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Author: St. Charles Borromeo
29th Sunday Ordinary Time – 9 AM (Fr. Smith Homily and Stewardship)
We many times hear that we should act with a “preferential option for the poor” This phrase dates to 1968 but is simply an elegant way of expressing a biblical truth. Jesus tells us in the always disconcerting chapter 25 of Matthew’s gospel ““Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” This however has roots deep in the Old Testament.
The Jewish law itself stated: “Cursed be he who violates the rights of the alien, the orphan or the widow!’ (Dt 27:19).
God himself takes the part of the poor and those who we would consider marginalized.
The LORD protects the stranger,
sustains the orphan and the widow,
but thwarts the way of the wicked. Ps 146:9
The Lord is particularly concerned that Justice be done for them by the leaders of the people: “Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow” (Is 1:17)
Let us look now at the characters and situation in today’s parable. The widow is among the poor to be protected. The judge is at very least indifferent to her predicament. He did not respect any one much less a poor woman. He also showed that he did not fear the God who has claimed the poor as his own.
Yet she will receive justice because he is afraid that she will treat him violently. If a truly bad man will listen and act properly how much more will God hear the cry of the poor? (Ps 34)
This would have had a very special meaning to the early Christians. They had declared themselves followers of Jesus and now awaited his return. They are as innocent as the widow but have found many in authority who were as wicked as the judge. Jesus had told them that they would be hauled before judges (Lk 12:11) and indeed there would be division within their own families (Luke 12:50-53) But they are finding this too long a wait and want Jesus to act now. If not an immediate return a little smiting of their enemies would certainly be appreciated.
Luke’s response to this is very subtle and profound. He compares them to widows. people to whom God has shown preferential care. They are loved and protected; they are part of God’s plan not the all of it. Luke does not compare them to Kings, or Prophets or Priests or even messengers whose power is found in their strength but in a widow, a person powerless by definition.
Look now at the ending: “I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk 18:8).
The disciples might very well say that if this is Jesus’ idea of speedy then He may well find very few people waiting. There is something here of course, we may be widows and orphans protected and loved by God, but we can find that love very far away and our oppressors very close indeed. Certainly, we all need to pray for patience, forbearance and hope.
Yet this is the Gospel of St Luke and there is another dimension:
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. (Luke 12:37)
We read this passage several weeks ago and saw that vigilance meant looking not up the in sky for the Lord’s return but at the needs and wants of those around us. (Lk 12: 42-45) That is true here as well this is how Jesus will know if there is faith.
Last week we celebrated the feast of St Pope John 23rd who called the second Vatican Council in whose spirit I was formed. One sign of this is a desire to see everything through the lens of the scriptures. I find it significant that we have begun looking at stewardship while reading St Luke’s gospel at Mass. Of all the gospels his is the most concerned with why Jesus has called us to belong to a community and the necessary spirituality for it. Next year when we will be implementing how we wish to be stewards we will read from St Matthew’s Gospel which can be read as a handbook for building a church. Scriptural Serendipity.
So, let us look at the results so far.
Last week I asked those who were present to make a renewed commitment in support of our parish. One of the realities of this community is that many of us travel a great deal and are not able to be present here at St Charles every week. Therefore, we must do everything several times to reach everyone. I ask the forbearance of those who heard this and filled out the card last week as I address those that did not.
Over the past few years our weekly offertory has consistently been one of the lowest in the Brooklyn both in amount and per capita. Over that same span of time bills and costs at the parish have steadily risen. As our next financial report, which will be published in a few weeks, will reveal we have had to use some of our rental income to pay operating expenses.
It will take a greater sacrifice to St. Charles Borromeo to maintain much less expand our ministries. As we all make our commitments today, remember that we are truly returning to God what has first been given to us. The ownership lies with Him.
Here’s how this will work: My goal is to receive a card from every family attending this Mass today. Today is very important. Tomorrow I will meet with parish leaders and our accountant to plan our strategy for a loan to complete the work on the church in a timely manner. We will need to have a much better idea what we can reasonably expect in our regular collections and if we will have to direct some of our rental money. As most of you know better than I the more we can direct to this project the better the terms we can expect and the faster this will be accomplished. So:
- If you have brought your own Commitment Card from the mailing with you today, we greatly appreciate it and we’ll collect them in a moment.
- If you didn’t bring the one that was mailed to you, or you didn’t get the mailing, the ushers are going to walk down the aisle right now and distribute Commitment Weekend forms to everyone who doesn’t have one.
- If you have already returned your Commitment Card to the parish office take one of the forms the ushers have and simply indicate that you have already returned your card.
- For those filling out the forms, please print your name and address on the bottom portion of the card.
