Homily for the last weekend at OLHC Parish October
23/24, 2004
Deuteronomy 30:1-4 Colossians 3:9-17 John 14:23-29
What will I tell you this day?
How will I speak to hearts so wounded,
to anger so deep, disappointment so keen, loss so great?
I will tell you that Jesus spoke the words we just heard
at a Passover table in an upper room,
where he could already see his cross
casting its shadow over the bread and cup his guests were sharing...
At that table, Jesus,
whose own distress and fear was more than we can imagine,
offered PEACE as his farewell gift...
We are his guests at that same table,
where his cross still shadows us and the meal we share here,
the table where Jesus offers the same PEACE
as his farewell gift to us.
Of course, he is not leaving us, not even for a while,
nor are we leaving him,
but we are leaving this place, a place where we have
prayed for, depended on, found and delighted in his peace
for nearly a hundred years.
And as we leave, he promises again to give us his peace, to be our peace,
to make his dwelling place of peace,
not in this or any other building, but within us and among us.
What will I tell you this day?
What will I tell you when our anger is so great
that we are tempted to hate those who have angered us?
What will I tell you when our anger shakes us to the core
and tempts us to despise some of our brothers in Christ?
I will tell you what St. Paul told the Colossians:
“In wisdom made perfect, instruct and admonish one another,
but clothe yourselves in mercy and kindness...
Bear with one another...
forgive one another as the Lord has forgiven you...
Christ’s peace must reign in your hearts
since as members of the one body
you have been called to that peace.”
These words are not easy to hear,
and for many, they are harder still to live.
But we are called to nothing less by the same Lord
in whose name we shout a plea for justice.
What will I tell you this day?
What will I tell you after the news of the last three years
has so weakened, and in some instances, destroyed our trust?
What will I tell you when so many deeply important realities of faith
seem broken beyond recognition and scattered afar?
I will tell you that in one way or another
this has been the story of the people of God
since first the Lord revealed his presence to humankind.
The story since the beginning has been a tale of
mending brokenness, healing wounds, saving the lost,
redeeming the forfeited, repairing the damages of sin,
restoring trust, and rebuilding the dismantled temple.
Left to our own authority and devices,
we would be as nothing.
But the Lord who gathered Israel home
from the farthest corners of the world
has gathered us into the Body of Christ
which nothing, not even death itself, has been able to overcome.
We are the people who believe that it is in giving that we receive
and in dying that we are born - to eternal life.
Faith is not a thing or a place or a building.
Faith is a relationship with God,
shared with our sisters and brothers in Christ.
But oh, how beautiful the place where we celebrate that faith
and the relationships that strengthen it.
As the psalmist prayed,
“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, God of hosts!”
I will tell you today that Our Lady Help of Christians Parish
and its house of prayer
have been a beacon of hope, a refuge of safety,
a trumpet of the gospel, an outstretched arm of compassion,
and a tabernacle of God’s presence in West Concord.
Indeed, “How lovely, how very lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord!”
But ever-and-always-more-lovely than any house of prayer
are the faces, lives and souls of those who have prayed there.
Their names are on the scrolls on the church walls;
their names are in our hearts and memories;
and their names are our names.
On the night of May 25th,
having received word that day that our parish would close,
we gathered here in prayer.
I said that night, and in my homily on the following Sunday,
that in the months ahead it would be my task
to announce the good news in the darkest of times,
just as it is my task as pastor to preach the resurrection
to families who have just lost a loved one.
That task is mine again today. And what will I tell you today?
I will tell you what I tell families at a funeral.
I will tell you that the table around which we gather
is but a sign, offering us a taste and a sip
of the sumptuous banquet the Lord has ready for us in heaven,
a banquet shared already by those who have gone before us
marked with the sign of faith.
I remind families at funerals how our church teaches that
“one day we shall see our loved ones again and enjoy their love”
when we, too, have been gathered home from this scattered world
to the place the Lord has for each of us in his kingdom.
But I need not ask you to wait for that time in eternity.
I can tell you, indeed, I must tell you even this day
that in only a week’s time we will be invited again
to gather at the Lord’s table
in the shadow of the cross,
where we will see each other again and enjoy the love we share.
The surroundings will be new
but the Body of Christ will be the same,
different only in that we will increase in number
and in the variety of gifts we have to offer each other
and to our mission as the Catholic community of Concord.
You have probably noticed by now
that all my homilies end in the same ways.
I make a connection between the scriptures, my message,
and the table we approach with thanksgiving and praise.
What will I tell you today?
I will tell you that we are about to turn to this table for the last time,
to be nourished by Christ’s “farewell gift of peace” in
the eucharist.
And I will tell you, as I have so many times,
that the eucharist is Christ’s presence, meant to nourish us
for the journey and work he entrusts to our care.
Though the geographical journey to Holy Family Parish is a short trip,
the heart’s journey may make our new place of worship
seem distant, far away and strange.
But there we will find ourselves, and a larger church family,
and the same Christ who offers us his peace
not only as his gift of farewell
but as his gift of welcome, too.
Rev. Austin Fleming
Please email comments or questions to Fr. Fleming at FrAustinFleming@aol.com
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