We have heard Jesus say in the gospel, “anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” We are challenged today by Jesus to put God first in our life and live out that choice daily. I have two examples to share with you, of people who lived their life with this principle, as a model for us. I found these stories in Fr. Mark Link’s book of Sunday Homilies.
Gale Sayers, who played with the Chicago Bears back in the 1960’s ranks among the greatest running backs in the history of professional football. Around his neck he always wore a gold medal about the size of a half-dollar. On it were inscribed three words: I am Third. Those three words became the title of his best-selling autobiography. The book explains why the words meant so much to Gale. They were the motto of his track coach, Bill Easton, back at the University of Kansas. Coach Easton kept the words on a little sign on his desk. One-day Gale asked him what they meant. Easton replied, “The Lord is first, my friends are second, and I am third.” From that day on, Gale made those words his own philosophy of life. In his second year with the Bears, Gale decided he wanted to wear something meaningful around his neck, like a religious medal. So he bought a gold medal and had the words I am Third engraved on it. In his autobiography Gale says, “I try to live by the saying on my medal. I don’t always succeed, but having the saying around my neck keeps me from straying from it too far.” (paraphrased) The story of Gale Sayers illustrates the point Jesus makes in the first half of today’s gospel, when he says: “If anyone come to me without hating his father and mother…and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” In other words, we must give top priority in our lives to Jesus and to his heavenly Father.
Some time ago the Los Angeles Times carried a moving story by reporter Dave Smith. It was about another modern Christian who, like Sayers, puts God first in his life, other people second, and himself third. His name is Charlie DeLeo. He grew up as a “tough kid on New York’s Lower East Side”. After returning from Vietnam, he got a job as maintenance man at the Statue of Liberty. Charlie told the reporter that part of his job is to take care of the torch in the statue’s hand and the crown on the statue’s head. He has to make sure that the sodium vapor lights are always working and that the 200 class windows in the torch and the crown are always clean. Pointing to the torch, Charlie said proudly, “That’s my chapel. I dedicated it to the Lord, and I go up there and meditate on my breaks.” Charlie said that when Pope John Paul II spoke at Battery Park, a mile and a half away from the statue, he stood on the catwalk that circles the torch and listened to the Holy Father’s talk. From that same catwalk Charlie also prayed fervently for the success of the pope’s visit to the United States. Charlie told the Los Angeles Times reporter: “I don’t socialize much, don’t have fancy clothes, but I have fun. The thing is, however, I don’t have enough money to get married. I don’t keep any of my money. After I got my job, I sponsored six orphans through those children’s organizations.” Charlie ended by telling the reporter that he calls himself the “Keeper of the Flame” of the Statue of Liberty. Later a park guide told the reporter: “Everybody knows Charlie is special. When he first gave himself that title, people smiled. But we all take it seriously now. To us, he’s exactly what he says: ‘Keeper of the Flame’.
Charlie DeLeo began his life as a tough kid on New York’s Lower East Side. But then, like Gale Sayers, he decided to put God first in his life, other people second, and himself third. That decision changed his life forever. Charlie is a living illustration of the two points Jesus makes in today’s gospel: the decision to put God first in one’s life, and the decision to live out that choice. Charlie is also a living inspiration for us to do what he did: to give top priority to God and, with God’s help, to live out that priority as courageously as we can. This is the message of today’s readings. This is the invitation God holds out to each one of us here at this Eucharist.
Let’s close with a prayer that Charlie DeLeo wrote. It sums up the challenge of today’s Scripture readings:
O Lord, I don’t ever expect to have the faith of Abraham,
Nor do I, O Lord, ever expect to have the leadership of Moses,
Nor the strength of Samson, nor the courage of David, nor the wisdom of Solomon…
But what I do expect, O Lord, is your calling on me some day.
What is your will, I shall do, what is your command shall be my joy…?
And I shall not fail you, O Lord, for you are all I seek to serve.
(slightly paraphrased)