Homily: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Friends,
I cannot help but continue to be touched by the images and reports about the
war in Ukraine. Particularly impactful
to me are the reports of families who have been displaced—forced into exile—because
of the war. Far from their homes and
often separated from their loved ones, there is no peace for them. I try to imagine what it feels like for them
and I sense the great sadness that they must be experiencing to be far from
their homeland, the place which has nourished them and which had always been a
place of comfort and refuge. I imagine
how strongly they must long to return and so await a word of hope that the war
will soon end.
I
imagine that the story is similar for those of you who have immigrated
here. Although I do not know many of
your stories, I know generally that many of you have migrated here because of
war-like violence and hardship in your homeland. I imagine that, although you are striving to
be grateful for the opportunity that living here affords you, nonetheless you
long to return to your homeland, which nourished you and had been a place of
comfort and refuge for you. Please know
of my great respect for each of you for what you have endured.
There
are no simple solutions for the Ukrainians or for anyone who finds himself or
herself in exile. They must pray and
hope for a word of restoration to come to them, like the prophecy of Isaiah
that we heard in our first reading today, which came to the ancient Israelites when
they were exiled in Babylon. The ancient
Israelites wondered, as I’m sure many of you do today, whether peace would be
restored to their homeland and whether they could return there to find comfort
and refuge once again. This prophecy was
that word of hope for them. As we
reflect on it today, we can pray that a new word of hope might be received by
those experiencing exile now. ///
Through
the revelation that comes to us from God, we recognize that every person is an
exile. God has revealed to us that we
were created to live in harmony with Him, which our first parents, Adam and
Eve, did in the Garden of Eden. Through
their sin, however, humanity was exiled from that place of harmony and every
human being born since has felt the loss of this peace. Therefore, every person is a spiritual exile. This means that each of our hearts longs to
hear a word of hope that peace might be restored so that we can return to that
place of comfort and refuge in God.
As
Christians, we acknowledge and rejoice that God has restored us to peace. He sent his Son Jesus to redeem us, which he
did by his own death on the cross and then by conquering sin and death through
his resurrection. Thus, humanity has
been restored to harmony with God; and each of us, by an act of faith and the
regenerating waters of baptism, enters into that harmony: thus ending our
spiritual exile and giving us peace. As
grateful recipients of this peace, we are then called to be ambassadors of this
peace to the world: that is, to be prophets who bring this word of hope to
those who remain in exile, both spiritual and, perhaps, physical.
Our
witness to this is in the Gospel reading today.
There Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples to be his ambassadors of
peace, preparing the way for him to come to them. He sends them out with the instruction to
seek those who are longing to receive this peace by greeting them with wishes
of peace. Those who are ready to receive
this peace will receive them and show them hospitality. Thus, to them the disciples are instructed to
proclaim this word of hope, “The kingdom of God is at hand for you”, which is
to say, “Your homeland, which has been at war, has been restored to peace and
you will soon return to it”.
As
disciples of Christ (and, thus, ambassadors of his peace), we are called, like the
seventy-two, to “go on our way” and to seek those who are longing to receive
this peace. We find these persons today
wherever we find those who have a sense of despair in the goodness of the world
and of their capacity to find happiness and fulfillment in it. To them we are called to bring this word of
hope: that, as spiritual exiles in this world, they cannot find fully the
goodness, happiness, and fulfillment that they long for in this world, but that
it can be found in the restoration of harmony with God in Jesus Christ. If they are open to receive this peace (that
is, if they acknowledge what we declare to them and desire to be restored to
harmony with God), then we can declare to them, “The kingdom of God is at hand
for you” and help them to make the act of faith that will bring about this
restoration. ///
My
brothers and sisters, as exiles who have been restored to this harmony, each of
us is eminently qualified for this mission!
Although you may not think much of your capacity to proclaim the faith,
you nonetheless have faith. Your faith, and
your testimony of how faith has restored peace in your heart and of your belief
that faith can restore peace in the hearts of everyone, is all the capacity you
need. Jesus has promised that his Holy
Spirit, dwelling in you, will make up the rest.
Therefore,
my brothers and sisters, as we give thanks to God in this Eucharist for having
restored us to peace, which is harmony with Him, let us recommit ourselves to be
ambassadors of this peace: sharing it generously with one another and then
taking it “on our way” to those around us.
May our communion at this Eucharistic table strengthen us for this good
work and glorify God for his generosity to us.
Given at in Spanish at St. Paul Parish: Marion, IN – July 2nd,
2022
Given in Spanish at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish: Monticello,
IN and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish: Carmel, IN – July 3rd, 2022
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