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The Homily of 19th Sunday of Ordinary Mass By Fr. KimmWilliam Jefferson Clinton, forty-second president of the United States, was also the first U.S. president to testify in front of a grand jury investigating his own possibly criminal conduct and only the second U.S. president to be impeached. But Clinton's past has done nothing to diminish his popularity. Four hundred thousand copies of My Life, his autobiography published in June, were sold on the first day it was available, and huge crowds have greeted the former president as he has promoted his book around the country. While some might say presidents should only be people of impeccable character, Clinton's questionable behavior is of no concern to his defenders, who see no reason to hold him to some higher standard. God is a little more demanding of us. He does hold us to a higher standard than the one to which he holds many of our neighbors. We are the servants who know their master's will, as opposed to the servants who are ignorant of his will. We've been trained, we've been led, we been shown examples. We pray, we praise, we listen to God's word, we celebrate his sacraments. We even nourish ourselves with the body and blood of his Son. We support one another as members of one family, and love is our guiding force. From God's point of view, all of this has to make a difference, make us different. Yes, regardless of the actions of others, God does expect that we will be the ones who will be gentle to those who are harsh; strong in defense of the weak; respectful of those who disagree; faithful in commitments, generous in service, hopeful in the worst of times. God expects everyone to live according to his will; he just expects us to be more successful at it. With his help and some determination on our part, we can prove that his expectation is realistic. 19th Sun. O.T. (C) Aug. 7, 2004 <
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