THE POWER OF GOODNESS

By Fr. George Smiga, Pastor
St. Noel Church
September 16, 2001

We were attacked this week. Thousands are dead and all of us know, on one level or another, our lives will not ever be quite the same again. We are overwhelmed with a variety of emotions, shock, anger, fear. But, I think the predominant emotion for me this week has been a certain kind of emptiness. If you are like me this week, often when facing the next thing you had to do, making a phone call, studying for school, going to work, there was a kind of a emptiness and a kind of lack of energy and a question - "What's the use?" In this kind of mood the words of Jesus in today's , gospel ring a little hollow. Jesus says , "Full authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me", and if you're like me you maybe question this week - "where was Jesus' authority and presence Tuesday morning"? Or, when Jesus says "Go out now and make disciples of all the nations, spread the good news", perhaps you wonder what is the good news this week and what is there that I can do that would make any difference? A feeling of emptiness, a feeling of helplessness, I think touches us all. That is why it seems important for us to gather as we do today. Because I believe that that sense of helplessness, that sense of defeat, is exactly what we must fight against.

For you and I do have power. You and I have something we can do and something that would truly make a difference even this week. What is it we need to do? I would suggest we need to remember who we are and what we are capable of. This Tuesday morning a handful of terrorists showed us what they were capable of and what they believed in. We need to remember who we are and what we believe in. We are the children of God and we believe in the power of goodness. Yes! The power if goodness. And in a week when the power of evil has been so dramatically drawn before our eyes, we need to believe in the power of goodness more than ever. Because in goodness there is a power. A power that can heal us and a power that can contribute in a real way to the recovery of our nation. Now, what does that goodness look like? How can we imagine ourselves contributing to the goodness that we need in the world today?

I'm not going to tell you anything new in this homily, nothing that you don't already know. I am here today just as you are here today because we all need to hear these things again. We need to hear the teachings of Jesus that can make such a difference in this tragic week. I want to present you with three things that you already know. Three things that are a part of our faith. Three things that we believe.

The first thing we believe as a people, as disciples of Jesus, is that hatred is the enemy. Hatred is the enemy! Now, I believe that we have the right as a nation to defend ourselves. We have a right to find out who is responsible for these atrocities and assure that they could never repeat them again. But if we set out to do those just things with hatred in our hearts, the teaching of Jesus tells us that we have already lost. Because if we let hatred in, that hatred will destroy us. Those who bombed the twin towers Tuesday morning did so out of hatred. Hatred that they learned either from their families or their countries and it was a hatred against us. If we, in responding to those actions, act with a similar hatred, we lose. We and the terrorists go down together. That is why each time that we take action to assure ourselves that hatred is not our motivation, each time we take steps to insist hatred is not taught in our homes - by that action we increase the power of goodness in our land. Hatred is the enemy!

The second thing that the teaching of Jesus tells us is that we need to be there for one another. How clear this was this week. Many of you, like me, upon hearing the news, immediately tried to get into contact with the people we care for; the people we love. We called them to make sure they were safe, to make sure that we had someone to process our sorrow and grief with. And we need to continue to do that - to be there for the people we care for. Parents need to place a priority now in these days to be with their children because there are questions the children will have and they look to us for assurance. We need to be there for one another. But, who is "one another"? The teaching of Jesus makes it clear that "one another" is not simply limited to our family and friends but reaches across nationality , cultural and religious lines. We are all children of God. We need to be there in a special way for our brothers or sisters who are fearful and afraid this week: Arab Americans from a Middle Eastern background, Americans who believe in Islam. Many of these Americans are frightened this week because they fear that people in their anger over terrorists will turn against them. We need to try and understand that what was done this week was not done by Arabs or by people from the Middle East or by those who believe in Islam. It was done by a band of terrorists motivated by hate. And we need to make that clear to ourselves and to our children. Stereotyping and prejudice is against what we believe. It is not sufficient simply to say, "Well, I won't say anything, I'll not strike out at those people of that background." If we really believe that we are children of God, we as followers of Jesus must find a way to stand with those who are in danger of prejudice. We must take steps to make sure that an Arab co-worker at our job knows that we are in this together. It may be as simple as walking up to someone of Middle Eastern background in a mall and saying "good morning", giving a greeting rather than turning away. We should act when we hear false things being said about Islam, saying that it is a religion of hate or of war. We should speak up and make it clear that that is not the truth. We believe that we must be there for one another and each time we take steps to be there for any of God's children, we contribute to the power of goodness in our world.

The third and final thing we believe in is that we can find hope in this situation for we are a people who believe that goodness can come out of evil. The very symbol of our faith, the cross, makes this clear. We are not a people who hope only when things look hopeful. We are a people who in the shadow of death, in the shadow of the cross, believe in the resurrection and look for signs of hope. And we need to show that hope to one another, to our children and to all that we meet. There are many reasons for hope. The dedication of the rescue workers, the response of the country to the people in New York and Washington, the cooperation being seen in our own city across racial and religious lines. These are all signs of hope that we have an opportunity to lift up. Each time we find hope for ourselves or for others we contribute to the power of goodness in our country.

Three things we believe in - that hatred is the enemy, that we must be there for one another, and that we can find hope even in darkness. Three things that when we act upon them give power to goodness. Now, in this national tragedy it is very clear that we need certain things. We need rescue workers, we need wise politicians, we need people of confidence in the military and in the diplomatic corps. I think the message we must take today is that our country also needs us, that we are not helpless. Our country needs us to continue to be good parents, faithful friends, honest workers, people of integrity and generosity and each time we do that we contribute in a great way to what our country needs today.

Monday morning the stock market is going to open and many people are jittery about how the market will move. Will people sell or will they stand firm and buy? Will they sell and try to cut their losses, running away with what they have or will they stand firm and show their commitment to our economy and to our country? I don't know what will happen on the stock market Monday morning but I am here today as your pastor to advise you as to what we believe. My advice is now is not the time to sell. Now is the time to invest - to buy into more deeply what we are and what we believe. We have been attacked this week but we are not helpless and our country needs us, not necessarily to be in the military or the diplomatic corps. It needs us to remember who we are and what we believe. Who are we? We are the children of God. And what do we believe? We believe that even in a week when the power of darkness seems so overwhelming , we believe that the power of goodness is greater!