Happy Cowboys

A homily delivered at Happy, Texas

 

           Fr. Alvin is attending a retreat this weekend and I’m quite honored that he asked me to cover for him here in Happy this evening.

           I must admit that I do not know a lot about your community but I am aware that the mascot for your high school is a cowboy.  This leads me to conclude that some of you here have had experience with horses.

            I bring this up because the Pharisee in today’s gospel reminds me of a horse. Not for how he acts, but for how he sees.

            You might not think that a priest has much interest in horses but, for many years, I started colts in my free time. I’ve broken over 120 horses and some of them have broken me, specifically an index finger, my left wrist and two upper ribs.

           If any of you have worked with horses, you know that they tend to be skittish. A sudden movement off to the side or an unexpected object in their path can make them bolt and buck and all you can do is hold on for dear life!

           This used to irritate me to no end. But then, I learned why they behave this way: it’s a defense mechanism. In place of sharp teeth or claws to protect themselves, God equipped them with large eyes and inside those large eyes is a large retina  which makes things that are up close appear to be twice the size they actually are and, when those things are in motion, they appear to move twice as fast.

           So, when startled, a horse will typically about 20 to 30 feet away, they turn and look back at what frightened them. Only then are their eyes in focus and their vision accurate, i.e.  Oh, that was a plastic bag. Whew! I thought it was a bobcat.

           This why the Pharisee in today’s gospel reminds me of a horse.  Not because he runs away but because, when he looks at himself, perceives his accomplishments as twice the size that they truly are!               Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the horse sense—pardon the pun—to step back to gain better perspective and clearer focus. This man, so impressed with himself…and his accomplishments simply can’t see pass his nose. 

           You could say he’s walking in the dark. He does not realize that a new day has dawned. Light has appeared in the darkness. And that light is the light of Christ.

           Speaking of light and the coming of a new day, did you ever wonder how people in the ancient world—before the invention of clocks, wrist watches and cell phones—determined the time of dawn? Without the means to declare that a new day would begin at, let’s say, at 5:34 AM or 6:15 AM, the rabbis taught their people that a new day dawns when there was enough light in the sky to distinguish a stranger from your brother or sister. 

           Yes, when you could discern the difference between someone you loved from someone you didn’t know, that was the moment of dawn.

           Well, in Christ, a new and eternal day has indeed dawned. And, in the light of this new day, we are all members of the household of God. We are all brothers and sisters. Sadly, the Pharisee saw only some stranger with slumped shoulders and a bowed head at the back of the synagogue. He didn’t realize that the man was his brother. 

            How different this story could have ended if he had better spiritual vision. It would not close with some guy pounding his chest but with a Happy cowboy slapping his teammate him on the back.