Yogi

A homily for the 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 13, 2022

Mal 3:19-20a, 2 Thes 3:7-12, Lk 21:5-19

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

That sterling bit of advice is attributed to the great American philosopher Yogi Berra, whose wisdom spanned every aspect of everyday life.

And our everyday lives are filled with forks in the road, with yes-or-no, right-or-left choices, sometimes dozens or even hundreds a day.

Yes or no.

Right or left.

Right or wrong.

Oh my: Once again, we’ve come to a fork in the road. Where do we go? And how do we know?

Our selections from Scripture today, as we prepare to say farewell to Ordinary Time and to this liturgical year of (mostly) the Gospel According to Luke … these readings are, to be kind, downright harsh. They seem all stick and no carrot. They’re do or die, and not in a warm-and-fuzzy way.

They emphasize the punishments and pain and angst that await people who turn away from God and the Law of Love and, oh yeah, just sort of toss in that joy and peace await those folks who do the right thing and the right things. Sort of as an afterthought.

So we straighten up and fly right because we don’t want to plunge into the bottomless pit, right? The bulk of the words from the Good Book talk about bad things happening to bad people, so let’s stay away from that crowd.

But let’s not make our eternal reward an afterthought as we break open these Bible passages.

We don’t need to obsess about our own personal end times, to be sure, or the overall end times of God’s Earth, but nonetheless let’s keep our mortality gently tucked away in the back of our minds. Because our time here is limited.

And because we all will leave this Earth at some point, the choices we make while we’re here during our all-too-brief lives are important. Often critically so.

Deadly hurricanes Ian and Nicole have done almost untold damage to Florida and nearby states and offshore lands, leaving countless sisters and brothers without homes and almost without hope. Climate change made those storms more powerful and made them defy expectations.

So, to address climate change — which we humans brought upon ourselves — world leaders are gathered in Egypt. At their summit on keeping the world livable for humankind and for all of God’s creatures, they’re trying to blaze a trail forward that protects us from blazing sunshine and blazing forests, which threaten billions of people.

On our behalf, they’ve come to some forks in the road.

Their forks in the road, their choices have immense consequences, and we must pray that God’s wisdom guides them and strengthens them to do what’s right before it’s too late. If it isn’t already.

Our choices at our forks have consequences, too, and we should never minimize them. If we choose to recycle, do we turn that choice into a habit that becomes a way of life? Turning off the lights in an empty room? Turning down the thermostat in winter and turning it up in summer?

Are we leaving the world better than we found it, environmentally?

Are we leaving the world better than we found it, sociologically?

If we open a door for someone or help them carry a load, is that a one-off or has kindness become our watchword?

How do we seek justice in the world?

Have we patterned our lives in good conscience?

In short, when we come to a fork in the road, what do we choose to do?

If we ask for wisdom and strength from God Who Is Love, what we choose and what we do will keep us on the right path.