Going Places ? (2019-08-04, Sunday - 18)

HML  • 2019 August 4 •  18^th Sunday

• Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23    • Psalm 90 • Colossians 3:1-5,9-11  • +Luke 12:13-21 •           

Title:    Going Places?

[_01_]   We have placed these flowers – red and white roses – here in front of the altar – to pray for healing, for strength for the West Orange Firefighters who were injured in a serious accident on Interstate-280 this past Tuesday (July 30, 2019). There was an accident that involved West Orange firefighters, New Jersey State Troopers, and 1 firefighter is still at University Hospital and one has been released. Both have serious injuries, so we pray – that they who help us to GO PLACES – who help us to have safe journeys and protect us that they will healing and strength in the coming days and weeks and months.

          Are we GOING PLACES?

[_02_]   If you say that someone is “going places”, you mean that he or she is shows a lot of talent or technique. For example, in sports, Serena Williams was going places, she was different, and even defeating her very talented elder sister – Venus Williams – at Wimbledon and the U.S Open tennis tournaments.

 [_03_]   It is common, colloquial expression to say that someone is “going places.”

          The man in the Gospel parable, the financially successful and materially wealthy central character of the parable believes he is going places. He has money, a “bountiful harvest”, or in the lyrics of Frank Sinatra: “it was very good year.”

          Thus, he will “tear down” his barns and build larger ones. He believes he can flip his barns into bigger barns.

          His barns (“warehouses”) – his storage containers – have become an extension of himself.

          Is this not true for any of us, that what we have is sometimes difficult to discern/separate from who we are?

          Example: have you have ever gone searching for your eyeglasses or reading glasses or sunglasses, or headphones.. you are (or I am) furiously searching for the glasses or headphones … then you (I) realize you are (I am) wearing them. They already on you.  They are so close to me that I cannot distinguish them from myself.

          Sometimes, we do this with more valuable possessions. But more important than any possession is our human dignity which is not anything we buy or sell but a gift of God.

          And, it is a gift that we rely on others to respect, uphold. I’d  like to give an example.

 [*** pause ***]

[_04]   FOR EXAMPLE – in 1995, I traveled with some friends to upstate New York, to Rochester for the weekend. And, while in the area, we went over to Niagara Falls, the big waterfall of Niagara Falls which is on the border of the U.S. and Canada for the afternoon.  We would leave New York, go to Canada, be back for dinner. Not so fast...

          One person in our group – my friend Paul – had been living and working in Virginia. He had permanent residence, a green card and his wallet, but he did not bring his European/Dutch passport with him. The rest of us were U.S. citizens.  We did not at need passports to go into Canada and back again.

          It seemed not to matter to the customs and border official that my friend had been outside the U.S. of A. for only about 3 hours and travelled no more than 1.5 miles.

          Paul believed – we believed – he was going places. Hey, not so fast. You need papers.  It took a little while… maybe 45 to 90 minutes, we were shortly on our way.

          We were going places, together.

[_05]   I recognize and I believe

… you know, right now, immigration is a big topic and I urge you to pray for our lawmakers.

The government has the right and responsibility to regulate the border, the southern border, the northern border, the border/passport control at Newark EWR airport, Kennedy JFK airport, and every border crossing.

          That’s how we “go places”.

          In our Catholic faith tradition, we read the same about the integrity and importance of national borders in the Catholic Catechism:

          It is the view of the Church – and of Pope Francis or every Pope – that the nation is an extension of the human family.  Families have borders and boundaries; nations have them.

          But, it is also in families that we learn to respect and hold and up and not denigrate others, but rather to acknowledge their existence and their dignity, the dignity of our neighbors.

          We denounce any violence that comes outside of our families that may afflict other families, or any violence to a stranger, to someone whom we do not know.

          I’m sure you I am preaching to the choir, telling you this.

          Pope St John Paul II – in 2001 – also reminded us that human migration and immigration needs the assistance of the government. It is not an absolute right.

“The exercise of such a right [that is, the right to immigrate to a particular country] is to be regulated – it is NOT ABSOLUTE - , because practicing it indiscriminately may do harm and be detrimental to the common good of the community that receives the migrant.”  (Pope John Paul II, 87^th World Day of Migration 2001).

And, we read in the Catholic Catechism this principle that the more prosperous nations are called to help and to welcome:

The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.   (CCC Catechism 2241).

          So, if you have been in arguments among family and friends – if you are afraid to bring up certain topics – or afraid to share opinions especially after everyone has had a few “ginger ales”, then we might re- consider that these rights to regulate the border, and to immigrate, are not absolute, both are part of our Catholic faith.

[_06_]    There is one absolute right. And, this is the right to life, the right to live, which we testify to in our care and respect for persons, life at all stages… that the West Orange firefighters testified to the right to life, for the 9-1-1 call to which they were responding and the 9-1-1- call to which they were about to be a part of.

          Whether I wear glasses or do not wear glasses. Whether I have money or do not have money, these things do not define me as a person.  I am misguided if I believe that my personhood – my “self” – is determined by material things. (Yes, I have been misguided or misled in this way … we all have.)

          And, I just suggest that by extension – our country – is not defined by how wealthy it is.

          It is defined by the fact that it has a border, that it has a beginning and an end. That’s what a country is:  [lexicon] = a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular territory. So, that last word “territory” is important.

          Just as a family has “territory”… so does a country.

          Nevertheless, a family – and a country – and individuals are called to have mercy on their neighbors. This is what we learn in our families.

[_07_]    It has long been the case that our country – the United States of America – has been enriched & continues to be enriched by workers & people – of India + Ireland / Haiti + Hungary  / Malaysia + Mexico.

          Workers and people from many countries have come to our country to perform necessary work in agriculture, in the fields, in sowing and harvesting, in construction, underground and above ground, constructing bridges and roads and homes, and doing both menial and technical tasks that we as citizens have bene unable or unwilling to perform.

          We go places together.

[_08_]     These folks live everywhere. They live among us.

          But, they live everywhere.

          I urge you to pray for our lawmakers …. [our Congress, Senators, President and Vice President]  that they may find just and harmonious solutions to the problems that beset us in immigration, migration, family unification and separation.

          There is good work being done by civil official and government officials and charitable organizations, Catholic charities and many charities who face monumental difficulty due to inaction in the District of Columbia. They need our prayers.

          In the Gospel, we read about a man who wants to flip his barns and build bigger containers, then walk away.  We cannot simply build bigger containers and walk away.  We are going places, together.  [_fin_]