Sixteenth Sunday in OT B 2024
Propagation of the Faith
In the Gospel, Jesus is
calling the apostles to rest. Jesus
said: “Come away by yourselves to a
deserted place and rest a while.”
The message here about our
need for rest and renewal is genuine, not selfish.
In the rhythm of the
spiritual life, there needs to be both a time apart and a time with
others. In the time apart, we need to
be comfortable with solitude – time to be, time to be still in the presence of
God. It has been said wisely: Beware of the person who cannot be alone.
This person can use community as a way of running away from themselves.
We need to find time in our
day for prayer. But it is often
said: “Father, my day is too crazy. I’m too busy.” If we are too busy to pray, yes, we are too
busy. I invite you to find sometime in
your day to waste time with God. That is
what prayer is – wasting time with God.
Back to the Gospel, “when
Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for
them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them
many things.” In the rhythm of our spiritual
life, there needs to be time for personal prayer; there also needs to be time
in which we do what Jesus did.
Our spiritual life is not
merely about our personal piety; our spiritual life is to be lived out in the
service of people in need. This is how
Jesus lived. This is how the disciples
of Jesus are to live.
In the rhythm of our
spiritual life, prayer leads to our service of one another, and our service of
one another leads us back to prayer. It
is the Lord who is the Good Shepherd of the lives of us all. The Lord is be a part of the rhythm of our
lives. Our responsorial psalm is psalm
23. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores
my soul.” May we always know that we are
never abandoned by a God whose love is made known to us in Jesus, the Good
Shepherd.
Today
we are celebrating our annual propagation of faith weekend. The second collection is to support St Mary’s
School in Mazindu Ju in an area of Tanzania that is characterized by extreme
poverty. St Joseph’s and Holy Spirit has been supporting this most
worthwhile tithing commitment years now.
I along with five other parishioners from St Joseph’s had the blessed
opportunity of visiting first-hand this academic and residential high school
for 1200 high school girls in this rural and poor area region of Tanzania in 2018.
Our
parishioners have made three pilgrimages to this incredible school for your
Tanzanian women under the leadership of a Benedictine priest from Elmira,
NY, Fr Damien Milliken. The school is staffed by the most inspiring
group of religious women – the sisters
of Usambara.
Following
the Lord’s example, Fr Damien went to Tanzania 50 years ago and his experience
led his to the conviction that these your Tanzanians were like a sheep without
a shepherd. He was missioned to do
something thing and started this school for high school girls – 1200
students. He was joined in this ministry
by the religious sisters of usambara who provided the teaching faculty for this
school. He has also sought out the
financial and spiritual support of our parishes to enhance this ministry.
To describe St Mary’s School
in Mazinde Ju in Tanzania is a bit of a challenge. It is a residential school where these
students live during the academic year and are able to get three healthy meals
each day. The dormitories these students
live in are filled with bunk beds. Each
girl has a tiny cubicle which houses all her worldly possessions including all
her clothing. I have a beautiful grandniece
for whom to put all her clothes in this tiny cubicle would simply be
impossible. My grand niece has much too
learn from these Tanzanian high school girls.
These high school students,
these beloved daughters of God have no sense of entitlement by which they
expect people to take care of them. They
are so grateful for every opportunity in life that is given to them. They are not saddened by the effects of the
poverty of the country; they are joy-filled in the opportunity that is given to
them as students in this quality academic setting that is filled with so much
love and so much spirituality.
I tell you this first-hand
from having the privilege of sending time with these students in Mazinde Ju in
Tanzania to be inspired by their faith, their desire to learn, the way they
care for one another, and the opportunity St Mary’s School gives these students
to continue their education. Under the
inspired leadership of this Benedictine priest Fr Damien Milliken and the
religious sisters of the Usambara, these students are formed and fashioned
after the mind and heart of Jesus.
Six years ago, when I was in
Tanzania, I had the profound privilege
of spending some time with this young Tanzanian girl I had been sponsoring for
the last three years. I tell you I had
to tell myself: “Be still my heart” when I realized the opportunity I was
giving this daughter of God in my prayer and in my tithing commitment. In all truth, l cannot think of a better use
of this money. I continue to give a
$1,000 a year in support of this young
girls who are so deserving of the outreach of St Joseph’s Church.
Another profound image that I
have from my Tanzanian pilgrimage:
In
my 56 years as a priest, I have never
experienced a liturgy in which at 6:00 am on each and every school day 1,200
high school girls in full Catholic school uniform sing the opening hymn with
enthusiastic voices accompanied only by one of their own beating her heart out
in striking a well-worn drum. I tell you
looking out from the altar at these Tanzanian girls was a mystical moment of
prayerfulness and joy.
The
goal of our liturgies is to have the full, active participation of the entire assembly in praise of God in the
celebration of the Eucharist. I tell you
our only comparison here at Holy Spirit is our Christmas Eve liturgies. I don’t say this in criticism of our
excellent liturgies. I say this under
the complete inspiration of young women who are thankful to God of the
opportunity they have to give thanks to God for this education opportunity, for
this spiritual opportunity of becoming more aware of God’s unending love for
us.
May God give you peace and
the spirit of generosity.
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