"Come and See"

I had been thinking about this homily for a week and a half. Of course I hadn't put anything down on paper -- I seldom can, ahead of time. But when I did, I was able to spend more time than usual with the individual words I would use, and how to say them -- inflection, pausing, etc.

The two paragraphs at the end are in brackets because they refer to two parish activities that I wanted to highlight at the end. The homily probably works OK without them.

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

Today I’d like to focus on two different spiritual movements, movements that go together as naturally as breathing in and breathing out. The first movement is very well characterized by today’s First Reading and the Gospel. The former passage tells us that young Samuel was being called – “Samuel, Samuel.” But Samuel “was not familiar with the Lord,” so he kept running to the old priest, Eli, “Here I am; you called me.” Finally, Eli figures it out and with the old priest’s instructions Samuel listens attentively to God’s voice… and after that, things are never the same in his life. In fact, they are never the same in the land of Israel.

The Gospel story takes place shortly after John’s baptism of Jesus, and when John points him out as the Holy One, “the Lamb of God,” Andrew and another of John’s disciples follow Jesus, and after a brief exchange about where Jesus lives, Jesus invites them to “Come and See.” And clearly, these words are more than invitation to physically see where Jesus lives; they are rather an invitation to know who Jesus is. And after that, just as in the first reading, things for Andrew are never the same again; nor for the apostles, nor for human history.

Come and See. Rabbi, where are you staying? Come and See. Do we want to understand who Jesus is? Come and See. Would we want to learn how to be more loving?…to forgive and heal others like Jesus did?… Would we like to be less worried or afraid…more grateful and trusting… Come and See. Know Jesus, study the scriptures, pray over them, worship and gather to share the Eucharist. Come and See.

DO BELIEVE that our God calls to us. I believe God’s calls to us all the time. There are times in our lives when we act like Samuel did at first, as if we were unfamiliar with the Lord. We may have a restlessness in our heart; it might keep us awake at night. We may have a yearning that we just don’t understand. We might feel that we’re…not in the right place. Those might be signs that God is speaking to us.

It’s difficult sometime because God’s Word to us is different from ordinary words. We often take the Voice of God to be something else, something that might be a little more familiar to us. Or we respond to what we hear by turning to the people we already know or the places we’re already accustomed to, or maybe we turn to something shiny, like a new toy or a new opportunity, and we say “Here I am, you called me.” But it was God who was really calling us – we just didn’t recognize the voice.

But instead, if we have become a bit familiar with the ways of God, or if we have a wise person in our life to whom we can turn for advice, we might instead say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” And God WILL speak to us. God is not silent; God never abandons us, even if we feel lost and in the shadow of death. Our God is a God of Love and Consolation. And yet truly, what God has to say to us can cause the ears of everyone who hears it, to RING, so that things will never be the same.

I spoke when I began, of two movements. The first is to hear God’s voice, to come to know to heart of Jesus. But there is another movement. Once we have heard and have come to know… it takes us somewhere. God’s Word to us is a Holy, creative word, and that Word changes us – joyfully, gloriously, and sometimes even frighteningly or dangerously!

How can that be? What might those changes be? We might already have some inkling of that if we are speaking of our individual lives. If we ask God where to walk, God WILL show us the paths that we can walk together. If we offer our lives to God, God WILL help us determine our professions, opening some doors, closing others. If we open our hearts for God to show us love, God CAN help us find our spouse, and WILL help us raise a family. And if we’re sick or dying and we reach out for God, God WILL even carry us along our paths. Our God loves us all, individually and powerfully so.

But our God is also much larger than that, larger than any of us as individuals. Our God is not a personal, private God. God loves the whole human family. That’s why God sent Jesus to teach us and to show us how to live, and to announce the Reign of God. This Monday… is a special testament to that, because it is the special time of the year that we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King, we sometimes forget, was a Baptist Minister, and the title “Doctor” refers to his advanced degrees in theology.

