Homily for Sunday, December 8, 2024

[Father Paul]

I’ve had some bad luck with cell phones. Once, I was officiating a wedding when someone’s cell phone went off just before the exchange of vows. It turned out it was mine! Someone said I should have answered it. “Hi, Mom? ... I’m at a wedding. No, not mine!” But I heard an interesting story recently. A gentleman was at a church service for the first time in a long time when his cell phone went off in the middle of the sermon. The preacher stopped his preaching, looked at him, and reminded everyone to please turn off their cell phones. The people around him glared at him. He felt most unwelcome and quite ashamed. Later that night, he went to a bar for a drink and spilled his drink on the person sitting next to him at the bar. He felt horrible and was bracing for additional “shaming” from the people around him. But that’s not what happened. Instead, the person next to him just laughed and totally forgave him. Someone else came up to him quite concerned because the glass broke and he might have had a cut on his hand. The bartender even apologized for not being too careful. The point of the story is this: the gentleman never went back to church because of the shaming that took place. He felt more Christian virtue at a bar than he did at church!

It’s a very cute story, I suppose, but realistically, that bar “scene” could have gone the other way as well. So could the “scene” at church. I’d like to think it would have gone the other way here at St. Alexander. It feels good to know that. But there is a bit of a paradox here. By feeling all puffed up about how wonderful we are as a church because we are nice to people, compared to all those “other” churches where people are mean and nasty, aren’t we being very hypocritical? Aren’t we guilty of doing the same thing as those who glared at the gentleman at church? Just because we are casting aspersions at other churches and not the person sitting next to us, aren’t we being very judgmental?

I think it’s time we stop judging others, even other churches. We are all human beings, even if we are grumpy to someone next to us. You are welcome here as well. We are all searching for something, some kind of meaning, some kind of connection with something spiritual.

John the Baptist came on the scene today to declare a message of hope for a community that I'm sure was feeling quite lost. Very much like today. We are hungry for something more. I couldn’t help but think of this song from Alanis Morissette, about humanity just trying to find hope and peace:

One hand in my pocket, by Alanis Morrisette:

I'm broke, but I'm happy

I'm poor, but I'm kind

I'm short, but I'm healthy, yeah

I'm high, but I'm grounded

I'm sane, but I'm overwhelmed

I'm lost, but I'm hopeful, baby

And what it all comes down to

Is that everything's gonna be fine, fine, fine

'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket

And the other one is givin' a high five

What we want to do, as the song suggests, is just accept it and keep moving forward with optimism and hope. Everything's going to be fine, fine, fine. But is this enough? It might be enough to get by, but is it really what we are meant for? Or are we meant for something more? Well, whether you want more or not, the church is meant to be there for you where you are. By church, I mean not only the universal Catholic Church, but we here at St. Alexander, the person beside you, behind you, and in front of you. We are all here for each other, precisely because we are lost.

I still love the opening lines of the Vatican II document the Church in the modern world:

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of human being. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds.

So how do we, today, prepare the way of the Lord? How do we make the path to Jesus straight and easy to follow?

When I first arrived at St. Alexander, I created "Fonthill Frank." He is a completely fictional character, but all of our decisions as a parish are meant primarily to impact him, to bring him back. What about Fonthill Francis? Of course, this applies to her as well, but I was trying to describe an individual like you and me. I have to start somewhere. And the data on this is very clear: the presence of the father in church is a very strong motivating factor in the faith of his family.

This is a fictional character, with all due respect to anyone here who happens to be named Frank. Here's my description:

“Fonthill Frank” is a devoted father with 2 school age kids, and one on the way. has a great job, both he and his wife work to make ends meet, weekends are too busy for church but he still believes in God and will come with family on Christmas, Easter, funerals, weddings and baptisms. His son plays hockey, his daughter is in dancing. Both go to St. Alexander’s school, which is the main source of their information about catholicism. His wife takes care of most of the religious side of things. Frank’s parents go to Mass weekly, and his grandmother goes every day, but his grandfather has just passed away. Spiritually, Frank prays, but also scratches his head when he thinks of the scandals of the church. He and his wife are not really pro choice, but they have not given it that much thought, at least they “know better” than to enter into an argument about it with their friends. He and his wife have no issues using birth control. He isn’t sure what all the fuss is about, but they are very cautious about what they refer to as religious nuts in the church. They respect the church but have no issue with joining in conversations about how corrupt it is with their peers. Face to face with clergy he is deeply respectful of them and will help out if asked and if he has time. He likes Pope Francis and considers him to be a breath of fresh air. He’s not really sure what he thinks about Jesus, other than that he is a good example and he agrees with his teachings, at least the ones he knows about. But he tends to think all religions have their place and are good. Probably could care less if the local church survives or not, it’s just not that important to him. But deep down, he is searching for something, he is a bit lonely at times and wonders what life is all about. He feels most joy when his is indulging in fun things. But he knows there is a cost, he is faithful to his wife and tries not to screw up because he knows how complicated life can get.

Our goal is to move Fonthill Frank from being a member of the community to be a disciple of Jesus. to transform his life into a life of genuine, deep, abiding joy.

So, "if the joys and concerns of the world are the joys and concerns of the people of God," can we respond the way Jesus responded to the people of his day, who were like sheep without a shepherd? Can we respond with optimism, with hope, with care, and with communion? Jesus gave his people hope that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and everything is going to work out okay. Everything is going to be fine.

So I’ve rewritten the verses of the song that I referred to at the beginning of my homily, with apologies to Alanis Morrisette:

I’m busy but I’m faithful

I’m tired but still praying 

I’m lost but I follow

Absent but committed

And what it all boils down to is that no one’s really got it figured out just yet.

Well, I’ve got one hand in my pocket, and the other is reaching out. 

And maybe what it all comes down to, 

is that we love God by loving our neighbour, 

and everything is going to be just fine, fine fine. Baby. .

I sin but I’m holy

I’m distracted but I’m present

I doubt but I’m baptized

I mourn but I live

I die but I’m born to eternal life.

And what it all boils down to is that no one’s really got it figured out just yet. 

Well, I’ve got one hand open, and the other is ready to receive the bread of life. 

And maybe what it all comes down to,

is that the Kingdom of God is at hand, 

and everything is going to be just fine.

Heavenly Father, please make my days useful, my nights restful, my efforts fruitful, and my home peaceful.