"Grace Through Suffering" - 26th Sunday Homily

Today is a big day for our youth.

First day with faith formation classes in the new youth center this morning.

And then this evening, high school youth group has their first meeting in the new youth lounge, which is super sweet.

The whole building just pops.

Hopefully you've visited.

A lot of people are checking out last Sunday during the festival.

I led the high school youth group in my first parish, St.

Andrews in Silver Spring, and we put a lot into our kickoff party.

Lots of resources for fun and games, good food and drink.

We advertised it all over the parish got our parents involved to spread the word, invite their sons and daughters, prayed and prayed and prayed for it, hoping for like

30 or 40 would be a good start to the youth group.

And about a week or two before the event, I had mass in the nursing home in the parish.

And somehow I was talking to the residents of the home about redemptive suffering.

Like, two weeks ago, the Feast of the Holy Cross, to offer up your suffering for others, for their good, for their intentions, for their health and their wealth.

And so they, I said, can you offer up your pain and suffering these days for our youth group, especially our kickoff party?

And so they did.

We had 70 teens come to that event.

We were not ready for that.

We're happy.

And the majority of them came every Sunday after that.

So I look back on that and yes, we did a lot and put a lot of effort otherwise, but I'm just convinced it went to that next level.

Anyone who's ever experienced that power of redemptive suffering that started with the cross, but the whole expression of church all f***ed up, I'm convinced there is great

power and efficacy there.

I first saw it when I was ordained.

There are four of us from my home parish, Our Lady of Lourdes and Bethesda, ordained the same day.

That's pretty unheard of guys, right?

Yeah, they're not even listening.

They're even paying attention.

There's a break from anything thought-related.

There's no theology in a homily But there are four of us.

I promise you, that happens.

And it's kind of unheard of.

Again, we had the same things.

We were good priests.

We had adoration.

A lot in the parish.

People were praying for vocations.

But next to the church was the old Topaz house.

It might still be there.

But it's an apartment building.

And a lot of our older parishioners

live there and I'm certain because I think they were in the whole, know, offered up.

Pretty certain they would offer it up for vocations and you get four in one day.

Pretty certain my grandmother who prayed eight rosaries a day, one for each grandchild, pretty sure she offered up for my priesthood.

So this is a thing in the church.

This happens.

And I'd really like us to think back the last two Sundays.

Again, the Feast of the Holy Cross offered up like Jesus did.

He offered up His pain and suffering for the good of the world, for the salvation of the world, for our health and wealth.

And then last Sunday, the true wealth, all the graces and blessings God gives us in this life.

So I put those together and say that God has given us so much through the redemptive suffering of others.

More so than we even know.

The health and true wealth we give thanks for every day, hopefully,

to think about people offering up their suffering for us and we don't even know it.

Something just pops good into our lives, going where did that come from?

Or how did that happen?

God, you're great.

Yes, indeed.

And to think that could have been someone having a really tough day, praying and offering up for your intention, for your family.

There are people here that do that regularly.

They come to me as parents and grandparents and they come to talk about two things.

One is their pain and suffering and two is their kids and grandkids.

And it's not, they're not always related, but sometimes.

But how they love their kids, but they're concerned about their faith, their health, their safety, their salvation.

So I ask them to apply one to the other.

to offer it up and they do that.

We can do that as well.

We should do that as well.

Pretty certain that the rich man in this parable ultimately would have done that for his brothers.

He's in purgatory and he's undergoing serious torments.

He's really concerned about his brothers.

He's starting to intercede for them to Abraham.

He would have offered up that pain and suffering for them.

In that way, pray for them.

This is all an invitation of Jesus Christ.

All that people have done for us, all that we can do for others.

Someone said last night, there is great power in nursing homes.

There's great spiritual power with residents in nursing homes, with people in hospitals, patients in hospitals, those who are homebound, those who are sick and suffering in

general.

That's what I've seen.

That's what our seminarians will see as they go into the priesthood, God willing.

And for us to tap into people's generosity and say, you're not out of the loop.

You're very much a part of the church.

God has a different role for you, but there's great power and suffering.

I mean, the greatest power in our church is the sacraments.

The grace is real.

But I'll say right after that, when I've seen and experienced going to that next level is the body of Christ taking up their share in the cross, imitating Him and the power God

brings out of that.

But it started with Him.

and He offered up His pain and suffering for our good, our health and wealth in this life and in the next.