Fr. John’s Most Recent Homily

The Protection of Religious Liberty

Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel. That’s the passage that I’d like to begin with simply because what I’m about to say isn’t at all what I was planning on saying until around 2 o’clock this afternoon. Then, I began to sense a restlessness in my own spirit as I was praying again with the passages that we’ve just heard but also with the events that are going on in the country right now. I then spoke with Fr. White and Fr. Stanley and the three of us together came to a place where we all wanted to suggest and propose the same thing for the whole parish family this weekend.

If you’re following the news, you know that we are living through what is almost certainly the single most important matter of religious liberty in our lifetime – the mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services that you and I would pay for something which potentially would violate our consciences: sterilization and contraception, including abortifacients – i.e., abortion inducing drugs. There are 183 diocese in the United States of America and if I’m correct, to date, 155 bishops have spoken on this matter, including our own archbishop, Allen Vigneron, who was interviewed on WJR, a copy of which is posted on our website (there are several other links posted on the site as well that are helpful).

This afternoon, Fr. White, Fr. Stanley, and I had a chance to read a statement written by Bishop Earl Boyea, the Bishop of Lansing. As a sign of unity, we thought the three of us together would a very consistent message this weekend, really more of a plea for us all to consider prayerfully. We want to share with you what Bishop Boyea wrote. This is what he posted on the Diocese of Lansing’s website:

“These past days have seen a grave error on the part of the federal government, as well as a blessed response from Catholics (and I would add just not Catholics because this is not a matter just for Catholics, it’s a matter not even just for people with faith, no matter what the faith is. It’s a matter of religious liberty in general) across this great state and nation.

By now, all men and women of faith know that the United States Department of Health and Human Services has declared that health benefit plans must include coverage for sterilization, contraception, and abortion-inducing drugs. This unconstitutional and unconscionable mandate is to take effect in stages during 2012 and 2013. The Catholic Church in the United States will never comply with this mandate. Told that the federal government has allowed a one-year grace period during which the Church can adjust itself to this mandate, Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York responded that the Church does not need a year to determine whether it would comply. He is right. In offering this supposed mandate, the federal government misreads the Constitution of the United States. It equally misreads the determination of Catholics. This nation is built upon the three-legged stool of the First Amendment. Our precious freedoms of religion, speech, and assembly underlie everything this nation is, and everything this nation has ever accomplished. Religious liberty gives the freedom to preach the Truth. And the truth is that pregnancy is not a disease. Nor is the natural fertility of a woman a disease.”

Fr. White, Fr. Stanley and I would like to suggest that we do three things right now. First, we want to ask you all to consider going to the Michigan Catholic Conference website (michigancatholicconference.org). The site will give much more information about the significance of this matter, as well as help us understand what we can concretely do to help. Second, we’d also encourage you to check out the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops website (usccb.org), where you can find out even more information about the importance of this issue. Third, we want to propose that we all consider doing something, something truly non-partisan. We thought it would be very worthwhile to set aside a day of prayer for the leaders of our land. We could think of no better day to consider doing this than President’s Day, which is soon to be upon us on February 20th.

I’ll write more about this in the parish paper for next weekend, but for now we’d like to ask you all to consider seriously setting aside that day, Monday, February 20th, as a day in which we abstain from food until dinner, with the intention that God would bless our land, that He would raise up men and women after His own heart to care for us, that He would pour out His Spirit upon those who have been elected that they would truly continue to care for us. The Eucharist will be exposed all day long in the church for prayer and then we’ll conclude the day with a solemn evening prayer service at 7pm.

St. Paul’s writes in his First Letter to Timothy, “First of all I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all, for kings and for all who are in high positions, that we would lead a quiet and peaceable life, Godly and respectful in every way, for this is good and it’s acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.”

God has called us to live at this time in this land and to be His disciples. Let’s take seriously the task that He’s entrusted to us. Let’s pray hard for our country; let’s strive to be good and faithful servants of the Gospel and good servants of our land as well. Let’s come together as a people of faith and ask Him, beg Him, to bless us with His Spirit.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year B
February 5, 2012

Fr. John’s Past Homilies