Homily : 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

     Well, here we are. The first weekend you are all subjected to me as your new Parochial Vicar. Trust me, the feeling of terror is mutual. I asked Fr. Terry as he was leaving: “When do you stop waking up and and thinking ‘Holy Cannoli, I’m a priest!’?” He answered: “I don’t know. I’ll let you know when it happens.” So my request to all of you is that you pray for me as I begin my ministry here at St. Pius. I couldn’t be more blessed than to be placed here with you all and with such a fantastic mentor like Fr. Bill (the older one, that is). 

  It is proof that Murphy’s Law is true, that my first weekend to preach for you all would follow such a major decision made by the Supreme Court. I read the statements put out by both the USCCB and our own bishop, Kevin Rhoades, in regards to the decision to alter the definition of marriage at the national level. I encourage you all to read those statements. They are both rather short and I was pleasantly surprised when reading them, for both stress the need to not only stand up for our beliefs about the natural law and reasonable order of creation, but they also remind us all of the need to have loving compassion on all those who disagree with our beliefs.

So many people in our society are hurting and struggling, overcome by pain and confusion about life in general. I’m sure we can all think of a friend or family member, or anyone we know and love who this decision will greatly effect. Unfortunately sometimes these same people are used by others to push for us to realign parts of our societal structures, which further confuses and deconstructs the world as God created it to be. After all, things always work better when they are doing and acting as they were made to do and act. Consider, a chair doesn’t make a very good table and a table doesn’t make a very good chair. While this example is trite, the truth behind it holds true in all aspects of life. When we decide for ourselves to try to alter that reality, our actions ultimately mess things up even more, and cause greater divisions, and push the more vulnerable to the outskirts of society. 

In the gospel passage we just heard, Jesus carries out two miraculous healings. Both of which thwart and go against the norms established by the society of His time. First the woman with the hemorrhage; she would have been excluded from certain aspects of the community due to her ritual impurity. Second, the young girl who had died and was even more drastically separated from the community. Both are healed through Jesus, but these healings are nuanced in different ways. The first woman is healed through her faith and her own initiative. She took the risk to touch Jesus’ clothing, which went completely against the established norms. The second girl is healed by Jesus and through his power alone, with no initiative shown on her part. So we can see the need to realize the ultimate power of God in solving the problems of the world own his own with no help from us, but also the need to realize that we do have an active role in the health of our society. For we are called to be witnesses to the truth, and not be afraid to, in compassion and love always of course, promote and share the Gospel message of truth with others. 

  So ultimately, we are called to do three things: 

1. GO OUT / REACH OUT in loving compassion to those on the fringes of society who will become even more marginalized and thrust into a category and in a certain way exploited to push the agendas of others. 
2. HAVE COURAGE to stand up for the truth not only about marriage, but about the dignity of all persons, especially our children and young people who are growing up in these troubled times. 
3. TRUST in the power of God, and do not despair over decisions made by mere humans. He is in charge, He made the world and all things in it except sin. Yet he died on the cross to conquer sin and death. So we know the end of the story, Good will triumph over evil.

  Our Lord himself said “I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (Jn 16:33)