|
Writing
With Crooked Lines
October
17, 2004 Homily
Fr.
George Smiga
Luke
18:1 - 8
“God
writes straight with crooked lines.” This is one of my favorite
sayings because it points to an essential truth about life
and about faith. No matter how confusing or discouraging our
lives may become, we continue to believe that God is always
at work to bring us to joy and to life. All of us approach
life with a certain idealized vision of what our lives will
be. We plan on a successful job, a happy marriage, a supportive
family, a strong faith. And then life happens and, whether
as a result of our poor decisions or as a result of factors
over which we have no control, we sometimes find ourselves
unemployed, divorced, alienated from the people we love. Sometimes
our faith, which was supposed to be our strength and our support,
fades. We end up questioning “Where is God?” and wondering
whether it makes any sense to belong to a faith community.
When
our dreams crash, when our relationships break, when our faith
fails, it is easy to imagine that there is no recovery, there
is no way out. Yet, we as a community believe that God is
always at work to overcome our mistakes, to heal our relationships,
to restore our faith. We also believe that God often involves
us in this healing process with one another, that God invites
us to be partners in this work of reconciliation.
The
author of 2 Timothy knew this. He says in today's second reading
that we are to proclaim the Gospel whether situations are
favorable or unfavorable, patiently encouraging one another.
The author of 2 Timothy knows that in the ebb and flow of
life God is always at work, but it is not always clear to
us how and when God will act. Therefore our role as God's
partner is to be consistent, to continually offer encouragement
to one another whether the situation looks favorable or unfavorable
and then leave the rest up to God's grace. “God writes straight
with crooked lines,” and we are often invited to be agents
of that healing and reconciliation.
Let
me offer this weekend a concrete way in which you can partner
with God as an occasion of grace for others. Two weeks from
now on the weekend of October 30 th and 31 st , the parishes
of Lake and Geauga county are holding a “Welcome Home Weekend”.
All the churches in this area are inviting Catholics who have
become alienated from their Church to come and worship again
with us. There can be many reasons why people have become
alienated to the Church. They might have felt rejected by
a priest or a community. They might have disagreed with a
Church teaching or practice. They could have become scandalized
by the presence of sexual abuse within the Church. They might
be angry at God because of a tragedy in their lives. Perhaps
their faith has just become apathetic.
Whatever
the reason for them becoming inactive, we are counting on
the fact that if they receive a sincere and non-judgmental
invitation to come and worship with us, they might accept.
Here is where all of us can become involved, because all of
us know someone who once was Catholic and is no longer practicing
his or her faith. Therefore, we have an opportunity to extend
to them an invitation to come again and worship with us. They
can come with you, they can come without you. You need not
worry about why they have stayed away. Simply say, “Our parish
is holding a special weekend to invite people to worship with
us. Would you be willing to come?” On the weekend of October
30 th and 31 st our liturgies will be orientated towards welcoming.
There will be members of our Welcome Home Ministry to answer
questions in the narthex, and as always on that weekend, I
am encouraging all of you who come, to be particularly sensitive
to new faces or to old faces that we haven't seen in a while.
As we celebrate our patronal feast today, one of the characteristics
of this community has always been hospitality. Two weeks from
today we need to be particularly “on our game” welcoming those
who come to worship with us.
Yet
people will not come unless they are invited. That is why
I am encouraging you to think of someone you could invite
and ask them. Of course those who you invite may reject your
offer. It might not be the right time. But, on the other hand,
God could already be working in the heart of someone you know
preparing it for reconciliation, and your invitation could
be the cause that allows someone to come back to the Church.
That is why we must do our best to extend the invitation whether
the circumstances look favorable or unfavorable and leave
the rest to God's grace. “God writes straight with crooked
lines,” and God invites us to be partners in that reconciliation.
In two weeks there will be an opportunity for reconciliation
with our Church. Consider whether you might be called to help
God write a beautiful new chapter in the life of someone you
know.
|
