement.
It might come from a mom or a helicopter pilot or a teacher or a stranger or a
little kid.
Down deep, I have to believe, this is the way God speaks!
