it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
WHAT SIGN IS AT YOUR DOOR?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “What Sign Is At Your Door?
CHECK OUT THE
SIGNS
Next time you’re at anyone’s door, check out the signs?
“Welcome!”
“Home Sweet Home.”
Or notice stores. Often small stores have a reversible sign
they hang on their front door. It has “Open” on one side and “Closed” on the
other side. Which is more me?
Then there are signs that people seem to have hanging on
their face:
“Do what you can do for us - what you did over there for
them.”
In today’s gospel he goes into this Samaritan town - and
they want him out of that town. James and John react. They want to burn the whole damn town
down. No wonder they were called, “Boanerges” or “Sons of Thunder.” Did you notice the message in today’s
gospel: they were not welcome.
Then when he
finally gets to Jerusalem, they welcome
and celebrate him, big time on Palm Sunday. Then by the end of the week, they
are screaming, “Crucify him. Crucify him.”
THIS WORLD
What’s your take on this world? How do you see what's going on.
Does that message boil down to two words: “Whites only!”
or “Welcome everyone”?
“Whites only” or
“Welcome everyone”?
Read the October 9th, 2017 issue of Time Magazine. It has an article about
Syrians heading for Germany - because Mama Merkel - in Berlin - welcomed a lot
of them - back in the summer of 2015. They were being destroyed in the civil
war in Syria. Hospitals, schools, homes were destroyed. Parents saw no future
for their children. On August 31,
2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel
declared that her country was prepared to take in hundreds of thousands of
refugees fleeing war in the Middle East. She said, “We can do this.” She called
it “a national duty” to support those in danger.
And she paid dearly for her open attitude - in the last
election. She won but she lost some of her power, because the anti-immigrant
party, Alternative for Germany, won almost 13 percent of the vote. Merkel’s
party, the Christian Democratic Union came in first, but went down from 41.5% -
the numbers in the previous election - to 32.9% in this latest election.
Time will tell how much this move brings
blessings or what have to these families and to Germany.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “What Sign Is At Your Door?”
I will not argue with people about this issue of
welcoming people - especially immigrants. I think those who are anti-immigrant, want walls, are xenophobic, isolationist, have to find out for themselves why they think the way they think. Moreover, I don’t consider the issue political
- or what have you. I think of the ethics involved. I think people need to read the gospels - especially
Matthew 25 and be challenged by the Word - that it become flesh, that they see Christ at our
door. I think the darkening of America is happening and will continue.
I hope
nobody takes down the Statue of Liberty at our door - with its light and its message.
I hope enough people keep the attitude that we are a
nation of immigrants - starting with migrants from Asia coming across the ice
bridges of Alaska some 30,000 years ago and they will keep coming. For the sake of transparency, I am a First Generation, American. Growing up
my mother often said, “Ireland has nothing.” When I saw the rough and rugged and rocky place where she and my dad
came from, I said to her in prayer, “Thank you mom. Thank you dad.”
I hope and pray for the blessings our family received to
be received by all families.
October 3, 2017
⇄ BACKSTORY
Hey, what's the backstory on the word, "backstory"? I never heard anyone use that word before 1990. But I hear it a lot these past few years. I do. Maybe things are happening too, too fast. Maybe we know everything can be out of context. Maybe this is a way of showing more listening. Maybe if I hear your backstory, you'll hear my story. Okay, your story is that you hurt your back. Uh oh. That backstory changed your story, changed your life. Then what happened? Tell me the rest of your story.
That’s the title of today’s
feast: “The Holy Guardian Angels.”
I’m going to make two points
about angels: first, they protect us and second, they bring us messages.
FIRST: THEY PROTECT US
The theology of the Guardian Angels is that God has
angels watching over us. I’ll take them. I‘ll take that protection.
Many images of angels in religious art - especially for
children - has an angel flying or walking with a child.
And if we were brought up as Catholics we were taught
that childhood prayer, “Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom his love,
commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and
guide. Amen.”
As you know there is also in theological story and
tradition the story that Lucifer - the Light Bearer - a very powerful angel -
sinned - dropped God and God dropped him.
Instead of serving others - he was into himself.
And his sin is often described as pride - which is often
described as the worst sin - that Lucifer could not take anyone above him.
Contrast with that: yesterday’s second reading from
Philippians - that God humbled himself - becoming human - became even lower -
became a slave and a servant - and lowered himself even more - dying the death
of a criminal.
So the first message we can get from Angels - is that
they are for serving us, protecting us - not themselves. We see that in the good
angels - and in contrast in the bad angels who did not serve us - but they were
into themselves - in to pride, power, having great lights. That can blind us -
and we need the opposite humility - the ability to serve others.
SECOND THINGS
ANGELS DO: THEY BRING MESSAGES TO US
The second message about angles is that they are
messengers.
That might be the clear basic reasons in the scriptures
for angels. They bring messages to Gideon, to prophets, to Mary and Joseph.
They bring messages from God to people.
CONCLUSION
In you look around at religious art - statues, pictures,
stained glass windows - angels seem to be floating around - with wings or on
wheels.
My favorite image of an angel is Clarence - the angel
apprentice in the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
He protects Jimmy Stewart and he brings messages to him.
