Offer Forgiveness and Care to other people!
Homily preached September 17, 2023
by Monsignor Michael Deering

A friend of mine, Frank LaRussa, who was the Head Usher years ago at my home parish, Our Lady of Sorrows Church up in Homewood, Alabama,

gave me a copy of a prayer that he used to pray daily.

It goes like this:

Dear Lord, so far today, I’ve done all-right!

I haven’t gossiped, haven’t lost my temper,

 haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty,

selfish or over-indulgent.

And I’m really glad about that.

But in a few minutes, Lord,

I’m going to get out of bed,

and from then on

I’m probably going to need a lot more of your help!

Thank you in advance, Dear Jesus!

Amen!

What a marvelous prayer!   Can you relate to that Prayer?   It’s pretty true isn’t it?

We all do a pretty good job of staying away from sin while we’re sleeping and before our feet hit the floor. It’s once we get up and get going, that we constantly need God’s grace to help us in the way we interact with the people around us.

I remember the years when I was off studying in the Seminary, where each day was pretty much consumed with prayer and study. From morning to night we were either

in the Chapel, or in Class or in the Library or in our Room.

That meant that our interaction with others was greatly limited ...

and so the chance to be unloving to our neighbor was greatly limited as well.

But when it was time to go home for a holiday or summer break, I could just feel the tension rise as the opportunities to be greedy, grumpy, nasty and selfish rose

with the regular contact I’d now have with family members and friends.

God made each and every person different and unique, and for that reason ...

   it’s not always easy to get along with others ...

there will always be things that we’re not going to like about others.

So thank goodness, God never told us that we had to like our neighbor!

Nowhere in Scripture did God ever say, “You have to like your neighbor!”

No, what does He say?    In many places, God says we have to love our neighbor.

And this means loving people that we don’t necessarily like.

It means that we’re going to have to look past some things ...

that we don’t like about others in order to love them for the love of God.

This was the very directive we heard in our First Reading from the Book of Sirach.

where God says, “Think of the commandments … and overlook faults.”

As you well know, it’s not easy to do. When we see the faults and limitations of others, there’s a real temptation to hold onto our dislike of them and use it as an excuse for getting angry or unpleasant with them. Sirach refers to this when he says,

“Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner holds them tight.” 

Given that each person is different in their appearance, their intelligence, their personality, their habits, their thoughts, and their opinions, it’s a reality of life that

people are going to offend us, either knowingly or unknowingly.

And the only way we’re going to be able to fulfill God’s command ...

“to love one another” is to be able to forgive them for their faults and offenses.

Today Sirach says, “Forgive your neighbor’s injustice.”

And Jesus says “(Forgive your neighbor), not 7 times but 77 times!”

God’s guidance is consistent and clear:

 we’re to forgive the faults of our neighbors ... over and over again.

You see, if God’s mercy is without end,

then the mercy we show as His disciples must be without end too.

When Peter asked Jesus how many times he needed to forgive an offender ...

he suggested the number that signified completeness ... the number 7.

Picking up on the symbolism, Jesus no doubt shocked Peter by expanding it to ...

an extraordinary level of forgiveness of ... 77 times ... or 70 x 7 (490 times)!

In other words, Jesus was declaring that forgiveness has no bounds!

We Catholics know what it’s like to formally ask for forgiveness in Confession.

          And there to receive God’s full forgiveness … each and every time!

And Jesus expects us to do the same ...  forgiving others ... each and every time.

We’ve heard many times about ... the need to become like God in the way we love.

Today, we hear about ... the need to become like God in the way we forgive.

A yet a 3rd way that we need to become like God is in the way we care for others.

St. Paul announces this in our Second Reading today from Romans, writing:

“None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.”

He’s pointing out that once we’re baptized, we no longer belong to ourselves ...

but to Christ, as members of His body.

Yes, our adoption into God’s family at Baptism, brings us into a very big family ...

a family with many needs.

Some of those needs come as a surprise ...  like recovering from the Hurricanes, the Tornados, the Floods and the Fires that brought great devastation to many communities across our country in recent weeks.

Many of you have responded with material and financial assistance ...

that is delivered though our Bishop to those Dioceses in need.

I’m so proud of our Holy Spirit Family for caring for others  ...

Thank you, thank you for your much appreciated generosity!

Yes, some needs come unexpectedly  ... but there are also a good many needs that we know we will have during the year and so we plan for them in advance.

And we’re able to satisfy those needs through what’s called Catholic Charities.

Catholic Charities is the name of our Bishop’s Annual Appeal for funding ...

 to serve the needs of many throughout the Diocese in the coming year.

Each September, we have the opportunity ...

to make a pledge or a payment of support to Catholic Charities for next year

so as to provide tangible help and assistance ...

to others ... especially the most needy in our Diocese.

Next Sunday, we’ll have the chance to give or pledge financial support

to Catholic Charities for the calendar year ... 2024.

How much is needed?     Well the Diocesan Goal is $4.675 Million dollars.

