HOMILY FOR 17th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME:     JULY 30, 2017

What do you really, really want? 

I’m thinking about Solomon and how he reacted when God told him to ask for anything.  And then I began daydreaming about what I would say if God told me to ask for anything.  I can tell you, and this is embarrassing, I did think about lots of the typical things:  money, fame, power…you know…all the things we priests are known for.  But I also did admit that I’d really enjoy a house on the beach down in Stone Harbor.

 Solomon knew that wealth and success were fleeting and self-serving

and so he asked simply for an understanding heart.

It’s never too late to learn from the wisdom of Solomon.

 Truth be told:

I don’t ever expect to have a house on the beach down in Stone Harbor.

But I hope I have the wisdom to dream and to hope

that for the rest of my life, and into eternity,

I will find my home, my abode, in the loving arms of God.

I hope, in the end, I find that’s what I really, really want.

The Lord invited Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted.

What do you and I want this morning (evening)?

What do you and I need this morning (evening)?

And how is God involved in the mix

of our wants and our wishes, our dreams and our desires?

Having been fed with the bread of God’s word in the scriptures,

we go to the Lord’s Table to share his supper,

the food of the altar - the Eucharist.

Here we receive the Body and Blood of Christ

who, on the Cross, asked nothing for himself

but gave over everything for us

that we might have life and have it to the full.

May Christ be who we need.

May Christ be what we want.

May Christ be our deepest desire.

May Christ be our fondest hope and our finest dream.