Today I preached the homily for a good friend of mine who has been failing for some years and died Wednesday, November 3.

Father Timothy Fitzgerald came to our community here in Jamaica right before Christmas last year, and we were happy to have him. He’s an outstanding member of our province. 

Over the years he held important positions in our province and our community. He was secretary to our superior general in Rome, novice master, rector, spiritual director, preacher of missions and retreats. He was a wise, holy man, widely read and widely respected. He could tell you what theologians, new and old, were saying. He could tell you about movies he saw when he was a kid. In one sense, he was a living Wikipedia.

But he was also an accomplished listener; he listened to you. That combination made him a wonderful spiritual director, and a wonderful friend. 

Whenever I saw him I would say. “What are you reading, Tim? What do you want to tell me about?” And he would. He was always into something interesting. 

If I ask that question now I think he would point to the readings he chose for this Mass. They represent his goals in life,  what he wanted to be.

The spirit of the Lord GOD, is upon me, Isaiah says, to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives, release to  prisoners, to comfort all who mourn so that they could build God’s Kingdom. That was what Tim was, a bringer of good news. The spirit of God was upon him. He was a builder of God’s kingdom. (Isaiah 61)

The second reading he chose is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians:  

“I  consider everything as loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things that I may gain Christ.  Through faith in Christ I know him and the power of his resurrection and [the] sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, Our citizenship is in heaven. Jesus Christ will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.”

That’s what Tim believed and that’s what he lived, even to the end.

The other day in our library I saw Fr. John Fidelis reading something. He’s a lot like Tim and a good friend of his. ”What are you reading, John.” “Something Tim wrote, it’s really good. It’s from the Pittsburgh Catholic a few years ago.”

He was right. I would like to read some of that article to you. You can hear Tim himself speaking.  

“We know it had to happen some day. Suddenly or gradually we can no longer do what we seemed to be doing forever. Limitations set in, muscles and bones ache, serious heath issues appear. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. As we change or lose control, we suffer.

In my life as a priest I’ve preached about facing limitations and suffering. Like a doctor who prescribes the right medicine, but is not sick himself, I blithely (yet truly) counseled others to see suffering not only as a mature human experience, but more profoundly as  following our crucified Lord. 

Now I find myself no longer able to do the ordinary joys of my ministry: offering Mass publicly, preaching, sharing spiritual direction. People assure that I’m not a burden, but that’s how I feel. So I must return to the advice I so freely gave to others and listen myself. Here are some time-honored ideas of faith, the accumulated wisdom from Christ that sustain me.

1. We owe nothing to God but our thanks. God is not the cause of our suffering, he is the reason to suffer patiently. Suffering is not the result of a capricious or unjust God, for God so loved the world that he sent his only Son to be our Savior. ( John 3:16) How ungrateful would we be, if for one moment we blame God or resent him. God is all gift. (Romans 5:12-21)
2. We are not excess baggage. As Christians we firmly believe we are God’s chilldren. Our dignity and worth do not depend on what we do, but who we are. Not productivity, achievements, intelligence, age, health, loss of memory, even sinfulness, change that. We are God’s children in Christ. ( Romans 8:31-39)
3. Suffering in union with Christ brings growth. Each crucial moment in life is a death to a previous security. With Christ we ascend to light not darkness. In Christian life the pattern of growth is in harmony with the death-life cycle of Jesus’ passion and resurrection. Jesus did not bring the cross. He found it already in our human limitations which he took on completely, only without sin. Jesus’ mind and heart shapes our minds and hearts. We absorb his mind, his absolute trust of the Father. We accept limitations and sufferings not as an end in themselves (which would be insane) but as a way of following Christ for the good of the church and the world.
4. We belong to a communion of saints. There’s a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on to follow our leader Jesus. ( Her. 12;1-4) They’re not only canonized saints, but also the holy ones on earth who surround us with compassion, patience, presence and prayers. In turn, we pray for others. Our faith is strong enough to believe that effectiveness in prayer is not confined to the strong and healthy. After all, a tubercular St. Therese is as much a patron of the missions as the globe-trotting Francis Xavier. Our faith is so breathtakingly wide that a handicapped person who never leaves home joins hands with a St. Patrick or a St. Francis of Assisi to spread the kingdom of God.

