May 3rd

Post date: May 04, 2020 8:23:55 PM

May 3, 2020 Homily by Fr. Karl Schray

As we go through life, we cannot avoid picking up some wounds.

If you are a caregiver or if you raise children, you have lots of scars.

And if you have committed yourself to a cause or genuinely loved another

you will bear the marks as well.

A young girl named Ellen was in high spirits as she set out

to deliver flowers to her friend, Mary. But suddenly, a wasp stung her

on the arm and what had been a sweet journey suddenly turned bitter.

She sat down by the side of the road to inspect the damage—

the spot was very red and sore.

A stranger walked by and applied some ointment to the wound and

Ellen was on her way again. However, she could not stop looking

at her arm and thinking about the sting. In fact, she told her sad tale

to everyone she met. One told her ‘to ignore the whole thing.’

Another said, ‘treat it as if it never happened.’

She tried to forget the sting. However, memory is a strange thing.

We forget the things we want to remember and remember the things

we want to forget. And every time she remembered; she felt a stab of pain.

Eventually, she ran into an old, wise friend, Sheila, and told her of the event

that ruined her good-hearted journey. Ellen said to her-

‘Everyone I meet tells me to forget about it.’ Sheila said,

‘But it happened, and it is part of the story of your journey.

Sheila added this wisdom- “It’s how you remember it that matters.

You are on a mission of love, aren’t you?” Yes, said Ellen.

Well then, don’t let the incident distract you from that.

Above all, don’t let its poison diminish your love.

Then when you arrive at Mary’s house, your gift will be more precious

because you suffered a wound in delivering it.”

Here we see that the problem is solved, not by removing it

but by giving it new meaning. Meaning is different than happiness. Our greatest desire (even greater than happiness)

is that our pain should mean something.

Jesus bore the marks of our violent world on his body.

He didn’t hide his wounds. Nor was he bitter about them.

These wounds were an expression of love and so they had a meaning.

They were the mortal wounds the Good Shepherd picked up

in caring for his sheep. And the wounds of Jesus are a source of

consolation, courage, and hope to us in our sufferings.

Love triumphs over the wounds and scars of life.

For the Church to continue, we are going to need more Catholics to feel attracted to the vocations of priesthood, religious ordersSP and permanent diaconate.

God gives his call through families and vibrant parishes.

Families need to live their Faith in such a way that their children,

even from the earliest years, will be encouraged to see these vocations

as a positive and valuable option for their lives.

The joyful, dedicated, holy example of priests and religious

makes these vocations attractive.

Let’s believe in this. Let’s pray for this.