Good News People!

Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 25, 2013

Readings: Isaiah 66:18-21; Psalm 117:1,2(Go out to all the world and tell the good news); Hebrews 12:5-7,11-13; Luke 13:22-30

(NOTE: This homily was prepared to introduce a new parish program called "Good News People" published by JustFaith Ministries. The "infomercial" at the end of the homily reflects that.)

            Who doesn’t love getting good news?

            Think of all the instances of good news in our lives: “We’re getting married!” “I found a job”! “We’re having a baby!” “I got into college!” “I got a promotion!”

            And even some of the less obvious things that we share: “I made a new friend”; “I made up with my sister”; “I’m feeling much better now”.

            And now think about the ultimate Good News that we heard in today’s readings – that God has come to gather people from all languages to proclaim God’s glory – that people will come from the north and south and east and west to recline at the table in God’s kingdom. God has given us salvation and redemption in Jesus Christ – what better news could there be than that?

            And, for those of us who do believe that God has redeemed us in Christ Jesus, we have a mission – as our Psalm says: “Go out to all the world and tell the Good News”. Good news has to be shared!

            It is our obligation as baptized Christians to go out and spread the Good News. But – how do we do that? Certainly, we have opportunities to spread the Good News in our conversations within our family or others that we pray with or are friends with. We have opportunities to do that in the way that we live and how behave at work, and with our friends and family. But we have to do it – being a disciple means having a deep relationship with Jesus, not just a casual one. Jesus warns us in today’s Gospel that those of us who rely on just “eating and drinking” with him, or just “listening” to his teaching may find ourselves on the outside of the gates. It takes action – it takes growth – it takes what Pope Francis has said, “going outside of ourselves”.

            But here is the catch: The truth is that, as the old Latin saying goes, “Nemo dat quod non habet” – “You can’t give what you don’t have”. And so, we have to continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord in order to share the Good News with others.

            Our parish is beginning a program to help you make that kind of growth in your relationship with Jesus even deeper. It is called the Good News People program. It is a combination of Scripture reflection, small group sharing, study of Church teaching, and individual prayer and action. We are inviting you to be a part of it. You will meet for seven sessions in the fall, and seven sessions in the spring – a total of 14 times between now and next summer. We will also have a little get-together before we begin and something at the end as well.

            We will be forming groups of about 10 people to meet together for these sessions. You are welcome to form your own group with folks that you already have something going with – perhaps you are on a committee like the decorating committee or the social committee, or you are part of a group like the Knights or Holy Name, or the choir. Or, you can just choose the day and time that is most convenient for you and we will put you together in groups with similar available times! We will be having sessions in the evenings as well as during the day for those who are retired or don’t like to go out in the evening or who work another shift.

            Each group will be led by a facilitator who will be trained to lead the discussion for the group, and everyone will get a binder that will have materials for reading, journaling, and reflection.

            You can take one of the RSVP cards that we will be handing out this weekend – and you can indicate your interest without making a firm commitment. Please give us your name, phone and email and either indicate that you are ready to sign up, or maybe want to be a facilitator, or maybe you are interested but not sure. Just write that on the RSVP – or write your question on the back.

            We want to help our parish grow into a community of disciples that are Good News People. Please join us on the journey by signing up to be a part of the process and together we will go out to all the world to tell the Good News.

The Indignity of Solitary Confinement

August 2013 Justice Perspective

            Anyone who has seen the movie Cool Hand Luke starring Paul Newman will remember the explanation of the rules by Boss Carr: “Any man forgets his [clothes] number spends a night in the box…Any man loses his spoon spends a night in the box…Any man fighting in the building spends a night in the box…Any man not in his bunk at eight spends a night in the box…” And on it goes for another six or seven rules.

            What might be a humorous scene in the movie represents a very serious situation for many men and women who are incarcerated. “The box” is commonly known as solitary confinement – sometimes called isolated confinement. The New York State prison system has developed a system of solitary confinement called “Special Housing Units” (SHUs) since the 1970s.

            In these SHUs inmates spend 23 hours a day in a single cell and are denied any programming or religious worship, and are offered only limited privileges to visitation. Current plans by the State call for long periods of confinement in cells that severely restrict access to personal hygiene, physical exercise, human contact and religious worship. Estimates are that there are 4,500 inmates across the State in SHUs on any given day – upwards of 35% higher than the average of other states.

            The New York State Catholic Conference had spoken to this issue as one of its 2012 Legislative Agenda items. The Conference recognized that managing the prisons “clearly depends in part on the ability of correction officers and administrators to discipline inmates for infractions of facility rules.” A program of discipline helps to keep officers and other inmates alike safe from violence and able to exercise their rights.

            The question is, the Conference said, whether “the conditions under which they operate, the extent of their use, and the extended length of time of their use” is such that it denies the inmates their human dignity and whether punishment overrides concerns for safety, rehabilitation or restitution.

            SHUs are but one example of the issue that crime and criminal justice pose for us as Catholics. The US Bishops addressed this moral issue in their document Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration issued in 2000. They note that “our society seems to prefer punishment to rehabilitation and retribution to restoration thereby indicating a failure to recognize prisoners as human beings.”

           

            The Bishops go on to point out that approaching “criminal justice” in a way that is inspired by our Catholic vision is a paradox. On the one hand, “we cannot and will not tolerate behavior that threatens lives and violates the rights of others. We believe in responsibility, accountability, and legitimate punishment.”

            However, a Catholic approach “does not give up on those who violate these laws. We believe that both victims and offenders are children of God…Their lives and dignity should be protected and respected. We seek justice, not vengeance.”

            Blessed Pope John Paul II said this:  “We are still a long way from the time when our conscience can be certain of having done everything possible to prevent crime and to control it effectively so that it no longer does harm and, at the same time, to offer to those who commit crimes a way of redeeming themselves and making a positive return to society. “

            Our Bishops ask us to advocate for a system that simultaneously seeks justice for the victims of crime and upholds the dignity of inmates. We are still a long way off, indeed.