ACTION AND FAITH

Luke 16:1-9

Jesus tells of a strange parable in today's Gospel, but it is a parable that has a direct relevance to our lives as we deal with the fallout of September 11th. What makes the parable strange is that Jesus lifts up a character, a dishonest manager and encourages us to imitate him. Not to imitate his dishonesty, but to imitate his action-- his initiative. For as Jesus says, the children of this age act with more initiative than we do -- than the "children of the light".

You see, when this manager found that his life was suddenly going to change (and change for the worst), when he realized he was going to lose his job, he did not freeze, he did not stop, he swung into action and began to initiate a plan that would help him in the future. And here's where the parallel is to our own lives.

Our lives have certainly changed since September 11th. All of us now feel a little less secure. We are more tentative in a lot of our decisions. We are more easily worried about the future. And this, of course, is what terrorism aims to do. The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize, to cause us to freeze, to stop us from thinking and from acting in normal ways. Terrorists don't have the means to invade our country or occupy us as a foreign army could. However, they do have the ability to use fear to paralyze us, to stop us. They can make us begin to feel "what's the use? Why should I even try."

They have been at least partially successful. Physiologists will say that many people in the United States today are dealing with some form of depression in light of September 11th. Perhaps you sense some of these traits in your own life: a lack of energy, difficulty in sleeping, a sadness which comes over you. It is for these reasons, we need to follow the example of the dishonest manager. Because when life changes, it is important not to stop -- not to freeze, but to act. It is important for you and I to choose life and to continue to live our lives. And there is a lot of life to live.

You know, not everything has changed after September 11th. The really important things in our lives are still here. We're still alive. We still have family and friends to support us. We are still fortunate to be living in this country. I don't want to live any where else. We also have a promising future. Once we make the adjustments
we need to make in our life style, our life and the lives of our families can move forward positively. It is possible to live a full and rewarding life even in a world where terrorism is a reality. People in Europe have been living this way for decades, and they are doing just fine. We've been protected from this, largely because of geography, but once we make some adjustments to our own lifestyle and our country makes some adjustments to its defenses, we can move on living just fine. The important things are still here. But we must act. We cannot be frozen. We must choose to continue. We have to, like the

President said in his talk this week, go and hug our children. Now is the time to get together with our friends, go out to a movie. A time to reinvest ourselves in new opportunities in our work. There are even some advantages here we didn't have before. Formerly when you "shopped till you dropped", it was seen as an addiction -- now it's an act of patriotism. When we do these things they may not feel the same way they did before September 11th, but they are still worth doing.

We must not let the fear of what might happen blind us to what is happening now. And what is happening is life. Your children are still growing and learning and they need you. Your spouse is still at your side. Your friends still like you. Your job is still counting on you. Life continues. Yesterday I celebrated a wedding and the couple was as much in love and committed to one another as the couples I married before September 11th. At the twelve o'clock Mass today we will celebrate two baptisms, and we need to celebrate that new life coming into the world, because that life is going to continue.

This is what we learn from the dishonest manager. Now is not the time to stop.
Now is the time to act, to choose life. And, as important as action is, there is still more. Because, not only do we learn from the dishonest manager, but we must also be faithful to ourselves as "children of the light".

What does it mean to be "children of the light"? It means to be those who believe in the power and the presence of God. It means that we have faith to hand over our lives to God through his Son, Jesus Christ. And, especially in times where it is so clear that things are not completely in our control, we need to submit our lives to God in a new and more dedicated way, knowing that God cares for us and will guide us.

We can take a lesson here from our Moslem brothers and sisters, because this truth is at the center of their faith. Islam means peace and submission, and its message is that when we submit ourselves to God, we can live in peace. In this new world in which we are finding our way, we need to submit ourselves in a deeper way to the God in whom we believe.

We can do that by bringing the power of Christ into our daily lives. Each time we begin to sense a spirit of fear within us, we can, as "children of the light", take that fear and turn to Jesus. We can say, "Take this fear, I don't know what to do with it, and I must continue on with my life. You handle it because it is beyond me." Each time we see ourselves losing energy and losing the power to go forward, we can say to the Lord, "Give me strength. Stiffen my backbone because there are people who are depending on me. My children need me. My friends need me. My spouse needs me. You give me the strength now to move forward". Each time we see a certain sadness settling over our soul, we need to turn to the Lord and say, "Point out the beauty of my life, the joy of my life, so I see the goodness here, and with your help find a way to move forward".

As you and I deal with the fallout from September 11th, we need to learn from
the dishonest manager and we need to live as "children of the light". From the dishonest manager, we learn that we have to act, that we have to choose life, even in a world where we feel more vulnerable than we did before. And as "children of the light", we must entrust our lives to God in a deeper way, knowing that his power and love will sustain us.

Action and faith. Choosing to live. Choosing to trust. These two gifts can prevent us from giving in to terrorism and being paralyzed by it. If we have action and faith, we can more forward in the future with confidence, not expecting merely to survive, but expecting to flourish in hope and in joy.