{"id":2664,"date":"2018-10-17T19:17:56","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T23:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2664"},"modified":"2018-10-17T19:17:56","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T23:17:56","slug":"god-our-help-and-our-hope-homily-for-october-2018-holy-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/god-our-help-and-our-hope-homily-for-october-2018-holy-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"God Our Help and Our Hope – Homily for October 2018 Holy Hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Homily for October 2018 Holy Hour
\nEzekiel 34:1-6, 11-12a
\nPsalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
\n1 John 1:5-2:2
\nLuke 15:1-3, 11-32<\/p>\n

In the days of Ezekiel many shepherds were more concerned about their own wants than taking care of the flock that God had entrusted to them.\u00a0 They were doing nothing to strengthen the weak or heal the sick.\u00a0 They did not nothing to gather the lost.\u00a0 They were not doing the very task that God appointed them to.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s response was to shepherd his people himself.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the first time those appointed to shepherd the Lord\u2019s people didn\u2019t live up the task and it certainly wasn\u2019t the last.\u00a0 Sometimes it was out of greed, power, or self-righteousness.<\/p>\n

Today we face a crisis involving leadership in the church.\u00a0 Certainly, it is centered on the clergy abuse scandal.\u00a0 For those who did the abusing, they followed their earthly desires instead of seeking chastity.<\/p>\n

For those involved in the coverup, some were following the advice of psychologists of the time.\u00a0 Others were trying to avoid scandal.\u00a0 Unfortunately, they may have been more concerned with image than truly dealing with the problem.<\/p>\n

Nothing excuses the abuse in any way and the coverup but how do we move forward today?<\/p>\n

Certainly, policies on how to handle accusations of abuse need to change and in many ways they have.\u00a0 There is still work to be done on the bishops\u2019 level.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to require God\u2019s help to move forward.\u00a0 God has been \u201cour help in ages past\u201d and God is \u201cour hope for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

To receive God\u2019s help, we need to acknowledge our sin.\u00a0 We see this is Psalm 51, \u201cBe merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.\u201d\u00a0 To be cleansed of our sins we must first admit our sins.<\/p>\n

God is perfect.\u00a0 Human beings are not.\u00a0 In tonight\u2019s second reading John writes, \u201cIf we say, \u201cWe have fellowship with God,\u201d while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 We need to bring light to the situation.\u00a0 Hence the call for transparency in the handling of abuse.<\/p>\n

Only then can we move forward.\u00a0 The other part of moving forward is forgiveness.\u00a0 Some of you attended the hour-long presentation on forgiveness<\/a> I did recently.\u00a0 I won\u2019t go into all that I said that night.\u00a0 Forgiveness does not mean we forget or deny what has happened.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t take away consequences of sin.\u00a0 It is about mercy.<\/p>\n

Here I turn to the story of the prodigal son.\u00a0 Interpretations of this story often center on the younger son\u2019s sins.\u00a0 We need to recognize there are three people in this story.<\/p>\n

There is the younger son who takes his inheritance and lives a life of dissipation until he hits bottom.\u00a0 After he hit bottom, he realizes his \u201csin\u201d and goes back to his father, not expecting to be forgiving.\u00a0 He only seeks a job with a just wage.<\/p>\n

The second person is the father who forgives.\u00a0 Even when his younger son is still far off, he runs to him as soon as he begins to return.\u00a0 (When we repent, God comes running to our side).<\/p>\n

The third person is the older son.\u00a0 When he sees his brother has returned and their father is throwing a party, he is jealous.<\/p>\n

God wants to help the Church.\u00a0 After all, it is his Church.<\/p>\n

God wants to help us as individuals.\u00a0 After all, we are his children.<\/p>\n

Who are you in the story?<\/p>\n

Are you the younger son who has sinned?\u00a0 Have you confessed your sins and asked God to help you change?<\/p>\n

Are you the one who is forgiving?<\/p>\n

Are you the older son who is jealous when someone else is forgiven?<\/p>\n

The reality is probably that at different times in our lives, we have been each of the three.\u00a0 At times, we are in need of forgiveness.\u00a0 At other times, we offer forgiveness.\u00a0 At still other times, there might be someone we think shouldn\u2019t be forgiven.<\/p>\n

You might be wondering where I am going with this in terms of the clergy abuse scandal.\u00a0 I am too.\u00a0 I\u2019m not quite sure myself.\u00a0 I know that we need to admit our sins and ask God to lead us to be where we are supposed to be as individuals and as a Church.<\/p>\n

For now, we pray for God\u2019s help.\u00a0 Our prayers might include asking for the intercession of the saints, like St. Maria Goretti who died rather than give up her chastity.\u00a0 There is St. Augustine who lived with a woman without marrying her and had a son but underwent conversion.\u00a0 I just learned about a 19th<\/sup> century saint, St. Mary MacKillop, from Australia who reported allegations of abuse of a child by a priest.\u00a0 In controversy with the local bishop, she was excommunicated but he lifted that excommunication before his death.\u00a0 Now she is a saint.<\/p>\n

God is \u201cour help in ages past\u201d and \u201cour hope for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homily for October 2018 Holy Hour Ezekiel 34:1-6, 11-12a Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 1 John 1:5-2:2 Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 In the days of Ezekiel many shepherds were more concerned about their own wants than taking care of the flock that God had entrusted to them.\u00a0 They were doing nothing to strengthen the weak or …<\/p>\n

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