MERCY AND 

ENCOURAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 10^th Monday in Ordinary Time  is, “Mercy and Encouragement.”

THEME FOR A YEAR

Our pope, Francis, is off on the theme of Mercy.

He’s proclaiming an upcoming year of mercy. It will begin this December 8, 2015  and go till November 20, 2016.

He’s announcing it, pushing it, proclaiming it. He’ll be calling us to show mercy to each other and accept mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation with ourselves and others.

MERCY - LETTING GO OF THE STICK

In a homily on March 17^th, 2013, Pope Francis used the image of a stick.

He preached the following: “I think we too are the people who, on the one hand, want to listen to Jesus, but on the other hand, at times, like to find a stick to beat others with, to condemn others. And Jesus has this message for us: mercy. I think — and I say it with humility — that this is the Lord's most powerful message: mercy.”

Translation: “Put down your sticks - we could add ‘stones’ and stop beating on others as well as ourselves.”

I finished a Friday 12:10 Mass here at St. John Neumann’s a few years ago and there were about 20 women in Seelos Hall with about 50 little kids. I noticed there were about 25 little girls and they were playing together with dolls and little carriages. There were 25 boys and they were outside on the lawn there - all the boys had sticks and they were dueling - and fighting each other with sticks.

It reminded me of something my niece Patty told me about her two boys. Boys will be boys will be boys all the time. You can try to keep toy guns and tanks and bomber planes away for them, but they’ll make guns out of peanut butter sandwiches and shoot at each other.

Mercy is putting down the guns and the gossip and active and passive aggression we have towards each other and ourselves.

That’s mercy. If we put a whole year towards doing that - we will be evangelizing the world.

Will that work? Time will tell.

PAUL VI ON EVANGELIZATION

Back in 1975 Pope Paul VI came out with an enclyclical on Evangelization  - Evangelii Nuntianidi. Announcing peace to the world.  We were told over and over and over again - to be evangelizers.

To be honest, I never really got it.

And I’ve been hearing the words, “New Evangelization” ever since and I still don’t get it.

Okay,  I get it, but I don’t get it.

I don’t think it’s a good marketing of Christianity - using this big word “evangelization”.

I think a shorter more common word works much better. For example this year we are going to stress “Mercy”. Be merciful to each other for this year.

It would be like having a year of faith or hope or charity.

I think one short common word works better.

So come next December 8^th, 2015,  have mercy towards folks you live with and deal with till November 20, 2016.

Try it.

IN THE MEANWHILE

In the meanwhile, the title of this homily is “Encouragement.”

Ooops! I’m contradicting myself. Encouragement.

Today we begin the It’s not me….

Thought: this week show encouragement towards the people in your life.

See if it works for a week.

I say this because in today’s first reading the word, “Encouragment” is used 8 times in 7 verses. In Greek the word is “PARAKLESIS”

I was at Genesis yesterday at Milkshake Lane - off Forest Drive. I signed in my name at the desk at 12:45 - and saw 4 people from the parish.

All 4 thanked me for the visit.

I get back to the sign in book at 3:12 and I couldn’t find my name to mark when I was leaving. Surprise there were 3 pages after my name. All kinds of others were visiting others.

That’s encouragement - so too a phone call, so too an e-mail, so too a Get Well Card.

So too going to a kids game. So too playing cards with kids. So too encouraging a person who is having a tough time with a marriage and on and on and on.

Sir Winston Churchill was off on Courage - saying, “Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning.”

Wasn’t that his job all through World War II when England and London were being bombed all night long?

CONCLUSION

It takes courage to be an encourager.

Try it for a week - and then try another virtue for another week, That will give you a hint, whether  you can hold a stress for a week. You - building strength for a whole year of mercy.