NICKNAMES
The title of my homily is “Nicknames.”
The subtitle would be “Descriptions of the Other Person.”
When I read today’s two readings what hit me are two
wonderful nicknames from the scriptures of other people. They are not called
nicknames, but that’s what I call them.
From today’s first reading from Acts 3 we hear mention of
The Beautiful Gate. From what I read last night I heard the commentators say
they are not really that sure just what gate into Jerusalem was The Beautiful
Gate.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be the gate to healing – the
gate where people meet Jesus and they are healed.
In this building what would be the place of greatest care
and healing and joy. In one place I was
stationed. It was in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania.
In the kitchen there was a booth -
that had a table – with a light brown vinyl couch on both sides. It was the place where we sat every night
around 10 PM – for about a half hour – had a cup or two of tea – and good
cookies – talked and told stories.
Looking back that was the best moment of the day. It was a
beautiful gate into peace and laughter – joy and fun.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have
as a member of the community someone who was a beautiful gate to God –
to each other - to wonderful moments of
life.
I would call people like that “The Beautiful Gate.”
In today’s first reading from Acts 3, it’s Peter who in the
name of Jesus heals a crippled man who begs at the beautiful gate every day.
In today’s gospel it’s the story of Emmaus – Luke 24:13-35.
I was giving a retreat once and a nun told us about a member of their
community. She never stopped
talking about the Emmaus story. She did
it so often to every class of kids she taught – that the kids nick named her, “Sister
Mary Emmaus.”
Imagine going through life and telling everyone that we need
to recognize God every time we break bread together. Imagine knowing the scriptures so well that
we help others see their life in the breaking of the words – and the breaking
of their lives.
So my homily is about two nicknames: The Beautiful Gate and
Emmaus. Wouldn’t it be neat to get one of those nicknames?
I would call people like that “The Beautiful Gate.”
