Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B: Laudato Si Sunday
Readings: Deut 4:1-2; James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 21-23
1 September 2024
Laudato Si Sunday – that we may become catalysts for global action
Dear friends,
We live in perilous times. Last week, on behalf of the bishops of Australia, I launched the Annual Social Justice Statement calling on Catholics and all people of good-will to build a culture of truth-telling and peace-making. In the midst of worsening spiral of violence and the deepening polarisation, we cannot be resigned to indifference and pessimism. Each of us can do our part to nurture relationships that are based on mutual trust and respect on which a healthy society and a peaceful world can be built.
We have the cry of despair from people who are made to feel worthless and devoid of basic human dignity. The young asylum seeker who immolated himself last week was a tragic reminder of the inhumane and cruel system in which many like him are left utterly broken. As Christians, we have a duty to work towards public policies that enshrine the best of our traditions rather than the worst of our natures.
Finally, we have the cry of Mother Earth, experienced through the triple planetary crisis of climate change, loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation. It is the result of what Pope Francis calls the throwaway culture. If we want a different world, we must become a different people. As people of the Good News, we are catalysts for a world transformed by a sense of united humanity, shared vision and deep solidarity.
Scriptures this Sunday challenge us to be the people of love and compassion. Jesus confronts attitudes and practices that conform but do not transform. He calls us to rise to the challenge of a new way of thinking and acting that brings about personal and collective transformation.
He indicts the legalism, self-righteousness, and exclusivism that keeps people from truly loving God and loving their neighbours. What he calls out is the elevation of external observance over interior transformation, customs over values, ritual over compassion. What he grieves is the compulsive need to police the boundaries of religion, based on narrow definitions of purity and piety. It is this narrow legalism that clearly delineates who is “in” and who is “out,” who is clean and who is unclean, who deserves God’s favour and who doesn’t. It is a religion that draws a line in the sand and excludes those defined as unworthy of God’s love and compassion.
Jesus challenges all of us to a new way of living which is much more than adhering to the letter of the law. He invites us to go deeper. It is an invitation to practice what the apostle James in the second reading calls “pure religion.” It is a religion of right relationships. It is the interiorisation of who we believe God to be. It is the embodiment of God’s compassion for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. It is the realisation of the kingdom vision of Jesus in the world, one that is more inclusive, fraternal, peaceful and life-flourishing for all.
Reflecting on the Gospel in the context of the planetary crisis, we must turn our attention to the way we live and operate. In a world that is threatened with pollution, depletion of precious resources, loss of biodiversity and of healthy conditions for life itself, can we go on living the way we are used to without a terrible legacy to our children? Is it time for us to think and act inter-generationally instead of the limited horizons we are enslaved to? Is the ecological crisis a time for a paradigm shift in order to move into a future of hope and abundance for all?
Dear friends,
Jesus taught us to live in right relationships with everyone and everything around us. This knowledge demands a new politics of inclusion and communion. It equips us to avoid both excessive individualism and the aggressive populism that thrives on identifying enemies at home and abroad. Pope Francis insists that living in harmony with all is the key to future-proof the planet. He calls this a new fraternity.
The fraternity that we are called to live and to signal to the world of the new social ordering is not merely a rejection of individualism. It is about a way of life that is based on reciprocal and interconnected relationships. It is inherent in the indigenous wisdom which acknowledges the radical independence and reciprocity within diverse webs of life. Thus, fraternity is a mindset and practice of community and a circular, harmonious relationship with all life and nature. involves personal, familial, communal and cosmic harmony, and finds expression in a communitarian approach to existence, the ability to find joy and fulfillment in an austere and simple life, and a responsible care of nature that preserves resources for the future generations. Let us pray that we may become catalysts for global action in the way that Pope Francis has so prophetically challenged us in his encyclical Laudato Si. May we have the courage to move to the new future where God beckons. May we show the alternative pathway of hope, justice and sustainability against the ingrained culture of denial, fear and defence of the status quo.