These are some of the ways our Catholic tradition strengthens people who suffer physically or are otherwise limited. This beautiful wisdom is hard to keep in mind when pain intervenes or memory fades. We always turn to our crucified Lord who when he was so weak, helpless, seemingly forsaken, was actually saving the world. May the Passion of Christ be always in our hearts.” (Pittsburgh Catholic, June 2013)

That’s Tim speaking for himself, on June, 2013. I think we can say that what he said then was how he lived as he went from one stage of life till the moment of his death last Wednesday, 2021. 

As we said the prayers for the dying last Wednesday with him – most of our community were there – I think we all realized we were commending to God a marvelously consistent man of deep faith. 

As we commend him to God today here at Mass, a sacrament he deeply loved and participated in till his death, with his family and the community he also deeply loved, we hear what the angels said to the women at the tomb of Jesus: “He is not here, he has been raised.” He’s among the living, in a communion of saints, now cheering us on, waiting for the final resurrection of the dead, and life everlasting. Amen. 

Victor Hoagland, CP.                                  November 13, 2021             

Readings:

Isaiah 61:1-4

Ps. 16

Philippians 3: 7-11; 17-21 

Luke 23:44-49; 24:1-6

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

It’s no secret that today a good number of people don’t go to church to get married, get their children baptized, bury their dead, or to pray. Part of it may be the Covid pandemic, but the trend was there before Covid. Many of our churches are failing because people don’t come to them.

Today’s Feast of the Lateran Basilica in Rome is a good time to think about our churches. That ancient church was often in danger of falling down over the centuries because of its location in the city and the fortunes of the city itself. 

 One critical occasion was when Innocent III was pope in the 12th century. St. Francis of Assisi and 12 companions came to the pope, whose church in Rome then was the Lateran Basilica, to ask his permission to begin a new order for reforming the church.

The pope, they say, had a dream the basilica was falling down and Francis had come to build it up. He gave Francis permission and a great movement for church renewal began. 

I wonder if today Pope Francis has that same sense that the church is falling down and needs renewal and reform? I wonder if that isn’t his goal for the present Synod he’s called. 

The liturgy we celebrate today for the Dedication of a Church offers some beautiful insights into what a church should be. “Zacchaeus, hurry down, I mean to stay with you today.” So beautifully personal. Jesus call to the tax-collector from Jericho is a reminder the church is for people, even outsiders like Zacchaeus, not just for regular parishioners.

The church is  a house of prayer Jesus reminds us when the cleanses the temple. It’s a place never finished, always being built. It’s for living stones, each having a place in the building. 

It’s easy to blame the people who don’t come when a church is falling down. Better to look at those still in it.  

NOVEMBER 8 Mon Weekday Wis 1:1-7/Lk 17:1-6 

9 Tue The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica Feast

Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12/1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17/Jn 2:13-22 

10 Wed Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church Memorial

Wis 6:1-11/Lk 17:11-19 

11 Thu Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop Memorial Wis 7:22b—8:1/Lk 17:20-25 

12 Fri Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr Memorial Wis 13:1-9/Lk 17:26-37 

13 Sat USA: Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin Memorial Wis 18:14-16; 19:6-9/Lk 18:1-8 

14 SUN THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Dn 12:1-3/Heb 10:11-14, 18/Mk 13:24-32 

The weekly readings and feasts are a wonderful opportunity to explore our faith. The readings from the Book of Wisdom and St. Luke’s Gospel this week, for example, take us into the Old and New Testaments. The scriptures are a catechism. 

Then, the feasts and saints this week. The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome (Nov 9), the first of the great churches built after Constantine brought an end to Christian persecutions in the 4th century. Why do we have churches anyway? Is the CoVid epidemic a step towards their disappearance? 

Pope Leo (Nov 10) is called great because he led a church threatened with destruction by barbarian armies. God always provides the leaders we need.

