22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) – September 1, 2024

St. Paul – Lyons, KS

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; Psalm 15:2-5; James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Reading? I Hate Reading

Growing up, I hated reading. I just hated it. And I felt bad about it, because I knew it was good, and that it’s good for you and all. And as you know, I was homeschooled. But not just any homeschool. We did a great books based classical education. And to top that off, my mom curated a collection of books that is massive—we have so many shelves of books at the family home. It’s literally a library. But again, I hated reading; so this was all wasted on me. Even though I should have read through some of the greatest works in the history of the world by the time I was 16—books like the Iliad and the Odyssey, Shakespeare and C.S. Lewis, A Tale of Two Cities and Les Miserables—even though I should have read all of these (and more!), I didn’t. Passed all the tests and wrote the papers—never read them. “How?” You may ask.

Quick history lesson: there was this guy named Clifton Keith Hillegass. Clifton was born in Nebraska in 1918 and went on to work for some book company. And he came across a thing from Canada by a guy named Jack Cole. Jack Cole took known literary works, like well-known books that are out there, and made them accessible to students—and they called them “Coles Notes” up in Canada. Clifton saw these and thought, “I bet American students would also benefit from something like this.” And so Clifton took it upon himself (there in Lincoln, Nebraska) to make “CliffsNotes.” Anybody ever use CliffsNotes? Anyone? Just me? Ok. So yeah! A bunch books I was supposed to read, a bunch of books I should have dived into—never read ‘em.

And I missed out on so much! Like seriously, my education was so impoverished because I just took the CliffsNotes for these literary masterpieces, got the gist of things, got the info I needed to pass tests and to sound like I knew what was going on, but never entered into the world, the words, the genius of these authors and their works. Later on—thanks be to God—I discovered a love for reading, and my world was changed. East of Eden by John Steinbeck? Changed my life!

Do You Know Your Story?

But I think this is pretty common. And what I mean is this: I think it is fairly common for us to just know the gist of books, and movies, and stories. We know the stories, the plot. We know the famous lines—“Rosebud,” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” “Call me Ishmael”—we’ve got the CliffsNotes version, but we have never dived into the text. And I think this is especially true when it comes to Sacred Scripture, to this book, this collection of books, we call “The Bible.”

And here’s the thing: this is so much bigger than just, “Do you know the Bible?” Or, “Do you know the story, or the stories in the Bible?” The question is: Do you know your story? The story that you and your life is a part of? I think, sadly, most of us are more comfortable standing up right now and telling us the plot of Star Wars or Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings or Yellowstone or Game of Thrones or Bridgerton or whatever—I think most of us are more comfortable rehearsing those stories than we are rehearsing the greatest story, the story that we are actually caught up in. Sure, there are a lot of great stories! But in reality, there is only one story. And you’re a part of it. The Bible is not just another story, or a collection of nice stories that teach us to be better people. The Bible is an account of all of history and reality.

The Important of Stories

Stories are massively important. I’m fascinated by what neuroscience is finding out about the impact—when you read a story (maybe some of you are familiar with this) it actually begins to rewire your brain. It has the effect on your brain when your read it as if you’re lying it! That’s why stories are so massively important for us.

But it’s even more than that! Stories shape how we think and what we do. They teach us what to love, what to hope for, whom to trust. They tell us where we came from, where we are, where we’re going. It’s in stories that we find meaning, purpose and the truths by which we live (c.f., Rod Dreher, How Dante Can Save Your Life). A simple way to think about this is glasses. Glasses are how I think about what’s called a “worldview.” We all see the world and life and reality through a set of lenses. Some of us are conscious of that, others are not. Everybody sees reality through a set of “lenses.” It’s the story we tell ourselves to make sense of the world.

But then here’s the challenge: if we don’t understand ourselves as part of a larger, greater story, we will have no idea what we are supposed to do with our lives. And in our day and age, we have lost the story that for centuries gave people a way to make sense of their lives. And that’s the biblical story. For the past 1,500 years or so, most people have seen reality through this set of “lenses”—and they may have been conscious of that, they may not have been—but it shaped so, so much: literature, architecture, music, art, education, government. So much! 

