Archive for the ‘24th Sunday’ Category

Forgiven, Forgotten, Forever 9-17-2023

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

When I was doing research for this homily on forgiveness I came
across a very interesting story about Abraham Lincoln.
When Mr. Lincoln was campaigning for the presidency, one of his
arch-enemies was a man named Edwin Stanton. For some reason
Stanton hated Lincoln. He used every ounce of his energy to degrade
Lincoln in the eyes of the public. So deep-rooted was Stanton’s hate for
Lincoln that he uttered unkind words about his physical appearance, and
sought to embarrass him at every point. But in spite of this, Lincoln was
elected the sixteenth president of the United States of America.
Then came the period when Lincoln had to select his cabinet,
which would consist of the persons who would be his most intimate
associates in implementing his programs. He started choosing men here
and there for the various positions.
The day finally came for Lincoln to select the all-important post of
Secretary of War. Can you imagine whom Lincoln chose to fill this
post? None other than the man named Stanton. There was an immediate
uproar in the president’s inner circle when the news began to spread.
Advisor after advisor was heard saying, “Mr. President, you are making
a mistake. Do you know this man Stanton? Are you familiar with all the
ugly things he said about you? He is your enemy. He will seek to
sabotage your programs. Have you thought this through, Mr. President??
Mr. Lincoln’s answer was terse and to the point: “Yes, I know Mr.
Stanton. I am aware of all the terrible things he has said about me. But
after looking over the nation, I find he is the best man for the job.” So
Stanton became Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War and rendered an
invaluable service to his nation and his president.
Not many years later Lincoln was assassinated. Many laudable
things were said about him. But of all the great statements made about
Abraham Lincoln, the words of Stanton remain among the greatest.
Standing near the dead body of the man he once hated, Stanton referred
to him as one of the greatest men who ever lived and said, “He now
belongs to the ages.”
If Lincoln had hated Stanton both men would have gone to their
graves as bitter enemies. But through the power of forgiveness Lincoln
transformed an enemy into a friend. One simple act of forgiveness can
change people’s lives. Are there any Stanton’s in your life right now?
Some years ago, a pastor in Boston was being harassed by a
woman in his congregation. She started false rumors about him. She
wrote vicious letters about him to his bishop and others. She initiated
petitions to have him removed. After several months of this, the woman
moved to another city and not long afterward was converted to Christ.
Part of the process of her conversion was to realize the terrible wrong
she had done and all the pain and suffering she had inflicted on her
pastor in Boston. Consequently, she wrote him a long letter explaining
what had happened to her and how deeply she regretted what she had
done to him. The pastor immediately sent her a telegram with three
words on it: Forgiven, Forgotten, Forever.
Is there someone we/you/me need to say those words to and mean
them? Forgiven, Forgotten, Forever or do we want to live life like that
trapped rattlesnake filled with resentment and bitterness and bite
ourselves to death! I hope not.

