No Man Can Live Without Delight

Homily 22nd Sunday Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 2012
Fr. Paul D. Williams, Jr., pastor, Saint Joseph's, Dalton, GA

When I was in the seminary, one of our professors, who was teaching us moral theology, came to class one day with a yo-yo. He took the yo-yo, held it in front of him, and started swinging it back and forth, like a pendulum. And then he called one of us up to do the same. So one of my classmates dutifully got up and started swinging the yo-yo like a pendulum. We thought this was a mildly entertaining diversion, a good way to waste class time, but then our professor asked my classmate to stop, which he did. Then he told him to close his eyes, and to visualize the yo-yo swinging like he had just been doing, to just think about it without actually swinging the yo-yo. We all laughed until our classmate actually tried it. He sat there with his eyes closed, held the yo-yo out, and then concentrated. And before you knew it, the yo-yo was swinging back and forth. We were about to laugh, but the professor told us to keep quiet, and then he asked him, “Are you thinking about swinging the yo-yo?” “Yes.” “Is the yo-yo swinging?” “Of course not.” And that’s when he told him to open his eyes, and he was surprised to see the yo-yo swinging back and forth like a pendulum.

The point of the exercise was real simple: thoughts are, in a very real sense, actions, or, at the least, what sets action into motion. Ideas have consequences, and sometimes it’s hard to stop those consequences once our thoughts set them into motion.

And this is a theme which Jesus preaches about frequently. Today, he says, “Wicked designs come from the deep recesses of the heart: (and then he lists a series of evils) All these evils come from within and render a man impure.” And he would teach this again in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not kill;' But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…” “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” “You have heard that it was said, 'Do not take a false oath,’… But I say to you, do not swear at all… Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'”

Of course, nowadays, many of the evils Jesus speaks of as things which render a man impure are actually exalted as virtues. I guarantee you, you can go home tonight, on a Sunday evening during Labor Day weekend, and in less than an hour flipping through the channels on the television you will see everything which Jesus spoke of: “acts of fornication, theft, murder, adulterous conduct, greed, maliciousness, deceit, sensuality, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, an obtuse spirit.”

Now, in history and even the Bible, many of the great works of art and literature and music contain themes of lust, violence, or wickedness. But these are works of art because, as Walker Percy said (Signposts, p.365), they accurately portray “the way things are, the way people are… the truth about the human condition.” Great works of art portray sin, yes, but they also portray the consequences of sin, and they do so in a way that is not prurient or lewd, designed only to excite the senses instead of stimulating the intellect or moving the heart. And that’s what is happening in America today: these “wicked designs” are not only entertainment; they have become glorified as virtuous. Pornography is a multi-billion dollar per year industry, violence in the movies glorifies the violence that we see on the nightly news, advertisements appeal to our sensuality, greed and materialism, and much of what we see is simply arrogant and blasphemous.

Why has this happened? Well, I believe it is simply because we have lost our sense of true joy, true spirituality. St. Thomas Aquinas says (II-II.35.4.2), “No man can live without delight. This is why a man deprived of spiritual joy goes over to carnal pleasures.”

We have killed spiritual joy in America today and that is why we have gone over to these “wicked designs”, or carnal pleasures.

So, how do we remedy this situation? Very simply, start within. And the readings today give us plenty of suggestions. The psalm says, “He who walks blamelessly and does justice, who thinks the truth in his heart and slanders not with his tongue.” St. James says, “Humbly welcome the word that has taken root in you, with its power to save you. Act on this word. If all you do is listen to it, you are deceiving yourselves... Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world." And Moses says, “Hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live.” Hear the word of God, let it take root in you, and act on it. Let it transform you from within. Only then will you have life, true spiritual life, true spiritual joy.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” If your heart is pure – free from lust and sensuality, violence and anger, greed and materialism, pride and arrogance – then you will be able to see God, not only in the future life that he promises, but also here and now. You will be able to see him in the community, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” You will be able to see him in the poor and the suffering, “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” You will be able to see him in the sacraments of the Church, especially the Eucharist and Confession, as St. Ambrose said, “You have shown Yourself to me, O Christ, face to face. I meet You in Your sacraments.” And one day, if you prepare your hearts now, you will be able to see him face to face, when he leads us to the promised land, the kingdom of heaven, which he promises to those who love him and keep his commandments.