Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 25, 2004 Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21	Listen to Audio

There’s an old saying, “You can’t give what you don’t have.”

A number of years ago I was privileged to be involved in a training program for lectors at Mass which took place at the old St. Vibiana’s Cathedral in Los Angeles. One of my fellow instructors was a truly inspired actress, and a person of deep faith and commitment, who led the lectors in their practice and rehearsal.

One young woman, who was a member of the Catholic Worker community, and member of the Cathedral parish, took her turn reading a selection from one of the letters of St. Paul, actually I think it was the passage from First Corinthians you just heard a few minutes ago. When the reader finished, closed the book, and sat down, the instructor turned to the rest of us and said simply, “Isn’t she good news? Do you see that she can speak the good news effectively because everything about her displays the gentle, loving and generous spirit that is itself good news.”

That was one of the most effective lessons I ever had – and I was one of the teachers in the program! Today’s Gospel presents us with Jesus making it clear that his mission was to proclaim good news to those who are hungry and in need of hope. But his whole life – and death – shows that he not only proclaimed good news, he was good news to all who encountered him.

He calls us – you and me – to follow him, and to learn from him. But, learn what? He also sends us to proclaim good news in word and action, to be good news to all whom we meet. That’s what we learn from him: how to be good news.

Next week, you and I are going to be asked to make our pledge to the annual Archdiocesan appeal, Together in Mission. Our pledged contributions will enable 32 parishes and 46 Catholic schools to continue operating, to bring the richness of parish life and quality Catholic education that we often take for granted to communities that are deeply afflicted by poverty and crime. The numbers and statistics may be impressive, but abstract. Our pledged contributions enable men and women – priests, religious, and lay – to be good news to those who would otherwise see few signs of hope. I can speak from experience.

A good friend of mine since our seminary days, Msgr. Tim Dyer, is pastor of two parishes in South LA, Nativity and St. Columbkille. Put their Sunday collections together, and it still totals less than 1/6 of ours at OLA. Their schools together educate and provide a place of safety for nearly 600 children. Their youth programs give teenagers a worthwhile alternative to gangs and crime. Without the support of Together in Mission, they simply could not do it. We – you and I – are helping Fr. Tim be good news to his people.

I have another friend who is principal at Ascension school, a mile or so down Imperial Highway from Nickerson Gardens, which you know was in the news last week. After many years experience in an excellent suburban public school district, she felt a call to devote pre-retirement years to Catholic education, and so is able to bring both professional experience and deep faith commitment into an inner city Catholic school, and provide a quality of educational leadership to an area where the kind of professionalism and competence we take for granted are in very short supply. That school could not stay open without Together in Mission. By our pledged contribution, you and I are being good news there.

She tells the story of Juan, one of her fifth graders, whose mother, a single parent, so badly wants him to have the opportunity of a Catholic education, but works in a sweatshop, sewing t-shirts for 25-cents apiece. Together in Mission keeps Juan in Ascension School, from 7 in the morning to 6 in the evening, when his mother is able to return by bus from downtown LA. And Danny, a sixth grader recently returned to school after having a brain tumor removed. His parents, of course, are not working in the kind of jobs that have good health benefits, and the surgery has totally depleted their resources. But Danny is back with his classmates, and can stay on, and is even returning to football and track, thanks to Together in Mission.

In the early 1980’s, I spent several years as an associate pastor at Holy Name of Jesus parish in the West Adams District. There I learned more about priestly ministry, spirituality, and dedication than I did anywhere else from a dynamic older woman who was director of religious education, Eva Mai Smith. Her quiet, gentle optimism while struggling with painful arthritis – her friend “Arthur” she used to say – touched and formed many lives, people who today are carrying on her work in that same parish. Yes, our pledged contribution to Together in Mission enables those touched by Eva Mai, now retired but still smiling, to continue to be good news as she was.

Fr. Chris Ponnet, who was an associate pastor here at OLA when I first came, left here to become pastor of St. Camillus parish, which is the hospital chaplaincy serving LA County/USC Medical Center. The poorest of the poor are able to find medical treatment there when no other avenues are open to them. We all know from our own experience how trauma and serious illness are always accompanied by spiritual pain and distress as well. The people they serve are not able to contribute financially to support the mission of Christ to them, to enable them to receive the sacraments, to bring them the good news that Jesus has not abandoned them even if no one else seems to care. We can be bearers of that good news by making it possible for Father Chris and St. Camillus Parish to remain present and active.

In the magnificent second reading today, St. Paul points to the heart of what it means to be Christian – to be a member of the body of Christ. We are all related to one another as the various members of a living body – hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth, and so on – are related and mutually dependent on each other. Those served by Together in Mission are as much one with you and me as [our musician’s] right hand is related to his/her left hand. No way can he/she play the piano/organ/guitar if one hand says to the other, “I don’t need you.” Those served by together in Mission need us, and we cannot be whole without them.

© Thomas Welbers 2004