Homily on Presentation of the Lord 2025

"You suck at this!  Go run that drill until you get it!" yells the coach at practice.  It's not always nice, but that's how coaches coach you to be better.  They tell you the long, hard truth that you're not great at this or that skill, and they help you fix it.  A silversmith does the same thing by removing the dross from melted silver.  Only when all the impurities are gone can the silver be used to make various objects.  But running those drills or removing the dross is rarely a comfortable experience.  It's usually painful to some degree and can be grueling at times.  But the beauty is in the finished product.

God works in the same way.  We come to worship to give glory to God, yes, but also be run through the ringer, to be told what we're not good at, to have our own dross removed.  It's not comfortable, but it is the path of a disciple!  And the beauty is what lies before us in eternal life!