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Self-Help, Not Self-Storage, for the Poor

This is a summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily delivered at St. Charles on November 21, 2004, the Feast of Christ the King

IN THE WORDS OF the Opening Prayer for the Feast of Christ the King, "Open our hearts, free all the world to rejoice in his peace, to glory in his justice, to live in his love."

We have a strange king. His crown was not gold, but thorns. He wore royal purple, yet they stripped him and cast lots for his garments. As King he would be the eternal judge. They sat him on the judgment seat in Pilate's palace, not to judge but to be judged. The victorious conqueror would enter his capital with horse drawn chariot; Jesus took Jerusalem on a donkey. His throne, a cross.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords exercised his leadership in vulnerability.

The burden of his teaching was God's Kingdom, a time of compassion. His ministry gave evidence of the word. He touched the untouchable and became himself the excommunicated one, outside the city gates at the end. He sought out the outcast, the leper, the marginalized and in his death had two criminals for company.

Some of the world's great leaders had first to suffer. Mandela had his years in jail. Mother Teresa drew spiritual power from the dying poor.

One of my American heroes had his birthday last week, Bobby Kennedy. Even his friends saw him in his early years as an arrogant, hawkish and ruthless young man. His profound grief at his brother's death hastened a transformation that had already begun. In his anguish he developed a capacity to identify with victims of suffering and injustice from Appalachia to South Africa.

Last week I stood with his widow at his graveside and read on the stone the words of the writer Aeschylus. He had sought meaning by studying the Greek classics. These were the words he quoted by heart in the inner city of Indianapolis as he broke the news of Martin Luther King's assassination to an angry inner city: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

The church is called to follow a suffering King. We are the community that proclaims his kingdom of justice.

Our bishops have chosen this feast as the day to promote the Campaign for Human development. Like our leader we are found in solidarity with the poor and oppressed of the land.

The Metro section of Saturday's Washington Post reported; "A Waldorf woman was arrested at her workplace yesterday, and two of her daughters, aged 4 and 5, were placed in the care of social workers after the girls were found locked in a storage shed where the family had been living for a week. Felicia Dorsey, 33, had been living with the girls in a shed since Nov.11 after being evicted from her apartment." She was arrested at the Dash Inn where she works as a clerk. The self-storage site manager commented, "It's sad that we live in a society where this happens. I'm sure this woman had to work and could not afford childcare. She just made a bad decision."

This poignant story dramatizes the plight of the working poor and the homeless. Twenty thousand people walked yesterday to develop support for the homeless. Through groups like Christ House and Borromeo Housing the church provides shelter. Today's Campaign says we must do more. We need to promote solutions to the root causes of poverty and homelessness by self-help projects and community organization.

Gates of Arlington, in the shadow of the cathedral is a case in point. When the renters there were threatened by displacement because their property was to be sold commercially, BRAVO helped them organize. With the County's backing the community will be rehabbed in a way that will preserve at least a modicum of affordable rentals for the tenants. This illustrates the type of effort CHD supports.

May we who announce Jesus as King of Creation be the first to make the pain of our sisters and brothers our own.

  or  2004 Homilies