Father Jerry's Ascension Sunday Homily
Memorial day – – it began as far back as the Civil War as a time to honor our veterans, those who gave the ultimate price for their country. But most recently, it has taken on many more shades of meaning. Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t even remember
That memorial day is meant to honor the dead.
Instead it has become, the beginning of summer,
the day the pool opens, the weekend to go down the beach,
cookouts and barbecues, family celebrations and sales.
But this year, not so much.
In fact, it’s rather depressing.
Triple A did not even do a travel forecast for this weekend – – you know, they usually predict how many cars will be on the road, how many people will be flying, how crowded the airports will be…
Well, so few people are doing the “normal” things that they did away with their memorial day prediction.
Friends of mine just decorated their deck trying to get their spirits up.
Others are having a few people, socially distanced, for a cookout.
But it certainly is not the same.
Well, we can stay in mired in this way of thought, and it is legitimate – – these are strange times and difficult times.
But we also have the choice of looking above and beyond the small world we paint for ourselves.
And we tend to keep our world pretty small.
Just look at the 11 disciples and others, even after Jesus resurrection.
All during his life he was preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God.
What it would look like.
Who would be part of it.
He even told parables to help simplify it so that they could understand.
But, honestly, they were pretty dense during his life.
One would think, after the unbelievable surprise of the resurrection, they would be more open, willing to accept the unbelievable.
But, we hear, in the first reading from the acts of the apostles, that after spending 40 days with them,
Preaching again about the kingdom, telling them not to leave Jerusalem, promising them the gift of the Holy Spirit, that they would have new eyes and new ears.
But what do they say to him when they have an opportunity to speak to him?
“Will you restore the kingdom of Israel now?”
They are still thinking about here.
They are still focused on their own little world, not heaven, not the kingdom of God,
not the absolute unbelievable developments that will happen as they go forward preaching.
In this, they are just like us.
We are underestimate ourselves and our abilities and our call.
Pope Francis has said, “the mission of the Christian in the world is a mission for all,
A mission of service, which excludes no one; it requires great generosity…
There is so much need for Christians who bear witness to the gospel with joy in every day life.”
It’s what Jesus says in the gospel.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.”
He is sending them and us out.
To the ends of the earth. For them, that was the Mediterranean region and Rome.
It was what they knew.
Yet the gospel, the preaching of the kingdom of God, traveled to the inner reaches of Europe, the New World, north and south America, Alaska, Hawaii, Asia… Bigger than the world they ever knew.
They have been down cast, then they witnessed the risen Lord, and then they seem confused and dismayed as he leaves them, a sense of abandonment. 12 angels have to say to them, “why are you standing here looking up in the sky?!”
In other words, “get going!”
So often we limit our world.
In a book called, good to great, the author, Jim Collins, notes that the enemy of great is good.
In other words, we settle.
He says people and businesses are rarely willing to cut back the good that is producing some fruit
even though it could be limiting a better outcome.
One of our parishioners at sacred heart wrote, “I know a company that to survive this COVID-19 economic situation is cutting its staff and Letting go good and talented people. The pruning has to be done, the short term results will be ugly. It will be painful on many levels – – but it is needed for survival and then growth.”
We are being pruned at this time.
things we love dearly, traditions we cherish, even our faith life has been changed and challenged.
We have to operate In new ways.
We don’t like it.
But maybe we could use this as an opportunity to get out of our little world.
Maybe what we were doing was good but not great. Maybe we need to stop asking, “are you going to build the kingdom here now,“ and look to a bigger reality that God is calling us to. I don’t know what that might be for you, but I know this time is inviting us all to do some soul-searching. It is certainly inviting our parishes and our church And our government to examine what is necessary, what is essential, What we value and how we operate.
As we come out of this pandemic, we will again be challenged, even dared, to operate in a new way and not simply resort to the old way of doing things in our family, in our schools, in our faith.
We don’t necessarily have to go anywhere to find something new and challenging. It could be right under our nose. One time, when Mother Teresa was visiting the United States,
telling her stories of taking care of the poorest of the poor in Calcutta,
someone expressed the desire to go with her to Calcutta and help.
Mother Theresa said to her, “stay where you are – – find your own Calcutta .
Find the sick, the suffering, the lonely, right where you are,
in your own homes in your own families, in your work places and schools.
You see, our world can get so small, that we may never even see beyond ourselves to the people who are right around us, right under our nose., needing our hope, faith, our love.
This Ascension day
Take some time to see how God is leading us out of the good
and into the Great to which see are called.
Memorial day – – it began as far back as the Civil War as a time to honor our veterans, those who gave the ultimate price for their country. But most recently, it has taken on many more shades of meaning. Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t even remember
That memorial day is meant to honor the dead.
Instead it has become, the beginning of summer,
the day the pool opens, the weekend to go down the beach,
cookouts and barbecues, family celebrations and sales.
But this year, not so much.
In fact, it’s rather depressing.
Triple A did not even do a travel forecast for this weekend – – you know, they usually predict how many cars will be on the road, how many people will be flying, how crowded the airports will be…
Well, so few people are doing the “normal” things that they did away with their memorial day prediction.
