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Homily of the Day
Title: |
Its Dangerous to Believe Our Own Press Releases |
Author: |
Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D. |
Date: |
Wednesday, January 28, 2004 |
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2 Sam 7:4-17 / Mk 4:1-20
None of us has any greater enemy than our own egos, which lie and lie to us, just as the snake did in the story of Adam and Eve. You can be Gods equal, says the ego. What a lie that is, but we fall for it again and again, and it gets us in terrible trouble.
A raging ego running rampant is what we see in todays Old Testament story about David. The little shepherd boy had become a king and he seemed to have forgotten who put him on the throne and guaranteed victory in all his battles. David proposed to build a house for God. It seemed like a nice gesture; even the prophet Nathan thought so.
But God who reads all hearts understood Davids heart all too well. David didnt recognize his own radical poverty in the face of God who made the whole universe. What could he give to God that wasnt Gods already? What would God need a house for if he already had a whole universe? These thoughts hadnt occurred to David. His ego had silently shrunk God down to Davids own size!
That can happen. We can shrink God, and we can inflate ourselves. Both will lead us into foolishness that delays our getting on with the real business of life, which is building Gods kingdom not only around us but within us. The core of building the kingdom is the endless process of transformation whose goal is a heart shaped in Gods likeness.
So dont get distracted by delusions of grandeur. Remember who you are and what your real work is. And be assured that the God who made you will at every turn provide you with what you need to complete your journey.
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