Be A Stand In For God 9-11-2022

Sunday, September 11th, 2022

If an alien was to walk in to our church today and say, “Ok you
Church people, describe God to me.”
I wonder what our answer would be. I believe one of the most
powerful descriptions of God is contained in the 2 stories we just
heard in Luke’s Gospel.
A. These images of God, too many people, don’t make any sense.
When the sinner is found. Mercy, love and forgiveness are
freely offered. No charge; no strings attached; no, “I told you
so;” no finger pointing. Just, “Welcome Home.”
B. No matter how far we wonder or stray from God, and we all do
it at times, no matter how terrible our sins might be, God’s arms
are always open to us. Jesus never approves of the sin, but he
always embraces the sinner.
C. I could just hear a few of the people, when Jesus was telling his
stories, making a few side comments like:
i. These stories are crazy!
ii. This God is ridiculous!
iii. Leave 99 good sheep to go after one stupid stray?
iv. That’s not very good business sense.
v. If I were the father I would stick it to that son.
vi. I would make him crawl back.
vii. This God doesn’t make any sense.
These people were right; our God doesn’t make any sense when it
comes to loving us.
D. A final point, very important, comes from a quote by the
director of Covenant House, a shelter for runaway kids in many
large cities in the U.S. She says, “The kids we work with have a
lot of questions…
‘Can I have something to eat? I haven’t had a good thing
to eat in days,’ a 17-year-old boy asked me last night. ‘Can I
sleep here? Where can I sleep?’ another kid asked an hour later.
I think she may have been twelve. These questions come easy
to them. They are the questions that a street kid asks every day,
minute to minute. But what gets to me is the question they
don’t ask. The one that hides deep in the eyes they turn away
from you, the one that shows in nervous fingers. This is the
question that comes from living a lifetime of days when you
can’t seem to do anything right. It is, ‘Does God still love me?
– Will God forgive me?’ The kids would never say that out
loud. Very few of them ever talk about God. They don’t know
enough yet, and their minds and mouths are too preoccupied
with the other questions: ‘Is it safe here?’ ‘Can I have
something to eat?’ ‘Where can I sleep?’ But their hearts have
only one question: ‘Does God still love me? – Will God forgive
me?’ And their hearts look to me and to other adults at
Covenant House for the answer to that question. I don’t think
the kids think much about the theological idea that God lives in
every one of us. With them it’s more instinctive. All I know is
that when they look at me and I see that question, I feel the
incredible burden of standing in for our Lord. And I know our
Lord is counting on me to say, ‘Yes! Heavens, yes! I love
you!’ to those scraggly, hungry, angry children of the streets.”
I Close:
God is counting on all of us to be “Stand In’s” for the Lord, with
each other. To make real Isaiah 55:7, “Turn to the Lord for mercy; to
our God, who is generous in forgiving.”

The Church Downstairs 9-12-2021

Sunday, September 12th, 2021

The pastor calls it the “church downstairs”. They have a good
problem: they need more chairs.
For years, Alcoholic Anonymous has met in the church hall every
day of the week, sometimes twice a day. The supportive pastor started
thinking of those meetings as the “church downstairs” after a new
parishioner told him how she came to join the parish after first going
“downstairs” for several months.
The priest occasionally sits in on the meetings and it has helped
him understand what it means to be “church”. Three things about AA
have struck him:
First, there is a “genuine and low-key sense” of welcoming. But it
is not simply a matter of a designated greeter shaking every new hand.
In fact, “AA is at its most hospitable after the meeting is over. No one is
bolting for the door when the last word is pronounced. Instead, people
stay around for another cup of coffee, especially if someone new has
joined them”. The second thing the pastor has noticed is how the “church
downstairs” rallies around the weak, the powerless, and the hurting.
“Even those some might relegate to the social fringe are met with
acceptance in the group, not least because a common denominator—We
are all powerless over alcohol—remains central”.
And the third thing that Alcoholics Anonymous groups
demonstrate so well, the pastor admires, is “the belief that everyone has
a story to tell and a right to be heard. This belief is essential not only to
the Twelve Steps, but to the sense of commonality and communion that
is generated in the group. Everyone can learn something from another
person’s story…”
Welcoming strangers. Lifting up the weak and struggling.
Listening to what everyone has to say. Maybe that’s why they need
more chairs at the “church downstairs”.
This is what Christ calls us to be a church: a community that
readily takes up our own crosses in order to help others bear up theirs; a
family of brothers and sisters who instinctively put aside their own individual needs and hurts to bring healing and hope to the other members of the family. In being members of such a faith community,
we answer the question that Jesus poses in today’s Gospel; every
decision we make, every action we take, proclaims who we believe this
Jesus is and what his Gospel means to us. Sometimes our answering
that question demands that we put aside our own concerns, needs and
fears, to say to ourselves and confess to the world: You are the Christ;
You are the Anointed One God has sent to teach us his way of humble
gratitude, joyful service, and just peace.