The Choice (9th Ordinary Sunday Homily)

“Everything is a choice.” This is a quote from Matthew Kelly. “This is life’s greatest truth and its hardest lesson. It is a great truth because it reminds us of our power. Not power over others, but the often untapped power to be ourselves and to live the life we have imagined. It is a hard lesson, because it causes us to realize that we have chosen the life we are living right now. It is perhaps frightening for us to think that we have chosen to live our life exactly as it is today. Frightening because we may not like what we find when we look at our lives today. But it is also liberating, because we can now begin to choose what we will find when we look at our life in the tomorrows that lie unlived before us…We choose, and in doing so, we design our lives.”

One day, a great Zen Master asked his disciples, “How can we walk on the carpet all the time to protect our feet? Do we need to carpet the whole of the earth?” One of the wise disciples answered, “Master, it is easier to protect our feet with slippers than to carpet the whole world.” “Yes, my son. If you want peace, seek to change yourself, not other people.”

We have a power to choose what we like, especially over ourselves. Everything is a choice. For instance, some choose to come to the church out of habit; they were raised Catholics who go to the church every Sunday. Some choose out of fear; they learned there would be punishment if they don’t go to the church. Some choose out of necessity—for their child’s education, for their well being and spirituality. Some choose out of love. The choices vary and I don’t think I can weigh or judge whether it is right or wrong. What I want to do is, since you are here, that I guide you to see the most important choice you could make here and now.

To be or not to be, that is the question; to do or not to do, that is the matter. There is no middle—either do it or not, there is no try—either do it or not. Moses told the people, “I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse.” In other words, I open the door for you, but it is up to you to enter it. It is our choice to obey the commandments of the Lord, not just like observing the law but being passionate about it with our whole heart. Once we choose to follow the way of the blessing, we don’t want to fool around. There is a certain procedure to do and to be what we call ‘building a house on rock instead of on sand’.

The wise man in the gospel knows, in order to succeed, he needs something special which could be called “the secret.” Here I want to see the secret of the world through the current bestselling book The Seceret. It says there isn’t a single thing that you cannot do with this knowledge. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are. The Secret can give you whatever you want. Namely, the power to get absolutely anything which is called the law of attraction is simple because the law of attraction will always respond to your thoughts, so your thoughts become things. You shape your own life and destiny through the power of your mind.

However, I don’t think it is something new or it works by itself. The book is not realistic at all to me because no one wants to suffer by thinking, but there is always suffering around us. And the book ends up saying, “The earth turns on its orbit for you. The oceans ebb and flow for you. The birds sing for you. The sun rises and it sets for you…Take a look around. None of it can exist, without you…You are the master of the Universe…You are the perfection of life. And now you know The Secret…You are God in physical body.” People maybe crazy about this.

Let’s listen to the gospel. “Everyone who listens to theses words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Unlikely the bestseller, the gospel simply teaches us the importance of the congruence of words and deeds. Does it make more sense to you if you think of your life because there is no such a thing without this simple truth: we choose to do the right thing and strive for it. But in the end God is the one who fulfills it. As St. Paul says, “Neither the planter nor the waterer matters. Only God who makes things grow.” And the consoling belief is that our God is loving and for us, so He has given us the free will to choose who we are and what we like. For Catholics, we realize that we are not the center of the world; rather, we are children of God who wants us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves. In God we are confident, following the Word of life and striving to live it out. Therefore, our secret would be the St. Paul’s saying: we know that God makes everything work together for the good of those who have been called to choose to listen to the word and act on it. If God is for us, who can be against us? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? This is our secret; this is our choice here and now to listen to the words of Jesus and act on them. Therefore, we are proud of saying that, knowing God is with us and for us. Are you ready to take the blessing?