There is a story of a father and a son who collected rare works of art. Later, the son went to War and lost his life trying the save the life of another soldier. The father was crestfallen. Just before Christmas that year, the young soldier whose life the son saved, came to the door and presented to the grieving man a portrait of his son that he had painted. The man kept the portrait on his mantel and often admired its realism. When he died, an auction was held for all the rare works of art and among them was the portrait of the son by an unknown artist. At the auction, everybody’s eyes were on the rare paintings but there were no takers for the portrait of the son. The family gardener had fond memories of the son and he was the only one to bid ten dollars for the son’s portrait. That was all he could afford. At once the auctioneer announced that the auction was over. He told the puzzled gathering that there was a secret stipulation in the old man’s will. “The son! The son!” the auctioneer cried out, “Whoever gets the son takes everything.”
Fourth Sunday of Advent
I saw Frozen 2 the other day! It is a good movie. I went to see it after strong recommendations, and I must say, it did not disappoint. For those who have not seen it, there are no spoilers in this homily. There is a line from Elsa’s sister Anna’s song, “Do the next right thing,” that I would like to focus on for this homily. She sings, “You are lost, hope is gone. But you must, go on. And do the next right thing!” Her song ends with the words: “Then I'll make the choice, to hear that voice, and do the next right thing!”