Celebrate What Is Good, True and Beautiful

“Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

DeWitt Jones is an inspirational speaker,

who worked as a photographer for National Geographic

for over twenty years.

He tells us that his work with National Geographic changed his life.

He spoke about how when he was given a commission

he would be told to go out and to photograph with the simple instruction,

“to celebrate what is right with the world through your photographs.”

That guided him to look at whatever it was that he was asked to do,

to look and then to look again;

if you would, to change the lens; change the frame

and in doing so change your perspective completely

and largely change your life.

He tells of a story in particular in one of his TED talks about

how he was commissioned to take these pictures of fields and mountains

and when he got there, the field was full of dandelions

and he was waiting for some other beauty to come.

He said he would return another time.

When he went back a few days later

all the beautiful yellow dandelion flowers were gone

and what he had was these puff balls.

Then he remembered his commission from National Geographic

to celebrate what is right in life.

So he got down on the ground and

took pictures of the dandelions now turned into puff balls

and took some stunning photographs.

It is hard to capture in words.

Here let me show you the first one:

The field full of dandelions.

This one is the field now full of puff balls.

But when he reframed it and saw it with a different lens,

he saw this one photo.

That is what happens when you celebrate what is right with the world.

The beauty of creation lies right before us all the time.

What we need to do is change the lens.

Reframe it and we see something completely different;

something that is quite frankly stunning.

This is one of his most-famed photographs.

DeWitt says regularly that to celebrate what is right in the world,

to look for what is good in the world

and to not be distracted;

he concludes that the way to do that is

through celebrating our passion.

Now, as a person of faith,

I would go a little bit deeper and

speak as who we are as people of faith.

As people grounded in faith, in hope and in love

we want reframe in our terms

and to look at what is good,

what is true and

what is beautiful in the world.

And ultimately that is through the lens of Love.

In today’s world we are full of a lot of negative things;

and there is a need for us as people of faith

to reframe and to change the lens.

That is exactly what happened in today’s gospel.

Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and the leaders

and they are just not getting it.

Jesus is constantly trying to change the lens

and have them reframe, to try to have them reset and

have them look at what is good and right in the world.

He tells this powerful story, the parable of the King

who throws a wedding party for his son.

Of course, we know as believers in Christ Jesus

that there is a direct reference here to Jesus Christ

but the part that, I am not sure if this bothers you

it has always bothered me,

that he invited all these people in from the streets

and then the first thing he notices is that

there is this one person without a wedding garment

and he wants to kick them out.

I often think to myself:

“What’s with that?

Why now all of a sudden it’s important what you wear?

How can he expect people to have on fine garments

at the wedding feast after being on “the streets?”

As I have said before, we have to understand the context here

and it is important to frame this right

so we can understand what is happening.

The wedding garment was a garment

that would have been given to come into the party.

It was the willingness to celebrate the bride and groom.

Thus to refuse to wear the wedding garment was a refusal to celebrate.

What we would call a “party pooper.” Right?

You come into the party but you are not going to celebrate.

Then why come to the party!?

What this means for us,we have to apply it to ourselves,

it means if we are going to come inside the Church

but that we are not going to celebrate God.

We are going to be all about the rules

and those who should not be in;

those who should not be in the Church;

or those who should be outside; “

or those who are doing this wrong;

or those who have done that wrong.

We are party poopers basically at the feast,

the Eucharistic feast, of the Lord.

What the Lord is saying to us in a very pointed way

is that we are called to celebrate what is right,

to celebrate what is good.

We are called to not only just believe it;

we are called to follow it.

In other words, when we come to the Eucharistic feast

even when you are at home celebrating,

when we come to celebrate here,

we are meant to leave this experience completely converted.

Celebrating what is good in the world.

And to not be taken down by the negativity.

Oh that sounds so simple

but in fact as soon as we leave our Mass this morning,

we are going to get a barrage of negative advertisements;

we are going to get a barrage of negative comments;

and our world is full of so much of what is wrong with the world.

We are constantly hearing what is wrong with the world

not what is right with the world;

not what is beautiful.

As people of faith we claim by our faith

that we are not going to be party poopers.

We are going to celebrate what is right with this world.

And so for my part, the way we do that is first of all

to not allow all the negative stuff.

I understand we are in difficult times with the pandemic

and the fires are going;

and there are hurricanes on the east coast;

and there is chaos in the political world.

Let’s not even go there!!

All this negativity just keeps on coming,

so what are we to do?

We are to reframe;

to change our lens and change our world.

We are called to look with eyes of faith

and see as St. Ignatius Loyola said,

“…to see God in all things.”

Even in these awkward and terrible times,

God is in all things at all times.

So that requires of us to reframe;

to refocus;

to look again and

to see what is good;

what is true;

what is beautiful;

what is right in our world

and to celebrate that.

I know that for most of us,

the first half of life is hwere we are caught up

having what we love.

We want what we want.

And we get consumed by that.

And like the disciples

and/or the would-be disciples in today’s parable

we get distracted.

One goes here; one goes there.

We too get distracted.

I get that.

But instead we are called in the second half of life being a disciple,

we are called instead to love what we already have.

You see we move from the first half to the second half,

moving from having what we love

to loving what we already have;

to recognize what is right before us

and to celebrate and to say,

“Yes Lord, this is the life that I choose.”

You see in the end, it is our choice.

If we change our lens,

we will change our life.

It is true.

If we look and seek what is good;

what is true; and

what is beautiful,

we will see it.

And that is God in the midst of all things.

My friends, let us reframe.

Let us change our lens and

let us celebrate what is good;

what is beautiful;

what is true; and

what is loving.

Let us put on the lens of the eyes of faith and love.

And celebrate what is right in our world.

“Many are invited, but few are chosen.”