Homily for June 2019 Holy Hour
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
Romans 8:31-39
John 3:1-17<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How much do you trust God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do\nyou have the faith of Abram (who will become known as Abraham)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nfirst reading for tonight comes from the very beginning of the story of\nAbraham. The very first<\/em> words we hear God speak to Abram are, \u201cGo forth from your land, your relatives, and\nfrom your father\u2019s house<\/em>.\u201d God is\ntelling Abraham to leave everything that is familiar to him. That alone can be a huge challenge. We are often comfortable with what is\nfamiliar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where\nis Abraham supposed to go? If it is a\nreally good place, that would make it easier from him to leave what is\nfamiliar. However, God doesn\u2019t tell\nAbraham where to go except \u201cto a land I will<\/strong> show you.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Abraham\nis to trust the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God makes a lot of promises to Abraham, \u201cI will make of you a great nation..I will bless you<\/em>\u201d and \u201cI will make your name great<\/em>.\u201d It might sound great but it is all in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Abraham\ncould have started asking questions like where or why. Yet, Abraham does not ask any questions. He simply \u201cwent as the LORD directed him<\/em>\u201d no questions asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Would\nyou?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abraham is sent to a new physical place. I am going to a new geographic location but we are all facing changes. I know where I am going but I don\u2019t really know much about the parish or the towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\naren\u2019t changing churches (unless you go to Saturday Mass). If you normally come to 8:15 or 10:30 Mass\nyou don\u2019t have to even change Masses. \nYou will still seem some differences. \nMaybe you will see some of the 4:30 people on Sunday morning. The priests will change. Will they do things differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\nare we to with the changes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nare to place our trust in God.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n God\nis always with us, and, as Paul writes, \u201cIf\nGod is for us, who can be against us?<\/em>\u201d \nIf we place our trust in God to lead us, He always will. He will always love us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can\nanything stop that? Paul writes, \u201cWhat will separate us from the love of\nChrist? Will anguish, or distress, or\npersecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the word?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n No\u2026..none\nof these things can separate us from God. \nThey may make us wonder why things are bad. They might make it hard for us to trust in\nGod, but they cannot<\/em><\/strong> \u201cseparate us from\nthe love of Christ.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n No\nthing, no person, life, angels, principalities, can \u201cseparate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nis God we are created to know and love. \nI turn to the words in our opening prayer that originally come from St.\nAugustine, \u201cOur hearts are restless until they rest in you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nare created to spend eternity with God. \nEternal life begins in Baptism but before Baptism we are first born in\nthis world. This is only the beginning. We must be \u201cborn from above<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n What\ndoes \u201cfrom above<\/em>\u201d mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nicodemus\nmisinterprets it as being \u201cborn again<\/em>,\u201d\nmeaning to reenter our mother\u2019s womb. He\nknows that is impossible. To be \u201cborn from above<\/em>\u201d is to be \u201cborn of water and Spirit<\/em>.\u201d This is Baptism. The waters of baptism both cleanse us (of\nsin) and give us life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which\nis more important to you, to be of the flesh or the spirit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nthe spirit, do you totally hand your life over to God or to you hold on to\n\u201ccontrol\u201d? When you face \u201canguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine<\/em>,\u201d\ndo you expect God to get rid of these things but leave the rest of your life\nalone? Or do you totally hand it over to\nChrist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nknow I didn\u2019t ask for changes to happen. \nI\u2019m guessing none of you wanted these changes either. We may not have asked for this but God will\nlead us through it. Jeremiah 29:11\nprovides us with God\u2019s words to us about the future, \u201cFor I know well the plans I\nhave in mind for you\u2014oracle of the Lord\u2014plans for your welfare and\nnot for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.<\/em> \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\nhas a plan. It requires us to place our\ntrust in him. How can we be assured that\nGod will provide? Read the Bible to know\nthat God has always been there for his people, so much so that \u201cGod so loved\nthe world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might\nnot perish but might have eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Homily for June 2019 Holy HourGenesis 12:1-4aPsalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22Romans 8:31-39John 3:1-17 How much do you trust God? Do you have the faith of Abram (who will become known as Abraham)? The first reading for tonight comes from the very beginning of the story of Abraham. The very first words we hear God speak …<\/p>\n