Friends of mine just decorated their deck trying to get their spirits up.
Others are having a few people, socially distanced, for a cookout.
But it certainly is not the same.
Well, we can stay in mired in this way of thought, and it is legitimate – – these are strange times and difficult times.
But we also have the choice of looking above and beyond the small world we paint for ourselves.
And we tend to keep our world pretty small.
Just look at the 11 disciples and others, even after Jesus resurrection.
All during his life he was preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God.
What it would look like.
Who would be part of it.
He even told parables to help simplify it so that they could understand.
But, honestly, they were pretty dense during his life.
One would think, after the unbelievable surprise of the resurrection, they would be more open, willing to accept the unbelievable.
But, we hear, in the first reading from the acts of the apostles, that after spending 40 days with them,
Preaching again about the kingdom, telling them not to leave Jerusalem, promising them the gift of the Holy Spirit, that they would have new eyes and new ears.
But what do they say to him when they have an opportunity to speak to him?
“Will you restore the kingdom of Israel now?”
They are still thinking about here.
They are still focused on their own little world, not heaven, not the kingdom of God,
not the absolute unbelievable developments that will happen as they go forward preaching.
In this, they are just like us.
We are underestimate ourselves and our abilities and our call.
Pope Francis has said, “the mission of the Christian in the world is a mission for all,
A mission of service, which excludes no one; it requires great generosity…
There is so much need for Christians who bear witness to the gospel with joy in every day life.”
It’s what Jesus says in the gospel.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.”
He is sending them and us out.
To the ends of the earth. For them, that was the Mediterranean region and Rome.
It was what they knew.
Yet the gospel, the preaching of the kingdom of God, traveled to the inner reaches of Europe, the New World, north and south America, Alaska, Hawaii, Asia… Bigger than the world they ever knew.
They have been down cast, then they witnessed the risen Lord, and then they seem confused and dismayed as he leaves them, a sense of abandonment. 12 angels have to say to them, “why are you standing here looking up in the sky?!”
In other words, “get going!”
So often we limit our world.
In a book called, good to great, the author, Jim Collins, notes that the enemy of great is good.
In other words, we settle.
He says people and businesses are rarely willing to cut back the good that is producing some fruit
even though it could be limiting a better outcome.
One of our parishioners at sacred heart wrote, “I know a company that to survive this COVID-19 economic situation is cutting its staff and Letting go good and talented people. The pruning has to be done, the short term results will be ugly. It will be painful on many levels – – but it is needed for survival and then growth.”
We are being pruned at this time.
things we love dearly, traditions we cherish, even our faith life has been changed and challenged.
We have to operate In new ways.
We don’t like it.
But maybe we could use this as an opportunity to get out of our little world.
Maybe what we were doing was good but not great. Maybe we need to stop asking, “are you going to build the kingdom here now,“ and look to a bigger reality that God is calling us to. I don’t know what that might be for you, but I know this time is inviting us all to do some soul-searching. It is certainly inviting our parishes and our church And our government to examine what is necessary, what is essential, What we value and how we operate.
As we come out of this pandemic, we will again be challenged, even dared, to operate in a new way and not simply resort to the old way of doing things in our family, in our schools, in our faith.
We don’t necessarily have to go anywhere to find something new and challenging. It could be right under our nose. One time, when Mother Teresa was visiting the United States,
telling her stories of taking care of the poorest of the poor in Calcutta,
someone expressed the desire to go with her to Calcutta and help.
Mother Theresa said to her, “stay where you are – – find your own Calcutta .
Find the sick, the suffering, the lonely, right where you are,
in your own homes in your own families, in your work places and schools.
You see, our world can get so small, that we may never even see beyond ourselves to the people who are right around us, right under our nose., needing our hope, faith, our love.
This Ascension day
Take some time to see how God is leading us out of the good
and into the Great to which see are called.
We are still collecting food items for our parish community daily. Much needed items are: pasta sauce, peanut butter, jelly, cereal, and canned veggies.
Distribution of food items to those in need will be on Sundays from 10:30AM through the afternoon. Previously, distributions have been taking place everyday, at all times, but this has been difficult for our volunteers to keep up with. Thank you for your understanding.
Our Daily Bread Casseroles are still being collected each Wednesday morning from 8-9AM in front of the Parish Center. Thanks to the persistence of our volunteers, we have been able to keep up with or exceed our previous monthly donations. Thank you to all who are continuing to support the most vulnerable in our community through this ministry!
Java with Father Jerry will resume next week as we take time to celebrate our fallen on this Memorial Day. Please join us on June 1st at 3 PM LIVE on Facebook.
We are transitioning to a new website! Our staff member, Jeff Ment, has been working tirelessly to create a fresh new online presence for Sacred Heart. Thank you for your patience during this time of transition. All info can still be found on our current site and eventually, the new site will take it's place at the same domain: www.shgparish.org. However, in the meantime, you can check out our new look at the following site: https://25680.sites.ecatholic.com/