2nd Sunday of Advent
READING 1:
Baruch 5:1-9
Psalm
126 READING 2: Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11 GOSPEL: 3:1-6
One of our four year olds stopped me and asked who I was. I told her, “I am Fr. Jeff!” She said, “Ohhh, Father Jeff!” and opened her arms to give me a big hug! Then she said, “Do you fly?” I must have looked confused because she said, “I mean do you know how to fly?” I said, “No, I have to try to keep my feet on the ground.” She said, “But you can call God right?” And she made a telephone sign with her hands by her ear. I said, “Well, yes.” She said, “Good. I want you to call God and tell him to send Jesus down here right now; I want to speak to him!” I thought, wow! out of the mouth of a child our Advent hope. Afterward I thought that the contrast between me flying with my head in the clouds and keeping my feet on the ground might be relevant to today’s readings and my task. The ancient prophets of Israel preached against injustices and predicted a future salvation. When John was born his father Zechariah proclaimed him a prophet. But John was different from the prophets of old. He helped people see the current reality and the presence of the Messiah among them as one of them. He challenged people to change the way they think (repent) and act in the here and now to bring justice to the world. John the Baptist in this way inaugurated the Christian mission we share. We too must hold together those two aspects of John’s office of prophet: A proclamation of Christ that does not accompany an effort toward human betterment would result in something discordant and lacking credibility. If we only work for social justice without the proclamation of faith and without the regenerative power of the word of God, we would soon come to our limits and end up mere protestors. So, our mission at Queen of Peace is to make Christ’s presence known by working for a better world. We do that through our many ministries that draw people into positive relationships, our study groups, our self enrichment groups, our outreach to the poor, the pregnant, the elderly, and others, our support for our Academy, our support for St. Francis Catholic High School, our support for the diocesan programs and the worldwide church. Our parish finance council, our parish council and our parish stewardship council have asked me to say a few words this weekend. I want to thank everyone who has filled out and turned in our Covenant cards. Over 80 households have made this estimate of their giving for the first time. This is spectacular! Thank you so much! You can not imagine how that helps us. I also believe it will help you. God loves and blesses everyone, regardless, but I know that when we take a step in faith, God will not let us down. When we discover that, we are free to take on life’s challenges with true confidence. So, thank you, for taking that leap in faith and thank you to those who continue to estimate your support for us. We also have people who have not yet estimated their giving but we can rely on for support and we thank you. Maybe you just didn’t think about it, forgot it or thought, “well, that’s over for another year!” I’d ask you to consider and please fill out your Covenant card with an estimate of your giving for next year. Those written estimates make all the difference when we are setting our goals for next year’s ministries. We need your help everyone. We need to support the mission we have embraced to make Jesus present for people. I know you hear as I do that we are a rich parish and we are. We are rich in faith and our community is what everyone wants; we are generous and we like to pray together. I believe we actually do make the world better by what we are doing. But we do not do it because we have a magic money tree or a few wealthy benefactors; we do it because the average household gives. We get very few big donations; we need every donation to make it. So, please, if you haven’t estimated your giving for next year, please fill out the Covenant card and set a goal for yourself. Do it and see if you’re not happier and better off in many ways a year from now. On behalf of your brothers and sisters in the pews, I am thanking you in advance. We trust God and we trust each other and we trust ourselves. There is also a building campaign to provide necessary classrooms for St. Francis High School . Ten donors, eight of them Queen of Peace parishioners, have offered to match the first $250,000 of donations to the campaign. If you are able to give $50-500-1,000-2,000, whatever, please give; your gift will be doubled to St. Francis High School . More essentially, our youth will have the opportunity to choose to grow in every aspect of their lives, including their relationship with our Lord, in that spectacular Catholic atmosphere. These are not simple times; there is a lot of competition for your attention. We are all distracted by what we have and what we do not have. We don’t have huge advertising budgets and can’t intimidate the media by threatening to withdraw our advertising if their programming doesn’t support our mission. We have an advantage, though; you and I are that advantage. We share the truth. We share the 2,000 year tradition of sacrificial giving by the followers of a man who didn’t even have a home but has provided us with this home. So, thank you for listening; I apologize for the extended homily. But the job they never tell you about when you are in the seminary is keeping a parish financially sound. I wish I didn’t have to keep my feet on the ground and could fly with my head in the clouds, but I can’t. I just want you to know I appreciate your company every step of the way on this great mission adventure for Christ. We live with confidence in the Good News! Fr. Jeff McGowan |
