Deacon Jerry Franzen
Cathedral 9/11/16
Ex 3:27-11, 13-14 1
Timothy1:12-17 Luke 15: 1-32
Praised Be Jesus Christ. Good Morning.
This past Thursday I attended the funeral Mass for
Drew Banks,
a 48
year-old husband and father of three.
When I was teaching at Thomas More College,
I was
introduced to a student named Andrew Banks.
He promptly told me that it was just “Drew.”
I remember very distinctly my first meeting Drew,
and had
reconnected with him several times over the years.
I had learned that his mother was a college classmate
of mine.
I consider him “my favorite student at TMC whom I
never taught,”
for he
was never in any of my classes.
In my college teaching, there were few opportunities
for me
to get to know students who were not in my classes.
I also have a “favorite student that I never taught”
at the high school level from my days
at Newport Central Catholic High School.
At the funeral, Fr. Daniel Vogelpohl,
the
pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, delivered
the homily.
He spoke about the meaning of life, about how in this
life,
we are
preparing for the next life
which
requires that we be connected to God and others
in
this life.
Bishop Foys was also present and, in his remarks
at the
final commendation, he reiterated
the
importance of the meaning of this life.
Today’s readings are all about God’s mercy and
they
provide for us a kaleidoscope of avenues
for
the development in a homily on that topic.
By now you should have heard a number of homilies
on
God’s mercy.
But , I choose to take the approach of how today’s
Gospel
helps
us to understand the meaning of our lives.
I
Christ's parables
always teach us something about God,
but they also teach us something about ourselves.
They also give us
an answer
to the most difficult and
urgent question
that the human family has had to face
in every generation: What is the meaning of our lives?
What gives meaning
to our lives?
First, the parable
of the lost sheep:
When a sheep is
lost and separated from the flock,
it is helpless and vulnerable.
It needs
the flock and the shepherd to protect and guide it.
So also, every
human person is created
to find meaning and fulfillment in communion
with God,
the Shepherd, and with others
in the flock
- thus the two great commandments
of loving God and loving our neighbor.
We were not created
to be isolated, self-sufficient islands;
we are meant to depend on God and
others
as
we pursue happiness.
Second, the parable
of the lost coin:
The lost coin is completely
without value
unless it is possessed by its
owner,
unless it is part of the household's economy.
Even if it had been
a gold piece worth 1000 day's wages,
it would be completely worthless
if it stayed buried
in the dust under the sofa;
there it would be
of absolutely no use to anyone.
Likewise, our actions
and efforts in life only have real value
when
they are connected to the mission of the Church,
the mission of building up
Christ's Kingdom.
Outside of the
Kingdom we can do things
and have adventures that
appear exciting,
but they lack the eternal value
that
they are meant to have,
just like the coin that was lost.
Both parables
reiterate the same lesson:
our lives can only find meaning and
fulfillment
through Christ, with
Christ, and in Christ.
II
AND, if we are to find fulfillment in our lives through
Christ,
with Christ and in Christ, we
must know Christ.
In July, 2007 a group of
Christian sociologists
published the results of a study that they had
been conducting
over a five-year period called,
"The
Obstacles to Growth Survey."
It was conducted on 20,009 Christians
with ages ranging from 15 to 88
- the majority of whom came from the United States.
The survey found that on average,
more
than 4 in 10 Christians around
the world
say they "often" or "always" rush from task to task.
About 6 in 10 Christians say that it's "often" or "always"
true
that "the busy-ness of life gets in their way
of developing a relationship with God."
The authors of the study
concluded that the accelerated pace
and activity level of the modern day is distracting us from God.
Here was their line of reasoning:
Christians are assimilating to a culture of
busyness, hurry
and overload;
God
is being pushed aside in Christians' lives.
And the better we become at adapting to this busyness
the
greater is the deterioration of our relationship
with God.
Thus we become more vulnerable to adopting secular assumptions
about
living life just for ourselves, not God, not others.
It is possible to ascribe too
much weight to sociological
studies,
but this one certainly harmonizes with
the
experience of the two sons in
the final parable.
Something made them so
self-centered and distracted
that
they were never able to get to know their father.
Certainly the younger son was too
busy
being
concerned about his future wealth,
about
how he would fund his wasteful lifestyle.
Maybe the older son was too busy trying to build up his image
of
what he thought would be the ideal son.
At least, the survey can give us food for thought.
III
If the meaning of our lives is through,
with and in Christ,
AND,
if in order to make that true,
we
must get to know Christ better,
then
we must set our priorities for the week.
What enables us to mature as human beings and as Christians
is staying
close to the Shepherd.
That means having a healthy prayer life
and being true to the voice of conscience,
which is one of our Shepherd's favorite ways
to guide us.
Maybe some of us have been slacking off in our prayer life
or ignoring
our conscience.
Today, let's ask our Lord's
forgiveness and make a fresh start.
One very good way of praying AND
growing closer to the God
is through praying with Sacred Scripture.
Here is a procedure you can
easily follow:
Try every day to open your Bible
and read a passage.
Ask yourself what verse or phrase
struck you in that passage.
Read the passage again to confirm
your choice of verse or phrase.
Meditate on that verse or phrase,
and
ask yourself “How does this apply to me.”
Finish by determining just how
that phrase or verse
should
cause you to take some action for yourself
or
for those around you.
This last part is where the conscience comes in.
What decision does my conscience
prompt me to make?
This is how we find greater
meaning in our lives.
To better enable us to fulfill our mission in life
we
must stay plugged into the
Church's mission.
All of this means we must know what the Church
teaches,
and appreciate what the Church offers
her children.
Sacred Scripture certainly
contains the essence
of
the Chruch’s mission.
Maybe we should look into the
many writings of Pope Francis.
I especially liked the book
entitled “The Name of God is Mercy.”
Maybe we should take time to look
through the Catechism
for a clearer view of some
of the elements of our faith.
The sacraments might be a good
place to start.
It is our responsibility to not let ourselves
get lost under the sofa
or to
wander far afield,
now that God has sent
his Son, the Good Shepherd, to search us out.
After we pray the Prayers of the
Faithful in just a few minutes,
we
make our offerings to God,
Let's put in the collection basket
more than just dollars and
cents.
Let's also put in that basket a promise to renew our effort
to live life the way Christ wants us to live it.
If we make that decision, Christ himself will help us
to
follow through with it.
After all, that's what a Good Shepherds does.
This homily was constructed using
elements found at: https://www.epriest.com/homily_packs/build/42