And within that our Parish goal ... based on our Parish size ... is $115,000!

That’s the same goal we had last year ... and together we made our goal!

So, I’m confident that, together, we can make our goal for this year!

Where does that money go?

Well, Bishop Raica points out 3 main areas in the Brochure that he mailed to each registered Parishioner ... that you’ll be receiving this week ... namely:

1. To spread the Good News
2. To share with those in need
3. Love our neighbors as ourself.

So, this includes money going to:

Campus Ministry

Catholic Schools Office

Discipleship and Mission

Faith Formation

Pro-life Ministry

Religious Education

Sacred Liturgy

Young Adult Ministry

Youth Ministry

Catholic Social Services

Catholic Centers of Concern

Catholic Family Services

Disaster Relief Services

Adoption Counseling

Mentally Handicapped Care

Black Catholic Ministry

Hispanic Catholic Ministry

Formation of new Deacons

Formation of new Priests

Whew!    That’s a lot!     So as you can imagine ... the need is huge.

But with your help ... together we can render ... Great Help!

Yes, it’s through your Catholic Charities contributions that we gather the funding needed to run all of the many ministries of the Diocese for the following year.

Please don’t look at this as ...   money you’re being asked to give over your tithe ...

          no ... it’s money you’re being asked to give within your tithe!

Please recall the Catholic model for Tithing 10% of your income to God:

 5% of your Tithe given to our Parish Church (Holy Spirit Church)

1% of your Tithe given to our Diocese (Bishop’s Annual Appeal /Catholic Charities)

 4% of your Tithe given to the Charities of your choice.

Like you ... I give to many charities such as:

6 different Schools, 3 different Veterans Groups, 3 Law Enforcement Groups,

5 Community Organizations (Habitat for Humanity, American Cancer Society)

8 different Pro-life Groups ... plus another 15 charities like ...

Mercy Home in Chicago and Covenant House in New Orleans.

And out of all of them, my favorite is ... the one for our Diocese ....

The Bishop’s Annual Appeal / Catholic Charities!

You may wonder why. Well, when Bishop Foley made me the Chancellor of the Diocese 18 years ago, my duties enabled me to see the important work that took place in our Diocesan Office by hearing all of the many departments report to the Bishop each month on how they were doing in serving the people of Diocese.

After 2 years in that job, Bishop Baker made me Vicar General of the Diocese, which gave me an even deeper understanding of the many ministries and operations of the Diocese. Serving in that capacity for 14 years gave me a genuine appreciation of the good work that we do and the funding needed to accomplish that work.

As a new Priest, I contributed $100 to the Catholic Charities Collection with the intention of increasing my contribution to Catholic Charities by $100 each year.

And I’ve kept my intention, increasing my donation each year so that this year, my 20^th year of Priesthood, I’ll contribute 20 hundred dollars to Catholic Charities!

You know, one of our good parishioners, who’s regularly involved with fund-raising for his company and his community, told me that often times when he is asking people to give money to an important cause, they will ask him: “How much are you giving?”   as a way of asking: “if this is so important, how important is it to you!”

And so, for me to tell you that I’m giving $2,000 to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal ...

I hope you can see ... that this is important to me!

For those of you who are registered in our Parish, you will soon receive ...

... a letter from the Bishop along with your personal pledge card.

You will also receive a letter from me requesting your generous support.

I hope that you will take time to pray about the degree that you will participate in this important Annual Appeal so we can serve the people of the diocese in 2024.

For those of you who are not registered, please take a Pledge Card and Brochure in the vestibule. You too, think and pray about this opportunity to honor God’s plan

to take care of others. 

If you haven’t given in the past ... I invite you to start gently ... like I did ...

selecting an amount that will work for you and possibly grow in the future.

Please realize that no amount is too small ... every bit helps!

There are several ways to pay or pledge:

Scan the QR code on the Bishops brochure or cards in our Lobby.

Give on line at catholiccharitiesbhm.org/give now.

Mail your payment or pledge to the Diocese  

Bring your payment or pledge to Church next week for the Collection.

Please be sure to select Holy Spirit Church – Tuscaloosa with electronic giving

Please be sure to write Holy Spirit Church –Tuscaloosa on your Check/Pledge.

I’m so proud to serve as your Pastor ...

for Holy Spirit Parish is a generous Parish!

How do I know?

Because for the past 6 years we have met our Goal!

And not only have we met our goal ...

we’ve been the first Parish in the Diocese to meet our goal ...

          for the past 6 years in a row!  

Yes, Bishop knows that Holy Spirit Parish

has a 6 year record of being ...

the first parish out of 50 Parishes in the Diocese to meet our goal.

Thank you for your past generosity!

What do you say we extend our streak to 7 years in a row!

You have Bishop Raica’s blessing ... and you certainly have mine!

Let’s go forward today ... renewed in our desire

to love ... to forgive ... and to help our neighbors ... in a Godly way.

God bless you!