Praise be Jesus Christ.
Grazie Signore per la nostra Paese di Canada! Thank You Lord for our Country of Canada.
Carissima famiglia, my dearest family, Happy Canada Day.
Blessings on you on this day.
Boy, the Word of God is quite striking today, is it not, huh? These are not special readings tied to this celebration of Canada Day, but they seem to apply quite strongly and prophetically. Amos speaking to us: come on, “Look and seek for good, not evil, so that you may live. Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate”. This continues our reading of Amos from yesterday, I paraphrase,
“Look at what’s going on all around you. Do you think this punishment and this struggle that is going on in your nation comes out of thin air.” He might say to us: do you think these problems arise from the movement of economic forces? Of world-wide problems beyond us?
We think that God has little to do with our challenges. Boh, things happen. Really? It takes two hands to clap. When couples are having problems … indeed, the source of issues might weigh more on one side than the other … but it does not ultimately matter. You still have to have two hands to clap.
God is saying to Israel and to us, “Open your eyes.” The problem is that you think it’s all just up to you to fix what is broken because you are the only one in this relationship. You aren’t walking with me. You don’t see the signs that are all around you that tell you these things are all happening because I am involved in your life. “The Lord God has spoken. I overthrew some of you” did I not? Look at Sodom and Gomorrah. I was at work with all of those people, and I saved you. I brought you to this country. I gave you birth in this country. Just think of the places you could be born. Ask the people who come from other countries that are torn by war and violence, and here we are, plucked and living it now in this country. How amazing”.
The Lord has spoken to us and told us the deep truth of our situation: “So this is what I will do to you. Because I will do to you: prepare to meet your God. Seek good and do evil. I hate and despise your festivals.” I hate your military and protest parades, I hate your assemblies, and your fireworks. Even though “you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings”, even though you look at your GDP and bask in your freedom and democracy, and you think that your taxes are charity enough … “I will not accept them. And the big towers that you build, the “communion offerings of your fatted animals. I will not look upon them. Take from me the noise of your songs, all your empty words.” I’m not going to listen to your melody anymore. Let justice – not bias, not human thinking – flow. Let righteousness be an ever-flowing stream.
God’s Word through Amos …boy could this give me headwind for a really angry homily about Canada. But is that what is called for today? More frustration and anger? I mean, we live in some very strange times, and we know more about it because we’ve got social media bombarding us with the times. Strange times of utter division. Our melodies that we sing are the news reports that have nothing to do with anything new…I don’t know why they call it news. It isn’t new. It’s the old stuff… Every day worse and worse and worse. And boy do we let division hold our attention. We let a society that no longer walks with God sing its song through us. Right? How do we see this happening in us? We see it in our becoming bitter and angry and divisive. We see this when we get into situations where justice and right living, does not flows.
Look at today’s Catholic sadness. I’m so scandalized by the arrogance of Catholics who at the very moment when the Church is experiencing a renewal of its Liturgy in the light of tradition, these excommunicates [the Society of St. Pius X] thump their chests and say, “Oh, but [this liturgical renewal] is not the way we want. We are going to consecrate some bishops”. They did hear the question, “Do you have the apostolic mandate?” which means, “Have you got the letter from the Pope saying you can do this?” They did indeed receive letter from Pope Leo who pleaded with them, “Don’t do this,” But in their arrogance they replied, “Our mandate comes from God.” Hmm. Division and sadness in the Church.
The other thing today cuts to the heart of Canadian Constitution. Our blessed— God have mercy on him— King has now denied himself the title of “Defender of the Faith”. Now he’s going to be “Defender of a space for people to live faith in whatever way they want” … whatever that means. Excuse my dripping sarcasm? But Amos would be shouting at the top of his lungs at all of this.
And then in the midst of all of this division today, at prayer I said to myself, “Hold on a minute. Is my response to be angry? That comes from sadness. Is my response to be divisive?” Is that a word for Canada Day that misses the point as much as unmerited partying? Hmm.
I hear so much anger and division and sadness in the confessional. What does the Lord say to us who are so blessed, and because we are so blessed, have lost sight of who is the Blesser is and whence the blessing has come? He does not ask us to turn to fighting and arguing and being divisive and judgmental. It is this. [picks up a printed psalm] I read this from Psalm 27 as I was handing it to someone in the confessional. “When evil doers assail me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and foes, they shall stumble and fall; though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I ask of the Lord…” that my enemies be defeated? No. That my ideas be vindicated? No. That Canada return to a sanity that we knew in the past? No. …The psalmist says and Jesus prays. “One thing I ask of the Lord: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His holy temple.“ That is what Jesus wants us to pray with Him. That’s what we ask today.
I want to dwell in and with You, Lord. I want to know beauty that You know. I want to know my own beauty that only You can reveal. I want to be given Your eyes, I want to dwell within You, so that I can see and live with beauty and joy and love in this world. O I know this will not make me meek, but it will change the tone of my voice. I will not voice bitter words of disappointment. It will not voice the empty platitudes of a society that wants to be nice and accommodating as it walks off of a cliff. It will be the voice of love. The voice of love that looks at people and sees their heart as God sees them and sees their need and responds with love and prayer and care.
This will happen when we ask of God one thing: to dwell in His house/
Behold Canada. Behold, brothers and sisters. The Lord has decided to dwell in our house forever. Today as He comes in Word, as He gives us the taste of community, as He comes in His Holy Eucharist, He has chosen to live in our house all the days of His life. That means forever. And He sees our beauty, and we shine because we first look upon Him and His beauty and listen to His music and taste His love and work in His justice.
All you saints and blesseds of Canada, all you heavenly protectors of Canada, especially you, Most Blessed Virgin Mary, and you, Joseph, patron of this country, pray for us that we may be holy, that we may be saints.