But now, we’re in a time where those “glasses” have been broken, cast aside. In our day and age, we no longer believe we’re part of any universal story, no. Now we’re free to choose our own story, follow our own heart! If it feels good, do it. If it feels right, believe it. This is how many people think today. Other people see their lives through the “lens,” the story of romance: if I can just find the right person, everything in my life will come together. The story of achievement: if I can just achieve A, B, or C in my career or with my kids, I will finally be happy; if I win a state title, or a Super Bowl. The story of consumerism: if I can just acquire A, B, or C…

And when these are the lenses, it’s easy to make a wreck of your life. And then one day you wake up and wonder, “Where am I? How did I get here? And how do I get home?” Those have been my words many times in my life. Maybe you’ve felt that at times too. I remember David Duval, who was the world number one in golf before Tiger Woods. And he wins the British Open, and he comes home, and they ask him, “Are you finally fulfilled?” And he tailspins into a depression! Why? Because his whole life had been geared toward that accomplishment. And when he finally got it, he discovered it didn’t fulfill him. He wanted more! The story, the narrative, the “lenses” that he had been using to give meaning and purpose to his life—he discovered they were a fraud! And I think many of us have had that realization: we are going after X, Y, or Z; romance, achievement, consumerism; state titles or Super Bowls—and we get there and discover, “This isn’t it.” It’s the story of the tell of the news broadcaster I met on a flight up to Chicago: he got everything he ever wanted, and couldn’t understand why he wasn’t happy. These stories, these “lenses” we use—both for people who come to church every week as well as people who rarely ever come—these stories have betrayed us.

Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible

But—but, what if there was a different story? What if there is a story that could change everything? What if there was a different story? The good news is there is. The story contained in Sacred Scripture, in the Bible—this is what we have to get back to. And I think we know that. I think there is something within us, especially us here today—I think there’s something in us that knows that. I mean, when Fr. Mike Schmitz started a podcast back in 2021 where he just read the Bible—just read the Bible—it was the number one podcast in the world!

What if there was someone who understood everything about your life? What if that someone loved you? What if that someone had an amazing plan for your life? God wants to reveal himself to you, talk to you, about all aspects of your life. And one of the places he meets us most powerfully is in the Bible. There, you’ll not only discover who God is, but also who you are: where you’re from, where you’re going, how to get there. The story contained in the Bible makes sense not only out of history, but out of your life. It’s all one story.

As you probably know, today we’re beginning our Fall series dedicated to unlocking the mystery of the Bible and the story it contains. And I want to encourage you to get involved. Like I said, I think a lot of us are stuck at the CliffsNotes version. Or we know a lot of the stories—David and Goliath, something about Jonah and a Whale, Joseph’s Technicolor Dream Coat—we know a lot of stories, but we don’t know the story. And I think—I think if we gave it a chance it would change everything. I know it did for me.

I vividly remember the first time someone opened up Scripture for me. I was sitting and listening to a Bishop talk about the story of the Rich Young Man, Mark 10—and it changed my life. I remember reading an introduction to the whole Bible by Scott Hahn when I was 18, A Father Who Keeps His Promises—changed my life. Over and over, the more I dove into Scripture, the more I read and prayed and studied Scripture—the more I understood and knew God, the more I understood and could make sense of the world around me and history, and the more I came to know myself and God’s plan for my life. How? By reading and studying and praying with Sacred Scripture, with the Bible.

And so I want to really encourage you: hop on board this Fall. We have a lot of opportunities to get involved, whether in our small groups like Walking with Purpose, or in your own small group, or at home with your family. Dive in.

James, in our second reading today—James exhorted us, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only.” But how can we be “doers” if we have not first been “hearers”? We need to hear what God has to say, we need to listen to him speak. And where better than in his Sacred Word? That’s why we have readings at every Mass. That’s why we should each dive into Scripture more. And when we do that, I think you’ll discover—I think you’ll experience a life-changing encounter with God, encounter him in a new and life-changing way.

This is your chance to encounter and deepen your faith like never before. So I would encourage you: don’t be content with your CliffsNotes understanding anymore. Let’s discover a story which can shape our lives precisely as God created them. There is a better story than the one the world is selling us right now. And it’s one that will change your life.