32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time………The Price of Community
In the 21st century there seems to be an unfortunate trend. The trend is that there is a decline in social responsibility. Membership in service clubs is following off. We have churches that are merging together. Cities have a tough time getting qualified people to run for office. All our wonderful technology pushes us toward a feeling that it is easier to go it alone. This is to our detriment. We have higher rates of depression and suicide than ever before as we isolate ourselves from one another.
People used to belong to any number of communities in their life. Some we belong to simply by being alive. We are part of the Moline community by living here. We are citizens of the U.S. if we are born here. If we protract that idea out further, we are all citizens of the world.
We also have social organizations that we choose to be a part of. We might belong to the Lions club, the Elks Club, the Moose club, Kiwanis Club, Rotary etc. Many people have always belonged to churches. To be unchurched, was almost unheard of 50 years ago. Now, to belong to a church in our society, has become kind of an eccentric thing to do. For communities to sustain themselves their members must be willing to invest in them. Because people do not organizations suffer.
Today we celebrate Veteran’s Day. We here it said that we honor the sacrifices that veterans have made. But what were those? For nations to survive citizens must be willing to share themselves.
To really appreciate this, we cannot talk in broad generalities, but we must talk about specific examples. I have been intimately connected to three veterans in my life; my grandfather, a great uncle and my uncle. None of the three spoke much about their military service. Never did they complain about the time they served. Somehow, it seemed like they felt that they did their duty for the country as anyone should, but it cost them.
My grandfather was a veteran of WWI. He was deaf for most of his life. One can’t help but think that his loss of hearing had a lot to do with the bombs and big guns of the Great War. My great uncle was a medic in WWII. He served in North Africa, Italy, and Germany. He suffered from what we called shell shock. Today, it would be labeled PTSD. He lived next to our home in a small trailer. He would often wake in the middle of the night when there was a thunder storm. He would come to our house shaking and perspiring. He never married. He seemed afraid to worried about how his mental health would affect a spouse. My mother’s brother was a veteran of Korea. He suffered from trench foot after surviving the wet and freezing cold. In the winter he would limp around on his bad foot. Each of these my relatives paid the price of being citizen soldiers, but none of them talked much of their service for they thought they had simply done their duty.
To maintain a community, sacrifices must be made. This week we can also think of our parish. Where would we be if the immigrants who came to Moline at the turn of the 20th had not decided that they needed to band together to start a parish. All their hard-earned monies, built this parish church as well as our Catholic School System. Sisters and priests gave their lives so that we could have what we enjoy today. Families gave up luxuries so that parish debt could be paid, so much did they value their church community. Why? Because they believed church life was the most important thing in life. We need to be reminded of our heritage. We also need to remember what it takes to continue the mission of the church in Moline today.
Next week we will have Offertory Commitment Sunday. Each one of us is asked to reflect on our Offertory donation for the year. If we prayerfully do that our parish’s material needs will be met. You will be receiving a mailing this week explaining the process. The whole exercise should ultimately be a spiritual one. The sacrifice you choose to make is between you and God. No one, will send you a bill or keep track of your donation. I would ask you to bring back the card you receive next week. One part will go in a fire outside. The second will go in the collection. The third will be yours to keep. All of this, again, will be explained in the letter you will receive. Please read it carefully. There is also information about online giving.
We are the stewards of all that we have. The price of community sharing resources. We are asked to give back for what we have received. In the parable we heard in the Gospel today the oil that wise virgins had in their lamps represented all the charity they had done in their lives. Hopefully, our lamp is full because we realize that the price of community is self-surrender.