Faithful Perseverance In Giving Witness Even and Especially in Trials, 33rd Sunday (C), November 13, 2022

Fr. Roger J. Landry
Columbia Catholic Ministry, Notre Dame Church, Manhattan
Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
World Day of the Poor
November 13, 2022
Mal 3:19-20, Ps 98, 2 Thes 3:7-12, Lk 21:5-19

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below: 

The following text guided the homily: 

• During the month of November, the Church leads us in a meditation on the Last Things. This is always helpful for Catholics no matter what their stage in life, but it’s particularly helpful for young Catholics who can sometimes be tempted to defer pondering death, judgment, heaven and hell out of a lack of urgency, assuming that they will have seven or eight decades before they must. Today, however, the prophet Malachi describes that the day of the Lord will come suddenly, blazing like an oven scorching proud evil doers but rising like a sun of justice with healing rays on those who fear God’s name. In the Gospel, that long awaited Sun of Justice, Jesus himself, gives far more details about the end times. He describes how the temple of God will be attacked, how there will be imposters claiming to be speaking for God and asking us to follow them, how there will be wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, plagues, persecutions, hatred, betrayals by family members and friends, and how even some of his followers will be put to death. It’s a harrowing account demonstrating, essentially, that the foundations on which we’re often tempted to place our stability and security — from physical health, to food and drink, property, family, governments, religious practices and edifices — will be shaken and collapse. The only thing left will be the only true and secure foundation, the one on which we should be constructing our life now, God himself.
• The immediate reaction of Jesus’ listeners was to ask, “Master, when will this happen?,” presumably so that they could be prepared. Jesus didn’t answer their question directly, because he wanted them to act on the information right away. If he had given a date weeks, decades, centuries or millennia later, the temptation would have been just to go on with life as normal. But Jesus had come to establish a totally new normal: a norm of faith, a norm of vigilant waiting, a norm of full-time Christian behavior. He wanted the day of the Lord to be a perpetual state, so that each day would be the Lord’s day, a day in which we could exclaim, “This is the day the Lord has made!” And the signs of the day of the Lord Jesus gave us help us to maintain this awareness, because they are in fact events we see in the newspaper almost every day: destruction, natural disasters, wars, famines, illness, betrayals, attacks on the Church, and the persecution and killing of Christians.
• Instead Jesus gave them three ways to respond to what he was saying.
• The first was, “See that you not be deceived!” and described that many would come, supposedly in his name, to try to exploit the situation. “Do not follow them!,” Jesus tells us emphatically. In every age there are many false prophets and Jesus tells us to be on guard against them. Pope Francis called the attention of the whole Church to this in his homily this morning in St. Peter’s Basilica, when he said Jesus is warning us to be on guard against “interpret[ing] dramatic events in a superstitious or catastrophic way. … If we think in this way, we let ourselves be guided by fear, and we may end up looking for answers with morbid curiosity in the ever-present chicanery of magic or horoscopes … as if they were the voice of God … [or] rely[ing] on some last-minute ‘messiah’ who peddles wild theories, usually conspiratorial and full of doom and gloom.” Jesus, in telling us to beware lest we be led astray, was telling us not to be “gullible or fearful, but [to] learn how to interpret events with the eyes of faith,” the Pope concluded.
• The second thing Jesus told us was that our sufferings “will lead to [our] giving testimony” in which we will be blessed with a “wisdom in speaking that all [our] adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”God only permits evil so that he can draw from it greater good. He allows us to endure these difficulties to help us grow in faith and become better disciples and better apostles, more fervent followers of him and more passionate proclaimers of his salvation. The adversities we encounter for our faith shouldn’t separate us from the Lord, but move us to abandon ourselves even more to Him. When we’re brought to our knees by natural disasters or man-made hatred, it provides the opportunity for us to pray far more devoutly, to grow in faith, and to be proven like gold in a crucible. When we’re tested more severely, God comes to our aid to help us pass those tests, provided that we open ourselves up to his presence during trial and respond to him. And that type of faith is the greatest means to bring others to faith.
• We’ve seen since the earliest days of the Church. So many converted when they saw the way Christians suffered harassment, persecution, imprisonment, torture and even martyrdom with peace, serenity, joy and songs, how they forgave their enemies, how they prayed for their persecutors, how they freely laid down their lives in love for the One who freely laid down his life to save their own. We’ve seen it when Christians, having suffered natural disasters like their neighbors, have rushed unselfishly, in imitation of Christ the Good Samaritan, to help others before thinking of themselves. We’ve seen it in the way Christians have endured physical illnesses and become salt, light and leaven in hospitals and nursing homes to their fellow patients, doctors, nurses, orderlies and family members. We’ve seen it in the way that Christians, having been betrayed by their spouses, children, siblings or parents, have forgiven them, just as they have been forgiven by God. Suffering, betrayal and persecution can become pulpits in which we’re able to show in greater relief than normal the presence of God and his power and consolation. They provide the chance for us to show that we Christians live, suffer and even die differently than the rest, because we know, as St. Paul wrote to the Romans, that neither persecution, famine or the sword, neither death nor life, nor anything in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:31-39). That type of witness can’t help but move people.
