ProDIGAL SON 2010
September 12th, 2010 – 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Homily for St. Joseph’s in Shawnee (9, 10:30)
Exodus 12:7-11, 13-14; Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19; 1 Tim 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32
Today’s Gospel, no matter how many times we hear it, is still amazing. It speaks for itself. It doesn’t need a homily. It doesn’t need me to add anything. But, since I really only work on Sundays, I figure I should earn my check with at least a few works. Sorry, think of it as a penance.
There are people in the Old Testament that were prototypes of what Jesus would be when He came. David was a prototype of the kingly aspect of Christ, ruling in the name of God. Isaiah and Jeremiah were prototypes of the prophetic aspect of Jesus, speaking the message of God, even though it led to suffering and persecution. And today we see that Moses was a prototype of the priestly aspect of Jesus, standing in the chasm between God and His people, pleading for the mercy of God. The Israelites, although they had been freed from their slavery in Egypt by God, became impatient with Him and Moses and created their own golden calf god to worship. God would have been completely justified in wiping them out for not acknowledging Him as the One Who saved them. Moses, though, pleaded for the sinners at the bottom of the mountain to be spared in God’s mercy. God relents due to the priestly intervention of Moses.
This is exactly what Christ did on the cross. In the true act of His priesthood, Jesus hung in the chasm between God and man to intercede for each one of us. We all have to say with the prodigal son today that we have sinned against our Father and don’t deserve to be called His children. He would be completely justified in letting us all perish in hell. That is the just response from God to us who reject Him by our sins, even though He has given us every good thing we have. But Jesus sacrificed on the cross to win God’s mercy for us.
Christ’s priestly intercession continues here on the altar. It also continues in the confessional. Jesus sits in the confessional, in the person of the priest, and pleads for us to God through the merit of His sacrifice, and God responds by giving us complete forgiveness. It is an awesome thing. And let me tell you, it is especially amazing as the priest.
But before I was ordained, I was so nervous about hearing confessions. What advice would I be able to give? What would I have to say? Well, anyone who has been to me in confession would probably tell you, “Oh, he doesn’t have any problem coming up with something to say. He says plenty.” I’m sure some people would love to go, “okay, Father, penance and absolution please.” But every once in a while there is something useful that comes out, and this is for two reasons. The first, of course, is the influence of the Holy Spirit, who wants to help us overcome our sins. The second, though, is my own realization that I was and am and will continue to be a big sinner myself, and that I have needed God’s mercy over and over. This recognition makes me want to share the beauty of God’s forgiveness and give any advice that has helped me along the way.
It’s like St. Paul in his letter to Timothy. As he is praising Jesus for coming to save sinners, he says, with all humility, that he is the foremost of all sinners. His relationship with the Lord helped him to see just how grievous his persecution of the Church was before he was converted. And because he was such a sinner, he knew how deep God’s mercy was for him, and he wanted to share this fact with Timothy, with you and me, and with everyone he met. It was a reason to celebrate and share his joy with others.
Our Gospel is all about celebrating God’s mercy. Jesus’ example shepherd invites over his friends to celebrate the recovery of his lost sheep. His example woman calls over her neighbors to celebrate the lost coin she found. His merciful father throws a feast for the repentant son. All of these He compares to the joyful angels and saints in heaven when a lost sinner is found. If they have reason to celebrate our repentance in heaven, wouldn’t we have even more reason to celebrate God’s forgiveness here?
If you have not experienced the grace of confession in awhile, I invite you back. If you have had the joy of God’s forgiveness in confession lately, tell somebody. Tell them about the mercy, not your sins, obviously. Those sins are wiped away. There’s no need to discuss them with anyone now. But the mercy is forever, and what that mercy has done in your life should be proclaimed on the housetops, or maybe better on your Facebook page. Celebrate God’s mercy. Invite others to experience that same mercy in confession.
God’s condemnation is just, and it was earned by us in our sin. But His mercy is awesome, and it was earned for us in Christ’s priestly sacrifice has earned it for us. It’s just waiting for us in the sacrament. This is awesome news. Learn from St. Paul, and don’t keep it to yourself.
Homily for St. Joseph’s in Shawnee (9, 10:30)
Exodus 12:7-11, 13-14; Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 17, 19; 1 Tim 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32
Today’s Gospel, no matter how many times we hear it, is still amazing. It speaks for itself. It doesn’t need a homily. It doesn’t need me to add anything. But, since I really only work on Sundays, I figure I should earn my check with at least a few works. Sorry, think of it as a penance.
