Sunday Homily, September 1, 2013, 22nd Ordinary Time C
Readings:
Sirach 3, 17-18, 28-29, Conduct your affairs with humility.
Psalm 68, God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.
Hebrews 12, 18-19, 22-24, You have approached Mount Zion.
Luke 14, 1, 7-14, Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.
Sirach observations
Author : The author is
Sirach or Joshua, a Jewish scribe. The
book of 51 chapters is one of the “in between books,” more or less 12 of them. In other words, their genuiness is
questioned. The Catholic Church accepts
them; the Protestants don’t.
Date:
about 200 years before Christ.
Subject: Ethics, norms for good Jewish living. For example, “Do not compliment a person on
his good looks,” (11, 2), or “Never abandon an old friend; you will never find
a new one who can take his place,” (9, 10), or “Friendship is like wine, it
gets better as it gets older,” (9, 10), or Don’t prevent the poor from making a
living, or keep them waiting in their need,” (4,1).
Today’s subject: Humility.
Sources: Good News Bible
Invite the
poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.
I would like to speak on the line about inviting the poor and crippled rather
than my friends and wealthy neighbors.
To give meaning to the idea, and in remembrance of 9/11, I would like to tell a true story about a
Delta flight.
Some of you may have seen the story Friday in the blog. It is quite touching. For those who did not read the story, let me
fill you in. It has a lot to say about inviting people and 9/11.
The day is 9/11. Delta 15 is
about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, Germany on its homebound run to Atlanta. A flight attendant is telling the story.
The plane is over the north Atlantic when the pilots tell her to come
straight to the flight deck. She enters
and notices the team is all business.
They tell her that they have been informed that all U.S. airports are
closed to commercial traffic. Land as
quickly as possible wherever possible.
They turn back 400 miles and land at Gander, New Foundland. About 20 other planes are already on the
ground. Time is around 11:00 A.M.
They did not inform the passengers about the real reason for the odd landing
while in the air. On the ground they
give them the real reason, though they only knew that some planes had been
hijacked. In an hour 53 planes are packed on the runway, 10 thousand people in
a town of 10 thousand.
They are treated well, but have to spend the night on the plane and are finally informed they may deplane at
11:00. Promptly at
11:00 a convoy of school buses arrives and everyone exits and is passed through
immigration.
At this point the crew gets taken to a hotel in Gander and the
passengers disappear. That evening they
discover the reality. They remain in
Gander two days.
At the end of the two days, everyone is reunited and they board Delta
15. It turns out the passengers are actually
in a really congenial mood, calling each other by first names, sharing their
experiences, exchanging phone numbers, and even crying over the hospitality.
What happen? All of Gander and
the neighboring villages welcomed them with open arms. They cleared space, housing, school buildings, auditoriums,
everything. Schools were closed and the
students were told to play host. Food
was provided, hiking trips took place, boat trips, visits to cafes and
bakeries.
The passengers had been put up by the inhabitants of a little village
called Lewisporte.
Once airborne again, a passenger approached this flight attendant and
asked if he might use the mike. Normally
prohibited, but because of the spirit and the uniqueness of the experience she
said, “Of course.”
The man, a doctor from Virginia, says to everybody that because of the
extraordinary hospitality of the people he would like to propose that a college
fund for the students be set up. He
would be willing to establish it and he said he would match the amount. After passing the hat, $14,000 was collected,
which he matched.
As of today a million and a half has been raised and over 100 kids have
received help with college.
What do you think? Hospitality? Yes, over the
top.
Gratitude? Yes, over the top.
Rare? No. I
saw it this summer in Des Moines, Iowa.
I saw it a week ago in Wichita Falls.
You, where do you see hospitality and gratitude? When do you show it?
Source:
Download Delta 15 & 9-11, 8-30-13