Homily: 20th Sunday in Ordinary
Time, YR A
“Let us be Healed of that Which
Torments Us”
Aug. 15, 2005
by Fr. William Holtzinger
Not too long ago I was “I-M-ing”
Instant Messaging my sister using our iChat accounts on our computers.
While typing back and forth I noticed a that one of our mutual teenage
friends was logged on but away. His away message was a long diatribe of
profanities. I was shocked and asked my sister what she thought about
it. We were both deeply disappointed that he had such anger in his
heart. Somehow, his suffering was transferred to our suffering. We
wondered what could be the problem. For a while, we wondered if it was
simply a matter of age and pondered on how and when he would grow out of
it. My mind was racing as I could only imagine the environment he has
surrounded himself with regarding friends. I wondered what else he was
into as such words were lacking any sense of gratitude or love. Later
my sister sent him a message asking whether or not he felt that his
message was appropriate. His response was that he didn’t care. What
incredible callousness. I ached with the awareness of how far from God
he must be putting himself. His torment inside must be intense. Then I
turned to this week’s Scriptures.
We hear in the Gospel of a woman
whose heart suffered for her daughter is tormented by a demon. Now,
anyone who suffered from epilepsy or some other similar illness would
have been considered possessed by evil, so it is very difficult to know
whether or not she was simply mentally ill, suffered from epilepsy, or
truly possessed. Nonetheless, the young girl was plainly suffering and
such suffering caused her mother to suffer too. In fact, the mother’s
suffering was so great that she was willing to do anything to help her
child. Isn’t that like all parents? Doesn’t the pain your kids
experience hurt you too? So, she approached Jesus, ignoring all the
social mores that would normally prevent a Gentile and a Canaanite woman
from speaking to a Jewish male. She was challenged by Jesus, but
undeterred. Her love was so great and her faith so strong that she met
his challenge with another challenge. Because of her faith, her
daughter was healed.
In today’s time, I image that many of
our children would be considered tormented. In our culture today, a
culture of destruction and death, our kids are being fed the message
that pushes them away from God and their families. They suffer and
medicate themselves with drugs, alcohol, and other behaviors that
further separate them from the love that they truly need and
subconsciously seek. Our Catholic Church has attempted to address these
problems, but hasn’t been able to step the tide. Personally, I’d give
us a C at best. Yet, we have the solution. It is in our very hearts,
our homes, and our Churches. It is Jesus. Jesus is the answer to all
our questions, the healer of all our ills, the fulfiller of all our
hopes and dreams.
The problem is, too many of us adults
are either not educated enough, are too fearful to do anything about it,
or haven’t the faith to believe that the problem can be cured. Somehow,
many of us have stopped believing and thus acting in a way that
demonstrates to our children that God is real and living in our hearts.
Somehow, we’ve stopped believing that Jesus is always close to us and
desires an personal relationship with each of us. Somehow, too many of
us have become satisfied with having our children make it to Mass and no
more. The late Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day in Paris told the
crowd of 1.5 million young people: “Do not be satisfied with
mediocrity.” Yet, that is precisely what has happened to many of us
adults. In the pains of raising our children, too many have given up
the fight. In many cases it is hardly their fault. They have been
tormented by the pains their children run into and haven’t the support
that they need in order to keep their children on the narrow path.
But take heart. Our Pastoral Council
has discerned that St. Anthony’s won’t just sit by and let our children
become victims of our society. We have decided to meet the challenge
and recourse to the One who can heal all our demons. We have decided to
make a concerted effort into evangelizing our youth and educating our
adults, especially our parents.
We have decided, with input from
listening sessions, countless hours of discussion, untold hours of
prayer, and input from last week’s survey to make some changes.
Therefore, we are going to institute a new liturgy schedule in order to
create more opportunities for these things to take place. Our Sunday
schedule will have a 9:30 am English Mass followed by religious
education for children and adults. Then at noon, we will have our
Spanish Mass. Finally, at 5:30 pm we will celebrate a Life Teen Mass.
The Scriptures tell us that God
acknowledges goodness where ever it is found. He desire all to worship
him, and all can. We just need to create the cultural environment that
will allow that to happen. This liturgy change is just one small, but
profound link in the chain that will support a culture of Catholic faith
where we can gather for prayer, encouragement, education, fellowship,
and faith sharing. Yet, one approach cannot reach all of the different
age groups in our parish, thus the different Masses will strive to bring
out the best in our community. For example, the 9:30 am Sunday Mass
will strive to bring out the traditional music that so many love while
the 5:30 pm Saturday Life Teen Mass will bring out the more charismatic
and contemporary style of worship within our liturgy. With the new
Coordinator of Faith Formation, we hope to make a more concerted effort
in bring engaging catechesis to both our children and adults. Beyond
just educating the brain, we are also in need of evangelization. Our
hearts need to be moved. In a more dramatic words, Archbishop Vlazny
said of our present Church is in need of “revival.” That is part of the
goal and direction of the efforts begin by myself and the Pastoral
Council with the assistance of the Administrative Council.
But, this cannot be done simply by me
and the holy people of our Pastoral and Administrative Councils. It
will take the whole parish. That means you. In the wedding of Laura
Gray, I read a letter she wrote to the parish in which she thanked the
community for supporting and teaching her in her formative years as a
teen. She entitled her work, “It Takes a Parish to Raise a Child.”
These words echo in my heart as I ponder on the days and years ahead of
us all.
And so we begin the ambitious task of
reviving our parish. It must be done with everyone turing their hearts
in repentance to God as well as in supplication that Christ will heal us
all of those things that torment us all. Pray that mediocrity never
sets in and that a fire will be set ablaze in your heart. Pray for all
of our conversions. Pray that we will turn our whole lives over to the
Lord in a new and more profound way. It is with the presence of the
Holy Spirit in our lives that we will be able to stem the tide and
rescue our young people from the evils of our world. Only together can
we do this. Only together with faith in our Savior calling us to get
our of our boats of comfort and walk on water will the revival of our
parish happen. We have greatness in the pews here. But, too many have
chosen to sit and watch as things pass by them. Let us pray that they
will make that step and move toward the vision that our Pastoral Council
has set before us all.
Thank you all for your prayers and
support. God bless you for your input and encouragement. Let us go
forward into the future with hope and love. Let us not be daunted by
the obstacles that may seem to be in our way. Let us be faithful and
persistent in prayer and supplication. And may God bless us for we
depend on our Lord’s voice: “Let it be done as you wish.” (Matt. 15:28)