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This Fr. Gerry Creedon homily was delivered at St. Charles on September 8, 2002
This weekend our parish celebrates the parish center ground breaking, which is an historic event in the life of St. Charles. I would like to place this in the context of the upcoming week, which is the remembrance of a day of infamy in the history of the United States and perhaps in the world. All of us who have lost loved ones, especially recently, in a special way empathize with the grief of the families of the victims of 9-11 and sympathize with the conviction of the mourners that the victims not be forgotten. As a church today we join with others in remembering and in grieving.
9-11 gave rise to a war on terrorism that has produced its own unremembered victims in a campaign that is apparently unending and now ever expanding. A new chapter in the ethics of war may be added. Preemptive strike. It is important for us to include all of the "collateral damage" of this war on terrorism in our prayers, whether they are Americans or the many others who have lost their lives in the aftermath of 9-11. Let's pray that this destructiveness may soon come to an end.
Destruction and grief compounded by violence tear people apart and tear our world apart. It is too easy to dismiss these horrors as the mystery of evil at work. We as a church need to look for alternatives. Our church leaders are so engrossed with the sixth and ninth commandments that they have little to say about the fifth. Yet God's people need to find alternative ways of response to violence other than the glorification and justification of further violence.
Yesterday I received an invitation from the Mosque in Falls Church to join them this coming Saturday. They are having an open house and a food festival. The Imam wants to present a plaque to me in the name of St. Charles. A year ago we were there to offer some understanding in a situation that was very difficult for law-abiding Muslims. I invite members of the church to attend on Saturday, 9/14, at 2:00 PM at Row Street and Route 7, West of St Anthony's.
The actions of members of this parish in reaching out are reflective of our mission statement, which is posted at the entrance of the Church. It identifies St. Charles as a community of diverse cultures. This coming Wednesday we will commemorate 9-11. This parish led by some of our lay people took the initiative in engaging various religious congregations in our area to participate in an interfaith service of hope here at St. Charles at 7:30 PM. Up to 20 different congregations have responded including the Synagogue and the Mosque.
It is not just on special occasions where we see this commitment to diversity. In the ordinary life of the St. Charles parish you see the marks of unity in diversity.
This is one of the first parishes that established a Latin American community as part of its ministry. We have a strong Latin American membership who feel at home here. During the last couple of years we have seen a number of our Filipino parishioners organize themselves to celebrate their traditions at Christmas time and to reach out to the health needs in the Philippines. We also have a commitment to our sister parishes in Haiti. Our school represents 40 different language groups.
It is not just a diversity of language and culture that creates St. Charles but also a diversity of age. We have a strong concentration of older parishioners and retirement homes in our parish that enrich us. At the same time we have a large number of young adults. Come to our new Sunday 6:00 PM mass and you will find that 80% of the congregation are in their 20's and 30's, a remarkable phenomenon in this day and age.
It's a challenge to be diverse and yet one. One problem is how do we all get together? We don't necessarily rub elbows with the communicants here after 1:00 PM Mass on a Sunday. Where can we get together and in what space? Part of the purpose of the community center is to bring together all that diversity so we can socialize and be a community across the lines of culture, language, and age.
The Gospel today tells us that it was the fundamental intention of Jesus to gather people. Where one or two gather or where hundreds and thousands gather surely we have a sign that He is with us. The establishment of a parish community center over this next year is an opportunity for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the mission of St. Charles: to gather and to form a unity in our diversity. This call is not just for us but for our larger society. We want not only a parish center but a parish community center that reaches to a world that is so fractured.
As we come today to gather around the Eucharist, let us say yes again to that call to build a world of peace and understanding through the methods of non-violence and understanding so that the light of love might conquer the darkness of destructiveness and violence.
Let's stand in faith.
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or 2002
Homilies
Revised/reviewed September 19,
2002