Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton
HOMILY
Respect Life Mass – October 2, 2011
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Just a little over three weeks ago, an intense weather system was channeled over a corridor of northeastern and north centralPennsylvaniaand poured rains that quickly filled streams and rivers to overflowing. While some were spared from the ravages of flooding, many were not. Countless lives were changed – never to be the same again. Many suddenly had no place to call home – no clothes to wear – no food to eat – no treasured photographs to remind them of cherished loved ones who had passed from this world to the next – many had nothing – with little hope and much pain. … All of this happened right here – in our Diocese – to our faithful people.
In response to such human suffering, so, so many gave – and continue to give – of their time, their efforts, their resources, their love and their prayers to brothers and sisters who suddenly have so little. Indeed, while the suffering of many continues, I know of the gratitude of so many who are burdened – a gratitude that also has the power to change lives forever because of a new-found bond of love and compassion shown in many instances by complete strangers – who, out of respect and love for others – have sought to lift burdens and bring some measure of comfort and peace to those who struggle to move forward in their lives. … All of this also happened right here – in our Diocese – because of our faithful people.
All of this happened because within us is an innate sense of Love, “an extraordinary force,” as Pope Benedict XVI notes in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, “which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth.” Indeed, the Holy Father notes further, “all people feel the interior impulse to love authentically: love and truth never abandon them completely, because these are the vocation planted by God in the heart and mind of every human person.”
How blessed we are that so many have responded to the movements of God within them and have loved generously and selflessly. Such efforts create a foundation upon which justice is established. Indeed, Pope Benedict stated that “justice is promoted when one welcomes the life of the other and assumes responsibility for him, responding to his expectations, for in him one perceives the very Face of the Son of God who for our sake became man. It is on the divine image imprinted in our brother and sister that the most exalted dignity of every person is founded and inspires the need for respect, care and service.”
Yet, how paradoxical that so many of us can at once respond so generously to life that is wounded and suffering, and at the same time, wittingly or unwittingly, undermine the very building blocks of a just world for all forms of life created in the image and likeness of God. The protection and preservation of human life can never be a relative effort. By its very nature, human life demands absolute protection from conception to natural end. Respect for the dignity of every human being must be upheld and witnessed to always – even when it places us in opposition to popular values, political expediency, and the tide of today’s evolving cultural norms.
Human life is threatened today in so many ways. In addition to the tragic and continued widespread scourge of abortion, we also face proposals and policies that favor assisted suicide, euthanasia, human cloning, illicit reproductive technologies, the unjust application of the death sentence, and the blight of human trafficking. Sadly, and frighteningly so, prevalent secularism is moving from being an ideology into being a lifestyle that simply abandons the sense of right and wrong. And in the midst of all of this, the word of Jesus relentlessly arises through the Church. “I came so that all might have life and have it to the full.”
In the first reading on this, the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Respect Life Sunday – the prophet Isaiah speaks of a friend who started to plant a vineyard. The friend, in reality, is God, who out of infinite love, creates a world for us, a world that has the potential to embrace love and truth and life. But what happens to this perfect vineyard? Isaiah tells us that it yields nothing but wild grapes and falls into ruin.
Who ruined the vineyard, Isaiah muses? Was it God, its creator, who did not take sufficient care of his precious vineyard? No, he tells us. No. The vineyard was ruined because God’s cherished plants – God’s people – answered justice with bloodshed and love with self concern.
This same theme of unrighteousness is echoed in today’s gospel parable. It concludes with God, the owner of the vineyard, coming himself to destroy the tenants and handing the vineyard to others who will yield an abundant harvest.
Every one of us has been given a portion of God’s vineyard to cultivate. The vineyard – God’s creation entrusted to our care – is not remote. It is not contrived or make believe. The vineyard is as close as the home you return to after thisMass. It is as close as the nearest nursing home, or clinic, or prison, or school. The vineyard that God has made for us is here, and his choicest and most cherished plants – his people, made in his own image and likeness – are all around us.
What will we do with the vineyard that we’ve been given? … Will we give in to a culture of death, which lays waste to the beauty that God has so wondrously created in his people? … Or will we heed the Gospel of Life and love them? Will we love the least and most forgotten, the ones who are hardest to love or even see? … Will we yield to fear, selfishness and arrogance and destroy whatever chances we have of turning our portion of God’s vineyard into something productive and life giving? … Or through compassion, selfless love, and a commitment to true justice for all, will we realize a meaningful and fulfilling harvest, regardless of how small or insignificant we and others might regard our portion of the vineyard – those lives that God has placed in our midst?
Thirty-two years ago this very weekend, Blessed Pope John Paul II began his historic first visit as pope to theUnited States. He stood in the heart of the city ofPhiladelphiaand called for “full respect for all the fundamental rights of the human person, who dignity is the dignity of one created in the image and likeness of God.” Pope John Paul proclaimed those words – but they came from Jesus – the Word who is Life.
As Christians and followers of Jesus, we say that we choose life. … But as Christians, we must choose life every day – regardless of how unpopular the choice or inconvenient it may be.
Jesus teaches us in the gospel that “faith the size of a mustard seed” can up root the largest obstacle. The secret of the culture of life is the secret of the seed. In his book, Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict writes, “Observed from the outside, the seed is something miniscule. It is easy to overlook. The mustard seed – an image of theKingdomofGod– is the smallest of seeds, yet is bears the whole tree within it. The seed is the presence of what is to come in the future. In the seed, that which is to come is already here in a hidden way. It is the presence of a promise.”
The presence of that promise is what compels so many of us these days to respond to suffering brothers and sisters – to help lift their burdens – to help comfort their lives – and to ensure that a sense of dignity – washed away by flood waters – is restored in their lives. … The presence of that same promise in my life and yours, when nurtured and cared for, has the power to compel us to choose life in every moment.
Over the past several months, I’ve spoken so often to you of my vision for the future of this wonderful diocese. That vision is rooted in a passage fromSaint John’sgospel, during the last supper. At the end of the meal, Jesus step away from the table, picked up a pitcher of water and basin, and in a gesture of service and selfless love, washed the feet of his disciples. He then gave them this command, “As I have done, so you must do.” … “As I have served you in your need, so you must serve your brothers and sisters.”
“As I have done, so you must do.” Forgiveness, compassion, justice, selfless love – these are the hallmarks of the life of Jesus. These are the foundational stones that are needed to build a culture of Life. Yet, sadly, like the tenants in today’s gospel parable, we often reject “stones” that scare us or threaten us – whatever we don’t understand – whatever challenges us and the complacent and safe lives that we have built.
My friends, today we gather in prayer to be nourished by the Bread of Life. May we pray for the wisdom and courage to see beyond the relative values proposed by our world today – to the lasting values of God. … May we choose – respect – and reverence – each and every life that God entrusts to our care. … And may the seed of God’s Word, planted and nurtured within us, provide a rich harvest for every human being, “I came so that all might have life and have it to the full.”