- We ask that you please include your cell number and email address. Our parish would like to use this opportunity to update our records.
- Next, please indicate the amount you typically give to the collection at the top of the card.
- Then on the next line, please indicate the new amount you are committing to going forward.
- I would like to remind you that this is not a pledge of any form. It should serve as a promise between you and God.
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- Next, please check one of the four options:
- Yes – I am interested in increasing my offertory through my parish’s online giving portal. Please send me more information.
- I encourage you to consider signing up for electronic giving through WeShare. It is a simple and convenient process for you that takes no more than a few minutes to complete. It also greatly benefits our parish by reducing mailing costs and accounting for weekly offertory fluctuation.. As I have noted we are a very mobile parish and it is important that we recognize that the parish exists during the weeks we are not here as well as when we are. This is not a pew rental for single events.
- You can have your offertory charged to your credit card (earn reward or loyalty points) or simply have it deducted from your bank’s checking or savings account. Mark the appropriate box if you are interested and make sure to write out your email address neatly. We’ll send you some information and a link to get started.
- Yes – I am interested in increasing my offertory with envelopes. If you are currently not receiving envelopes and wish to receive them, please include your telephone number.
- Praying – I am still praying about my decision
- Amen- I am unable to increase my regular giving at this time.
I thank you for your commitments and may God bless us.
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Church Renovation Update
St. Charles Borromeo, Renato Araujo, November 2009.
Below is an update on the church renovations prepared by Nick Strachovsky, our client representative at K.O.W. ARMA:
Progress on the exterior has been moving along well the past few months. The brick repair is in final stages. The chimneys have been repaired and new chimney caps are in place. The sandstone above the sidewalk bridge has been restored. Cleaning of the bricks and brownstone is in progress. The slate roof repair is complete with the exception of patching around the gutters. All work at the tower is complete and the scaffolding has been removed. The flat roof work and parapet repair is in progress.
Exterior stained glass cleaning and putty replacement is mostly complete. All exterior window woodwork restoration is complete. The stained glass windows will be covered by protective glazing. The final details are being reviewed for the protective glazing fabrication to begin. Once protective glazing installation is complete, the remainder of the sidewalk bridge can be removed. Once the remaining scaffold is removed, the exterior repair below the bridge will be completed and step resetting will commence.
Plans for the interior bathroom work are being filed this week for DOB review. The bathroom work is anticipated to begin within the next few weeks.
29th Sunday Ordinary Time – Supporting Each Other, Bearing It Together
Victory O Lord!, John Everett Millais, 1871, Manchester Art Gallery.
FIRST READING:
Ex. 17: 8–13
October 20, 2019
Much of the Old Testament that we have today is a product of the exiles from Babylon seeking to make sense of their experience. In the course of two generations, they had gone from being expelled from Jerusalem and forced into exile in Babylon (597–587 BC) to liberation by the Assyrian king Cyrus. (537 BC). By 500 BC, they had rebuilt a temple in Jerusalem and then took a breath and asked how and why. The Jews were and are a people who find the working of God in history and so they looked to their past to explain their present and hopefully to give some indication of their future.
In reviewing their history, they could not miss the similarities between their present situation and the Exodus from Egypt. The Jews in Egypt were under a cultural death sentence and God sent Moses to free them. Being led by God was the key image and certainly the most illustrative, but these were subtle writers, or more precisely editors, and they saw many other parallels and images that were immediately relevant to their situation. We read one in today’s first reading but to understand that we first need to examine the passage before it.
This chapter begins with the Jews in the desert and desperate for water. As usual they blame Moses:
Here, then, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?
(Ex. 17:3) Continue reading “29th Sunday Ordinary Time – Supporting Each Other, Bearing It Together”
28th Sunday Ordinary Time – 11:15 am (Fr. Smith homily)
Transcript:
Leprosy was a double tragedy laced with irony. When we speak of Leprosy today we are limiting ourselves to Hansen’s Disease. This is a very serious, but now thankfully rare, condition which causes liaisons on the skin and such numbness that limbs can be permanently damaged or even lost. Truly tragic. We do not know what leprosy was in the ancient near east. It seemed to run from relatively minor discoloration of the skin to very serious illnesses. The first irony is that people with minor illnesses might have been required to live with those who had serious issues and would eventually contract a deadly disease.
This reveals the second tragedy. Unlike most illnesses where the afflicted person is cared for by family and neighbors the leper is literally thrown out of the community. The book of Leviticus says: “The one who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’46 As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean, since he is in fact unclean. He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp. (Le 13:45–46).
