Homily: Fr. Irving

Father Irving Gabriel Amaro Ramayo, CM

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

[This homily was given during the First International Gathering of the Advisors for the Vincentian Marian Youth Association (Paris, July 15-20, 2014)]

I am pleased to be able to celebrate this Eucharist, this act of thanksgiving in this chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Meal, the place that gave birth to our journey and the place where thousands of young men and women have focused their eyes because of the significance of Mary’s presence in their life. The presence of Mary in the life of the young people in many parts of world, young men and women who are members of the VMY or some other Marian Association that collaborates in the accomplishment of God’s plan … this presence of Mary instills in these young people a feeling of trust and confidence that a better world is possible.

We thank God for allowing us to gather together and we are also grateful for the presence of God in each and every one of you, for your response to the invitation to be here in Paris … and we are also grateful for all those persons who have made this meeting possible.

We are united by a common task: to accompany the young men and women and the advisors of the various countries who live in the midst of distinct realities, men and women of different ages, men and women with dreams and hopes … we accompany these persons so that they might find the path of joy and happiness as they minister on behalf of the less fortunate members of society and thus collaborate with the plan of love that has been entrusted to them. During these days we have the opportunity to share our life and our experiences in ministry and our concerns. Our faith in Jesus Christ invites us to be with “the lowliest”, the most vulnerable, those who can so easily be excluded from participation in society, not because of their ideas of concerns, but because that is how the world tends to act … and yes, there is a tendency to exclude young men and women.

In the reading from the book of Isaiah, Assyria is warned about the Lord’s rod and staff … two different signs for the people. The prophet wants the people to be aware of the fact that they are living in way that is opposed to God. By why refer to the rod? The rod becomes an instrument of punishment because people acted irresponsibly and were disobedient … they had not remained faithful. Why the staff? The staff has a positive significance. The staff helps people to move forward and removes obstacles from the path. The staff impels people forward and serves as a support when they become tired. The staff prevents people from remaining in the same place and helps them to continue their journey.

May Jesus be our staff that enables us to follow and to continue our journey, our staff that supports us during our journey as we move forward despite the difficulties that we might find on the path. In other words, let us not grow weary or become discouraged. Today’s readings invite us to be courageous as we continue our journey and as we live in fidelity to God’s plan. At this time we want to strengthen our ministry of accompaniment and so we ask that Jesus might be our staff and that, we, in turn, be a staff to the young men and women of our association.

In the gospel Jesus rejoices with the childlike and places them in opposition to the learned and the wise. Indeed, it is the childlike who open their hearts to the word, to Jesus’ ministry, to the plan of love and self-sacrifice. During Jesus’ time people found it difficult to understand his message (after all, Jesus was the son of a carpenter). That same reaction, however, is very common among people today who want to exclude God from their daily existence. At times people will act in that manner consciously and at other times, unconsciously. Those persons who reject God become slaves to their own opinions and are unable to find a path of happiness. This path of happiness is one that we must promote and it means helping young men and women to find this path and as we help young people to discover this path, we are also helping ourselves.

I encourage you to share your life with those who have responded to the call, those who are gathered here. Let us share our experiences and our ministry. Let us open our hearts and our minds and let us allow ourselves to be known by others and let us also take the time to know others. Let us not act like the kings of Judah, who as we heard in the reading from Isaiah, preferred to look for their security in their ideas and forgot that the kingdom of God implied openness, effort, a new perspective, a new way of listening, new challenges and new realities.

I know that language can at times be one of our obstacles, but we have a language that knows no boundaries, the language of love. This language of love invites us to tear down the mental barriers so that we become better human beings and more accepting of others, so that we do not lose hope in a better tomorrow. Pope Francis invites young people to stand up from the warm-up bench, to remove themselves from the waiting line and to move forward and take the front line positions. The young people are invited to accept the responsibility of developing the plan of God and this means that we also must move forward and take the front line positions.

May the Holy Spirit enlighten us and may Mary, our mother, strengthen us and animate us to continue to server others and to serve them with great joy.

Translated by: Charles T. Plock, CM