me, me, me - 18th sunday C seminary sunday

Two brothers were fighting over inheritance.  One of the brothers went to Jesus in the hope that Jesus would probably side with him or at the very least act as a go between in order to settle things amicably.  But Jesus would have none of it.  Instead he told them a parable.

Now there are 3 very curious things about this parable.  First, there is only one person in the parable.  Not even his family is allowed in the picture, not even the workers.  Not even God.  If God appeared in the story God appeared at the last part to pass judgment.  The point is, the man is all alone. 

Second, this one person in the parable talks to himself, he dialogues with himself.  He asks a question which he himself answers: He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’  And he answered his question saying, ‘This is what I shall do." Strange man, isn't he?

And the third curious thing in this parable is, in everything . . .  in what he thinks, in what he says, in what he decides, he only uses the first person pronoun "I".  If you notice there is no he, she or it, there is no they.  He only uses I, my, myself, and if there is a you, a second person pronoun he is actually referring not to another person but again to himself.  “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”  Do you notice that?

This man must be so full of himself.  He does not ask what others think.  He does not consider how others feel, it does not matter to him how others are affected by his decision.  It's all about me, basta it is just me, me, me, me.

It is said that when we are born we are born with egoism and altruism innate in us.  We need egoism because we need to think about ourselves, we need to take care of ourselves.  It comes out naturally in us, instinctively in fact, because we it is part of our survival mechanism. 

And yet we are also altruistic. There is in us that desire to help, even if it means sacrificing ourselves for others.  Altruism may take some effort to do, but we are equipped with this capacity - we can think of others, we can show concern for others not just because we need others, but because they need us.  In fact psychology teaches us that when we give to others, the act of giving triggers parts of our brain associated with happiness.  We become happy when we spend for others more than when we spend for ourselves.  So some may develop their altruism, some are super developed it becomes a heroic altruism, they are so generous as to even offer themselves for others without so much as a thought for themselves.  They are heroes, they are martyrs, they are saints, and many of them are our parents probably. 

Some however develop only the ego and so they only consider themselves and grow up like the person in the parable who think "just to himself," who think "only about himself," and who consider "only himself."

One time I discovered in my facebook a very beautiful video on marriage.  A young man went to his father to ask his permission to get married.  His father looked at him and said, apologize first.  And the son, taken aback asked, what for?  But the father said, say sorry.  The son asked, but pa what have I done, what should apologize for?  The father said, just say it, just say sorry.  But pa I did not do anything wrong, why should I apologize?  But again the father said, apologize.  Can you at least explain to me why I should apologize?  But the father said, just say it.  Pa that is ridiculous, why should I apologize?  But the father insisted, just say sorry.  Finally, exasperated the son said, Ok pa, I apologize, sorry, I'm really sorry.  And the father looked at him and said, now you are ready for marriage. If you have learned to apologize for no reason then you're ready to get married. 

Marriage cannot last when it becomes a contest of who has the biggest ego, who has the most inflated ego?  Marriage can only last when you outdo each other in your love and sacrifice for the sake of the other.  To outdo each other in love.

And so it is in the family, in the community.  We can never relate well with each other when we are so full of ourselves.

As a seminary formator I also look for the same quality in the candidate for the priesthood.  Who is best fitted to become a priest?  He doesn't have to be very intelligent.  He doesn't even have to be very devout and religious.  It is enough that he studies well and he prays well.  But what I am looking for is generosity, a person who at times forgets himself when he serves other people.  A person who does not make a lot of demands that benefit only himself.  A person who is willing to walk the extra mile for the sake of the other.  A person who think of others first before his own needs.  I believe he would become a holy priest.

Today is seminary Sunday.  We are asking you to help us in our work of formation in the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary.  Help us to form future priests, good priests, holy priests, more priests.

And so this Sunday I would like to invite you to focus your attention on Jesus.  He is the most altruistic man.  He was born for us in order to die for us.  And he is there hanging on the cross because God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  He is the man that we ought to look up to and follow.