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The gift of life

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Occasion: Peter's Pence Readings: Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43 GOD DOES NOT delight in death but in life, the Book of Wisdom tells us. God wants creation to live. If we have faith in our life-giving God, the world and all who dwell in it will be made well and live. It is the mission of the church and those who belong to it to cooperate with God's desire to bring life and wholeness to the world. We participate in this mission in many ways: through personal acts of service and giving, through prayer for those in need and for the church's efforts to assist them, and in financial donations to pay the costs of helping those who need help. Today we not only continue our summer journey through ordinary time, we also take up a collection called Peter's Pence, for the charitable uses of the pope. Peter's Pence has a long history. Going back to New Testament times, the Christian community has asked its members to contribute toward the support of its needy members and its works of mercy. We hear one of those appeals in today's reading from Saint Paul. In medieval England the king took up a collection, a pence, or penny, from families to support the papacy. The church officially approved the collection in the late 19th century. Recalling this ancient and apostolic heritage, we take up the Peter's Pence collection on or near the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, celebrated last Thursday. Up until some years ago the Peter's Pence collection went to support the Holy See, especially in times of deficit. Now the money goes to charitable purposes the pope chooses, especially relief for those who have suffered because of natural disasters, war, and oppression. The Holy Father also uses Peter's Pence funds to help poverty-stricken dioceses and religious communities, the poor, children, the elderly, missions, and Christian humanitarian work. In recent years the donations from Peter's Pence have, among many other things, assisted indigenous farming communities in Latin America and have helped to fight drought and desertification in Africa. In the last ten years U.S. Catholics have contributed $175 million to the Peter's Pence. In recent years the donations from Peter's Pence have, among many other things, assisted indigenous farming communities in Latin America and have helped to fight drought and desertification in Africa. In the last ten years U.S. Catholics have contributed $175 million to the Peter's Pence. Saint Paul offers some powerful reasons why the Christian community should be generous in supporting the ministries of the church. Be generous as Jesus has been generous with you in becoming poor for you. In other words, giving to others is an act of gratitude to our Lord who has done so much and given so much for us. It is an act of worship, not merely something we do for another. It is no accident that our Eucharist is a thanksgiving in which we join ourselves to Christ's self-offering. But Paul does not ask us to utterly impoverish ourselves and our families. His appeal to Christ's poverty serves to inspire us. He is really making a simple argument of equality: "Your abundance at the present time should supply their needs, so that their abundance may also supply your needs." In other words, it only makes sense that those who have more than enough should share with those who have less than enough. What's more, he says, we who live in abundance never know when the tables may be turned: Someday we may find ourselves depending on those who now depend on us. Paul asks us to help bring about that time where abundance and need meet on common ground, where people neither have too much or too little. "Whoever," he quotes, "had much did not have more, and whoever had little did not have less." Most of us will never go on a mission trip to another part of the world. But today we have the opportunity to assist the work of the church in places where it is needed most. By contributing to the Peter's Pence, we have the opportunity to express our union with the pope in the life-giving mission of the church. To those who fear, who suffer, who lack hope, who may think death and destruction have the last word, we can, with Jesus, say, "Do not be afraid; just have faith"—faith in the goodness of God, the goodness of life, and the goodness of those who belong to God's church.

Authors Joel Schorn

Special occasion Peter's Pence Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15 Mark 5:21-43

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Word of the Week

22 December 2024

Crèche

\'kresh \

French for “crib”; popular name for the Nativity scene displayed in the Christmas season, typically with sculptural figures of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the manger, shepherds, Magi, and farm animals. This tradition began with Saint Francis of Assisi, who celebrated Christmas in a barn with animals, as Jesus did.

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