• The third and final thing Jesus tells us is “by your perseverance you will secure your lives.” He means here perseverance in faith, hope and love, perseverance in trusting him, in placing our treasure in him, and in loving him and others. The great temptation when we’re experiencing suffering, hardships, or challenges, is to give up. Jesus tells us not to quit, but to go on living our faith, knowing that with the Lord as our shepherd, even if we are walking, even crawling, through a dark valley, we still lack for nothing, because with him, we indeed still have it all (Ps 23). In telling us this, Jesus isn’t merely saying, “Do what I say,” but rather “Follow me!” During his Passion, he was seized, handed over to religious and civil leaders, betrayed by the apostles and disciples, hated by the multitudes, mocked, scourged, crucified and put to death. There was an eclipse of the sun, an earthquake and the veil of the Holy of Holies in the Temple was ripped from top to bottom. But 40 hours later, he rose from the dead, without a hair on his head being destroyed. He shows us what perseverance is and he will give us all the help he knows we need not to give up, but by his grace to keep faithfully fighting the good fight until the end.
• So as we ponder the last things as well as try to make sense of and respond to the natural disasters, wars, pandemics, persecutions, betrayals, and sufferings present in our time, Christ is calling us not to be led astray but to follow him more fully. He wants us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to give testimony of divine wisdom through words and deeds. He wants to strengthen us to persevere in living our faith with confidence in the midst of whatever chaos we may find ourselves.
• The great temptation when we suffer, Pope Francis reminded us this morning, is to assume a “victim” mentality, and when we see others’ suffering, to “distract” ourselves or become “resigned” to their plight. The Holy Father says we need to confront these tendencies straight on. Today is the World Day of the Poor, an annual observance Pope Francis began in 2017, during the middle of this month of November in which we ponder the last things, so that we might all remember that Christ has told us that after we die, we will be judged — and our eternal destiny will hinge — on whether we have cared for him in the hungry, thirsty, naked, stranger, ill, imprisoned or otherwise in need in our midst (Mt 25:31-46). It’s an opportunity for us and the whole Church to recommit ourselves to those who are suffering, who are experiencing the effects of famine, war, plague, persecution, hatred and betrayal and to do something about it. It’s a chance for us to get practical about what we’re doing to help the victims of war in Ukraine, of natural disasters in Florida, of climate change in the Sahel, of political or religious persecution in so many countries across the globe, of families broken by betrayal all around us, of hunger, homelessness and poverty, of being unwanted, unloved, and rejected in the forgotten corners of our city. This is an opportunity for us to bear witness to the love with which God fills us, to seize the chance to live the Gospel, and build a world that is better, more loving and more fraternal.
• Today we have an opportunity to reflect on a saint buried just 4.1 miles from here in Washington Heights, who shows us how to make the most of the gift of time God grants us by caring for the poor and needy and giving witness to the impact that faithful Christians can make not just in their neighborhoods but across the world. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, whose feast day the Church remembers every November 13, was born in 1850 near the Italian city of Lodi. From her earliest days, she had a deep love for God and a desire to spread love of him as a missionary. The youngest of 13 children, her family would read each night from the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith and her young heart became inflamed. She used to make paper boats, fill them with flowers symbolizing the flourishing life of missionaries, and float them down the river, hoping that they would reach China. After the death of both of her parents when she was 18, she applied to enter various religious communities —including those who ran the Catholic school from which she graduated — but was refused because her health was poor. Eventually her parish priest, who appreciated her piety, zeal and organizational ability, asked her to help save a mismanaged orphanage. She assented and did all she could, forming around her a community of women to assist in the work of loving these orphans into adulthood and eternal life, but after three years of hard work the charitable institution was not able to be resuscitated. It was through that failure, however, that Frances’ life-long aspiration was able to be fulfilled. Her bishop summoned her and said, “I know you want to be a missionary. Now is the time. I don’t know any institute of missionary sisters, so found one yourself.” And with the group of seven women who had collaborated with her at the orphanage, she did, establishing the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, dedicated to the Christian education of girls. It was suggested to her that her new community should head to the United States to work among the Italian immigrants. In the 1880s, there were 50,000 Italians in New York City alone, but fewer than 1,200 had