{"id":3142,"date":"2020-02-08T08:13:27","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T13:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=3142"},"modified":"2020-02-08T08:13:27","modified_gmt":"2020-02-08T13:13:27","slug":"5th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/5th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-a-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

5th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A<\/a>
Isaiah 58:7-10
Psalm 112:4-5, 607, 8-9 (4a)
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Matthew 5:13-16
February 8, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus says, \u201cYou\nare the salt of the earth<\/em>\u2026You are the light of the world<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is He\nspeaking to?  Who is the \u201cyou\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we\nhear Jesus speaking to one specific person. \nFor example, there are times when Jesus is speaking specifically to\nPeter.  Other times He speaks to a\ncategory of people, like the Apostles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is He\nspeaking to today?  We find the answer at\nthe beginning of today\u2019s passage, \u201cJesus said to his disciples.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means\nus.  In speaking to \u201chis disciples<\/em>\u201d,\nJesus is speaking to everyone past, present, and future who follow him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we hear\nhim say to us, \u201cYou are the salt of the earth.<\/em>\u201d  What does this mean for us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We use salt\nto add flavor to food.  Salt can make\nfood taste better.  We are the \u201csalt\nof the earth<\/em>\u201d in that we are called to help make the world a better\nplace.  Think of the words \u201cthy kingdom\ncome\u201d from the Lord\u2019s prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about\nJesus\u2019 words, \u201cYou are the light of the world<\/em>\u201d?  Jesus is the light of the world.  We receive that light in our baptism.  We are called to share the light, the light\nof truth with the world.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can share\nthe light by sharing Jesus\u2019 words.  We\ncan share the light by doing good deeds, doing \u201cworks of mercy\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hear of\nsome of works of mercy in our reading from Isaiah today, \u201cshare your bread\nwith the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked..<\/em>\u201d  We find a more complete list of the Corporal\nWorks of Mercy in Matthew 25:31-46, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the\nCorporal Works of Mercy is to \u201cvisit the sick\u201d. \nWe also have Spiritual Works of Mercy scattered throughout the\nBible.  One of the spiritual works is to\ncomfort the afflicted.  What do you do to\nhelp the sick and the afflicted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to\nreturn to the idea of sharing the light of the truth of our faith.  In hearing the call to share the gospel, our\ndiocese has the practice of each year having a public policy weekend to\nadvocate for an issue being debated in our government.  Often it is an issue before our state\ngovernment but it can also be on a national level.  It is an opportunity to hear what our faith\nsays about important issues.  We are\ninvited to sign petitions about the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s\nissue relates to the works of mercy to visit the sick and comfort the\nafflicted.  This year\u2019s issue is\nPhysician Assisted Suicide.  This is\ncertainly a difficult issue that becomes personal and emotional when someone we\ncare about is dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is\nPhysician Assisted Suicide?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, first\nwe should know that it used to be called \u201cactive euthanasia\u201d but there was\nconfusion trying to distinguish \u201cactive<\/em><\/strong> euthanasia\u201d, the\ndeliberate ending of human life, from \u201cpassive <\/em><\/strong>euthanasia\u201d, which\nis to stop extraordinary means of treatment when death nears and allowing\nnature to take its course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPhysician\nAssisted Suicide\u201d is when a patient is terminally ill with no hope of a cure prescribed\na medicine by a doctor for the individual to take on their own that will kill\nthem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people\nin favor of assisted suicide have begun calling it \u201caid in dying\u201d as if dying\nwas the goal we strive for.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They speak of\na person having dignity in dying, meaning they get to choose the time of their\ndeath and can do it while they still have their dignity, often meaning they can\nstill take care of themselves, not really on others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our faith\n(and I personally) do not see this as \u201cdignity\u201d.  In fact, I think it robs the dying person of\ntheir dignity because it says that the person is no longer any good to us when\nthey are sick so they might as well end their life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People in favor of assisted suicide also talk about in terms of alleviating suffering, something we all seek.\u00a0 However, death is not the only way to alleviate suffering.\u00a0 Our faith very much believes in pain management (palliative care).\u00a0 We are to do what we can to make the sick comfortable and ease their pain.\u00a0 This is idea of hospice care and comfort care houses like Teresa House<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We help those\ndying in the pain to find comfort, to be present to them but we leave the time\nof their death in God\u2019s hands just as Jesus did when He suffered on the Cross\nfor us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a\nbill before our state government to legalize assisted suicide for those who are\nterminally ill.  There are questions\nabout its protections to make sure one is not forced to consent to assisted\nsuicide.  There is no safeguard to screen\nfor depression or other mental illnesses that could affect the person\u2019s\ndecision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This flies\nagainst the fact that our mental health laws allow for police and social\nservices to intervene when an otherwise healthy person seeks to kill themselves\nbecause of mental health issues but the same is not true here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also\nthe problem of the \u201cslippery slope\u201d, meaning that over time the definition of\nthose who can choose assisted suicide becomes broader.  This is proven to happen in countries that\nhave had legal assisted suicide for years. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year I\nheard of a case where a twelve-year old had a terminal illness but wanted to\nlive.  Since he was not of legal age, it\nwas for his parents to make the decision. \nThe courts allowed them to choose to end his life against his own\nwishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There has\nalso been at least two cases where a person with a terminal illness sought to\nget their insurance to pay for new medicine but the insurance turned them down\nbecause the medicine is experimental and costly.  However, the insurance company offered to pay\nfor the person to receive medicine for assisted suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are\nvery difficult issues.  I remember my\nmother\u2019s final days were spent on a ventilator as they tried to treat her lung\ncancer after she endured several years of emphysema.  Assisted suicide was never an option (I still\nfeel the same way today) but important decisions needed to be made in emotional\ntimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was my\nprayer then?  I simply asked God to take\ncare of her.  If that meant she died, so\nbe it.  If it meant a cure, so be\nit.  I put it in God\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I encourage you to stand up for life and sign the petitions against assisted suicide (aka \u201caid in dying\u201d).\u00a0 If you are not able to do this in your own parish, you can do so online at www.dor.org\/petition<\/a> .\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AIsaiah 58:7-10Psalm 112:4-5, 607, 8-9 (4a)1 Corinthians 2:1-5Matthew 5:13-16February 8, 2020 Jesus says, \u201cYou are the salt of the earth\u2026You are the light of the world.\u201d Who is He speaking to?  Who is the \u201cyou\u201d? Sometimes we hear Jesus speaking to one specific person.  For example, there are times …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,10,678,7],"tags":[691,692,245,693],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-OG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3142"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3143,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3142\/revisions\/3143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}