Queen. Queue. (2022-09-18, Sunday - 25)

__ Click Here for Audio of Homily____

___ Click Here for Video of Mass ____ 

2022-09-18 –25^th Sunday  &      Title:   The Queen. The Queue.

● Amos 8:4-7 ● Psalm 113   ● ● 1 Timothy 2:1-8   ●● Luke 16:1-13   ● ●

[__01__]      "In his essay on the English people, George Orwell remarked that any foreign observer would be struck by their orderly behavior and in particular “the willingness to form queues.” It’s one of those British stereotypes that’s come to mind in recent days, as the mother of all queues lengthens and snakes along the south bank of the Thames River."  

"As many as 750,000 people were expected to travel to London ahead of the state funeral for the late Queen Elizabeth II on Monday. Queues began forming days earlier on the opposite side of the Thames from the historic Westminster Hall, where her coffin lies elevated on a catafalque. By Thursday late afternoon, the line was nearly 4.3 miles (7 kilometers) long.  As of Saturday afternoon, the wait time was at least 13 hours. We know all this because there’s an official live queue tracker, which reports the length and the average time to destination at a speed of roughly 0.5 miles per hour. "  (Bloomberg News)

          Don’t these people know that you can see the Queen lying-in-state even better from your television, with a remote control, on the couch, rather than standing in line all the way from south London to Westminster?

          Even if you wear the most comfortable shoes imaginable, your feet would hurt after several hours of standing and waiting – being on the queue.

 [__02__]        The Gospel parable this Sunday is about the “dishonest steward” or “dishonest manager” who gets caught for financially cheating and mismanaging the company $$ money and his boss’s accounts.

          He is now “waiting” to be penalized, waiting to be punished, for the consequences of his actin. Should he, perhaps, use the remote starter to warm up his car and speed out of town to escape with the cash?

          One reason for this is that there really is no “escape” for him.

 [__03_]       This dishonest manager’s “career” is a metaphor or symbol of his lifespan which is also fragile and finite. Being called in by the boss – God – is what happens when we die. We go to confess ours sins now so that we can go to God with a clean heart.

And, his offense – his sin – which is now  public knowledge is also on his “record”.  He wants to keep it off his record, not just to save his job, but to save his life!

[__04__]    What we read in the parable is that the man is doing penance or making restitution for his sins for he – the dishonest manager – was similar to the tax collectors of Jesus’ day who collected money more in the way of gangsters than government agents. The tax collectors extracted money for their own gain / profit.

          So, when we read in the parable that the dishonest manager is giving back or reducing the debts of certain customers, he is really reducing his own “sales commission / service charge”, decreasing his own profit which he gained dishonestly.   By his confession and penance, he is changing his ways from evil to good.

[__05__]       [LONDON] The reason  thousands of people are queueing up to see QE-II lying in state is to “pay their respects”. It is newsworthy when a crowd forms to pay respects in large numbers, but this is bigger than before.

          People also came out to honor Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill, but the wait was only 3 hours and a mile long. Some 250,000 Americans waited 10 hours for John F. Kennedy’s lying-in-state. About 100,000 mourners paid homage South African President, Nelson Mandela. And, in 2001 in the U.S., there were many waiting in line and packing churches for funerals after 9/11.

          Regarding this one reporters say that in London, this is the “mother of all queues”. (queen of all queues?)

[__06__]        To join the 5-mile / 10-hour wait, is do something that we are trying to do – continually – in our own Catholic practices of – FASTING, of PRAYER, of ALMSGIVING.

          The dishonest manager of the parable is also called to this as part of his conversion.

 [__07__]        [FASTING] What is fasting? Fasting is a form of being still and waiting on God. When you are on line for a really long time, or waiting for news – medical, financial, personal =-

          I’d like to equate FASTING with stillness, of sitting still, similar when you are on line – in the queue – for a medical test result, for a school exam, for news of any kind. You are called – I am called – to “sit still”. To go without some food or drink or entertainment for some defined period is to surrender to God.

          Also, this fasting enables us to put ourselves more explicitly in God’s hands, rather than simply going our own way.  The dishonest manager is giving back – fasting from – his own profits. Profit making is good, but he has turned profit making into “god” or an idol.

 [__08__]        [PRAYING] What is prayer? Prayer is strength. The people in London symbolize that there is strength in numbers. We come to church to pray also because we believe there is strength in every individual one of our prayers.

          On the news, perhaps, you noticed that major celebrities of sports and movies – have joined the queue.   David Beckham, retired football/soccer goal scorer queued up, but it would be a mistake to say that David Beckham’s presence mattered more than the person before or after him.  Everyone counts. You matter. Prayer = strength in numbers.

[__09__]      [ALMSGIVING]

What is almsgiving. Almsgiving could be money but it is also service.

          To stand on line, on the queue, in mourning for the death of a loved one, or even of someone whom you do not know very well is an act of love of service.

          In some way, the people of London are witnesses to this love.  And, doesn’t it require patience and some “love of neighbor” in order to stand in line, to wait with others to wait our turn.

          Standing in line, we are also waiting for God’s mercy when we go to see the priest in the confessional … and when we respond with some penance which could also be some prayer or fasting or almsgiving.

          What is the benefit of this “waiting on God” –

          Jesuit Father John Hardon, S.J. wrote:

          (Source: The Spiritual and Psychological Value of Frequent Confession, 1998, John Hardon)

          paraphrased

           “Peace of heart is doing the will of God. This is heaven.”

Example – doing God’s will / prayer (# 1)  Lord’s Prayer  – We pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven…

To do only what I want or get only what I want ..this is a form of hell“.

Example – doing God’s will / prayer (# 2)  Our Blessed Mother – Queen of Heaven and Earth – demonstrated this by saying to the angel, “let it be done to me according to thy word” (Luke: 1:38)

          This is why God instituted the sacrament of confession, even it means waiting.

          The more frequently we confess our sins, no matter how minor, the more peaceful we shall be. Why?

          Because if there is one thing God wants you and me to admit it is that we are sinners who trust in his loving mercy.

          Sinners who are also in the queue, for as long as it takes.    [END]