Homily for Independence Day 2014

     

           

1^st Reading – Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 – they shall wander from sea to sea and rove from north to east in search of the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.

Gospel – Matthew 9:9-13  – “Call of Matthew”

          Today in this 13^th Week of Ordinary Time when we also celebrate the 238^th birthday of our country, I think we are being reminded more than ever that we are called to be prophets & patriots.   On this Independence Day we are called to reflect on our roots; how we got here, whose sacrifice brought us to this present time, and just how willing are we to sacrifice to ensure that our children, our family, our friends, our country knows and remembers by whose hand it is that we live and breathe and by whose blood we do so in freedom.

          A prophet acts as the voice of God and calls people to accountability.  A patriot loves his/her country and is willing to fight to protect the liberty and laws on which it was founded.   And the great thing about our country is that the prophet and the patriot are joined at the hip because our founding fathers recognized that the rights and freedoms they founded our country on come from God.  These were “unalienable rights”; rights that could not be taken away, rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; rights that are ours to keep because they were endowed by our Creator and no human or civil authority  is allowed to take them away.

          But let’s be clear, the rights we have been given by God are to be understood as God understands them, that is as God intended them.  First of all the right to life is an absolute right for all people, because all people are created in God’s image.  If a anyone threatens the safety of another or has gone so far as to take away another’s God given right to life, that person should be removed from society.  We can shield society from that person, we can act in defense of our country,  but we as fellow human beings do not have the authority to take away the God given right to life from any person.   Second, our country was founded on a God given right to liberty, but liberty must not be confused with license or freedom to do what I want whenever I want.  Liberty as God intended is our right, our freedom to share space on this earth, to work and produce something that contributes to our well-being, to the well-being of our families, and our country.  Liberty as God intended is the freedom to serve but not be in forced servitude.  Liberty is the freedom to worship God openly and freely without fear of persecution.  Liberty is the freedom to coexist with our neighbors, in obedience to laws that conform to God’s law and without out excessive burden by Governments, at any level.   A third unalienable right granted us by God is the right to happiness; but not happiness as the world might define it but rather as God defines it.  Our right to happiness extends only as far as our recognition that we are children of God and the source of true happiness comes from staying close to Him because the happiness He desires for us is eternal and not fleeting.

           Our Founding Fathers understood that true Independence comes from being willing to depend on the Lord.   But today many have forgotten this simple fact about their heritage.  It is why God sends prophets and patriots.  In the 1^st reading today, the prophet Amos was delivering a message to a people who had forgotten their heritage.  They had forgotten that God had freed them from captivity and promised to take care of them if they would let Him.  Instead in today’s readings we hear the people complaining with impatience as to when the new moon would be over.  They couldn’t wait for the holy day which is supposed to be devoted to God to be over so they could get back to their buying and selling.  Oh by the way, the buying selling included false measures, diluting their products and cheating customers so as to increase their profits.  Amos tells them that because of their behavior, a time is coming of famine, and draught.  But it will not be famine or draught due to lack of food and water but rather for being able to hear the word of the Lord.  Because they had turned from God, and lost their patriotic fervor as children of God, they would soon have to endure captivity and hardship.

          Then in the Gospel Jesus calls Matthew a tax collector to follow him.  Matthew had to choose.  He had to decide, do I give up this lucrative job of collecting taxes and being able to live in luxury, to follow this man or not?

Matthew had a choice.  We too have a choice?  We have the choice to be prophets & patriots or to let our heritage both spiritual and national, be erased.  It is up to us.  It is up to us to remember and to never forget what the Lord has done for us; to remember the great men & women of the Church who have lived and died for us. It’s up to us to remember the courage of our founding fathers, and all of those who have lived before us and have shed their blood so that we might enjoy freedom as children of God and citizens of this great country.

          Today we are reminded that we are called to be both prophet and patriot.   We must continuously remind those in our families, our community, our country of their heritage as children of God and citizens of this great land.  We must make sure that our children, our neighbors, our political leaders, our countrymen and women never forget that we have unalienable rights given to us by God, which have been preserved, protected and defended for 238 years by the prophets and patriots who have gone before us.  May God bless us and may God bless the United States of America.

 

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity & Father's Day 2014

   

Homily: Trinity Sunday 2014 & Fathers Day

1^st Reading: Exodus 34;4b-6; 8-9 – If I find favor with you O Lord, do come along in our company

2^nd Reading: 2Cor. 13: 11-13 – Mend your ways, encourage one another

Gospel: John 3: 16-18 – God so loved the world that he gave His only Son.