There are people in the Old Testament that were prototypes of what Jesus would be when He came. David was a prototype of the kingly aspect of Christ, ruling in the name of God. Isaiah and Jeremiah were prototypes of the prophetic aspect of Jesus, speaking the message of God, even though it led to suffering and persecution. And today we see that Moses was a prototype of the priestly aspect of Jesus, standing in the chasm between God and His people, pleading for the mercy of God. The Israelites, although they had been freed from their slavery in Egypt by God, became impatient with Him and Moses and created their own golden calf god to worship. God would have been completely justified in wiping them out for not acknowledging Him as the One Who saved them. Moses, though, pleaded for the sinners at the bottom of the mountain to be spared in God’s mercy. God relents due to the priestly intervention of Moses.
This is exactly what Christ did on the cross. In the true act of His priesthood, Jesus hung in the chasm between God and man to intercede for each one of us. We all have to say with the prodigal son today that we have sinned against our Father and don’t deserve to be called His children. He would be completely justified in letting us all perish in hell. That is the just response from God to us who reject Him by our sins, even though He has given us every good thing we have. But Jesus sacrificed on the cross to win God’s mercy for us.
Christ’s priestly intercession continues here on the altar. It also continues in the confessional. Jesus sits in the confessional, in the person of the priest, and pleads for us to God through the merit of His sacrifice, and God responds by giving us complete forgiveness. It is an awesome thing. And let me tell you, it is especially amazing as the priest.
But before I was ordained, I was so nervous about hearing confessions. What advice would I be able to give? What would I have to say? Well, anyone who has been to me in confession would probably tell you, “Oh, he doesn’t have any problem coming up with something to say. He says plenty.” I’m sure some people would love to go, “okay, Father, penance and absolution please.” But every once in a while there is something useful that comes out, and this is for two reasons. The first, of course, is the influence of the Holy Spirit, who wants to help us overcome our sins. The second, though, is my own realization that I was and am and will continue to be a big sinner myself, and that I have needed God’s mercy over and over. This recognition makes me want to share the beauty of God’s forgiveness and give any advice that has helped me along the way.
It’s like St. Paul in his letter to Timothy. As he is praising Jesus for coming to save sinners, he says, with all humility, that he is the foremost of all sinners. His relationship with the Lord helped him to see just how grievous his persecution of the Church was before he was converted. And because he was such a sinner, he knew how deep God’s mercy was for him, and he wanted to share this fact with Timothy, with you and me, and with everyone he met. It was a reason to celebrate and share his joy with others.
Our Gospel is all about celebrating God’s mercy. Jesus’ example shepherd invites over his friends to celebrate the recovery of his lost sheep. His example woman calls over her neighbors to celebrate the lost coin she found. His merciful father throws a feast for the repentant son. All of these He compares to the joyful angels and saints in heaven when a lost sinner is found. If they have reason to celebrate our repentance in heaven, wouldn’t we have even more reason to celebrate God’s forgiveness here?
If you have not experienced the grace of confession in awhile, I invite you back. If you have had the joy of God’s forgiveness in confession lately, tell somebody. Tell them about the mercy, not your sins, obviously. Those sins are wiped away. There’s no need to discuss them with anyone now. But the mercy is forever, and what that mercy has done in your life should be proclaimed on the housetops, or maybe better on your Facebook page. Celebrate God’s mercy. Invite others to experience that same mercy in confession.
God’s condemnation is just, and it was earned by us in our sin. But His mercy is awesome, and it was earned for us in Christ’s priestly sacrifice has earned it for us. It’s just waiting for us in the sacrament. This is awesome news. Learn from St. Paul, and don’t keep it to yourself.
PHARISEES 2010
October 24th, 2010 – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Homily for St. Joseph’s in Shawnee (9, 10:30, 12)
Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; Psalm 34:2-3, 17-19, 23; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14
Several years ago, I noticed that I was judgmental during Mass. People didn’t sing enough, didn’t participate enough, didn’t dress well enough. Why weren’t they more holy like me? Then I realized I spent more time judging and less time actually, well, being holy and participating in Mass. It really bothered me, so I talked to a priest about it. “Father, I feel bad for acting like a Pharisee. I don’t want to be like a Pharisee.” He replied, “Now, don’t be so hard on the Pharisees.” I don’t know if he meant that some of the Pharisees were good, or that none of the Pharisees were as bad as me. Both interpretations are probably true.
