(Christmas 2012: This homily was
given on December 25, 2012 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani. Read Isaiah 62: 1-5; Matthew 1: 18-25.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Christmas 2012]
It may not always be wonderful, but it is always worthwhile—with Jesus Christ.
That, in one line, is my message
to you on this Christmas Day.
Of course, my homily will be a bit
longer than that; I certainly wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone with a
one-line sermon!
This thought (“It may not always
be wonderful, but it IS always worthwhile—with Jesus”) came to mind the other
day after I read a brief excerpt from the autobiography of Frank Capra. Frank Capra was the man who directed the
classic Christmas film, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (my favorite Christmas movie) which
starred Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.
I’m sure most of you have seen
it, but for the benefit of those who haven’t, the story centers around George
Bailey, an ordinary man who has some extraordinary dreams—none of which ever
becomes a reality. He dreams of striking
it rich, but as the head of the local Building and Loan Company he never does
more than make ends meet. He dreams of
getting a great education and becoming famous, but he never even gets to go to
college. He dreams of traveling to
exotic places all over the world, but he never even leaves his hometown of
Bedford Falls.
In George’s own mind, he’s a
failure, and yet, as the story makes clear, he’s a man of sacrifice, a man of
integrity, a man of compassion and goodness—and a man whom God has blessed with
a loving family and many friends. But
George doesn’t recognize any of this, and so, when things begin to go badly for
him, he finds himself on the verge of despair.
He runs into problems at work, his relationships with the members of his
family become strained because of the stress he’s under, and he begins to think
that everyone might be better off without him.
So he considers committing
suicide by jumping off a bridge.
Enter Clarence—good, old
Clarence. Clarence is George’s guardian
angel, who comes to the rescue in response to the prayers of George’s family
and friends. George tells Clarence at
one point that he wishes he had never been born; that this world and everyone
in it would have been better off without him.
So Clarence gives him his wish:
George gets to see, and to experience, what the world would have been like had
he never been born. And, much to
George’s surprise, the world is a lot different, and in many ways a lot worse
in his absence: his town is different, his family is different, his friends are
different. It’s at that moment that
George finally sees things as they really are.
He realizes that his life is blessed in so many ways, and he understands
that throwing it away would be a tragedy of the highest order.
It’s a great story. But what I never knew until the other day was
why Frank Capra put it on film in the first place. Until the other day I never knew why he made
the movie. But then I found out—in this
brief quote from his autobiography.
Capra wrote:
“It’s a Wonderful Life” wasn’t made for the
oh-so-bored critics, or the oh-so-jaded literati. [Rather] it was my kind of film for my kind
of people. . . .
[It was]a film to tell the weary, the
disheartened, and the disillusioned; the wino, the junkie, the prostitute;
those behind prison walls and those behind Iron Curtains, that no man is a
failure.
[It was a film] to show those born slow of foot
or slow of mind, those oldest sisters condemned to spinsterhood, and those
oldest sons condemned to unschooled toil, that each man’s life touches so
many other lives. And that if he
isn’t around it would leave an awful hole.
[It was] a film that said to the downtrodden, the
pushed-around, the pauper, “Heads up, fella. No man is poor who has one friend.
Three friends and you’re filthy rich.”
[It was] a film that expressed its love for the
homeless and the loveless; for her whose cross is heavy and him whose touch is
ashes; for the Magdalenes stoned by hypocrites and the afflicted Lazaruses with
only dogs to lick their sores.
I wanted to shout to the abandoned grandfathers
staring vacantly in nursing homes, to the always-interviewed but seldom-adopted
half-breed orphans, to the paupers who refuse to die while medical vultures wait
to snatch their hearts and livers, and to those who take cobalt treatments and
whistle—I wanted to shout, “You are the salt of the earth. And ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is my memorial
to you!” (from Frank Capra’s
autobiography, “The Name Above the Title.”)
Too bad we don’t have more film
directors today like Frank Capra!
That’s a great quote. Although, when I read it the other day I must
admit that something about it bothered me.
As much as I liked it, I found something about it disturbing. And I soon realized what it was: the title of the film! Given what Frank Capra said in this quote,
the title no longer seemed right to me.
Think about it. He called the
movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” but it’s
clear that he made the film for people whose lives are anything but wonderful
(which means he made it for the vast majority of the human race!). I deal with lots and lots of people in my
priestly ministry, and I don’t think too many of them would describe their
lives as “wonderful”—or at least they wouldn’t say that their lives are “always
wonderful” or “consistently wonderful”: sometimes wonderful, perhaps—but
certainly not always.
Tragedies—like, for example, the
horrible shootings in Newtown, Connecticut two weeks ago—touch the lives of all
of us.
Which is why I think a better,
more accurate title for this film would have been, “It’s a Worthwhile Life.” Now I know
that doesn’t have the same “ring” to it as, “It’s a Wonderful Life” has (that’s
one reason I’m a priest and not a film maker!), but it is a more accurate description of the message of the film. Clarence taught George Bailey, that, in spite
of all his problems and trials, his life was definitely worth living! It was, without question, worthwhile.
Now that’s a truth that applies
to everyone’s life. It applies to all
the poor souls that Frank Capra mentioned in his quote. It applies to those who lost relatives and
friends in the Newtown shootings the other day.
And yes, it even applies to us.
But chances are we will not be
able to recognize that fact unless we have a personal relationship with the one
whose birthday we celebrate today, Jesus Christ—a relationship that’s nourished
by prayer and the sacraments.
Jesus Christ is God: the divine
Son of God who was born of the Virgin Mary on Christmas Day—and only GOD can
help us to see the true value of life!
That’s the way it was for George
Bailey, was it not? God, working through
his angel, Clarence, finally got George to see that his life was worth living,
in spite of all the bad stuff that was going on around him.
This is so important for us to
understand, my brothers and sisters, because the fact of the matter is many
people today DON’T think that life is worth living! They don’t perceive that it’s
“worthwhile.” In this regard, I heard a
very disturbing statistic the other day.
Did you know that during any given year 15% of adolescents in this
country consider suicide, and half of those young people actually attempt
it?
What a tragedy! I wonder how many in that 15% go to church every
Sunday and take their relationship with God seriously. I wonder how many of the parents of those
teens are teaching them, by their words and example, that faith is more
important than sports, and the other extra-curricular activities that their
children are currently involved in.
I was talking to a local doctor
at the gym the other day—a Christian doctor who’s been battling cancer now for
a number of years. He told me that when
he was first diagnosed he went through 40 chemo treatments over the span of
many months. They had to space his
treatments over that very long period of time because the chemo made him extremely sick—and also very tired.
Now he may be facing more
treatments.
But
what a great attitude he has! He
said to me the other day, “Fr. Ray, I don’t know how long the Lord’s going to
keep me here, but, as long as he does I’m going to live my life for Jesus
Christ! I’m going to witness to him, and
I’m going to bring as many people to him as I possibly can!”
Which brings me back at the end to
the idea I shared with you at the beginning: Life may not always be wonderful,
but life IS always worthwhile—with Jesus
Christ!
This doctor I talked to the other
day understands that.
Do you?