Friday, October 29, 2021

HOMILY– 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Keep it Simple

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      One of my favorite movies scenes of all time came in a silly 90's comedy called "City Slickers."

          The movie is about a bunch of guys experiencing their mid-life crisis who go on a two-week cattle drive from a dude ranch in New Mexico to Colorado.

In the favorite scene, Curly, a quiet, tough cowboy, and Mitch, a greenhorn, chatty city slicker, are riding along the trail talking about life.

Curly tells the city slicker, “You city folks worry about a lot (things)… You spend 50-weeks a year getting knots in your rope and you think that two weeks up here will help you untie them.”


At that point, Curly turns to Mitch and says, “Do you know what the secret of life is?” Mitch replies, “No, what?” Curly holds up his  finger and says, “This!” Mitch says, “Your finger?”

Curly then goes on to explain that he means is that only one thing matters in life.

Mitch says, “That’s great, but what’s the one thing?"

Curly’s response, “That’s what you gotta figure out.”

Jesus has figured it out for us today.

The one thing is the greatest commandment (love God, love neighbor). It is that simple.

This is how we find happiness in life.

Jesus is employing what is called essentialism, a mindset where we eliminate all nonessential aspects of our lives and embrace one thing that is important in order to find happiness.

This is a mindset that Jesus encourages us to embrace today.  

           Love God. Love neighbor.  My sisters and brothers, Jesus wants us to keep it simple.


          

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