A homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 14, 2021
Lv 13:1-2, 44-46, 1 Cor 10:31—11:1, Mk 1:40-45
AMDG.
No, it’s not one of those cable news mesothelioma law firms.
AMDG — Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam — is Latin, meaning “for the greater glory of God.”
And while Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s reminder about the true purpose of our work and prayer and interaction as people sounds highfalutin’ — I mean, Latin and all that — it’s simple and meaningful.
Saint Paul knew that when he told the people of Corinth
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do everything for the glory of God.
Everything.
Which actually makes the task easy.
Because it ties back to remembering where everything came from:
The universe.
The sun and moon.
The Earth.
Our homeland.
Our friends.
Our family.
Ourselves.
All of it, and far more than we can see or maybe even understand, came as a gift from God Who Is Love.
God, who does not need piddling little humans to elevate her status — God’s glory — because there is no higher status than Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
God, whose love is boundless and whose mercy always welcomes back his daughters and sons who wander away all too often.
God, whose only real need is for us to continue the love that is Creation and to spread the Good News.
God, who hopes we appreciate the gifts we’ve been given, and who (probably reluctantly) understands when we don’t. Though, of course, we should, all the time.
How do we show appreciation, and thereby give glory to God?
The quote attributed to Meister Eckhart is a great start:
If you have no prayer besides Thank You, that is enough.
So: Thanks, God.
We’re good now, right?
Uh, no.
Let’s say we got a bicycle for Christmas, the bike we always wanted, the coolest two-wheeler on the block. Every time we ride it, it’s a thrill, and we regularly say thanks to the person who gave it to us.
So far, so good.
But we start to take it for granted, forget to wipe off the mud and oil the chain and keep the tires inflated. And then … disaster. The bike gets run over and ruined because we didn’t put it away properly.
We stopped appreciating our gift. We didn’t care for something precious that we were given by someone who loves us.
In the largest sense, we didn’t give glory to God through our actions.
We’ve been treating all of Creation like that bike.
We treat the “Others” among us like that bike. Or worse.
We forget that we didn’t do anything to deserve these gifts; they were given freely out of a love that exceeds our ability to measure it.
We need, always, to appreciate these gifts.
We need, always, to be awed by God’s awesome Creation.
We need, always, to be blown away by how much God loves us.
We need, always, to say thank you by caring for all the people, places and things in our lives.
Then we’re AMDGing.
That’s Glory. Hallelujah.
