Homily for Tuesday, 21 October 2014– Ferial

Tuesday of the 29th week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Ephesians 2:12-22; Psalm 85:9ab-10, 11-12, 13-14; Luke 12:35-38

“The Lord speaks of peace to his people,” we respond to our Psalm today. Many of us may ask: How is the Lord speaking of peace to his people?

Much of what we see in our world; our communities; possibly even in our families and our homes is anything but peaceful. We see one in four children in Monroe County living in poverty; our city’s poverty rate now second-highest in this country among large cities after Detroit. We see violence in our city’s homes and streets, although there are small but significant victories like a forty-year low in annual homicides in Rochester reported in yesterday’s Democrat and Chronicle. We see homelessness; unemployment; hunger; a migrant and refugee crisis; family breakdown and discord; broken relationships… These problems are in addition to natural disasters; diseases like the Ebola virus.  How, when, and where is the Lord speaking of peace to his people today?

I do not mean to discourage us; quite the opposite. And yet within the last few days, here in our parish and beyond, I have spoken with people who lament a litany of problems in our world and closer to home. Some I have heard are angry. And then some wonder whether it is wrong of them to be angry at obvious instances of suffering and injustice. My response is that anger may be justified if it is based on compassion for those who are wronged; those who suffer. It hurts me to see my people; our people; people of God; disciples of Jesus Christ; people of our parish suffering; hurt; angry at the state of our world.

And yet there is hope. The words we hear in our readings today, in our Psalm, “The Lord speaks of peace to his people,” and in our first reading Ephesians, God “is our peace,” are words of hope. How does God speak “of peace to his people” today? How is God “our peace”?

Let us hear carefully the words of our Psalm: “Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.” Our Psalm speaks of kindness, truth, justice, and peace as though they are people: Meeting, kissing, springing “out of the earth” and looking “down from heaven.” These are action words; verbs of compassionate care for one another and for the world God has created and loves. How does God speak “of peace to his people” today? How is God “our peace”?

God “speaks of peace to his people” through us. God “is our peace”; we are instruments of God’s peace. We do well as instruments of God’s peace when we work for justice; work for reconciliation. Blessed Pope Paul VI, beatified this past Sunday, once said, “If you want peace, work for justice.” Let “kindness and truth” meet in and through us; justice and peace kiss; truth “spring out of the earth” and justice “look down from heaven.” In this way we will speak and act out God’s peace; we will be God’s “peace to his people.”

Homily for Wednesday, 30 July 2014– Ferial

Wednesday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21; Psalm 59:2-3, 4, 10-11, 17, 18; Matthew 13:44-46

Which are some of the most dangerous jobs we can think of? Our firefighters and police officers work in situations that can become dangerous. Just this week, I was relating a story from my first time serving as a Basilian in Colombia, traveling through high passes in the Andes on a bus trip over roads with hairpin turns built into cliff faces. I would not want the job these bus drivers have! As we near the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of World War I, we might remember those who serve in areas of armed conflict; those who are in harm’s way; peacekeepers and peacemakers.

This past week in the Democrat and Chronicle, there was a story of a baker who keeps his shop open in Gaza, risking his own life amid the bombardments there to feed both Israelis and Palestinians; donating loaves of bread to those who cannot afford to buy them. This baker has an extremely dangerous job, and yet I find his selfless courage in facing the distinct possibility of death astounding.

Now, how many of us might consider being a prophet as one of the most dangerous jobs possible? We hear today how Jeremiah accepts God’s call to be a prophet to the people of Israel, and so finds himself in a line of work that puts him in constant danger of being cursed, hated, hurt, or even killed. Nevertheless, Jeremiah finds joy in knowing that he is doing the work to which God has called him. He says, in the hymn that makes up our first reading today: “When I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart.”

And yet Jeremiah expresses fear. He knows that to be a prophet will probably lead to his death, and so he laments to God. But, as with any good lament in Scripture, Jeremiah only complains of the danger in which prophecy has put him because he trusts in God. In one breath, he laments even being born: “Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth!” How is it, God, that you have called me to be your prophet when I could have sought a much less dangerous job; one that was not a risk to my life? And then, in another breath, Jeremiah speaks of his deep trust in God: “Though they fight against you, they shall not prevail, for I am with you to deliver and rescue you, says the LORD.”

How deep is our trust in God, when our lives are not as imperiled as Jeremiah’s was and as the lives of many prophets and missionaries for our faith still are today?

The prophet Jeremiah is for us a model of courage; a model of trust in God even when his life is at risk. Let us be mindful today of all whose work is especially dangerous; those who face this danger with selflessness; with courage; with trust in God.