I offered this homily on the Sunday we confirmed our new parish board.
Story of charcoal during the summer: it gets humid in the sacristy; the charcoal ends up damp and won’t light easily.
Charcoal:
- Made to light easily,
- Made for worship (let my prayer arise!)
But the environment – especially humidity -can ruin charcoal’s ability to do these things.
It is the same with faith.
- We are made for faith. We were made for the Gospel.
- When our faith is kindled, we are made for worship.
- But, as with charcoal, our faith can be dampened and our ability to worship can be destroyed
The world has been perverted and works to dampen our faith in the Gospel. This must be a place where faith can flourish and grow beneath the sun of righteousness.
We are responsible for growing our own faith, and for creating a climate where faith can grow.
- Faith is instinctive to the individual, but finds direction in community.
- St. Paul reminded us “the strong must bear the burdens of the weak.”
- Leaders are especially responsible for setting a good example; first in reverence, first in humility, first in fasting and long-suffering, first in forgiveness.
St. Paul says that all things are allowed, but not all things are useful
- The utility of a thing is not based on what it does for us – it is not a license to satisfy our own desires
- The utility of a thing is based on what it does for others; especially the weak among us.
The solution for the charcoal is simple: we keep it in a Tupperware container with a dehumidifier.
The solution for a parish is similarly simple: we all set an example of love, sacrifice, and forgiveness – that is to say an example of living faith – so that the faith of others may grown among us.