To me his most moving speech was not the famous one that he gave to hundreds of thousands in our nation’s Capitol. To me it was a sermon that he gave about the night he almost gave up. After a long day and night in one of many troubled situations he had faced during the civil rights struggle, with death threats to him and others, and late that night, in his own home, he received one final hateful call that was, in his words, “a nasty voice” -- someone who threatened his little daughter’s life, his wife’s life and his own. It was not the first time; but that night, as he sat alone at his kitchen table, his head in his hands, he felt there was nothing anyone could do to help him. The police? They were on the other side. The federal government was too far away. His father lived in another city. He felt lost, alone, and in trouble, felt like he couldn’t go on. But then, that night, he heard the voice of God, telling him…”Stand up, Martin. Stand up for Justice. Stand up for Righteousness.” And he ended that sermon by proclaiming “There IS a Balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole; there IS a balm in Gilead, to heal the sin-sick soul.” He went on from that night, and eventually died in the service of His God.

We don’t choose most of our life’s troubles; most of us naturally try to avoid them. But being part of the reign of God means announcing that reign to the world, and promoting ways of life that confound and sometimes confront earthly powers. Those powers are strong, persistent, interlocking, and hold much of the world in their grip. And in today’s world we see many people and places that cry out for God’s justice. And so you know, you know that God’s voice must also be very active these days; and as a people, as a Church, we should find ourselves saying “Speak Lord, your servants are listening.”

[There are many ways we might respond to that voice, and I would just like to call your attention to two of them this morning. On Tuesday morning, the annual March for Life will take place, down in Olympia. This is an annual event, held near the anniversary of Roe VS Wade. There are already several of us going. If you would like to go, and need directions or perhaps a ride, please contact one of us.

The 2nd is that next Monday, January 23rd, we will begin a parish program called “Living Solidarity – the Federal Government, the Budget, and the Common Good.” This program is particularly timely, because budget cuts everywhere are impacting the poor most of all. We already have 18-20 people who have already signed up, and if you are interested, this is a final opportunity, because we need to order books. There is a signup table in the main entryway.]

May you enjoy your holiday on Monday. But be sure to spend part of this time in prayer. Just say to God, Speak Lord…your servant is listening.

Deacon Denny Duffell, 1/15/12

World Peace Day homily

I usually try to post my homilies, and try to write a blog or two between them. I also post my homilies on the parish website, but here on the blog I try to comment on the homily -- which gives it at least a little more context.

For January 1st, I knew already that it was not just the feast day of Mary, Mother of God, but also World Peace Day, and that for 45 years now, the pope has issued a special message about peace for the occasion. Peace is a topic I care a lot about, and so I really wanted an opportunity to speak about it on New Years Day. However, the scriptures for that day's liturgy don't highlight peace, but rather highlight Mary -- and I really believe, whenever possible, that I should speak from the scriptures.

I couldn't figure out how to do it. Finally, Saturday afternoon came, and I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that I couldn't make a connection that I felt comfortable with. It finally hit me, however, when I looked more carefully at the first reading, which describes that beautiful Old Testament blessing. After that....

By the way, Benedict's text is four pages long, and so of course I just chose excerpts from his message. Also, I amended it slightly, to conform the message to an oral format, rather than a written one. In other words (as you can tell from comparing my words to his actual words), I added words that made it more personal. I'm confident that I didn't change the meaning, but if you think so, let me know. Here's the homily:

Feast of Mary, Mother of God, 2012

Good morning. The full title of today’s feast is: “The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord: Mary, the Holy Mother of God.” The octave day, the eighth day after birth, held great importance for Jewish people. And on that day children received their name and, in the case of a male child, the rite of circumcision. In fact, when I was a child, this holyday was even called the Feast of the Circumcision. There’s also a tradition that goes back to the fifteen century that calls this day the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.

