Note: This homily was delivered 23 June 2004 during the GS Mass of the Holy Spirit.

        Once upon a time there lived a stone-cutter, who went every day to a great rock in the side of a big mountain and cut out slabs to build houses.   He was very good at his job-and actually enjoyed it, and because he was an expert stone-cutter, he had lots of customers.  He was quite happy and contented, for a while.

        One day the stone-cutter carried a huge slab to the house of a rich man, and there he saw many beautiful things, things he had never even dreamed of.  He envied the rich man, and he no longer liked his work.  And he said to himself:  "Oh, if only I were a rich man, I could sleep in a big and soft bed!  How happy I would be!"

        Then from out of nowhere a voice answered him: "Your wish will come true.  You shall be a rich man!"

        Of course the stone-cutter was surprised to hear the voice.  At first he thought he had only imagined it.  Anyway, he picked up his tools and went home, for he did not feel like working anymore.  But when he reached the little house where he lived, he stood in amazement, for instead of his wooden hut, he found a great mansion filled with riches - even better than the house of the rich man he had envied.  He thanked God for this wonderful blessing and he felt that he would live happily ever after!

        It was now the beginning of summer, and each day the sun blazed more fiercely.  One morning the heat was so great that the stone-cutter decided to stay in his mansion all day.   But it was such a hot day that he could hardly breathe!  To while away the time, he decided to look out his window to see what was happening outside.  Maybe he would feel better if he saw how people sweated in the streets while he remained indoors.  To his surprise he saw a little carriage passing by.  The carriage was drawn by servants, and in the carriage sat a prince.  Over his head there was a golden umbrella to protect him from the sun's rays.

        The stone-cutter envied the prince, and no longer liked his mansion.  He cried out: "Oh if only I were a prince.  I could go around riding in that carriage and have a golden umbrella over me.  How happy I would be!"

         And then out of nowhere again that mysterious voice answered him:  "Your wish will come true.  You shall be a prince!"

        Suddenly, the stone-cutter who had become a rich man was now a prince.   He found himself riding a carriage just like the original prince. The carriage was pulled by many more servants.  As he looked up, he saw a large golden umbrella over his head.

        Again for a while, he thought he would live happily ever after.  But after just a few minutes, he was not content.  He was looking for something to wish for again.  He noticed the sun and how powerful it was.  He saw how it dried the water poured on the grass in his garden.  He observed how in spite of the umbrella held over his head, his face grew browner and browner.

        In other words, the stone-cutter, now prince, began to envy the sun.  He cried out:  "The sun is mightier than I!  Oh, if only I were the sun, I would be the mightiest in the universe!"

        Again, that voice granted his wish immediately. "You shall be the sun!" it promised-and before he knew it, there he was up in the sky shining over all the earth.  He felt very proud of his power.  He shot his beams above and below, in heaven and on earth.  He burnt up the grass in the fields and scorched the faces of all the people he could see.   But after a while, he was unhappy again, especially when a passing cloud covered his face and hid the earth from him.

        This time he envied the cloud.  "Why, the cloud is mightier than I!  It can keep my rays from reaching their target!"   And so, as expected, this time he wished he were the cloud, and of course, the mysterious voice granted his wish again.

        At first he really enjoyed being a cloud.   He fleeted from one place to another.  He caught the sun's beam and held them, and he was happy to see how the earth grew green and how the flowers blossomed as a result of his work.  He also discovered that he could water the earth with his rain, so he kept pouring rain everywhere.  For days and for weeks he poured his rain until rivers overflowed and crops of rice drowned in his flood.  Towns and villages were destroyed.   The stone-cutter, now a cloud, was overjoyed at his power.  

        But then he noticed that there was one thing that his rain could not move or break.  The great rock on the mountain side!  Of course the cloud was amazed and began to envy the rock.  "How can the rock be mightier than I?" it cried out.

        Of course you can probably guess what it wished to become this time.  And you can also guess what the voice said in response to the wish.

        The voice once again granted his wish and turned him into a rock.

        So now he became a rock, and for a while there he was so proud and happy that the sun nor the rain could not move him.   "This is the best thing that happened to me!" he told himself. 

        But one day he heard a strange noise at his feet, and when he looked down to see what it could be, he saw a stone-cutter driving tools into his surface.  And for the very first time since he became a rock, he was afraid and before a great block could break off and fall to the ground, he quickly wished that he would become a man again.

        This time the mysterious voice laughed a little before granting him his wish.  So our stone-cutter who became a rich man who became a prince who became the sun and cloud who became a rock went back to being the stone-cutter that he had originally been.   But he was very happy using his talents in doing what he did best:  cutting stones from the mountainside.  He also learned one very important thing during this whole episode-something that all of us can also learn at the beginning of this school year:

        Do not compare yourself to others, and do not envy them for what they are and what they can do.  You have your own special gifts.  God has designed these gifts especially for you, and He has special reasons for giving them to you.

        We will be happiest if we accept the gifts that God has intended for us and use them to the best of our ability-just like our friend the stone-cutter.  Let's pray during this Mass of the Holy Spirit that God will guide us to discover our gifts, to be grateful and happy about them, and to develop and use them.

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