Homily: Feast of St. Margaret of Scotland
Feast of St. Margaret of Scotland (Lk. 19:1-10) “Generous or Self Serving?”
When we hear the story of Zacchaeus in today’s Gospel it seems like a very appropriate passage as we commemorate St. Margaret of Scotland. St. Margaret, after all is one of the royal saints of the church. These saints represent kings and queens in history who have used their power to help those in most need. Many of them lived rather austere lives themselves. A lot of them tried to give everything away.
We have a lot of wealthy people in our world today. A few of them are into philanthropy. It seems like some of these people are lauded for being so generous. But the thing we notice is that many do not give up their own lavish tastes. What they give to charity is the extra money that they have.
Quite often these monies are put into a foundation or some other financial trust and the money that the trust generates beyond the principle is given away. Now this is all well and good, but a couple things should be considered.
One is whether giving away extra income and writing that off our taxes is really making a sacrifice for others. The money we give is better than not giving at all, but we probably should not feel that we are as virtuous as we might think. What we give away is not all we have to live on.
Another thing to consider is whether what we give is a matter of charity or justice. If someone is hungry or does not have a roof over their head and we have more than what we need then does what we have really belong to us? Jesus would probably say that the poor have a claim on our excess wealth.
I can’t say that I don’t have savings and that I don’t worry about finances. Like Zacchaeus, I feel quite small at times. I wish I could give more and trust more. Zacchaeus realized when he looked Jesus in the face he could do more. If we look a poor person in the face and see Christ, then we realize we might be able to do more.
Reflection Questions:
- What is my attitude toward the poor? Are they poor because they don’t try hard enough?
- Do I tend to give excess funds away? Does my charity hurt a little?
Dear Parishioners,
This week the Bishops of the United States are gathering in Baltimore for their semi-annual meeting. This is the first time they have been able to gather in person for about two years. Bishop Lou is there so it is nice that Peoria has a place at the table.
At this meeting there will be a discussion on the Eucharist. Everyone realizes that far fewer people are going to Mass today. That can only weaken the community of the church and our relationship to Jesus.
The bishops need to come up with some inspiring words and show some compassion as pastors. Let’s pray that they can to that. We need some strong leadership, but mostly we need the bishops to show what it means to be loving shepherds.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark