STEPPING  BACK, 

THEN  STEPPING  UP 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Stepping Back, Then Stepping Up.”

Let me actually do that for a moment. [Pause! Step out of the pulpit. Go over to the side or into the sacristy. Then step back into the pulpit.]

That’s my whole sermon without words.

And I guarantee you - that you won’t remember any words from this sermon. That’s rare - but you might remember that  a priest once stepped out of the pulpit and then stepped back up into the pulpit. You might add, “I don’t know why he did that” - but I hope you do.

Now you can go to sleep.

As Jesus says to the lawyer in Luke 10:28 - after he asks Jesus the secret of life - and states that it is to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbor as yourself,” - Jesus said,  “Do this and you shall live.”

Sleep. Learn to step back - and then to step up. Do these things and you shall live.

So I am going to stress in this sermon - the importance of stepping back - pausing - and then stepping up.

TODAY’S SECOND READING

In today’s second reading from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians,  he tells the folks there some autobiographical things about his life.  We don’t know the exact date of the letter - but scholars - tell us it’s around 54 - and it’s certainly before his letter to the Romans which is dated around 58.

Paul says he used to persecute the church, Christians,  beyond measure. In fact he tried to destroy the church. He was a zealot for his ancestral traditions.

Then he tells us that he changed from this former way of life - because he experienced that God had called him from his mother’s womb to proclaim Jesus to the Gentiles.

Then he says that he didn’t immediately consult flesh and blood. He didn’t go up to Jerusalem immediately to talk to the apostles who were there and called before he was called.

Instead he tells us that he went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus. Then he gives a time frame. “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas [that’s Peter the Rock] and remained with him for fifteen days. But I did not see any other of the apostles, only James the brother of the Lord.”

If we read the rest of the New Testament, especially the Acts of the Apostles, we find out more details about all this. Paul was stepping his way to Damascus - to destroy the Christians - fell on his face - was called out by Christ - for persecuting him, the Christ, - and then Paul’s life was changed.

But first Paul stepped back. Except for this little detail about three years in Galatians 1:18 - we wouldn’t know how long he stepped back.

RETREAT

I just finished a 3 day retreat for us Redemptorists up in our retreat house, San Alfonso, in Long Branch, New Jersey - right on the ocean.

It was on aging and the speaker, Wayne Fitzpatrick, a Maryknoll Brother - gave us some great stuff to step back and think about. Hey, we’re getting old.

At lunch a guy said to me, “It’s wonderful to sit back and listen and not have to preach all week.”

That comment was a loud and clear reminder to me of the importance of stepping back from time to time.

To shut up and to listen.

On the news yesterday and today - they are stepping back  looking at the life of Muhammed Ali.  Different folks are saying what his legacy is.

It’s good to step back and look at our life - listen to all that we have heard - and experienced.  It’s good to wonder about our legacy.

We had 4 ½ years of theology after our college experience. We had a whole year of novitiate - and I’ve made well over 100 retreats - and workshops - and more schooling in my life. And for my legacy, I spent 7 years in one retreat house and another 7 years in another retreat house - and 9 years as a novice master and 8 ½ years on the road giving parish missions, priest and nuns retreats, etc. etc. etc.

I’ve said a lot of things to a lot of people.  Did anything stick?  Did anything help? Obviously, like any parent, I wonder.

So I know - or should know about the importance of stepping back.

How about you?

ERIE PENNSYLVANIA

If I step back I can see many of the significant moments - the learning moments - of my life - big and little ones.

I’m standing in the sacristy of a church in Erie, Pennsylvania. I’m scheduled to preach at all the Masses in a big parish. Myself and a priest named Tom were  to give a parish mission there that week. It’s 8:35 AM - Sunday morning. A priest walks in. He’s a college professor who does 2 masses there every Sunday morning. The pastor told me this the night before.

He asks who I am.  I tell him I’m preaching at all the Masses - for the Mission the parish is having that week.

His jaw tightens up. He turns around and walks out.

I say, “Uh oh. I don’t think the pastor told him that someone else was going to preach at this Mass.”

At 5 to 9, he walks back in. He comes up to me and apologizes. He says, “I thought I had to preach at this mass.”

Then he pauses and says, “I have a short fuse. I learned that about myself years ago - so when something wrong happens - I just walk away - before shooting my mouth off.

Then he added, “I got back from Atlanta last night around 1:30 AM - the flight was delayed - and I got up this morning at 6 AM to work on a homily for this Mass. I would have loved to have those extra 2 hours of sleep.

I never forgot that moment - that learning - that great homily - he preached to me that morning.

The title of my homily is, “Stepping Back, Then Stepping Up.”

It’s good to sleep on these things.

THE CHILD WITHIN

To be practical, let me add a twist to my thoughts - before I finish this homily. I’m doing this because I want to bring in the two other readings as well as give you something more to step back and think about.

Today’s first reading and today’s gospel have 2 healing stories - Elijah and Jesus raising a child from the dead.

We can hear that story the obvious way: 2 healing stories - 2 resurrection stories - and pray and wish the same - for all the young children who die without having had a chance to live.

And that’s part of the history of our world.

I read these readings while on retreat this past week - to let them simmer in my mind while walking - while driving back - while stepping back - while sleeping.

What hit me was the psychological insight - or theory  - or practice of Eric Bern that he started thinking, talking and writing about. It was very popular back in the 1950’s till the 1970’s. I’m sure some of you remember the books, I’m OK-You’re OK, Transactional Analysis, and Games People Play.

Each had an impact on me. Some priests po po pop psychology. I don’t. I want to hear what others have to say.

Transactional Analysis - TA - from Eric Bern taught me that we have 3 possible states of mind and attitude we can be in: the child, the adult and the parent.

The child is feelings, the parent is finger pointing, the adult is thinking and analyzing.

We can be in any of these three states - and when we expect another to be in another state than the one they are in, we have a crossed transaction.

Some adults refuse to be adults. Some parents refuse to be parents. Some people refuse the inner child within them to play the child at times.

We have those tapes ready for play in our brain - and different people and different circumstances trigger reactions and we reach for one of those 3 tapes. This is not fair and we storm out of the room in anger - but we can also come back and explain to the other what happened.  And / or we can scream at the other and tell them never to do that again.

With today’s gospel, I want to think more about the child in me - and thank the Lord he has not died - but to be alive and play more.

CONCLUSION

The title of my homily is, “Stepping Back, Then Stepping Up.”

I hope all of us - this week - find ourselves - stepping back - as adults - and we analyze our life - and then step up - and make life sweeter for each other - especially being playful. And  okay - making sure the parent and the adult in us is also very much alive - as well as the Jesus in us. Amen.