Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret<\/em><\/p>\n (Eph 4:32-5:8; Ps 1; Lk 13:10-17)<\/p>\n ******************************************<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 but now in the Lord you are light.\u201d<\/p>\n That sentence by St Paul leads right into the message of today\u2019s liturgy \u2013 an invitation to live as children of light.<\/p>\n In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul waxes eloquently on what it takes to live as a child of the Light of the World, as a follower of Jesus. He lists kindness, tenderness, forgiveness, love, sacrifice, purity, gratitude and finally, obedience.<\/p>\n There is such richness in his words, so much there \u2013 how can take it all in? Perhaps the best thing to do is focus on a few key elements.<\/p>\n Forgiving one another as Christ has forgiven us is certainly a key element, and a very relevant one. Recently, Mary Hines made the question of forgiving sexual abusers a topic for her CBC program Tapestry<\/em>. A female Jewish rabbi who has written on that topic in the light of the Me-Too<\/em> movement ended up stating that in her tradition, victims were not obligated to forgive their abusers \u2013 that was the prerogative of God. Another speaker, also a victim, related how she refused to forgive a former boyfriend who had hurt her deeply by kicking her out of a car and driving away to be with another woman, even when he contacted her to apologize. By the end of the program I was convinced the problem was an inadequate understanding of both the art of forgiving, and the art of an apology.<\/p>\n Part of the difficulty these speakers had in forgiving was the ego-driven attempt of the abusers to regain some of the status, power and adulation they had before they were deposed, coupled with a sense of entitlement and a lack of truly owning the harm they had done. It so happens that my book Still Green and Growing,<\/em> published in the spring of 2019, includes a chapter on forgiveness (Being Mellow in a Bitter World<\/em>) and one on apologizing (The Art of an Apology<\/em>).<\/p>\n That being said, I was even more grateful for the teachings of Jesus on forgiveness that lets go of all expectation, and is able to forgive out of obedience to him, regardless of the response by the abuser. And that brings up the last quality mentioned by St. Paul and alluded to in the psalm \u2013 obedience in the form of delighting in the law of the Lord and pondering it ceaselessly. How we can obey God becomes clear as we study the scriptures, the written word of God.<\/p>\n The Word of God clearly teaches that forgiveness is at the core of our faith \u2013 modelled by Jesus who was forgiving those who were crucifying him. It is forgiveness, and forgiveness alone, that breaks the cycle of violence in our world.\u00a0 And when we act like God, we get to feel like God \u2013 peace, joy and self-esteem floods back into our lives, because we are just like Jesus on the cross, and it doesn\u2019t get any better than that.<\/p>\n The gospel points out another way we can live as children of light, and that is by making the law of love a priority in our lives. Of course, the bent woman in the gospel should have been set free! God\u2019s love overflows, heals, liberates, and sets free beyond the constraints of the Sabbath law and the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders. Having suffered with a disability for eighteen years, she has every right to approach Jesus. Still, her healing draws a firestorm of criticism because Jesus breaks the Sabbath Law in healing her.<\/p>\n Though you would expect the synagogue leader to join his congregation in rejoicing in the miracle he has just witnessed, he rebukes the woman by quoting the Law of Moses to her. The synagogue official tries to re-assert his control and resists the flow of divine energy that is happening, and in which the people rejoice. In response, Jesus asks the leader an obvious rhetorical question: \u201cOught she not to have been set free, when even animals are watered on the sabbath?\u201d (Lk 13:16)<\/p>\n This one simple question shines light on a profound issue. Perhaps, within legal technicalities, this woman shouldn\u2019t have been cured on the Sabbath. But Jesus cares more about people than legal technicalities \u2013 and we should too. As we face crippling conditions around us, we too should ask, \u201cOught not everyone have access to adequate food, housing, and clean water? Ought not the unborn be loved and protected? Ought not everyone receive medical care and enjoy friendship? Ought not all the elderly receive the best palliative care as they approach death?\u201d Of course, they ought to!<\/p>\n With just one question, Jesus unmasked what Pope Francis has called the \u201cculture of indifference.\u201d He also named the remedy: build a \u201cculture of encounter.\u201d Jesus didn\u2019t just heal the woman; he called her a \u201cdaughter of Abraham\u201d (Lk 13:16). He placed her on the same level as everyone else and treated her with great dignity.<\/p>\n \u201cDaughter of Abraham\u201d \u2013 three simple words. Sometimes that\u2019s all it takes. Even the slightest gesture of solidarity \u201cbuilds bonds, cultivates relationships, creates new networks of interaction and knits a firm social fabric\u201d (The Joy of Love<\/em>, p. 100). It doesn\u2019t require a lot of effort to begin dismantling indifference and to start building bridges instead.<\/p>\n It can start with something as small as a kind look. It can be the decision to slow down and listen attentively to someone or the choice to offer a bottle of water to someone on the side of the road. That\u2019s where it starts. But it can go on from there. Once we start breaking down indifference, we can try to double our efforts over time. As we do, we\u2019ll see a double portion of God\u2019s blessing being poured out. Ought not everyone in need have their needs met? Yes! And that will happen when we make caring for those in need our top priority, over and above liturgical rulings and rubrics, even attending Sunday Eucharist.<\/p>\n St Anthony Mary Claret<\/p><\/div>\n Today the church invites us to honor St. Anthony Mary Claret. Born in Spain in 1807, Anthony Claret, a weaver like his father, studied Latin and printing in his spare time. He entered the seminary at 22 and was ordained in 1835. For 10 years he preached missions and gave retreats throughout Catalonia and in 1849 founded a congregation known as the Claretians. Shortly afterward, he was appointed archbishop of Santiago in Cuba, where he brought reform both to the clergy and the laity. He stayed until 1857, when he returned to Spain and became confessor to Queen Isabella II. He combined this assignment with overseeing the activities of his congregation, preaching and publishing books and pamphlets. In the revolution of 1868 both Anthony and the queen were exiled. After attending Vatican I, Anthony sought refuge at a Cistercian monastery in France, where he died in 1870. He was canonized in 1950.<\/p>\n The Eucharist is an experience of that unconditional love of God for us through Word and Sacrament that empowers us to live the teachings of St. Paul and especially those of Jesus, so we can truly be light in the Lord and live as children of light, sharing the love of Jesus with everyone we meet, especially those most in need of it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HOMILY WEEK 30 01 \u2013 Year II Living as Children of Light: Optional Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret (Eph 4:32-5:8; Ps 1; Lk 13:10-17) ****************************************** \u201c\u2026 but now in the Lord you are light.\u201d That sentence by St Paul leads right into the message of today\u2019s liturgy \u2013 an invitation to live as children […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-homilies","category-ordinary-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6581,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6579\/revisions\/6581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/St-Anthony-Mary-Claret.jpeg\")