Maybe I was being a little hard on the Pharisees, but the truth is, Jesus was usually pretty hard on them. In many of His parables, they were the bad examples. Today the example Pharisee acts all self-righteous before God. Why were the Pharisees so often Jesus’ foils?
At the time of Jesus, there was a hodge-podge of different factions within the Jewish community in Israel. You had the Pharisees, the Essenes, the Sadducees, the priests and Levites, Zealots and Herodians, and a few others.
The Levites and priests were given the duty of offering sacrifices and caring for the temple in Jerusalem. The Herodians and Zealots were essentially political factions who disagreed about whether the Jews should play nice with the Romans or have an all out revolt.
The Sadducees were a religious party. Scripture tells us that they felt that only the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Jewish Scriptures, were divinely inspired. The written law of the Torah was the only one that mattered to the Sadducees.
The Essenes do not appear by name in the Scriptures, but in the last 100 years scholars have discovered their existence. They were a strict, esthetic group of Jewish monks who studied the Law fervently. Theologically, they were pretty close to Jesus, but they were small and had little influence on the population. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were very influential, more than the Essenes and Sadducees. They had the potential to be in line with Jesus theologically. Unlike the Sadducess, they were scholars of both the written Law of the Torah and the oral laws that came over time, they followed most of Jewish Scripture, and they believed in an afterlife. They had many of the right elements. (This may explain why Jesus chose Saul, a devout Pharisee, to convert into St. Paul, perhaps the greatest theologian ever.) But they were self-righteous, lorded their knowledge over less-educated Jews, and created countless, minute rules that were a burden to follow. Maybe this was why Jesus was so hard on them. They should have seen Jesus as the messiah who fulfilled all Law and Scripture and that He brought good news about the afterlife, but they blew it. Perhaps Jesus was disappointed because they should have known better. He held them to a higher standard.
I wonder if maybe we, as Catholic Christians, should take notice of Jesus’ attitude toward the Pharisees. When we don’t live up to the ideal of a disciple, shouldn’t Christ be able to say, “You should know better”? Shouldn’t He be allowed to hold us to a higher standard? We have the salvation won by Christ. We have His Church and we believe that, although all Christians and Jews and even other faiths have elements of the truth, we have within the Church the fullness of the Faith, including all of Scripture, the Sacraments, the successors of the Apostles, 2000 years of inspired teaching. We have all of this. Shouldn’t we know better?
Shouldn’t we know better than to take Faith for granted. Do we just assume that we’ll get God’s mercy without sincerely asking? Do we assume that whatever amount of catechesis we got as children is enough to be faithful disciples? Do we assume that the rest of the Church will take care of evangelizing the world? Or, do we make frequent use of the Sacraments, do we feed our mind with knowledge of Christ, and do we fulfill our mission of sharing the good news?
Do we even care that we have been given such a gift? Remember, only a third of the world knows even a little about Christ and less than half of them have been given the opportunity to learn Christ’s full revelation. It is an amazing gift.
Shouldn’t we know better than to be self-righteous about our Faith? Do we think that being Catholic makes us more special than non-believers? Do we judge those who aren’t Catholic, who aren’t Christian? Do we judge other Catholics who aren’t as “pious” as we are? Do we forget that none of us has earned our Faith, which has been freely given to us by God?
The Pharisee took God’s mercy for granted and acted like he didn’t even need it. He also used the gift of his religious background as a reason to be self-righteous and judgmental. I give you permission to say, “I don’t want to be like a Pharisee.”
Instead, learn from the tax collector. He didn’t take God’s mercy for granted. He didn’t know the Law like the Pharisee, but he humbly knew he needed God’s mercy. Humility is the key for him, and for us. We need to practice it. We need to beg God to give us more of it.
Don’t be a Pharisee. Don’t necessarily be a tax collector either (unless you work for the IRS.) But be a Catholic Christian, proud of the gift of Faith you’ve been given, but humble in realizing it is indeed an unearned gift and it comes with great expectations – including a need for ongoing conversion and humility. Then, like St. Paul, we’ll go from ones who should have known better to ones who do know better and, hopefully, become saints in the process.
