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This Fr. Gerry Creedon homily was delivered at St. Charles on June 23, 2002
My father had a gold finch, which he kept, in a cage. He started every day by feeding and talking to the gold finch. He also whistled to the gold finch, and the gold finch whistled back. He always said that he taught the bird the "Bells of the Angelus".
My father had a heart attack and went into the hospital and during the week he was away, the gold finch died. My mother knew my father would be disappointed coming back from the hospital and not finding his gold finch in the cage so she went out and bought an identical gold finch and said nothing. My father came down, whistled to the gold finch but she did not respond at all. So he tried a second time with the "Bells of the Angelus" and then he turned to my mother and asked if that was his gold finch. She then had to admit what had happened. He accepted the situation, but the second gold finch never sang like the first.
Jesus Loves Us in All Our Particularity
My father, like a lot of you, appreciated creation and the birds. Often times Jesus mentions the birds his preaching. In more than one place he talks about the birds of the air. In today's gospel He talks about two sparrows. In the old translation the two sparrows aren't worth a farthing. Yet the Father notices the fall of one of the sparrows. Then Jesus declares, if God cares about the birds of the air, YOU are worth more than many sparrows. You too are God's unique creation. In other texts, we read that the hairs of your head are numbered by God. The Creator knows you in your own uniqueness and in your own particularity just the way you are. Many of us, especially teenagers, are not happy with the way we are. When we have straight hair we want it to be curly. We want what we don't have. Jesus says he loves us in all our particularity and uniqueness.
God makes us, creates us, and blesses us with a unique dignity and a unique worth. I was sharing this message at Brighton Gardens where many of the congregation were 80+ years old. Even the men agreed that their dignity did not depend on bringing home the big money. We don't find our dignity in our status, our success, or our accumulation of material things.
This explains why the Church is called to take special care of children and the elderly. We have a unique dignity just by our existence. We don't have to prove or create anything to be worthwhile.
This evening our parish celebrates Borromeo Housing. An organization focused on caring for children who are vulnerable and mothers who are struggling. The dignity of all life needs to be protected.
Also the church gets to celebrate the Supreme Court's action this past week in exempting mentally retarded people from the death penalty. The church was an advocate for this ruling in its insistence on sensitivity to the dignity of all life.
On this June day with God's sunshine all around, let's celebrate God's creation. In this Eucharist may we take the elements of creation, bread and wine, and offer them with all of creation in a song of praise like the birds.
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or 2002
Homilies
Revised/reviewed June 20, 2002