Homily For Eighteenth
Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)
by
Fr. Billy Swan
July 30, 2019
"Dear
friends. I would like to share a few thoughts this week on addiction. I do so
not only because it is topical and relevant to our society today but because it
is found in the Gospel story this weekend of the man who wasn’t contented with
his rich harvest but wanted an even greater return the following year – a year
he would never see because of his premature death. Like many addictions, his was
to ‘having more’. What he had was never enough.
Now when we talk about addictions, we might
be tempted to think only of the big ones we hear about – addictions to alcohol,
to smoking, drugs, gambling or pornography. If we do then we might be tempted to
cod ourselves in thinking that addictions effect other people but not me. That
I’m ok. The truth is that all of us are prone to any number of addictions at any
time. Most of us are probably struggling with some addiction right now. It’s not
a question of if we are, but more a question of ‘to what am I addicted?’ This is
because the human spirit always seeks to attach itself to something greater than
itself. And it is this attachment that will either destroy us or fill us with
joy in this life and the next.
One man who came full circle on this journey
of attachment and detachment was Matt Talbot. It is said that he was a hopeless
alcoholic by the time he was 14. He was so addicted to drink that he would do
anything and lose everything just to have another drink. He pawned his clothes
and boots to get money for alcohol. On one occasion, he stole a fiddle from a
street entertainer in Dublin and sold it to buy drink. His addiction to alcohol
turned him into someone he hated to be. When he hit rock bottom, he turned to
God in desperate prayer and pledged with his grace to detach himself from drink
and to attach himself ever more faithfully to God. In his efforts to turn his
life around, Matt Talbot was successful but credited everything to God and his
mercy.
We can learn so much from his story. The most
important thing to learn is how his addiction, like our addictions and every
addiction, is a spiritual problem that needs a spiritual cure. Before his
conversion, Matt Talbot tried to satisfy his need for God with alcohol before he
realised that there is no chemical solution to a spiritual problem. We are prone
to addictions when God is not in first place and what comes first instead in our
lives are things that can never replace him. Matt Talbot’s detachment from drink
corresponded to his attachment to God. To help him make this painful transition,
we know he read the writings of St Frances de Sales who urges us not just to
give up our addictions but to give up our love for them. So for Matt Talbot, it
wasn’t just a question of giving up the drink. It was just as much about giving
up his love for it. Since his death on 7th June 1925, Matt Talbot has been an
inspiration and sign of hope to people like us who struggle with addictions. He
was declared Venerable by Pope Paul VI in 1975 and how wonderful it would be if
one day he is declared a saint. He once wrote: ‘Never be too hard on the person
who can’t give up drink. It’s as hard to give up the drink as it is to raise the
dead to life again. But both are possible and even easy for Our Lord. We have
only to depend on him.’
Today we pray for ourselves, that we may know
our addictions and admit them. We pray that we become detached and free from
whatever holds us back and kills our joy that comes from God. We pray that every
day, we may attach our spirits in humble prayer to the God who made them and the
God for whom they were made. We pray for all those whose lives are being
destroyed by addiction here and beyond. May this be the time when new hope is
born and many souls turn back again to God. Matt Talbot, pray for
us."
*Note: We are responsible for this
title.