Homily for St. Joseph’s in Shawnee (9, 10:30, 12)
Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; Psalm 34:2-3, 17-19, 23; 2 Tim 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14
Several years ago, I noticed that I was judgmental during Mass. People didn’t sing enough, didn’t participate enough, didn’t dress well enough. Why weren’t they more holy like me? Then I realized I spent more time judging and less time actually, well, being holy and participating in Mass. It really bothered me, so I talked to a priest about it. “Father, I feel bad for acting like a Pharisee. I don’t want to be like a Pharisee.” He replied, “Now, don’t be so hard on the Pharisees.” I don’t know if he meant that some of the Pharisees were good, or that none of the Pharisees were as bad as me. Both interpretations are probably true.
Maybe I was being a little hard on the Pharisees, but the truth is, Jesus was usually pretty hard on them. In many of His parables, they were the bad examples. Today the example Pharisee acts all self-righteous before God. Why were the Pharisees so often Jesus’ foils?
At the time of Jesus, there was a hodge-podge of different factions within the Jewish community in Israel. You had the Pharisees, the Essenes, the Sadducees, the priests and Levites, Zealots and Herodians, and a few others.
The Levites and priests were given the duty of offering sacrifices and caring for the temple in Jerusalem. The Herodians and Zealots were essentially political factions who disagreed about whether the Jews should play nice with the Romans or have an all out revolt.
The Sadducees were a religious party. Scripture tells us that they felt that only the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Jewish Scriptures, were divinely inspired. The written law of the Torah was the only one that mattered to the Sadducees.
The Essenes do not appear by name in the Scriptures, but in the last 100 years scholars have discovered their existence. They were a strict, esthetic group of Jewish monks who studied the Law fervently. Theologically, they were pretty close to Jesus, but they were small and had little influence on the population. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were very influential, more than the Essenes and Sadducees. They had the potential to be in line with Jesus theologically. Unlike the Sadducess, they were scholars of both the written Law of the Torah and the oral laws that came over time, they followed most of Jewish Scripture, and they believed in an afterlife. They had many of the right elements. (This may explain why Jesus chose Saul, a devout Pharisee, to convert into St. Paul, perhaps the greatest theologian ever.) But they were self-righteous, lorded their knowledge over less-educated Jews, and created countless, minute rules that were a burden to follow. Maybe this was why Jesus was so hard on them. They should have seen Jesus as the messiah who fulfilled all Law and Scripture and that He brought good news about the afterlife, but they blew it. Perhaps Jesus was disappointed because they should have known better. He held them to a higher standard.
I wonder if maybe we, as Catholic Christians, should take notice of Jesus’ attitude toward the Pharisees. When we don’t live up to the ideal of a disciple, shouldn’t Christ be able to say, “You should know better”? Shouldn’t He be allowed to hold us to a higher standard? We have the salvation won by Christ. We have His Church and we believe that, although all Christians and Jews and even other faiths have elements of the truth, we have within the Church the fullness of the Faith, including all of Scripture, the Sacraments, the successors of the Apostles, 2000 years of inspired teaching. We have all of this. Shouldn’t we know better?
Shouldn’t we know better than to take Faith for granted. Do we just assume that we’ll get God’s mercy without sincerely asking? Do we assume that whatever amount of catechesis we got as children is enough to be faithful disciples? Do we assume that the rest of the Church will take care of evangelizing the world? Or, do we make frequent use of the Sacraments, do we feed our mind with knowledge of Christ, and do we fulfill our mission of sharing the good news?
Do we even care that we have been given such a gift? Remember, only a third of the world knows even a little about Christ and less than half of them have been given the opportunity to learn Christ’s full revelation. It is an amazing gift.
Shouldn’t we know better than to be self-righteous about our Faith? Do we think that being Catholic makes us more special than non-believers? Do we judge those who aren’t Catholic, who aren’t Christian? Do we judge other Catholics who aren’t as “pious” as we are? Do we forget that none of us has earned our Faith, which has been freely given to us by God?
The Pharisee took God’s mercy for granted and acted like he didn’t even need it. He also used the gift of his religious background as a reason to be self-righteous and judgmental. I give you permission to say, “I don’t want to be like a Pharisee.”
Instead, learn from the tax collector. He didn’t take God’s mercy for granted. He didn’t know the Law like the Pharisee, but he humbly knew he needed God’s mercy. Humility is the key for him, and for us. We need to practice it. We need to beg God to give us more of it.
Don’t be a Pharisee. Don’t necessarily be a tax collector either (unless you work for the IRS.) But be a Catholic Christian, proud of the gift of Faith you’ve been given, but humble in realizing it is indeed an unearned gift and it comes with great expectations – including a need for ongoing conversion and humility. Then, like St. Paul, we’ll go from ones who should have known better to ones who do know better and, hopefully, become saints in the process.
