Witness to Jesus | Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Here is the prepared text of the homily delivered June 27 at St. Ann Church, Kaneohe (with installation of Sacred Hearts Father Micheal Kumar as pastor), and June 28 at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Honolulu.
Kalaupapa is that tiny peninsula on the island of Molokai that was designated as a place of isolation for those who had contracted the disease of leprosy, and where Father Damien de Veuster and Mother Marianne Cope achieved their sainthood by their devoted service.
In the beginning of the 1900s, the United States government decided to build a state-of-the-art treatment station there, providing it with the most advanced equipment, medicines and medical professionals available at that time. It only lasted a few years, however, and today you can see the skeleton of the abandoned building.
Why was it not successful, when it was so well equipped? Because the staff were afraid of the patients and did not treat them with dignity. The word spread that it was an inhospitable place, and so it failed, because no patients wanted to go there.
Our Scripture readings today refer to the importance of hospitality. We see the woman and her husband who offered hospitality to the prophet Elisha whenever he was passing through their area, and how the Lord rewarded her with a long-desired son. We see Jesus extolling those who receive him and his messengers, who offer just a cup of cold water to his disciples, and he promises them a reward.
Hospitality is something we pride ourselves on here in Hawaii. Yet we always need to examine ourselves to see if what we say is important to us truly is.
I recently spoke to a Protestant who is seriously thinking of becoming a Catholic. There are many things in the Catholic Church that attract him, but he told me honestly that hospitality is not one of them.
It was not that people were unfriendly to him. He was obviously an outsider who did not know the pattern of our liturgy, yet in the various Catholic churches he visited for Mass, no one made any special effort to welcome him. No one seemed to notice that he was unfamiliar with the rituals and offer to gently coach him. And after Mass, no one approached him to welcome him or introduce themselves. He said this sort of thing would be rare in a Protestant church.
Now, while the criticism might sting a bit, it is something we should all keep in mind, because it could make the difference between someone becoming a member of our Church or never again coming to Mass. To make this change in our attitude, of course, would be to become more hospitable. And it might mean taking up the cross of risk — the risk of being rejected, ignored or misinterpreted. Yet if we truly want to be hospitable and not just say we are, it is a cross we must be willing to take up.
I also remember visiting a parish and hearing a common complaint from those who were very involved in the ministries of the parish: We would like to involve younger people, since we are not getting any younger ourselves, but they just don’t seem to be interested in engaging in the kinds of ministries we do.
That afternoon I met with the youth of the parish, and they said to me, “Bishop, we would really like to be more involved in the ministries of the parish, but the older folks don’t let us. They say they welcome us, but when we show up, we are either ignored, or our ideas are shot down. We are told, ‘This is the way we have always done it here,’ and we feel that we are not really wanted.”
This interchange did not happen at this parish, but it could have happened at any number of parishes. If we are going to truly involve young people in our ministries, we may have to take up the cross of giving up a little of something we enjoy, being willing to try new ways and being open to listening to new ideas. That can be a large and heavy cross indeed! Yet Jesus urges us never to shy away from taking up our crosses.
As we look at these examples in a parish, the same principles are operative in our homes, our businesses and our civic community. We sometimes have to take up the cross of listening and trying to truly understand another person’s perspective.
This would help greatly in many marriages or in relationships between parents and children. It can be the antidote to the polarization that often happens in our country where people of one political party almost demonize people of the other party without truly understanding their perspectives.
It is not easy, and it can be a cross to bear. But in the end it will yield a great reward. It is what the Lord calls us to do so that we can not only be his disciples but attract others to be disciples, too.