Catholic Audio Media Newsletter from St. Anthony Allston, MA
Catholic Audio Media Newsletter from St. Anthony Allston, MA
Homily: We All Have an Active Role in the Church
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Homily: We All Have an Active Role in the Church

What would you do.

Today’s second reading continues with Peter and he talks to us about who we are now. A lot of people, especially in the media, when they want to describe Catholics, they use a term that is completely incorrect. It is not surprising. As a matter of fact, in one time, there was one of those, keep the faith change, the church groups and what they were doing is they were sending out press releases to push force their agenda and we found reporters that would change a few words put their name on it and publish it as a story.

So what was happening is a lot of this information is coming out of these change the church, keep the faith groups. They would advocate that it is time we change the idea that the role of the laity in the church is to pay pray and obey.

That's a lie that has never been the role of the laity in the church. It never will be the world of the laity of the church and you can see that in St. Peter because what does he talk about? He says that the role of all of us in the church is priest, prophet and King. Now there's the priesthood of the laity, the priesthood of the ordained, they are different roles. They're not a case where it's my job to do to be the priest your job to bow and scrape to everything I say. That's ridiculous. But there are people that will teach that not from the church but outside the church.

Peter gives another example, he gives an ancient image of the Church and that is of a tower that is built and all the stones that build the Tower represent the people in the church and that is actually the real image the church that we’re supposed to follow.

No, I'm going to change that image because Peter is writing in the first century and granted the first century these things did exist, but not the way they do now. We have new technology that came to us in the 18th century that we can update a bit and that is the lighthouse. It's a tower, the light we can call the Light of Christ but still the entire Tower is built of the people of the Church. So all of us have a role in being the light to others. All of us has a role as priest, prophet and monarchs. So it's not a case of we're simply on a bus, a another example, where the priest of the bishops are driving and they bring us to heaven. We all have an active role in living our faith and being the church and that's what we're called to do. So, wherever we go, we represent the Church and we represent the teachings of Christ to all those around us.

Now, I want you to think of what I just said, and let's put it into a practical way.

You saw the incident that happened with the man who died on the subway train in New York now, coincidentally enough, I was in New York about three weeks ago. I was on a subway train and someone not the same guy came in and he talked about being homeless and needing money and everything else that happens all the time down there. It happens up here too. But you saw that whole story that the man died. He was restrained, he wasn't restrained properly, but he was restrained and he died. A lot of people are making manyy comments about this and they're saying things, some of the stuff I've heard is blatantly sinful. Some of the stuff I've heard is pretty bad.

So let's have a little idea of who this guy was. He's described as a person who was homeless, he was looking for food, he was acting up. He was acting on his unhinged said the man who was taking the video. He had been in prison in and out of prison and he was therefore terrifying people.

Let me tell you the true story. One of the things they say about him was he was a Michael Jackson impersonator. Yes, he was at one time in his life when he was a young kid. He was in his early teens and he was a Michael Jackson impersonator.

He never knew his father and he lived with his stepfather and his mother. His step father, murdered his mother in a way that that literally is similar to what you see in R-rated horror movies, a horrible situation. It was a very gruesome murder and disposal of the body. He came home to discover that and had a complete mental breakdown from which he never recovered. he suffered from severe PTSD, obviously depression and he also suffered from schizophrenia. I don't know if that was genetic or part of the incident that happened.

Now, here's one of the things that that it's important to know. He had been living on the streets. He had been in jail. One of the reasons why was in jail was he got in trouble. Another reason is jail is where our society treats people with mental illnesses.

So, here is what happens. He was living on the street. If you are taking medication for schizophrenia, it destroys your kidneys. So, you have to get regular dialysis, he wasn't getting dialysis. So he probably wasn't taking his medication. So that's who this guy was. My question to you, as a stone in the church. If you were on that subway train, what would you have done?

There are several things you could have done. One of them is if you had no idea what to do is you get away from the situation and call 911. If you do know what to do which, unfortunately the Marine did not, there's a way to act in such a way to deescalate those kind of people give them what they need. Then see if they can get medical help immediately because he was in a medical emergency.

But the question is, as people who are a part of this Tower, as people who are Representatives Christ, as people who take it, as part of our duty, to pray every day and ask the Lord, to show us how to do his work, something to reflect on when you're having supper or tomorrow morning at breakfast, if you were on that train, what would you have done?

And in light of that may I advise that the Marine tried to do something. He actually didn't know you never ever touch anyone in the neck, he didn't know that. But what would you have done as Servants of Christ? As parts of the stone remember one other story from St. Augustine. There was a man that St. Augustine absolutely despised and he despised him so much he personally wanted to cast him into hell.

He felt the Lord say to him: “I died for that person, you find a way to take care of him.”  

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