Pro-Life Sunday 2010
October 3rd, 2010 – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Homily for St. Joseph’s in Shawnee (5, 7:30, 9)
Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9; 2 Tim 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10
The Church this weekend celebrates Respect Life Sunday. This is the 39th annual observance. Why? Why do we do this every year? There are so many worthy causes and issues that could be commemorated. Why does the Church give Respect Life a weekend, really the whole month of October, each year?
In the mind of the Church, this is not just another cause or movement. It is much more foundational. It is her plea to the whole world to look at itself through the eyes of God, to see the vision that God has for His creation, especially the pinnacle of that creation: you and me and every other human created in the divine image and likeness. No just movement can ultimately prevail without this foundational vision. No political, moral, social, environmental cause can truly succeed if the basic human right granted by God is given only to some.
God’s vision must prevail. In the eyes of God, all life is precious from the moment of conception until natural death. God’s vision also sees all life in between as dearly precious.
God’s creative vision and genius sees a unique human life with a unique set of chromosomes at every conception, and He infuses every human life with a unique everlasting soul: a soul capable of receiving God’s love and giving it in return.
God’s loving vision sees all children as wanted, by God and by others, no matter how difficult a situation into which those children are born. God would gladly help find men and women willing to care for all of the children He has created, even, perhaps especially, when those children are handicapped, sick, or vulnerable.
God’s all-knowing vision does not see an over-crowded world. His wisdom has given humans resourcefulness, creativity, and the ability to live modestly so that everyone can get what they need. His vision never sees an answer to hunger in the destruction of innocent unborn life.
God’s sympathetic vision sees that in this fallen world, women and men are sometimes caught in difficult situations, facing pregnancies that are emotionally and financially unplanned. God wants to help them make good, life-giving decisions, and he has filled this world with men and women who share His compassionate vision and also want to help those in hard situations.
God’s compassionate vision looks with love on those women and men who have made decisions to abort. He yearns to bring them His merciful forgiveness and healing touch.
God’s providential vision goes on, encompassing every aspect of life on this planet. He has a plan for every human, from beginning to end, and that plan, if followed, brings about love, joy, and everlasting life with Him. His vision hates war, hostility, abuse, and violence against nature, but God knows that true peace cannot happen in the world until it happens in the womb.
Now I know there are many here who have worked hard to foster an acceptance of God’s vision in society. You may be tired or disheartened. You may cry out like Habbakuk, “How long, O Lord? I cry for help but you do not listen!” Hear God’s answer about His vision: “If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.” God’s vision will prevail. Don’t give up. We have another opportunity tomorrow (today) to get out and promote God’s vision again. The annual Life Chain will span the length of 95th Street from 1:30 to 2:30 in the afternoon, witnessing peacefully through signs and prayers to all who pass by. Our parish will be at busy 95th and Nall. To encourage you, I ask you to listen to the words of St. Paul to Timothy: “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.” What’s more, the Chiefs have a bye this weekend.
I’ve been in this battle long enough, for at least twenty years, to know that not everyone here is on board with the Church’s desire to promote God’s vision of life. Take this month to educate yourselves and really search your soul. Echo to God the words of the disciples in our gospel, “Increase our faith.” We all need to say this. One day you and I will have to answer for our actions, our failure to act, and our beliefs, especially since we know the revelation of Christ. It’s worth it to make sure we share God’s vision.
Finally, in a country where 50 million lives have been lost through surgical abortions, not to mention those brought on by most contraceptives, no one can stand up in a room of hundreds and not expect several to have been impacted by abortion. My friends, if you are hurting, I want to assure you that God loves you dearly. His love is greater than any decision you have ever made. I beg you not to be like the Israelites in the Psalm. Don’t harden your hearts, but leave them open for the healing and mercy God longs to give you.
This is why Respect Life Weekend, which is about more than a cause, must continue every year. Even when legal abortion finally goes the way of slavery, segregation, male-only voting, and other unjust laws thankfully struck down in this country, we will still need Respect Life Weekends to remind everyone that seeing with God’s vision is about more than laws. There will always be unplanned pregnancies in difficult situations, so there will always be a need for people to step in, help, and give life a chance. There will always be people scarred by abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia, and so there will always be a need for people to bring God’s mercy and healing into their lives. You and I are those people. We must see the world as God does, and through our words and actions, we must bring His message of life and mercy to a society that so desperately needs it.
