A shining City on a Mountaintop

Mont St. Michel France

A Shining City on a Mountaintop

(Mt 5:14)

February 6, 2011, 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 58:7-10 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Matthew 5:13-16

First reading from Isaiah: “Your light shall break forth.”

Thus says the LORD: Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

The Word of God
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord

“You are a shining city on a mountaintop.”

Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. You are a shining city on a mountaintop, glowing in the night for all to see. No one lights a lamp to put it under a bowl; instead he puts it on a lamp-stand, where it gives light for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see your goodness and give praise to your Father in heaven.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction
A much-liked imagery

The boot of Italy is dotted with thousands of little towns and cities perched upon the lofty hills and mountaintops. At night, they’re all aglow with lights. It’s a beautiful sight to behold. That’s the imagery Jesus has in mind when He says, “You are like a city built upon a mountaintop, and glowing in the night for all to see.”

It’s a much-liked image. Puritan John Winthrop, standing on the tiny deck of the Arabella in 1630 off the Massachusetts coast, wrote a sermon entitled A Model of Christian Charity. In it he admonished the future Massachusetts Bay colonists to be a “shining city upon a hill, watched by the whole world.” President Reagan also used the image in a speech: “Why this country is a shining city built upon a hill!” In response to Reagan, former Governor of New York, Italian Mario Cuomo, took up the image in his famous keynote address to the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, July 16, 1984. “Mr. President,” he said, “you ought to know that this nation is more a Tale of Two Cities than it is a shining city upon a hill.” Cuomo wove the image throughout his speech.[1] In 2008 running mate Sarah Palin announced that she shares a worldview with John McCain “that says that America is a shining city upon a hill, as President Regan so beautifully said.”

Pope John and Fr. Judge -- shining cities upon a mountaintop

The gospel says that we are like those little Italian towns perched upon mountaintops and sparkling like gems in the setting sun. People seeing our goodness give glory to the Father in heaven. Good Pope John XXIII sitting on the lofty throne of Peter was truly a shining city on a mountaintop, during his very short pontificate (1958-63). As he lay dying on June 3, 1963, the whole world was kneeling at his bedside. (We who were tuned in to the news that day know that’s not an exaggeration.)The Catholic and non-Catholic world had experienced Pope John’s goodness, and both gave glory to the Father in heaven for it.

Franciscan Father Mychal Judge was a compassionate champion of the forlorn and forgotten of New York City and a beloved chaplain of the N.Y. City Fire Department,. He died in the holocaust of 9/11, as he ministered the last rites to a dying firefighter. He too was a shining city on a mountaintop. Multitudes of churched and unchurched people saw Fr. Judge’s goodness, and gave glory to the Father in heaven for it. When a memorial service was held for Fr. Judge, an endless flow of priests, nuns, lawyers, cops, firefighters, homeless people, rock-and-rollers, recovering alcoholics, local politicians and middle aged couples from the suburbs streamed into Good Shepherd Chapel on Ninth Ave., an Anglican church, to memorialize a Roman Catholic.

A Jewish CEO --- a shining city upon a mountaintop

Aaron Feuerstein, a devout Jew, is CEO and owner of Malden Mills, a fabric factory in Methuen, Massachusetts. On the night of December 11, 1995 when a surprise party was held for his seventieth birthday, a boiler exploded and a devastating fire demolished a good part of his factory. He didn’t grab the insurance money and run. Instead he assembled all his 2400 employees in the Catholic school and assured them that with God's help they would all get through the tragedy together. Then he gave them their pay checks plus a $275 Christmas bonus and a $20 food coupon. He also promised that for 30 days all his employees would be paid their full salaries, and that for 90 days their health insurance would be paid. Above all, he promised that within 90 days he would try to have his factory 100 percent operational, and his people back to work. There was a moment of stunned disbelief, and then the workers rose to their feet cheering and hugging each other and also weeping. Aaron Feuerstein is the salt of the earth. He is light for this world. He is a shining city on a mountaintop, for everyone to see. His 2400 employees saw his goodness, and gave glory to the Father in heaven for it.

A quarterback -- a shining city upon a mountaintop

Today February 6, 2011 Super Bowl XLV will pit the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Green Bay Packers to decide the NFL champion for the 2010 season. The game will be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Kickoff time is approximately 5:25pm. Quarterback for the Packers is Aaron Rogers and Ben Roethlisberger for the Steelers. The occasion calls to mind another quarterback - Kurtis Warner – of the St. Louis Rams, who led his team to victory against the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV, Jan. 30, 2000.

An e-mail I received reads:

When they met, Kurtis Warner was a university student and Brenda was a divorced single mom living on food stamps. In his autobiography Keep Your Head Up Kurt describes his and Brenda's first encounter, when a teammate at the University of Northern Iowa talked him into going to a country-music club in Cedar Falls, Iowa. There was an instant connection, but Brenda didn't know whether it would last. Not only was she a single mom, but one of her two children - her son Zachary - had significant medical problems. He was blinded and brain-injured when accidentally dropped to the floor by her first husband. Kurt was not turned aside by the children or Zachary's condition, and he and Brenda forged a relationship that resulted in their marrying four years later.

After trying out with the Green Bay Packers, Kurt received a pink-slip and returned to Cedar Falls in 1994. There he worked nights stocking shelves for $5.50 an hour. To keep a long story short, he eventually became quarterback for the St. Louis Rams, and rose to fame by throwing an amazing 41 touchdowns passes in one season for the Rams, bringing them to a 13-3 record and to memorable victory in Super Bowl XXXIV.

He is known for his commitment to his family, his clean-kid lifestyle, and his Christian faith. He and Brenda now live in St. Louis with their four children Zachary, Kade, Jesse, and Jada Jo. Kurt is the founder of First Things First -- a foundation dedicated to impacting lives by promoting Christian values, sharing experiences and providing opportunities to encourage everyone that all things are possible when people seek to put First Things First.

That e-mail was sent as a gentle rebuttal to a homily I preached, which took pot shots at sport heroes “as overrated, overpaid and very spoiled brats.” Among them, I included the infamous quarterback Michael Vick, who has more money than he needs, and yet ran a lucrative but utterly cruel dog-fighting operation. The e-mail was written by one who saw quarterback Kurt as a shining city upon a mountaintop (especially in the world of sports), and he titled his e-mail: “Sometimes sport heroes are heroes.”

Conclusion
A motley tribe

John XXIII was born poor in a little Italian village named Bergamo Sotto il Monte (Bergamo at the Foot of the Mountain), and he made it to the top as the Church’s 261st pope. Fr. Mychal Judge was a recovering alcoholic and parish priest for all of New York City’s forlorn and forgotten. CEO Aaron Feuerstein showed remarkable goodness toward his burnt-out employees, and he dismisses any praise of him, saying he was simply following the prophet Micah asks him "to act justly, to be filled with loving kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God." (Micah 6:8) Super Bowl hero quarterback Kurtis Warner proves that “sometimes sport heroes are heroes,” as they try to put First Things First in their lives.

John, Mychal, Aaron, Kurtis are indeed a motley tribe. But at the end of the day, they’re all shining cities on a mountaintop, and we, seeing their goodness, give glory to the Father in heaven.

[1] In the same speech Cuomo also remarked, “We would rather have laws written by the patron of this great city, the man called the `world's most sincere Democrat,’ St. Francis of Assisi, than laws written by Darwin.”