It’s apparent from its different titles that this feast contains many evocative themes, but there’s also one that we’re not so familiar with, and that’s PEACE. It’s not just that at this time of the year, we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. And it’s not just that we honor in our feast today the one who is Mary, Queen of Peace. Ever since 1968, our international Church has also celebrated January 1st as World Day of Peace, and successive popes have issued a special message of peace to the whole world. (I’m just curious how many of you knew that…We don’t take much notice of that in the U.S., for some reason.) For 45 years now, each of these individual peace letters has also had a special theme for the times. Five years ago the theme was The Human Person, the Heart of Peace. Three years ago it was Fighting Poverty to Build Peace; then If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation. The reason I decided to bring this up to you today is because of this year’s theme, which I think we should especially be able to relate to here at St. Bridget. The theme of this year’s World Day of Peace is Educating Young People in Justice and Peace.

Young people! Ever since the mid-1980’s -- for about the last 25 years -- one of the major focal points for St. Bridget has been our young people. It’s not just that we support and educate them in our Catholic Schools – Assumption-St. Bridget, the Villa Academy, our Catholic high schools -- but we offer programs, activities, and other opportunities for our young people to be active in our parish life. The reason I mention 25 years, is because we are the only parish in the Seattle area – probably the only parish in the archdiocese -- to have continually had a paid youth minister on our parish staff for these past 25 years. That priority is an indication of how important our young people have been to us.

It is not an easy ministry, not the least because as our young people grow up, you have to be continually reinventing the program. We started with ministers from the Channel Program – young people themselves, just fresh from college, who gave a year of their lives, or two or three, working for a beginner’s salary and helping us here with our youth. But then, even after the Channel Program ended, we have continued to fund this ministry, and we’ve been very blessed to have had Joe Rinaldi here as our youth minister for the last 7 or 8 years. But above all, our youth ministry here has taken its biggest jump in these last three years, when in addition to having a youth minister on staff, we finally got a pastor who has really invested himself in personally reaching out to our youth.

So today, in line with the theme of Educating Young People in Justice and Peace, I would like to share a few lines from Pope Benedict’s message. He writes to our youth, and to all of us.
He begins writing to everyone, and then writes to the young:

Peace…is not merely a gift to be received; it is … a task to be undertaken. In order to be true peacemakers, we must educate ourselves in compassion, solidarity, … in being active within the community and concerned to raise awareness about national and international issues. Peace is not only about conflict resolution, but about cooperation for development, promotion of growth, and the seeking adequate mechanisms for the redistribution of wealth. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”

To the young -- you who have such a strong attachment to ideals, I extend a particular invitation to be patient and persevering in seeking justice and peace, in cultivating the taste for what is just and true, even when it involves sacrifice and swimming against the tide….

My dear young people [and here is speaking to young adults, too], you are a precious gift for society. Do not yield to discouragement in the face of difficulties…Do not be afraid to make a commitment, to face hard work and sacrifice…Be confident in your youth and its profound desires for happiness, truth, beauty, and genuine love! Live fully this time in your life so rich and so full of enthusiasm.

Please realize that you yourselves are an example and an inspiration to your elders, even more so to the extent that you seek to overcome injustice…and strive to build a better future. Be aware of your potential; never become self-centered but work for a brighter future for all. You are never alone. The Church has confidence in you, follows you, encourages you, and wishes to offer you the most precious gift she has: the opportunity to raise your eyes to God, to encounter Jesus Christ, who is himself justice and peace.

And to all you men and women throughout the world -- take to heart the cause of peace. Peace is not a blessing already attained, but rather a goal to which each and all of us must aspire. Let us look with greater hope to the future; let us encourage one another on our journey; let us work together to give our world a more humane … face; let us feel a common responsibility towards present and future generations, especially in the task of training them to be people of peace and builders of peace.

“With these thoughts I offer my reflections and I appeal to everyone: let us pool our spiritual, moral, and material resources for the great goal of ‘educating young people in justice and peace.’” -- Pope Benedict XVI

I think it’s only fitting to conclude this morning with words from our First Reading -- for all of us, but especially for our young people:

“May the Lord bless you and keep you!
……….May the Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
…………..……May the Lord look upon you kindly, and give you PEACE!”

Denny Duffell, January 1, 2012