Homily
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Suffering”
They had run out of wine. Now that may not seem very serious, but just stop and think about the last wedding reception you went to, and imagine if they had run out of wine, and scotch and gin and absolute vodka.
And imagine that you were the mother of the bride or the father of the groom...what would you do? You'd probably throw a fit with the bar tender or fire the wedding planner or demand to speak with the cater.
But at the banquet hall in Cana, something else happens: two things happen. First, someone goes to Mary, and asks her to go to Jesus.
And then, they follow her explicit command: do whatever he tells you. They take simple, ordinary tap water (not San Pellegrino or Evian or even Vos), simple, ordinary tap water to him, and he turns it into the finest of wines.
They felt forsaken. But they did two things: they went to Mary and then did what he told them, and Jesus took whatever they had and changed it into something better than they had ever dreamed of.
So when you feel forsaken, do two things. First, pray to Mary and second, do what her Son tell you. Prayer is essential, but so is action.
It is said that when Moses sought to lead the chosen people through the Red Sea, he lifted his staff, but for a moment, nothing happened, until the first brave Israelite stuck a trembling toe into the water, at which the waters parted and the chosen people fled Pharaohs deadly wrath.
Ora et labora, as Saint Benedict used to say. When you feel forsaken, Ora et labora.
The Girl Under the Slab
Did you see the 14 year old girl in Haiti whose school collapsed on top of her? It was the first CNN video that ever made me cry. Here was this huge concrete slab above which five men with one shovel dug desperately. They had been attracted to the slab by a whimper, followed by a strange thudding sound. At least they thought at first that they were whimpers, until, after eight hours they pulled her out. Once they has dusted her off she was in remarkably good shape as they asked her what she had seen and heard and said.
She had seen nothing in the pitch blackness and heard only the weeping of an old woman somewhere down below her, who, with fading cries just kept saying, I'm going to die, I'm going to die.
It was then that the little girl under the concrete slab started to pray. I just kept saying the Hail Mary, she grinned, and I could see the mother Mary and I knew she'd get Jesus to help me. And after she prayed each Ave, she worked up the courage to bang on the roof of her concrete prison. Now and at the hour of my death. BANG. Now and at the hour of my death. BANG Now and at the hour of my death. BANG. And that’s the whimper and the thud which caught the attention of the rescuers above.
She had felt forsaken. And she went to Mary, who went to Jesus, and he changed the little she had into more than she could have imagined!
The People in Haiti
There is much we can do for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. To the world it looks hopeless...a third of the country homeless, tens of thousands of dead bodies decaying in the streets, roads so damaged that not even water can get through. Not even water.
They seem forsaken, but rest assured that He who made heaven and earth can recreate the darkest chaos with a new springtime of hope and of beauty and of light. And we can help.
- By going to Mary and beging her to ask her son to take what little they have and transform it into more than they could have ever gave hoped for. We can get down on our knees, rosaries in hand, and go to her who brought to birth the one who made the heavens and the earth.
- And to our prayer we can add our deeds. We can be a part of his recreating lives by our generosity to Catholic Relief Services in the second collection for Haiti today. We can urge our government and all relief agencies to do whatever they can to come to the aid of those who have suffered unimaginably in this island nation.
And while our hearts go out in a special way to those who suffer in Haiti, we should not forget all the others who need our prayers, as well.
- Like the 69 year old man in Spencer this week, who shot and killed his wife and then set the house on fire and took his own life. His wife had been dying of pituitary cancer and the house was about to be auctioned following foreclosure. He felt forsaken, Blessed Mother, pray to Jesus for him. And teach us how to reach out to and support all who labor under the ravages of disease or financial ruin.
- Or like the nine people were left homeless on Friday night after a fire destroyed their three-decker on Vernon hill. Those nine folks must feel so forsaken. Blessed Mother, pray for them to Jesus. And give us the will to find and help all who are homeless or alone or afraid.
- This coming Thursday is the anniversary of Roe versus Wade. On this day, and on every day, we should pray to the Mother of all Christians for the littlest victims among us. But let us do what he tells us, as well, like the busload of Cathedral marchers who will sleep on the bus all night in order to march all day in D.C. Let us recommit ourselves to work for life through our support of Visitation House, and Project Rachel, and by teaching all young men and women about the dignity of life from conception to natural death by the way we treat the weakest and the most vulnerable among us.
For all who suffer or who feel forsaken, let us pray to the Mother of God, and then, let us do whatever her Son tells us to do.
Monsignor James P. Moroney
Rector
