Strangers and Immigrants: The 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
I'm heading for the Texas Panhandle tomorrow morning and can't wait! I have a week of vacation to enjoy followed by a few days of retreat. I plan to spend both "drinking in the big, wide open" (as George Strait sings on his latest CD).
I've just looked over the readings for next Sunday. The words from Exodus about aliens cause me to think of my first visit to Texas about eight years ago. I was visiting a pastor in Dumas County and, as we drove through the county seat, he pointed to a young Hispanic man lugging a duffel bag across the back lot of a grain elevator. He mentioned the man probably crossed the border a few days earlier.
As I ponder the passage from Exodus, my initial thought is to try to put myself in the position of a newly arrived immigrant, particularly one who has arrived illegally and must live, at least for a time, in a state of tension, fear and distrust.
I will have the opportunity to talk with some people this week who know this experience first hand. If I discover any unique insights, I'll report back. In the meantime, I'm interested in hearing your ideas, especially if you have any stories about challenging (or rewarding) situations in the workplace that involve differences of culture or language.
Check back later in the week (Thursday) to view the first draft of my homily. Feel free to make commendations or recommendations on my preaching efforts. You may do so on the discussion board or directly to me at jms48@fuse.net.
If you've been reading my first drafts and would like to see the how the finished products turned out, you can read the final drafts on the St. Aloysious Parish website (the link appears in the right sidebar; the homily archive is found on the CHURCH page).
If you do visit the St. Al's site, you will also have the opportunity to learn about a young man from our parish named Bryan who recently died of cancer. Please remember him and his family in your prayers.
Thanks,
Fr. Schmitmeyer
DRAFT: Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Setting: Holy Family Parish, Nazareth, Texas]
The house sits about a mile and a half north of town.
A typical stucco house with a dog
and a couple of pickup trucks parked in the yard.
That’s where the Overa family settled after coming up from Mexico,
following the migratory circuit of seasonal work.
Finding a welcome here in Nazareth,
they lived a quiet life in this predominantly German Catholic community.
Mr. Overa worked as a farm laborer
and his wife, San Juana, raised their family.
San Juana is in her eighties now and her health is fading rapidly.
I was called to her house a few days.
Her son, David, met me at the door.
Most of you here know him.
He, his sister Margaret and the rest of the family
are taking turns keeping vigil at the bedside of their mother.
Walking into San Juana’s house is like stepping into Mexico.
The walls are covered with crucifixes and rosaries hang heavy
on nails hammered into doorways.
Pictures of saints crowd the walls and claim their rightful place
alongside family pictures and graduation pictures
and snapshots of children and babies.
An image of Our Lady of Guadalupe hovers above San Juana’s bed;
the same image graces the blanket that covers her frail body.
As I visited with the family and as we prayed over San Juana,
it was evident to me that I was in a place that was full of love and grace and faith.
And I was also aware of how good it can be
when a community like this makes room for a family like San Juana’s…
families that come from a different country,
with a different language and different ways.
Today’s reading from Exodus speaks the mind of God on this matter:
“You shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt;
You shall wrong any widow or orphan.
If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me,
I shall surely hear their cry.”
Jesus sums up the attitude of mutual respect and concern we are to have for one another
when he drives home the point in today’s gospel
that we are to love one another as we love ourselves.
And how good it is when God’s law of love
guides the way we think
and shapes in the way we live!
Do you ever wonder where we would be without the guidance of God’s law of love?
Our world would morph into a never-ending news report of wars and conflicts.
Without love
there would be no laws to protect the weak.
There would be no nurses to care for the sick.
There would be no parents to rock the babies.
And there would be no welcome for migrant workers.
Without the commandment to love one another,
forgiveness would be a some word in some foreign language…
a concept we would not comprehend.
Think about it…without forgiveness there wouldn’t be many family reunions!
Nor would there be neighborhoods or churches or communities like this one.
The news media is free to focus on the conflict in the world
but here in church we focus on the grace of God’s love at work.
Without love and the commandment to love
life would be unbearable
and the world itself would cease to exist.
[Note to readers: The theme of love is very broad and I fear that this homily is lacking in its reach. As noted in the comments below, cultural and linguistic differences are particularly difficult. If you have any suggestions on how to improve this homily, please them below or e-mail me at jms48@fuse.net. Thanks!]
