Saturday, July 4, 2015

Homily for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I am so happy to be home with all of you and the beautiful parish of St. Jane de Chantal Catholic Church.  I can assure you that while I was away at Most Holy Trinity Parish these past 4 and a half years, I never left this place.  St. Jane's has been my home parish since 1996 and where I began my ministry after becoming a Permanent Deacon in 2008.  I am humbled and happy that Archbishop Aymond has asked me to return to this wonderful and spiritual place.

This is a day of great joy for me in so many ways.  On the 4th of July I became a grandfather for the 2nd time.  Three years ago I earned this title with the birth of my #1 grandson Calvin Tyler Talbot!  Today we welcomed my #1 granddaughter, Katelyn Taylor Talbot!  Praise be to God!

When I read this Gospel for my 1st weekend home I laughed; God you must have a sense of humor for my 1st homily: a prophet is not without honor except in his native place; among his kin and in his own home.  I guess time will tell! 

I thought about this passage and remembered one of my favorite movies October Sky.  A young high school student, Homer Hickman, was inspired by the 1957 launch of the 1st man-made satellite named Sputnik.  He committed to a life of becoming a great rocket scientist.  When he shared his dream with family and his home town, he was ridiculed, no one was expected to do anything greater than be a coal miner in his West Virginia village.  Homer Hickman went on to become a great rocket scientist, a NASA engineer who was responsible for launching some of the nation's great missions into space, to the moon and the space shuttle program.

Jesus faced the same doubt and ridicule when he arrived at his native place of Nazareth.  Jesus had just cured the daughter of Jairus and the woman with the hemorrhage.  He had been speaking and teaching across the region.  When he arrives home and begins to teach, his neighbors doubted him, ridiculed him and even took offense at him.  Because of the lack of the people's faith, he could not perform any mighty deed in his home place.  Make no mistake, Jesus is God, he can do whatever he pleases wherever he is, but Jesus seeks a people of faith.  Our Savior will never force anything upon us, but offers his teaching, his healing, his love and mercy to all who will receive it.

What about us.  We don't live in Nazareth do we?  We do live in a nation that God has blessed over and over again and we are faithful believers in Jesus Christ in this blessed and free nation.  Do we honor the prophet, do we trust in the priest and do we worship the King?  On this weekend when we sing God Bless America and look to the skies do we realize that America must bless God, we must honor God, we must follow the teachings of His Church?

I composed a prayer last year for the 4th of July, and I have tweaked that prayer some since the recent scandalous events of the past few weeks.  I wish to offer that prayer now:

Loving and Merciful God:

We pray today for an America that worships you, that honors life, from conception to natural death.  We pray for an America that respects religious liberty & freedom, that works to eradicate violence, murder, racism and hate.  We pray for an America that sees the human dignity in all people, regardless of race or creed, nationality, physical appearance, physical or mental challenges, men and women, young and old, gay or straight.  We pray for an America where children or cherished and protected, even in the womb of their mother.  We pray for an America that seeks the ending of an unjust application of the death penalty, where the stranger is welcomed and given comfort instead of condemnation, where every veteran who served this great country is respected and in the autumn of their lives receives the support and health care they so richly deserve.  We pray for an America where bullying no longer exists, and that places like our family homes, our schools and even our churches be places of safety, comfort and peace.  We pray for mothers and fathers to be equally resected and that all mothers and fathers love their children, teach them to worship you Lord and raise them up to be good citizens. 

We pray O God that in America your name can be mentioned and praised anywhere without fear of reprisal or lawsuit, that our land understand freedom of religion and not confuse this with freedom from religion.  We pray for an America that pays her bills, pays her people a living wage and levies her taxes fairly.  We pray for an America that takes care of her air, lands, and waterways.  We pray that our nation embrace your Holy Word Lord, and respects both your divine and natural law.  We pray for an America where justice and morality count too.  We pray, especially this week, for an America that will respect marriage as the union of one man and one woman, open to your gift of life!  We pray for an America that promotes peace, embraces faith, hope and love.

May we the United States of America receive gratefully your many blessings Lord and in turn, as your sons & daughters, return those blessing to everyone we meet.  May we always worship you Lord in true liberty and freedom.  God Bless America yes, but as Americans we Bless You, we Thank You, We Praise You.

And we pray this prayer through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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