Homily for St. Joseph’s in Shawnee (5, 7:30, 9)
Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9; 2 Tim 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10
The Church this weekend celebrates Respect Life Sunday. This is the 39th annual observance. Why? Why do we do this every year? There are so many worthy causes and issues that could be commemorated. Why does the Church give Respect Life a weekend, really the whole month of October, each year?
In the mind of the Church, this is not just another cause or movement. It is much more foundational. It is her plea to the whole world to look at itself through the eyes of God, to see the vision that God has for His creation, especially the pinnacle of that creation: you and me and every other human created in the divine image and likeness. No just movement can ultimately prevail without this foundational vision. No political, moral, social, environmental cause can truly succeed if the basic human right granted by God is given only to some.
God’s vision must prevail. In the eyes of God, all life is precious from the moment of conception until natural death. God’s vision also sees all life in between as dearly precious.
God’s creative vision and genius sees a unique human life with a unique set of chromosomes at every conception, and He infuses every human life with a unique everlasting soul: a soul capable of receiving God’s love and giving it in return.
God’s loving vision sees all children as wanted, by God and by others, no matter how difficult a situation into which those children are born. God would gladly help find men and women willing to care for all of the children He has created, even, perhaps especially, when those children are handicapped, sick, or vulnerable.
God’s all-knowing vision does not see an over-crowded world. His wisdom has given humans resourcefulness, creativity, and the ability to live modestly so that everyone can get what they need. His vision never sees an answer to hunger in the destruction of innocent unborn life.
God’s sympathetic vision sees that in this fallen world, women and men are sometimes caught in difficult situations, facing pregnancies that are emotionally and financially unplanned. God wants to help them make good, life-giving decisions, and he has filled this world with men and women who share His compassionate vision and also want to help those in hard situations.
God’s compassionate vision looks with love on those women and men who have made decisions to abort. He yearns to bring them His merciful forgiveness and healing touch.
God’s providential vision goes on, encompassing every aspect of life on this planet. He has a plan for every human, from beginning to end, and that plan, if followed, brings about love, joy, and everlasting life with Him. His vision hates war, hostility, abuse, and violence against nature, but God knows that true peace cannot happen in the world until it happens in the womb.
Now I know there are many here who have worked hard to foster an acceptance of God’s vision in society. You may be tired or disheartened. You may cry out like Habbakuk, “How long, O Lord? I cry for help but you do not listen!” Hear God’s answer about His vision: “If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.” God’s vision will prevail. Don’t give up. We have another opportunity tomorrow (today) to get out and promote God’s vision again. The annual Life Chain will span the length of 95th Street from 1:30 to 2:30 in the afternoon, witnessing peacefully through signs and prayers to all who pass by. Our parish will be at busy 95th and Nall. To encourage you, I ask you to listen to the words of St. Paul to Timothy: “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.” What’s more, the Chiefs have a bye this weekend.
I’ve been in this battle long enough, for at least twenty years, to know that not everyone here is on board with the Church’s desire to promote God’s vision of life. Take this month to educate yourselves and really search your soul. Echo to God the words of the disciples in our gospel, “Increase our faith.” We all need to say this. One day you and I will have to answer for our actions, our failure to act, and our beliefs, especially since we know the revelation of Christ. It’s worth it to make sure we share God’s vision.
Finally, in a country where 50 million lives have been lost through surgical abortions, not to mention those brought on by most contraceptives, no one can stand up in a room of hundreds and not expect several to have been impacted by abortion. My friends, if you are hurting, I want to assure you that God loves you dearly. His love is greater than any decision you have ever made. I beg you not to be like the Israelites in the Psalm. Don’t harden your hearts, but leave them open for the healing and mercy God longs to give you.
This is why Respect Life Weekend, which is about more than a cause, must continue every year. Even when legal abortion finally goes the way of slavery, segregation, male-only voting, and other unjust laws thankfully struck down in this country, we will still need Respect Life Weekends to remind everyone that seeing with God’s vision is about more than laws. There will always be unplanned pregnancies in difficult situations, so there will always be a need for people to step in, help, and give life a chance. There will always be people scarred by abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia, and so there will always be a need for people to bring God’s mercy and healing into their lives. You and I are those people. We must see the world as God does, and through our words and actions, we must bring His message of life and mercy to a society that so desperately needs it.