Homily - Sunday
Deacon David Lewis
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach / San Diego, CA
(It was over 85 degrees in the church the Sunday this was delivered, so I tried to keep it brief)
With today being Father’s day, it is a bit bitter-sweet
because on one hand I just got back from having a great vacation at my
childhood home in upstate NY, where I was able to spend some time with my
family, and got to spend some time camping and fishing with my Dad, and little
brother, just like old times. But on the other hand my wife’s family got
together yesterday for a prayer service to celebrate the life of my
father-in-law, Gene, who passed away on Father’s day just last year.
I realize how blessed I am not to
have had just one father in my life, but to have had two men, that gave me so
much to aspire to. Each indeed has flaws, but both gave me an example of how to
live life as an adult male, how to live life as a husband, and how to live life
as a father myself. I have tried to follow their good examples, and avoid their
short-comings so that I too may one day be looked at as an example to others.
As we read today’s Gospel about Jesus asking his disciples, “Who
do people say that I am?” It prompted me to ponder a bit “Who is it people say
that I am?” … If we were to
go around and ask my wife. If we were to ask my son? If we were to ask my
co-workers? If we were to ask the homeless in our neighborhood? Our fellow
parishioners? Our priests? The clerk at the store? What response would you get?
Who we are, is really a sum of how we interact with other
people, good and bad. This last week we have had the task as a nation to heal
from a wound of 49 people being killed in a single mass shooting. As we watched
the responses on social media, we got to see some examples of how people
interact with others. We saw people seeking to blame: blaming outside
influences, blaming guns, others blaming the lack of guns, some blaming
religion, others blaming the FBI, the police, some blaming homophobia, and some
blaming our president. Others however, …. sought out the opportunities to unite
and grieve together, forming vigils, creating prayer chains, making memorials,
and others took the task to raise funds for victim’s families, so that they
could give their loved one’s funerals, or travel to be with the injured. One of
the most profound words of unity that I heard this past week was Father Dave
Dwyer from the Busted Halo show on Sirius Satellite Radio He was making a point
that when we use phrases like “them” and “us”, “those people” and “us”, we
divide and that instead we need to be more “WE” and less “THEM.” Father Dave’s
reflection challenged us to put those we have separated ourselves from into a
sense of “WE” to unite and share in understanding: the pain, the challenges,
and the loneliness of being a “THEM”
I guess the challenge Jesus gave us in today’s Gospel is, as
Catholics, if that is what people say that we are, we should be reflections of
Christ to others, especially in times of need, but indeed at all times. Whether
at church, home, work, or the marketplace: we should always be seeking God’s
will - what it is God wants us to do in our lives – at all times, just like
Jesus did. Instead of seeking blame, seek healing; instead of seeking division,
seek unity, instead of fists, seek hugs, and instead of hate, seek love.
We only need to look to Jesus, not to social media, for the
right way to live. And as we look at Jesus, and others that reflect Jesus, like
my own Father, and father-in-law, and more perfectly the Saints in heaven:
their examples will cascade into how we live our lives, how we interact with
others, how others see who WE are, and ultimately how we portray Christ to others.