Martin of Tours(Nov 11), the soldier who gave half of his cloak to a freezing beggar, later revealed to be Christ. What are we doing for the poor? November 11 was chosen for his feast because it was when European farmers were butchering their cattle, getting ready for the winter. Martin reminded them to put aside something for the poor. Are we doing that?

Josephat (Nov 12)  was a bishop seeking the unity of Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. He suffered martyrdom for his efforts. Keeping our church together is a big task that concerns us all.

Mother Cabrini ( November 13) a dynamic little Italian nun,  championed poor Italian immigrants who came to the United Stats expecting streets paved in gold, but found hard cold cobblestones instead. Who’s championing immigrants today? 

The readings and feasts are our catechism. They ask us questions and we question them. Be part of the liturgy day by day.

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

We have an exercise session every Wednesday here in our community with a very good instructor. He asked the other day what’s the major concern elderly people have about their physical mobility? Keeping their balance, he said. 

Balance is a good thing to pay attention to in many ways, isn’t it? Our instructor is taking us through ways to keep physically balanced, simple exercises to keep the parts of the body supple and in tune. 

Our spirits need balance too. Besides breathing in and breathing out, stretching muscles and limbs, we have to make sure our spirits reach out beyond ourselves. That’s done by prayer, for one thing.

Our own spiritual tradition says that prayer is important and points to the beginning of the day and the end of the day, morning and evening, as special times to exercise that gift. Beginning and ending the day are times favoring prayer.

Jesus prayed in the morning and evening, scripture say. He prayed at other times too, but in the morning and evening he prayed the prayers his people prayed, the psalms. He came to know them by heart. 

There’s a balance in the psalms. They speak for you personally and they remind you of the world beyond yourself. You can walk in this world without fear, but there’s always a danger of falling. Pay attention to the time you have and where you’re going.

Mindfulness is not only for physical movements. We need to be mindful of the signs of the times and the One who sets us in these times. As we do our exercises, our instructor reminds us to keep close to our chair. Grab on to it if you’re losing your balance.

The Lord is my Rock, my fortress, my refuge. In him alone is my hope.

NOVEMBER 1 Mon ALL SAINTS Solemnity  Rv 7:2-4, 9-14/1 Jn 3:1-3/Mt 5:1-12a 

2 Tue All Souls . Wisdom 3:1-9/John 6:37-40 

3 Wed Weekday [Saint Martin de Porres, Religious] Rom 13:8-10/Lk 14:25-33 

4 Thu Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop. Memorial Rom 14:7-12/Lk 15:1-10 

5 Fri Weekday Rom 15:14-21/Lk 16:1-8 

6 Sat Weekday Rom 16:3-9, 16, 22-27/Lk 16:9-15

7 SUN THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

1 Kgs 17:10-16/Heb 9:24-28/Mk 12:38-44 or 12:41-44 

All Saints Day and All Souls Day begin the month of November, when the fall season reminds us that life passes away. But does life end or does it change? “Life is changed, not ended” our faith says.

St. Martin de Porres (Wednesday) reminds us of the holiness found in those who care for the sick and the needy.

St. Charles Borromeo was a reformer of the Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation.

Readings from the Letter to the Romans conclude this week with interesting greetings to various members of the Roman church, both Jewish Christians and Greeks.

Morning and Evening Prayers here. 

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

Psalm 24 does not forget where we come from. “The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its people.” The earth comes first. God has “set it on the seas, on the waters he made it firm.” 

The earth was created before us, and we depend on it for life. Its minerals, its water, its plant life sustain us. We are its fullness.

We’re called to climb the mountain of the Lord, to stand in his holy place, to share in his glory. We go with the gifts of creation. 

We have received blessings from the Lord, to seek him, to seek the face of the God of Jacob. Let’s not forget how many of those blessings come from the earth, so let us care for it. The earth shares in the promise made to us.

The UN Conference on Climate Change  (COP26) takes place in Glasgow, Scotland October 31-November 12. 197 countries have agreed to a framework for dealing with climate change. Scientists say we have about a decade to deal with fuel emissions due to the Industrial Revolution that began in the 18th century. Yet, the human response to this threat to the earth is inadequate thus far. Over 20,000 people, government officials, scientists, interested parties, will attend the conference. 

Come, Holy Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.