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Homily Pentecost Sunday May 31, 2009
A Poem by Myra Brooks Welch*
‘Twas battered and scarred,
and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while
to waste much time on the old violin.
But he held it up with a smile.
“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,
“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”
“A dollar, a dollar. Then, two! Only two?”
“Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?”
“Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three.” But, No!
From the room, far back, a grey haired old man
came forward and picked up the bow.
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin
and tightening the loose strings,
he played a melody, pure and sweet,
as sweet as the angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
with a voice that was quiet and low, said:
“What now am I bid for this old violin?”
as he held it aloft with its bow.
“One thousand, one thousand, who’ll make it two?”
“Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?”
“Three thousand once, three thousand twice;
and going, and gone,” said he.
The audience cheered, but some of them cried,
“We just don’t understand. What changed its worth?”
Swift came the reply:
“The Touch of the Master’s Hand.”
And many a man with life out of tune,
all battered and scarred with sin,
is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
much like that old violin.
A mess of potage, a glass of wine,
a game – and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
and the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
the worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
by the Touch of the Master’s Hand.
The Spirit is the touch of the Master’s Hand – the Spirit of Truth, and the Spirit of Love: the very Spirit who comes upon you and me today on Pentecost.
*This is a poem written in 1921 by Mrya Brooks Welch. As young woman her special love was playing the organ. But as she aged she was battered and scarred – crippled by severe arthritis. No longer able to play the organ, her musical soul spoke through her poetry. She would take one pencil in each of her badly deformed hands; and using the eraser end, she would slowly type the words of a poem – a joyous expression of the wonders of life.
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Before we continue with our Eucharist, we are required to do a follow-up to last Sunday’s in-pew pledge to the Annual Catholic Appeal. This is for the benefit of those who were not here last weekend, did not have the opportunity to pledge to this campaign. We were told by the Diocese that if do this kind of follow-up, they won’t come back at us with an increase in our assessment this year. So we’re going to take a few minutes to complete the appeal by giving those not with us last week to participate. If you completed a commitment form last Sunday or if you’re not a member of our parish, feel free to tune out or take a little nap at this time, or say an extra prayer for me. But before you do that, I would like to thank all of you who participated in the Appeal last weekend.
Raise your hand – one person per family. Ushers will bring the commitment envelopes.