Thursday, March 21, 2013

Daily Mass Homily: Wednesday, March 20th, 2013


            First, let’s review the great news from last week.  What happened?  [New pope!]  And what is his name?  [Francis!]  Where is he from?  [Argentina.] 
Next, excellent work to our lector this morning.  Some of our adults would be afraid to say “Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego” in public! 
            The basic theme of the first reading was choosing God before everything else.  Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue that was made that all the Israelites were supposed to worship.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chose God over worshiping a false god.
            Now I bet you wouldn’t worship a golden statue if someone told you to.  You know that we are to love God before something so silly.  Yet, think about this—what does the NBA trophy look like?  NFL?  NHL?  And think of how the players treat this trophy, kissing, hugging and nearly bowing down to it. 
            What else in our society are we tempted to put before God?  Fame, fortune, possessions, food, technology to name a few.  We are to place God before each of these, including our very lives.
            We are blessed to have a new Holy Father, and should follow his witness of holiness and service.  Over everything else, Pope Francis is a modern day Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who places God before everything else.

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