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Imitating
St.
Noel
October
23, 2005 Homily
Fr.
George Smiga
Mt
22:34-40
It
is difficult for one generation to judge another; and when
generations are separated by centuries, the difficulty is
compounded. When we look at the life of another person across
hundreds of years, our ability to evaluate that life is complicated
by differences in ideas, cultures, and economies. Although
we can appreciate certain things about his or her life, there
will always be much more that we will never fully understand.
This
truth is important for us today as we celebrate our patronal
feast of St. Noel Chabanel. St. Noel was born 392 years ago
in France and died 36 years later here in North America ,
killed by one of the Huron Indians he was trying to serve.
Noel was a Jesuit missionary who came to the New World in
order to spread faith in Jesus Christ.
Noel
was part of the European conquest of the Americas . When British
and Spanish and French explorers came to the new world they
brought with them missionaries like Noel to share their faith.
Unfortunately the results of those efforts were not entirely
positive. Yes, many Native American peoples came to know God's
love through Jesus Christ. But they also experienced the destruction
of their native cultures, exploitation by the Europeans for
economic benefit, and a number of dangers for which they could
never be prepared. For example when the explorers came to
this country they unintentionally carried with them European
diseases. Historians tell us that the success of the European
conquest was not so much due to superior intelligence or armaments,
but to the deaths of hundreds of thousand of Native Americans
from diseases against which they had no immunity.
Even
if we look at Noel himself and his missionary practice, we
find many things with which we would disagree. Noel had a
very simple concept that Christianity was the only true religion.
He believed that his faith was right and the faith of the
Native Americans was not only false but without value. There
is no way that Noel could appreciate the teachings of the
Second Vatican Council which instruct us that true reflections
of God's love can be found in all of the religions of the
world. He did not share our belief that we are called to respect
those reflections even as we share our own faith with others.
If we were to look at Noel's missionary practice we would
undoubtedly find it paternalistic, triumphal and perhaps demeaning.
So
with all these differences in time and culture how can St.
Noel be our patron? What is there in his life that can benefit
us today? The answer can be found in today's Gospel. Jesus
there gives us the Great Commandment: to love God with all
our heart, to love our neighbor as ourselves. There is no
doubt that Noel followed this commandment. He loved God above
all else and he gave his life for his neighbor, risking and
losing his life in service of the Huron Indians around the
Great Lakes region. Even though we would object to his paternalism
and his negative evaluation of the Native American culture,
there can be no doubt that Noel gave his best, what he valued
the most, his faith in Jesus Christ.
In
giving us the Great Commandment notice how wise Jesus was
to draw it from the book of Leviticus. For the second part
of the commandment directs us to love in a particular way.
We are not asked to love others as God loves them, for that
would be perfect love and impossible for us. We are asked
to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. That is something
we can do. We can love as we know love. We can give our best
to the extent that we recognize what the best is. This is
what Noel did and in this we can follow his example.
The
truth is every time we love another human being we run the
risk of doing some harm. But we still need to love, because
the loving is more important than the harm which could accompany
it. Parents are asked to love their children. They must do
so even though they know that their love will not be perfect
and might cause some defects in their children's lives. Parents
are asked to share their faith with their children, even though
their faith is weak or imperfect. Friends are asked to speak
the truth to their friends, even though it might turn out
that the truth they speak is not completely accurate. Workers
are asked to give their best, even though subsequent events
might prove that their talents could have been better used
in another way.
The
Gospel calls us to give our best to the extent that we can
see what the best is. The Gospel calls us to serve insofar
as we understand service. The Gospel calls us to love to the
extent that we understand love, to love as we know love ourselves.
Years
from now people may look back on our lives and say, “She should
have done things differently. His service should have been
more enlightened. The love that was given should have been
deeper or clearer.” Such things may be said of us, but it
is difficult for one generation to judge another. Therefore,
we will be doing well, if we stand with St. Noel and give
our best to the extent that we can see the best. Doing that
is enough. If we give our best, there is nothing to fear,
because we will be following Jesus' command and loving our
neighbor as we love ourselves.
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