       A young boy had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his father, who was a minister, if they could discuss his use of the car. His father said to him, "I'll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study the bible a little, and get your hair cut; then we'll talk about it."

A month later the boy came back and again asked his father if he could use the car. His father said, "Son, I'm really proud of you. You brought your grade up, studied the bible well, but you didn't get your hair cut!"

The young man waited a moment and then replied, "You know dad, I've been thinking about that. Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair."

His father replied gently, "Yes son and they walked everywhere they went."

       Today is Father’s Day, a day in which we express our love and gratitude for all Fathers living, as well as those who have gone before us. We thank them for their love, their guidance and all that they do, or have done to form us into the persons that God intended us to be.  And like the boy in the story we all have probably tried at one time or another when we were younger to bend the rules or put one over on our Fathers, only to realize later in life that Dad was only trying to teach us something we needed to know.   It is also recognized that not everyone has had a father figure for one reason or another whom they could look up to but the assurance that we all have is that all of us have a Father in heaven.  A Father, who loves us unconditionally and has created each one of us as his own unique and uniquely gifted child.  It’s with this thought in mind that today we also celebrate Trinity Sunday.  Today, while we are reminded of the mystery of God as a community of persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we shouldn’t spend too much energy trying to wrap our minds around how this is possible.  Rather, I think that it is more appropriate that we reflect on the trinity within the role of a Father’s love for His children and how understanding this should enhance our celebration of Father’s Day.  

         The mystery of the Trinity is something we cannot understand in this life, but the love of Father for Son and Son for Father; a love that is so deep that the this love becomes personified in one we call the Holy Spirit is something we can relate to particularly if we have as a model the love of husband and wife.  When a husband and wife give themselves totally one to the other; that love is so deep, so intense that it overflows and becomes personified in their child.

       It is also important to realize that the love of a Father for his children, as well as, a Mother’s love are born of God.  They love their children because that is their purpose.  That is what God made them to do.

         But since this is Father’s day I want to share a couple of thoughts about the importance of being a Father and/or a Father figure because for some people it may be an Uncle, an older brother, a cousin or some other male presence who has fulfilled the role of father for them.

         The first thing I would say is that “Father’s you are not alone”.  Taking seriously the responsibility of Fatherhood and trying to do it right can sometimes be stressful, and sometimes it can be lonely. But as I said earlier, we all have a Father in heaven who we should to turn to every day for guidance and strength, for wisdom, and patience.  We know this to be true because Jesus taught us to call God our Father; our Dad.

We also need to be reminded daily that the way in which the Father loves us is the way that we are called to love our children.

         It is important to remember that God the Father sent His Son not only to save us but also to show us how to be good Fathers.  Jesus came to earth to pass on a message from the Father for us  His adopted children.  “Tell them I love them, and that they are to carry that love into the world.”  And this message from the Father for all earthly Fathers is communicated by His Son the living Word, through the power of the Holy Spirit.   In His message to all earthly Fathers, He commands them to reach, to teach, to lay down their life for their children.   So Fathers, teach your sons how to be Godly men who love the Lord. Teach them to be men who show the utmost respect for women most especially their mother.  Teach them to be men who work hard, and are grateful every day to God for all He provides.  Fathers teach your daughters by your own example what they should expect from a man who would be her spouse.  They should expect unconditional love, respect, and self sacrifice.  They should expect him to be a man of faith.  Fathers teach them that they should not settle for less than a man who loves God, because only in loving God can she be sure that he will love her.

         I have been fortunate to have three earthly Fathers.  My birth Father who was formed me for the 1^st 12 years of my life, until he died; my Father who adopted me and guided me into adulthood, and my father-in-law who showed unconditional, self-sacrificing love in caring for my mother-in-law during some 15 years of strokes and progressive debilitation.  He died 6 years ago, just two months after she went home to the Lord.  These three men instilled in me much of the faith, the values, the responsibility I’ve tried to pass on to my children.  This is what I believe a Father is supposed to do.  To live out the commission that Jesus gave us.  “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”.  And teach them all that I have commanded you”. 

         Our Father in heaven has passed on the mantle of Fatherhood to us through His Son Jesus.  Fathers need to reclaim their God-given role to provide for, to protect, to guide, and to teach those placed under his care.  Society needs Fathers who carry out their God-given responsibilities with great joy and great love.  When our society sees an earthly Father fulfilling his mission in a sense they also get a glimpse of the face of God.