{"id":570,"date":"2015-11-07T09:31:34","date_gmt":"2015-11-07T14:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stpeterstoronto.ca\/main\/?p=570"},"modified":"2016-11-22T15:31:32","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T20:31:32","slug":"a-very-unpopular-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpeterstoronto.ca\/main\/2015\/11\/07\/a-very-unpopular-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"A Very Unpopular Homily!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"giving\"<\/a>If any of you happened to be at the 11:15 Sunday Mass a few weeks ago, you will know that I got a little teary-eyed during the Mass. This happened after the homily when I called Sister Ann of the Franciscan Missionaries up so that we could say good-bye to her as she was preparing to depart Toronto and return to her community\u2019s motherhouse in Montreal. She will be going to live in the community\u2019s convalescence wing. At eighty-four years of age, Sister Ann spoke to me openly about the fact that she was going to face the final part of her journey on earth. Sister Ann had been a member of this parish community since 1969 and had worked very closely with some of the poor in our parish. Now the reason I got teary-eyed when I called her forward is not because she has been a friend of mine for many years. In fact, I have only known her for the little more than four months that I have been pastor here. In the short time that I have known her, I have really only spoken to her a few times. What made me teary-eyed was the beautiful donation that she made to the parish\u2019s Winter Welcome Table as she was departing. Sister Ann had received a few gifts before her departure from Toronto. Although she herself has very little as an individual, she came to see me before she left and said that she wanted to donate the gifts that she had received as going away presents to the parish\u2019s Winter Welcome Table because she wanted to feed the poor. Her generosity and care for the poor moved me greatly. Her simple and beautiful gesture was a powerful statement about her mission as a Franciscan Missionary and the call to care for the poor that is at the heart of her community\u2019s charism. Her generosity reminded me very much of that generosity that is shown by the poor widow in today\u2019s Gospel as she gives from the little that she has to care for the Temple.<\/p>\n

The theme running through all of this Sunday\u2019s readings is generosity and the way in which we are called to give back to God from that which we have received. In the first reading from the Book of Kings, the prophet Elijah asks a poor widow to feed him from the little that she has. Although she is at first hesitant, Elijah promises her that her jar of flour will never go empty if she trusts in God and cares for God\u2019s prophet. The Psalm asks that we should praise God for how generous He has been to us. Each time that we come to the Eucharist, we are invited to give thanks to God for all of the blessings that He has bestowed upon us through the death of His Son. The second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews speaks of the nature of God\u2019s generosity as it speaks of God\u2019s sending His Son to die for our sins so that He might intercede for us before His heavenly Father in Heaven. Finally, in the Gospel, we hear of the generous widow who donates from the little that she has to support the Temple and care of God\u2019s house. Jesus holds up her generosity as a model to those who are gathered in the Temple. Whether we like it or not, one of the lessons of this Sunday\u2019s Gospel message is that we are all called to support God\u2019s temple by donating generously. In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/strong> teaches that among the precepts of the Church is the fact that the \u201cfaithful have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his (or her) abilities\u201d<\/em> (CCC # 2043).<\/p>\n

Some of you might not know this, but the parish has a website. Whenever it is my turn to preach, I try to put my homily online so that it is also on the website for people to read. Each week, I try to give the homily a title so that people will consider reading it. This week I have given the homily the title \u201cA Very Unpopular Homily.\u201d<\/em> Nobody likes a homily on money. The truth is that I hate giving them. In the twenty-three years that I have been a priest, I have only had to do this once before. This is only the second time that I have had to give such a homily. It is my great hope that I will not have to do so again. The only reason that I am giving it is because I have to do so right now.<\/p>\n

The very simple fact is that our parish does not have the money to continue paying its bills.<\/p>\n

Since arriving here at the parish there have been a number of repairs that have had to be made. There were open holes in the rectory\u2019s roof where animals were coming and going. If left un-repaired, the damage would have only gotten worse. These repairs will cost about $25,000.00. There were more than twenty broken windows in the rectory and church which had been fixed only with duck-tape. If left un-repaired for the winter, these would have cracked and broken completely open. These repairs cost over $5,000.00. These are not repairs that are in any way luxurious. They are simple and necessary expenditures that were absolutely necessary for the upkeep of the property and buildings.<\/p>\n

Many people have no idea how much it can cost to run a parish. In the New Year it is my intention to have the Finance Committee report to you regularly. However, today, I would like to give you just a small example of some of the costs of running your parish.<\/p>\n