Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: Welcome to the Blessed Sacrament Homilies podcast, where our mission is to help everyone recognize and experience the presence of God. We hope you are nourished and encouraged by the Word. Thank you for joining us.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: The Lord be with you and with your spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark. Glory to you, O Lord. Jesus said to his disciples in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.
Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near at the gates.
Amen. I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
But of that day or hour, no one knows. Neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord.
When you think about it, it is truly amazing.
You are shining stars.
You are shining stars.
You are shining stars.
Probably not the first thing you thought about when you woke up this morning, right?
Cosmologists tell us that our bodies are literally stardust made flesh.
Stardust made flesh.
They were made a part of particles that were made at the beginning of the universe only roughly 13.8 billion years ago.
Now, I don't know about you, but that's a wow, is it not?
Oh, gosh, you sound so excited.
Well, I guess so.
That's a wow, isn't it?
It is.
It is. We are stardust made flesh in Daniel's image. In our first reading of the righteous. Becoming stars is an invitation for us to claim what we truly are.
Listen again to what he says at the end of that reading.
But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament.
And those who lead the many to justice shall be like stars forever.
Shall be like stars forever.
We are called to tend the divine light within us and to radiate goodness to others.
And our world certainly needs it, does it not?
Our world is a troubled world, a turbulent world filled with all kinds of challenges in these days.
And those who are wise are able to see the bigger picture and not get Cut off with little things and small things. And they're able to see current.
They're able to look at current events within the perspective, the bigger perspective.
And when they do that, they realize that all of us are connected.
Every single one of us here is connected. Whether we like it or not, we belong to one another because that's how God put us together. We belong to each other. And what you and I need to overcome again and again is the illusion of separateness.
I'll say that again. The illusion of separateness. That I have my own individual life and you have your own individual life, and my life has nothing to do with yours and vice versa. That is simply not true.
Our lives have much to do with each other's lives.
Or to use a different image, in God's eyes, we are all one body.
One body. Not just here at Blessed Sacrament.
One body in this whole world. It's a big body, about 8 billion of us.
But in God's eyes, we are one.
One body.
And when you and I recognize that and see it and can live it, then we can let our star. We can be shining stars in what we say and what we do. And it's often in little kinds of things.
A listening ear, a gentle word, a generous action, a warm embrace, a helping hand.
So often an action of thoughtfulness can touch someone else's heart and our starlight for them can shine.
It even happens in old comic strips.
Lucy is leaning against the window sill and says to her brother Linus, my life is a drag.
I've never felt so low.
Nothing ever goes right for me.
And Linus says to her, well, Lucy, you know, when you're in a mood like that, it helps to think of what you're thankful for, to count your blessings.
Ha.
I could count my blessings on one finger. I've never had anything and I never will have anything. I don't get half the breaks that other people get. And you talk about count your blessings. You talk about being thankful. Well, tell me one thing that I have to be thankful for.
Well, you have a little brother who loves you.
Oh. She gets these big tears and comes over and gives him a great big hug.
And then Linus looks up and says, every now and then I say the right thing.
So this morning, say and do the right thing.
Be shining stars. Amen.
