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This is a summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily delivered at St. Charles on June 27, 2004
HAVE YOU EVER come to Sunday mass dragging your feet? You had something else to do.
Today, Waterford plays in the final of the Munster Hurling Championship against Cork, my home county in Ireland. It will be shown at Flanagan's in DC at 11 am, when all of the Irish exiles will gather...just as we begin this Mass! I prayed for a double portion of the Spirit so that I would not inflict my pain on the 11 am congregation!
"No one who sets a hand to the plow and turns back is fit for the kingdom....Foxes have dens the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head…" these lines from today's gospel of Luke continue the theme of the earlier readings When called by Elisha, Elijah took his plow and made of it a fire on which he burned his yoke of oxen, left his farming and followed the prophet. The line we recited in the psalm sums up the message, "You are my inheritance, O Lord." We are confronted with the cost of discipleship.
Some months ago a woman from the parish who had recently lost her mother talked with me about a decision. She was about to discern her vocation and consider joining Sr. Benedict as a sister of St. Benedict. Now she faces the next step. She needs to sell her apartment, her car and sever employment with INOVA health system as a nurse. Some of her colleagues do not understand. To be a part of this wonderful order, an oasis of spirituality and pastoral care in our diocese, she needs to make painful decisions.
While it is clear that religious and missionaries pay a cost of discipleship, we sometimes forget that all of us as church members have a similar call, though in various ways.
Take a practical issue facing the church today, the question of homelessness. Ever since Mary, Joseph and Jesus were told, "No room at the inn!" Christians have been aware that sheltering the stranger and the homeless is a duty. So as a parish we are proud to have Borromeo Housing. Each year Fannie Mae sponsors a Walk for the Homeless in DC. Thousands walk under banners such as Catholics for Housing, Gabriel Homes, and Good Shepherd Housing. Our diocese funds Christ House. While services for the homeless are widely accepted, it is hard to take the next step.
Why are people homeless? While there are a variety of causes, a fundamental source is the increasing unavailability of affordable apartments. This scarcity not only affects the lowest income, it touches newly married couples who want to live in Arlington, as well as our teachers, firefighters, police and the maintenance staffs who clean our buildings. When projects that preserve our county's supply of affordable housing are proposed in our neighborhoods other interests and values sometimes get in the way: Will it affect my property values? How about traffic? Why cannot we keep things as they are? Etc etc. While all of these concerns are legitimate, we cannot easily dismiss the right to a decent home that needs to be enjoyed by all. It is easy for the jurisdiction to proclaim a policy of diversity; it is hard to implement it.
The Arlington Inter faith Council has requested the congregations of Arlington today to offer information on some upcoming projects. Our local First Baptist Church of Clarendon seeks the support of their neighbors here at St. Charles for their plans. They wish to renew their facilities, downsize their sanctuary, maintain their service to children and offer a measure of affordable housing. I ask you to give fair consideration to their plans and their request for support.
Whether it is a vocational discernment, a personal struggle in our lives, such as an addiction, or an issue that we need to grapple with, we would benefit from the resource offered by today's second reading, "Live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desires of the flesh." We want to do what is right and just, but our unredeemed side shows itself in our attachments and possessions. It is the Spirit that gives us the freedom to follow, even to Jerusalem.