Homily 9/15/19 Cycle C

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/091519.cfm

This past Wednesday my wife Joanne and I spent the day in Cape May NJ, and as I look out at the ocean I had a sense of how small we human beings are in the universe; then I thought about Jesus, the Second Person of the blessed Trinity and today’s readings; He became one of us in His Incarnation to show us how to live.

God sought one sheep, one small coin and two selfish sons; it dawned on me that the One, who created the universe loves each one of us personally and individually.

The beach and the ocean became a wondrous gift from God to me.

A few days ago, Fr. O’Reilly took out his cell phone and called the Pope Francis (amazingly he got through to him), he told the Pope that Jesus [Himself] walking down the main street in his little town outside of Dublin, toward him and asked, “What’ll I do?

Pope Francis said, “Look busy!”

We are called not to look busy, but to be busy building God’s Kingdom here on earth, in fact that is why we are here.

Today’s parables turn our world upside down, as they turned Jesus’ world upside down.   Jesus tells us the story of the two sons, one who tells his Dad to drop dead, and the other who hates his father. 

As a father, if my children did that I would be devastated.  Jesus tells us that God our Father calls us to: bear our grief and forgive our hurts, and to be compassionate. 

Today we should search our hearts for the pain and hurt we haven’t forgiven yet; especially those in our families!   And we should forgive hurts we have caused and accept forgiveness offered to us for hurts we have suffered.

Life is fragile - - forgiveness today can be tomorrow’s joy.

Let us heed Jesus’ call to be compassionate - His call to be the “foolish” shepherd, woman, and father.    We should accept His call to heal first in our families and then in our world, when we do that, then we will join with the psalmist and “…rise and go to my father.”

Luke’s Gospel can be called the Gospel within the Gospels, because it celebrates God’s great love and God’s great mercy. 

Today we celebrate our Catechist; we take time to pray for those who serve as catechist in our parish and for their parents who are the primary catechist for their children.

When Sir Christopher Wren was building St. Paul’s Cathedral in London – asked two stone cutters what they were doing; one said, “I’m cutting stone!” the other said, “I’m building a Cathedral!”

Today as you build your cathedral of love for a few minutes [in silence] reflect on what George Herbert (1593-1633) wrote,

“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.”

May God Be Praised!