In today’s Gospel, we are clearly told that the lepers stood a great distance from Jesus and had to raise their voices so that Jesus would hear and pity them. Jesus’ response is to tell them to go to the priest. This was not arbitrary, but part of the law. As leprosy was seen as often a divine punishment it was only the priest who could declare a person clean. As with his exorcisms, Jesus does not need to engage in elaborate rituals or ceremonies. His will alone is enough and they are made clean.
This is miraculous and wonderful but not the principal aim of the story. Another irony of leprosy is that having been abandoned by everyone else they only had each other. This takes place on the border between Samaria and Galilee, so both Jewish and Samaritan lepers would have been forced together. Perhaps only the Roman army would have allowed such an integrated community. Jesus will use this to show that these are but signs of the community he will bring in his Kingdom. For when the messengers of John came to him and asked if he was he Messiah, his reply was: Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. (Lk 7:22).
This was a messianic sign, but another was to come. He cured ten, but only one returned. Jesus comments on this but continues with, “Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”(Lk 17:18).
His choice of foreigner was well considered. The great prophets of Judaism realized that God had formed and saved them for a purpose, not only to honor him but to bring all the nations to him. Isaiah tells us:
The foreigner joined to the Lord should not say,
“The Lord will surely exclude me from his people”; …
And foreigners who join themselves to the Lord …
Them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer …
For my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples. (Is 56:3, 6-7)
Jesus’ final words to the Samaritan, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you” (Lk 17:19), echoes what he has said to all those he has touched and saved. He belongs now to the kingdom of God, not to the community of lepers or indeed of Samaritans. The question for us is, “would he belong here? Are we a community for those who have found Jesus and now need a place to know him?”
This question is not in isolation, but in the context of Stewardship, and we now need to speak now about Money and Ministry.
Registered parishioners will have received a card in the mail in the past week. You were asked to review it and bring it to church today. If you did not receive one or forgot to bring it, they may be found in the rear of the church or you may call the rectory. If you have a pre-printed card it should have an indication of your donations to St. Charles and your contact information. We ask you to review it, to think about increasing your contribution to the parish, write the amount you wish to give and either mail it to the rectory or bring it to church next week
Why is this necessary?
The extensive renovation of the Church is being financed, at least in theory, by the rent from the school and former rectory. We depend on income from the parish to pay our bills and fund our ministries. This will not occur this year. The regular collections have declined, we have received very few extraordinary donations, and our expenses have increased considerably. This will require that we use some of the money from our rentals to finance day to day operations. This is a very clear warning sign.
Also, our collections even before this were very low. The parish to which I was assigned before coming to Brooklyn Heights in South Jamaica was about the same size as St. Charles, but the regular income was in 2014 was 20% higher. The fund raiser that is helping us told me that of all the parishes he has we have the smallest regular contributions. I checked with a few pastors, including some in distressed communities, and we trail all of them. There are, no doubt many reasons for this but an important one may be that we have an insufficient understanding of Stewardship and confuse pew rental with parish support. Many parishioners will donate when they are present at Mass, paying for the seat as it were, but do not give anything when they are not present. Therefore, our income is severely if unconsciously reduced. Just as with any other personal budget item, we need to look at parish support on a yearly basis. This is most efficiently done by making a pledge and fulfilling it regularly. I myself use the on-line giving option which automatically bills my credit card every month.
If we look at what we can give and commit to doing it consistently we would be able to keep all the money from the rentals flowing into the Church renovation, pay our bills and also increase the services we provide for each other and the community.
I am so confident that we will do this that I have asked the parish leadership to develop a strategy. They will be asking interested groups in the parish to meet and develop the programs and activities that they feel most important to them. The first, as has already been announced, will be for young professionals on Monday, November 4th. This is the second meeting with this group, and we should have a more developed plan of action quite soon. It is an open meeting and we hope you will attend. Another constituency to be consulted is marrieds-with-children. I have only had informal conversations with some of you, but you have been eloquent and specific: good things shall come. Finally, there is my own age group. We can become invisible. Msgr. Diviney, former pastor of St. Charles, would only allow himself to be called a senior citizen if he could call younger people junior citizens. He compromised with “tenured” citizens, and I think we should be acknowledged as well -not only with services for our needs but opportunities for our talents. No church can be complete without us. There are other groups, but we will start here for now. We need to take the time to use our talents effectively.
We also need to have a paper trail to prove that we have the numbers we claim. As a good percentage of us are not able to attend Mass here every week, formally registering in the parish and opening the emails are clear signs of connection. Remember as well that we need complete addresses. The post office will not deliver if there is any ambiguity. If you live in an apartment house, please tell us the room number or in a private house any other necessary information.
Thank you for your concern and please send us the card or put it in the basket at the offertory next Sunday.
It is most important to remember, however, that our basic pledge to Jesus is to create a parish in which we can belong ourselves comfortably, and to which we can invite others enthusiastically.