Homily Feast of Saint Damian (2021)

Homily Feast of Saint Damien (2021)

Pope Francis has said on more than one occasion, “The Shepherd should smell like the sheep.”  In other words, a pastor is not to live apart from the people he ministers too. A minister should not consider themselves better than the people that they serve. Too often, clericalism seeps into the church where the priest or minister is considered privileged, and they are not to be held to account.

Damien is a concrete example of a priest who smelled like his sheep.  Damien de Veuster was born in 1840 in Belgium.  His father was a corn merchant.  Young Damien dreamed of being a priest.  He followed his brother into the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in 1860.  His brother was supposed to go to Hawaii, but when he fell ill Damien volunteered to go in his place.

He was ordained in Hawaii when he arrived in 1864.  He began his missionary work, which was most challenging. The natives fell ill to many of the diseases the Europeans brought with them.  One terrible disease that the native population contracted was leprosy.  The only way to treat the disease at the time was to quarantine the lepers.  They were sent to the island of Malokai. No priest wanted to go to this island because once you were there you might never return. 

Damien arrived at Malokai in 1873.  Damien told the lepers that he had come to be their father.  He ministered to them.  He built a hospital, a church and supervised the building of a town. His work was exhausting.  Death was a constant companion of the lepers, but Damien brought hope.  He prayed each day that he would be one with the lepers. 

The smell of the lepers was difficult to stomach.  Damien smoked a pipe to help him cope. One day he noticed a white patch on his skin.  He had become one with his lepers and he began to smell like rotting flesh. 

He died in 1889 after 16 years with the lepers.  He became famous the world over for his unselfish devotion.

Reflection Questions:

1.  What can I learn from Damien’s story?  Does his story challenge me to be more devoted to Christ?
2. Damien’s Christian vocation led him all the way to the other side of the world?  Where has my Christian vocation lead me?

Dear Parishioners,

          Kate Schaefer will be leaving our parish office at the end of the week. She has been our parish receptionist and has done a great job.  She could have been content to answer phones and the doors which she did well, but I have asked her to take on other responsibilities through my seven years here.  One of the things that I have asked her to do is to update our webpage and to work with some of our technology.  It is great to have someone on staff who has taken care of this day to day.

          Another responsibility she agreed to take up when the pandemic began was to post my daily reflections. This involved editing and posting.  Hopefully, these reflections have been valuable during this difficult time.

          We will miss Kate.  And we wish her well in her new job at Trinity Hospital.  She will leave us this Friday.

          May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints watch over you.

          Fr. Mark