INTEGRITY

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 9^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Integrity.”

I was tempted to preach on the moment Tobit,  in today’s first reading loses his eye sight because of the bird who was simply doing his duty. [Cf. Tobit 2:9-14]

Better not, not to sure just what to say - but you have to admit it’s a great story…. 

So I decided to talk about integrity. I wasn’t sure just what word to use, but I hope integrity works.

TODAY’S READINGS

It fits in with what’s going on in both readings for today.

In today’s first reading Tobit accuses his wife Anna of being dishonest. He accuses her of stealing a goat. He gets her goat. She tells him that the goat is a bonus from the people she works making cloths for. She’s a weaver.

He doesn’t believe her and gets very angry. So she shoots back at him, “Where are you charitable deeds now? Where are your virtuous acts? See! Your true character is finally showing itself!”

Sounds like a husband and wife spat - that I sometimes hear about.

Thinking about that I said, “Integrity has honesty as part of it - but it’s more - a lot more. It includes love and kindness and  how we speak to each other. It includes not judging others - besides being honest and virtuous.

And in today’s gospel Jesus goes after the Pharisees for being hypocrites. They are after Jesus and are flipping a coin at him to try to trap him. They are not really interested in paying taxes as much as trying to catch Jesus.

EULOGY

In this short, short homily I want to reflect on integrity - and figure out what it means. I have never heard anyone described as being a person of integrity in a eulogy after they died - but wouldn’t it  be nice if we got that description?

It means that we won’t or don’t compromise - on our values or ethics.

It means we face the music if we make a mistake. In fact someone said just that: “There is no better test for our ultimate integrity than our behavior when we are  wrong.”

It means we don’t lie.

It means we are transparent.

If means what you see is what you get.

It means we’re consistent.

It means we don’t have a price.

STILL NOT SURE IF IT’S THE RIGHT WORD

The word “integrity” is not used in English translations of the 4 gospels.  However the theme seems to be there.   

I would think the gospel writers when talking about Judas, they are talking about someone without integrity. I would think that Jesus is described over and over again as a person of integrity. 

Who else? Other than Jesus the person whom I thought would be a person of integrity, would be Thomas. He said he wouldn’t believe till he put his hand into Jesus’ side. Then he would know it’s Jesus and he’s alive again - risen from the dead.

CONCLUSION

Enough.

While meandering through the moments of today, think about what integrity means to you. Amen.