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Homily Catholic Charities
Annual Mass My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: I wish to thank each one of you present here today for this annual celebration of our Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. By your presence here, you attest to your own commitment of service and support. You also represent the many other Catholic people of central and western Oklahoma who regularly unite in prayer and sacrifice and commitment to these good works of the Church through our Catholic Charities organization. I am grateful to you. I thank you for your generosity and your support. I wish also to thank the members of the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities and our other associated ministries. I thank you for your prayers, your time, your expertise and personal dedication. I also thank our competent and effective staff. It is through your good stewardship and hard work that Catholic Charities can reach and help so many people in so many critical areas of life. The very best way that I can thank all of you, staff, board members, associates, volunteers and donors is through this Mass. Therefore, I offer this Mass for you and your families. May the good Lord bless you with His peace and His love. Catholic Charities is an integral part of the faith life of the Church. Therefore, for the ministry of Catholic Charities to be authentic, it must be invigorated and impelled by Catholic teaching and always faithful to our beliefs. Otherwise, it will be degraded to a limited social service or a strictly humanitarian agency devoid of spiritual substance. Catholic Charities necessarily functions in a largely secular society. Therefore, we must be careful not to lose the real meaning of this beautiful ministry of love. The secular world extols the self, making us self-centered. Christianity, on the other hand, enthusiastically acknowledges that God is the center as well as the source and the summit of our lives and indeed of all creation. Moreover, imitating the example of Jesus Who came to serve and not be served, we learn to reach out to help our brothers and sisters and especially those who are most in need. Selfishness is not a virtue. It is a vice. It is sinful. Selfishness is contrary to love love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus directs us to a life which is quite different than our secular society describes. Jesus tells us to love our enemies. He tells us to do good to all people. Jesus encourages us to be generous and merciful. He does not direct us to a self-centered life or a life of selfishness. Rather, He calls us to acknowledge His dominion over creation and to reach out and serve our brothers and sisters. This is the great commandment of love. Love God first and foremost and your neighbor as yourself. In todays Gospel we heard the story of Jesus rebuking and driving out the evil spirit that had possessed a young man since childhood. The disciples had earlier been unable to cast the evil spirit out. The disciples therefore asked Jesus in private: Why could we not drive the spirit out? And Jesus said to them: This kind can only come out through prayer. Just as in another biblical scene, Jesus reminded us of our own human limitations, encouraging us to trust, to believe, to pray, offering us an assurance that all things are possible with God. Indeed, our Catholic faith, our prayer, especially the Eucharist, are necessary components of the ministry of Catholic Charities. Although we live in an age of advanced technology and many wonderful conveniences, it is also an age of fear, of warfare and of terrorism. We witness injustice and hatred and a growing lack of respect of the human person. These problems are so pervasive that sometimes we think our efforts are useless. And that is really true! If we, by our own human power, attempt to expel the evil spirit from society, we will strive in vain. As Jesus said of the evil, this kind can only come out through prayer. Catholic Charities, with our faith identity, is much more than the combined efforts of you and me. Catholic Charities must always rely on the help and the grace of Almighty God. As people of prayer and of faith, we know that it is God Who governs the world, not us. We are only the instruments in His hands and this knowledge frees us to do what others cannot. We offer God (and through Him we help our brothers and sisters), we offer God our service to do all we can for the love of Christ urges us on. (2 Cor. 5:14) Thank you and God bless you. Most Reverend
Eusebius J. Beltran |