Homily:
25th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle B
When I was a kid back in Joliet, I remember hearing
recordings of Bishop Joseph Imesh during mass.
When he had a message that he wanted to get to everyone he would
sometimes make a recording and send it out to the parishes to play during the
Sunday masses. Now, I am just old enough
to remember Saint Mary Nativity church before its latest renovation and I
remember that one of the upgrades that they made in that renovation was to add
a sound system with the capacity to play recorded materials like cassette
tapes. (Kids, if you don’t know what a
cassette tape is, ask your parents about it after mass.)
To be honest, I really had no clue who the Bishop was and
why he got to have a recording of himself played in the middle of mass, but I do
remember thinking that he must have been pretty important for Fr. Stalzer to
give up some of his preaching time so we could hear it. What it did help me realize, however, is that,
as Catholics, we are all connected.
I had heard in the past that one of the complaints about
older Catholics is that they couldn’t see beyond the walls of their parish
church: that they were too “parochial” and not “universal” enough. Recent studies have shown that younger
Catholics have trended the other direction, giving little attention to their
local parish and identifying, rather, with the universal Church and the Pope. (If you’ve ever heard of a little thing
called “World Youth Day” then you know what I’m talking about.) What gets lost in either case is the fact
that we are a part of a diocese, which is under the pastoral care of a bishop,
who is a successor to the Apostles, and that our mission as a parish is wholly
bound up in the mission of our diocese, which is the mission of our bishop to
bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to north-central Indiana; and, through that
mission, to support the bigger mission of the universal Church.
A way that we show our support for that mission is through
our stewardship both at a parish level—sharing our time, talent, and treasure
to support the many ministries in our local community—at the diocesan level (which
we do by participating in the Fruitful Harvest campaign), and by our support of
the missions—work being done in places where the Gospel still hasn’t been heard
by everyone—by clergy and laity who, therefore, have little resources with
which to work.
Monsignor Jerome, the Rector of the Cathedral in the
Diocese of Saint Thomas and the Vicar General of the Diocese was here this weekend
to speak to us about the ongoing needs of their still relatively young diocese
on the Virgin Islands. Monsignor had to
leave early this afternoon to fly to Washington D.C. to meet his bishop, Bishop
Bevard, as they are scheduled to meet with the Apostolic Nuncio to the United
States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre tomorrow.
He was disappointed that he could not address you all directly here at
this Mass, but I promised him that I would do my best to share his thoughts with
you here this evening as he seeks your continued support.
Monsignor limited his thoughts to two points. First: to say thanks. You’ll recall that, last September, two
category 5 hurricanes swept through the Carribean, directly hitting a number of
U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Monsignor spoke of the great damage that was
done (not least of which, the roof of his rectory was destroyed…), but also of
how the people of the dioceses in the United States (and our diocese, in
particular) responded to provide funds to help supply them with food (as
resources and supplies were thin) and the capacity to begin to rebuild. For this he, on behalf of Bishop Bevard and
all the people of the Virgin Islands, is extremely grateful.
Second: he asks for further help. While some supply lines have stabilized,
Monsignor says that they are still in need of relief help. The reason?
Instead of running their soup kitchens 5 days a week, as they were
before the hurricanes, they are now running them 7 days a week so that some
folks can have just even one meal a day. Along with that, there are still many folks
who, when they come for their meal, speak about other needs and, Monsignor
relates, they cannot not help them. Finally,
one year removed, their Bishop, Bishop Bevard, is just now beginning to permit
parishes to spend money on recovering buildings. Up until now, Bishop Bevard has focused on
supplying the needs of the people in their diocese. Therefore, in spite of his great
thankfulness, Monsignor Jerome needs to ask for our continued financial support
so that the work of rebuilding may continue and the Church on the Virgin
Islands may continue to grow.
In our second reading today, the Apostle James tells us of
how order is disrupted by selfishness and jealousy. And in our Gospel reading, we hear Jesus’
famous instruction to his disciples: that those who wish to be acknowledged as
greatest among them must be the servants of everyone. One only needs to look around at society to
see that we are becoming increasingly disordered, and at the television
election ads to see that jealousy and selfish ambition are alive and well. By responding to the needs both of those close
to us, here in Lafayette and Tippecanoe County, and of those far away, like the
people still recovering on the Virgin Islands, we overcome selfishness and
jealousy and make ourselves the servants of all: like little children in the
eyes of God who have found his favor and, thus, will receive the full riches of
his kingdom.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, please be generous in
supporting the needs of Bishop Bevard, Monsignor Jerome, and the people of the diocese
of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Your
gift will not only be an act of service to those in need, but will also be an
act of thanksgiving for the many blessings that you have received from God; and
will prepare you to receive the fullness of blessedness: life eternal with God
in heaven.
Given at Saint Mary’s
Cathedral: Lafayette, IN – September 23, 2018
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