I've just looked over the readings for next Sunday. The words from Exodus about aliens cause me to think of my first visit to Texas about eight years ago. I was visiting a pastor in Dumas County and, as we drove through the county seat, he pointed to a young Hispanic man lugging a duffel bag across the back lot of a grain elevator. He mentioned the man probably crossed the border a few days earlier.
As I ponder the passage from Exodus, my initial thought is to try to put myself in the position of a newly arrived immigrant, particularly one who has arrived illegally and must live, at least for a time, in a state of tension, fear and distrust.
I will have the opportunity to talk with some people this week who know this experience first hand. If I discover any unique insights, I'll report back. In the meantime, I'm interested in hearing your ideas, especially if you have any stories about challenging (or rewarding) situations in the workplace that involve differences of culture or language.
Check back later in the week (Thursday) to view the first draft of my homily. Feel free to make commendations or recommendations on my preaching efforts. You may do so on the discussion board or directly to me at jms48@fuse.net.
If you've been reading my first drafts and would like to see the how the finished products turned out, you can read the final drafts on the St. Aloysious Parish website (the link appears in the right sidebar; the homily archive is found on the CHURCH page).
If you do visit the St. Al's site, you will also have the opportunity to learn about a young man from our parish named Bryan who recently died of cancer. Please remember him and his family in your prayers.
Thanks,
Fr. Schmitmeyer
DRAFT: Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Setting: Holy Family Parish, Nazareth, Texas]
The house sits about a mile and a half north of town.
A typical stucco house with a dog
and a couple of pickup trucks parked in the yard.
That’s where the Overa family settled after coming up from Mexico,
following the migratory circuit of seasonal work.
Finding a welcome here in Nazareth,
they lived a quiet life in this predominantly German Catholic community.
Mr. Overa worked as a farm laborer
and his wife, San Juana, raised their family.
San Juana is in her eighties now and her health is fading rapidly.
I was called to her house a few days.
Her son, David, met me at the door.
Most of you here know him.
He, his sister Margaret and the rest of the family
are taking turns keeping vigil at the bedside of their mother.
Walking into San Juana’s house is like stepping into Mexico.
The walls are covered with crucifixes and rosaries hang heavy
on nails hammered into doorways.
Pictures of saints crowd the walls and claim their rightful place
alongside family pictures and graduation pictures
and snapshots of children and babies.
An image of Our Lady of Guadalupe hovers above San Juana’s bed;
the same image graces the blanket that covers her frail body.
As I visited with the family and as we prayed over San Juana,
it was evident to me that I was in a place that was full of love and grace and faith.
And I was also aware of how good it can be
when a community like this makes room for a family like San Juana’s…
families that come from a different country,
with a different language and different ways.
Today’s reading from Exodus speaks the mind of God on this matter:
“You shall not molest or oppress an alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt;
You shall wrong any widow or orphan.
If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me,
I shall surely hear their cry.”
Jesus sums up the attitude of mutual respect and concern we are to have for one another
when he drives home the point in today’s gospel
that we are to love one another as we love ourselves.
And how good it is when God’s law of love
guides the way we think
and shapes in the way we live!
Do you ever wonder where we would be without the guidance of God’s law of love?
Our world would morph into a never-ending news report of wars and conflicts.
Without love
there would be no laws to protect the weak.
There would be no nurses to care for the sick.
There would be no parents to rock the babies.
And there would be no welcome for migrant workers.
Without the commandment to love one another,
forgiveness would be a some word in some foreign language…
a concept we would not comprehend.
Think about it…without forgiveness there wouldn’t be many family reunions!
Nor would there be neighborhoods or churches or communities like this one.
The news media is free to focus on the conflict in the world
but here in church we focus on the grace of God’s love at work.
Without love and the commandment to love
life would be unbearable
and the world itself would cease to exist.
[Note to readers: The theme of love is very broad and I fear that this homily is lacking in its reach. As noted in the comments below, cultural and linguistic differences are particularly difficult. If you have any suggestions on how to improve this homily, please them below or e-mail me at jms48@fuse.net. Thanks!]
posted by BlueCollarPreacher at 9:02 PM
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