January 31, 2010 Cycle C
We live in a world filled with uncertainties especially since acts of terrorism have increased. What we used to take for granted, we are now concerned with, worrying over, upset by. Something that once was so simple – flying on an airplane – has become more complex than ever. Gone are the gold watches rewarded by a grateful company to a retiring employee. There is no such thing as job security anymore. Couples and families routinely split apart. What is it that we can put our faith in anymore? What can we be certain about?
Jeremiah reminds us in nor uncertain terms that our God stands by us, always has and always will, no matter how dark and gloomy the situation may seem.
Paul’s hymn to love, almost too familiar to us and so capable of losing its powerful message, sets love as the powerful reality, greater than even faith and hope.
And Jesus tells us not to expect our lives as Christians to be easy. We will not be accepted by those who choose not to put their trust in God, those who do not respond with love.
So when the headlines grow darker, and at times they will, we as Christians will be ridiculed for our naïve faith, for making the stupid choice of love over power, for trusting in God and not ourselves and the weapons we create. We will anger a lot of the naysayers even as sacred scripture and the promises our loving God has made to us are ultimately fulfilled.
This then is a good opportunity for me to invite you to think about the gift that you have of your faith and the belonging to a faith community here in the Diocese of Pueblo for we live in trust that God is among us.
This weekend we kick off our annual Diocesan Ministry Appeal, asking for your support to finance the mission and work of the Diocese of Pueblo. We have already experienced in two months the gift of a new bishop to our diocese and we are grateful for that presence. Bishop Isern has had a huge learning curve to take on, but he now takes hold of guiding the Diocese of Pueblo into our future.
The theme that the diocese has chosen for their annual campaign is “To Be Rich in Good Works, Generous and Ready to Share.” We hope that all will be ready to share and join together in the Church that is our Diocese. It is our opportunity to make a difference because we live by the choice of love over power and we trust in God, for we are a people who live by faith, ready to share enough to proclaim God’s abundance and our acceptance of His love for all of us.
I would ask you to consider a pledge of $300.00 to $350.00 for the next ten months to assist us in reaching our Diocesan goal of our obligation as a parish of $95,000.00. If you are able to assist in doing more, that would help others unable. The brochure out lines a gift giving guide. You might want to study that as you make your pledge for the next ten months.
May I ask you then to pass the brochures for the DMF in the pews to one another and fill them out and place them in the collection basket today. Remember, any amount will help, but a suggested gift of $35.00 a month for ten months will truly get us closer to our obligation.
The famed anthropologist, Margaret Mead, once was asked what was the earliest sign of civilization. The questions put to her were: Was it an axe blade? An arrowhead? A fishhook? Or something more sophisticated, such as a musical instrument or a ceramic bowl? Dr. Mead’s answer surprised the questioner. She said, “The first sign of civilization was: “A healed human femur. Not something made by a human, but something healed. Not an artifact, but a part of someone who once lived and walked this earth, who was hurt, but healed.”
Dr. Mead explained that where the law of the “survival of the fittest reigns, a broken leg means certain death. When you cannot make it on your own you are doomed. But a healed leg bone is physical evidence that someone cared. Someone gathered food for that injured person until their leg was healed. Someone cared for them until they could once again care for themselves. The first sign of civilization was compassion.”
Whoever first set that bone and cared for that injured woman or man, until it healed, was the first great prophet of compassion. Time and again we are reminded by the public ministry of Jesus that His life was of compassion. He invoked that over and over in His teachings and in His healing ministry that he exercised in His public work.
You and I are asked to participate in that ministry of compassion ourselves in our efforts to help the projects and the missions of the Diocese of Pueblo in the coming year. Your pledge, your support, your contribution, will make a difference in helping others hear the message of Jesus Christ.
You will show by your gifts a sense of gratitude for the life that God has given us to honor and respect every human being as a child of God, of the justice, the peace and the mercy of God ever present in the work of the Catholic Church in southern and western Colorado. Thank you in advance for your pledges.
Amen. Amen. Msgr. Tom, Pastor Christ the King