ever been to a Mass or had learned the basic elements of Christian doctrine, like how to make the Sign of the Cross. Ten of the 12 priests working among them had been kicked out of their Italian dioceses for problems. Archbishop Michael Corrigan of New York (1885-1902) wrote her a formal letter asking her assistance, but at first she wouldn’t hear of it. She had set her heart on evangelizing China. But one night she had a powerful dream that induced her to go to Rome to consult Pope Leo XIII himself. The holy and wise pontiff, after hearing of the dream and her discernment, told her, in words that would change the history of Catholicism in America, “Not to the East, but to the West.” With six of her sisters, she set off for New York in 1889. When they arrived, a poor and humbling reception awaited them. They had been asked initially to organize an Italian orphanage and elementary school for girls, but during their voyage, the benefactress underwriting the institutions had reneged on her commitments. There was no place for them or the orphans to live and no building for them to hold classes. Archbishop Corrigan told Mother Cabrini it was probably best for her and her sisters to return to Italy. Despite her disappointment at the chaos she found in New York, this tiny, strongly-accented Lombardian replied with a perseverance and determination that ever after impressed the prelate, “No. The pope sent me here, and here I must stay.” From that point forward, Mother Cabrini took some matters into her own hands. She went to see the benefactress to persuade her to change her mind, brought about her reconciliation with the archbishop, founded a house for the sisters and successfully began the orphanage. She began to receive vocations to her community almost immediately and that allowed her community’s apostolate to spread far and wide. She soon began to operate a hospital in New York and several institutions in New Orleans, where the integration of Italians was going particularly poorly. Requests for her help were coming from all over the world, and she traveled with sisters to open up homes, schools, hospitals and orphanages in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, France and England. She also founded institutions in most American cities where there was a heavy concentration of Italian immigrants. By 1907, when the constitutions of her community were finally approved, there were more than a thousand sisters working in over fifty institutions in eight countries. She died ten years later at the age of 67. In 1946, she became the first American citizen to be canonized a saint. Her future canonization had been foretold by Pope Leo XIII fifty years before when, asked about her, he replied, “Mother Cabrini is a woman of fine understanding and great holiness. She is a saint.”
• She became a saint because despite so many calamities facing the world in the late 19^th century, she sought to care for the poor who were falling through the cracks, girls left without father or mother or much of a future in her home town, scores of Italian immigrants here in New York City and elsewhere, sick people without access to medical care in midtown, African Americans without access to college in New Orleans, poor in various Latin American countries without resources or much hope, and so many without personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. Rather than becoming resigned to her fate and focusing on herself, she responded to God’s help and resolved to do something, and by her perseverance, not only did she secure her life eternally, but secured the salvation of millions. That’s what one short, unhealthy Italian girl from a little town with a fear of sailing was able to do, criss-crossing the Atlantic more than 30 times to announce the faith and build the Church. Imagine what a young person with a Columbia education might be able to do in cooperation with similar grace of God?
• If you go to St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, you’ll see that St. Frances Xavier is the only American saint whose statue is in the Basilica, and hers is placed more or less facing the high altar where the Pope celebrates Mass. It’s a fitting location, because she always drew her strength from Jesus in Holy Communion. She taught her sisters to do the same. And they have formed generations of young people all across the globe to do so. The Mass is the daily opportunity we’re given to follow Christ and not be led astray, to receive the strength of God to give testimony no matter what difficulties are around us, and to be helped day to day to persevere in faith until Christ, the Sun of Justice, comes to rule the earth and bring the just with him to the place where St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and all the saints rejoice forever.

The readings for today’s Mass were: 

Gospel

Lk 21:5-19

While some people were speaking about
how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings,
Jesus said, “All that you see here–
the days will come when there will not be left
a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”Then they asked him,
“Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?”
He answered,
“See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’
Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end.”
Then he said to them,
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place;
and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”Before all this happens, however,
they will seize and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,
and they will have you led before kings and governors
because of my name.
It will lead to your giving testimony.
Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking
that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.
You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends,
and they will put some of you to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

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