Homily for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Let me tell you a secret about a Father's love; a secret that my daddy said was just between us; daddy's don't just love their children every now and then; it's love without end Amen.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads, grand dads, Godfathers and spiritual fathers out there.  And oh how we should be rejoicing that we enjoy the love of the Father without end.  Amen.  I'm reminded on Father's Day of the special blessings dads receive at every Baptism.  We pray that Fathers, with their wives, will be the first teachers of the child in the ways of the faith.  And not just the first of teachers, but the best of teachers; a powerful responsibility.

On this first Sunday in awhile since we last wore the green, we arrive at the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  The words ordinary have perhaps new meaning to all of us as we long for the ordinary.  Not much has been ordinary lately as we have navigated the horror of Coronavirus and the recent events of racial tension.  Through this all, our heavenly Father is with us because He loves us.
Coronavirus kept so many of us away from the Mass and the Holy Eucharist for so long.  Even today we have limitations on attending Mass and we ask things never thought of before; social distancing, wearing masks, and so much more.  And still the Father never abandoned us, he never stopped loving us.  Remember, it's a love without end.  Amen.  

In these last few weeks, ever since the horrific death of George Floyd on Memorial Day we have been faced with the evil of racism.  We know the story, protests have occurred everywhere and sadly we have seen the riots and the violence and devastation too. And still the Father is with us, he has not stopped loving us.

These weeks have forced many of us to perhaps confront the realities of racism head on, in our personal, professional and most importantly, spiritual lives.  How should we respond to the subject of racism?  What are we to believe, what should guide our words and actions?  Quite simply, for us, Catholics of great faith, we should be guided by the example and teachings of Jesus, which means too the example and teachings of Holy Mother Church.

We all acknowledge from a heart of faith and flesh, not stone, that racism is evil because racism is a sin.  Contemplate these words from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 1935:  The equality of men rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it; every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights, on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatbile with God's design.  In other words, racism is always wrong.  Racism and discrimination are morally wrong and incompatabile with Jesus and the Gospel.

We love God our Father, we love Jesus who came to earth to save us, we love the Gospel,we love the Church, then we love our brother and sister, no matter what.  We love the other, no matter how different from me the other may be.

Saint John Paul II, the great Pope of our lifetime, taught that racism must be overcome by Reconciliation and Penance and went on to teach the following:
We must avoid the 4 ways to be complicit with systemic racism by never supporting or even exploit the evil of racism, being indifferent or complicit thereby becoming an accessory to the sin of racism, never see racism as just unavoidable or even consecrating of sorts, the staus quo concerning racism.  These are not my words in some homily you happened to hear, no these are the words of a great Saint.  St. John Paul II pray for us and for an end to racism.

Back in 2006 we were all recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Katrina.  Our Archbishop at the time, Alfred Hughes, the Archbishop who ordained me, was working hard on a pastoral letter concerning the sin of racism.  He delayed it's release for obvious reasons but it is a thorough and important document that explores racism through the lens of the Church in and of New Orleans.  It is simply titled a Pastoral Letter in Racial Harmony - made in the image and likeness of God.  Please find this on the internet, it will be a powerful read.  In paragraph #59 the Archbishop says: "I pray that we might as a Church and a community become a place welcoming to linguistically, racially and culturally diverse people, a place of beauty and a place of safety, a place of peace, a place of spiritual enrichment and renewal.  God grant us the grace, the wisdom and the courage to realize this vision."
Several years later our current Shepherd, Archbishop Aymond, was moved to compose this prayer, he called it our Family Prayer: " We come to you Father, with Mary our Mother, and ask you to help us in the battle of today against violence, murder and racism.  Give us the wisdom that we may build a community founded on the values of Jesus - which gives respect to the life and dignity of all people."
God indeed loves all His creation, he is "daddy" to us all, and it is a love without end.  Amen.
In today's Gospel, Jesus, always leading us to our Father who loves us, repeats three times: Do not be afraid.  Fear no one.  He loves His creation, even the sparrows.  Jesus tells us, meaning all of us without exception, are worth more than many sparrows.

In these extraordinary days of Ordinary time, we are called to love, to be wise, to acknowledge our total dependence on the Father and Jesus will acknowledge us before our Heavenly Father.  Why?
Because it's all about the secret of a Father's Love, daddy's don't just love their children every now and then.  It's love without end.  Amen.