The Third Sunday of Easter Annual Catholic Appeal
May 4, 2014
Listen to this homily! (mp3
file)
The beautiful gospel story of the Road to Emmaus is a favorite of mine and
perhaps of yours. I love its pensive quality -- the calm, reflective way in
which Luke tells us the journey of those two downhearted disciples who walked
with Jesus along the road but didn’t know it was Jesus.
Luke tells us that Emmaus is a village some seven
miles from Jerusalem but I find it interesting that, even though it appears on
most of the pilgrim maps of the Holy Land, scholars are not convinced that the
real Emmaus has ever been found. For that reason, we can think of Emmaus
as representing every place -- not just one place -- and of the road leading to
it as every road we travel. Isn’t it wonderful to think that no matter what road
it is we take in life, Jesus is our companion? Even if we don’t always
recognize him, he’s no less a companion for that.
And along the road come dark and difficult days as
we, much like those two disciples of old, find ourselves short on hope and maybe
even lost in sadness because Jesus seems to be absent. He may even, at times,
seem to have abandoned us.
But of course, he hasn’t, and if we hold on through
the dark times and invite him to stay with us, he will. And he will
patiently open up the Scriptures for us, helping us to make sense of them. And
if we let him, he will open our eyes and make himself known to us in the
Breaking of the Bread.
My friends, this opening up of minds and hearts
takes place in many ways but none more than here each Sunday when we gather in
this holy place where Jesus makes himself known to us in the scriptures
proclaimed and in the Bread that is broken. How blessed we are to have this
wonderful parish. How blessed we are not to be alone on the road of life, the
road to Emmaus.
But this parish is not an island. Far from it. It
is part of the Archdiocese of Seattle, a large network of parishes, communities,
ministries, and services, each of them, in one way or another, helping people to
meet Christ along the road of life and to come to know him and love him. This
morning/evening we are asked to think about that larger Church and how we can
support it through the Annual Catholic Appeal.
I hope I didn’t just give you liturgical whiplash!
Not my intention! The Annual Catholic Appeal really is about the journey of
faith and about helping people meet Christ along that journey. Let me
remind you of a few of the ways you help people meet Christ by your generous
gift to the Annual Catholic Appeal.
Your gift to the Annual Catholic Appeal helps make
possible the great work of Catholic Community Services with its far-reaching
network across Western Washington of housing for the elderly, the poor, the
disabled, veterans, migrant workers and their families; its shelters for
homeless men and women; its pregnancy support and adoption services. Every day,
people of faith and of no faith at all meet the compassionate Christ through the
work of CCS.
Your Annual Appeal contribution helps to maintain,
oversee and expand our wonderful Catholic grade and high schools which make up
the 6th largest school district in the entire State. Our schools are the road to
Emmaus for thousands of children who come to know Christ in those schools day
after day.
Your contribution to the Annual Appeal helps to fund
the retirement plans that support hundreds of retired priests and sisters who,
by giving their lives in service of the Church have helped people come to know
Jesus in the Breaking of the Bread.
And your contribution helps to provide for the
training of lay ministers for our Church – hundreds of them who serve in our
parishes, schools, and other institutions, and without whom our parishes and
institutions would simply not be able to function. It also provides for
the seminary education and formation of the young men who are currently
preparing for the priesthood. All of this formation and training is costly but
so very important, considering the role that priests and lay ministers are
called to play in awakening people to the presence and love of Christ.
These are things you know well. You know, too, that
each year the Archdiocese sets an Annual Appeal goal for the entire Archdiocese
and one for each parish. The overall goal this year for the Archdiocese is
$11 million. Our parish’s share of this, our goal, is $337,000, a huge sum of
money even in good economic times but especially so in times like these when
some of you are still looking for work and others of you are still recovering
from significant financial setbacks of recent years.
So, the only way we can possibly meet our goal is if
the more financially able among us step forward and give even more generously
than in the past. This is what you’ve always done and I have confidence that you
will do it again this year. Did you know that, thanks to you, our parish leads
all the other parishes of the archdiocese in giving to this Appeal!
And let me remind you that everything you give over and above our $337,000 goal
will come directly back to us as a rebate. And I know you won’t be
surprised when I remind you that we need the rebate and how your generosity
makes it possible for us to count on a significant rebate when we do our
budgeting.
Let me conclude by sharing with you why we
especially need the rebate this year. The rebate this year will go to support
our Cathedral outreach ministries. 20% of the Cathedral’s budget (more than
$700,000 each year) is dedicated to our numerous outreach ministries: the
Cathedral Kitchen, St. James Immigrant Assistance, Mental Health Ministry, and
the Solanus Casey Center, to name just a few. This year the rebate will
also help support our exciting new ministry to Young Adults. To tell us more
about these ministries first hand, please join me in welcoming our Pastoral
Assistant for Social Outreach and Advocacy (and coordinator of Young Adult
ministry in the parish), Caitlin Lanigan.
Father Michael G. Ryan
Some of you may recall the famous interview that Pope Francis gave
America Magazine last fall in which he shared that his vision for the
Church was that of a “field hospital”. Francis said, “I can clearly see
that what the Church needs today is the ability to heal wounds and warm the
hearts of faithful, it needs to be by their side. I see the Church as a
field hospital after a battle.”
We, at St. James, are that field hospital. You might say, we are a field
hospital with many, many wings.
- We have a wing in the St. James hospital where Nancy Granger and her
host of volunteers serve in their work with the Mental Health Ministry
trying to break the stigma of mental illness while accompanying those in
need of companionship, prayers, medication, and therapy.
- This hospital offers shelter for those without a roof through our
Winter Shelter program.
- The Cathedral Kitchen is located in the Nutrition Wing where over
100 volunteers work nightly to provide a well-balanced meal to 150 hungry
men, women, and children.
- You might call the Solanus Casey Center our Emergency Room where anyone
can walk in looking for anything from a bus pass to assistance buying their
prescription medicine, they can get help applying for benefits, or perhaps
they just need a place to sit down and talk to someone for a while.
- The residency program in this field hospital is packed with young adults
in their twenties and thirties choosing to make their faith and their faith
community a central part of their lives.
- And visiting hours happen after all our Sunday masses in Cathedral
Hall over a cup of coffee and muffins. This is when we see the faces of
those we partner with in this great field hospital, where we are inspired
and rejuvenated by the community we are working with in the name of Christ.
It is your incredible support that allows St. James to be this “field
hospital”. And it is also because of that support that we at St. James can
dream about how we might expand this hospital’s wings to more fully follow where
Francis is leading this Church.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THE ANNUAL CATHOLIC APPEAL!
Caitlin Lanigan
