Deacon R. Alan "Al" Cicora, DO, USN (Ret) Sunday Homily
"RENEWING THE AMERICAN DREAM"
Sunday Homily given by Deacon R. Alan "Al" Cicora, DO, USN (Ret)
July 5, 2009 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ez 2:2-5 2 Cor 12-7-10 Mk 6:1-6
This weekend we celebrate our freedom and independence. Everyone of us here has made and continues to make sacrifices in order to maintain our freedom. This homily will be mainly about the sacrifices each of us must make in order to keep our country free and independent. If anyone heard my homily yesterday morning, I promise that even though this will sound similar, it has some additional items that I hope will interest you; so please don’t fall asleep!
In the first reading we have the prophet Ezekiel being told by God to go speak to His rebellious children. He tells Ezekiel to bring His word to them, so they will know a prophet has been among them. In the Gospel reading, Jesus talks about prophets, and how they are not without honor except in their own land. We are all called to be prophets, whether in our own land or far away. And I hope that by this homily, we will be inspired to carry out our duties as prophets no matter where we are.
As I mentioned we must all make sacrifices in order to remain free and independent. In my own personal experience, I had an uncle who died in combat in the Philippines during WWII. For me that has left an emptiness that can never be filled...the uncle I never got to know. Since his body was never found, my grandmother was sent a letter saying that he was missing in action. A huge sacrifice that she made was not only the loss of her son, but also the hope that she had to the end of her life that her son would someday come home.
Many of us have loved ones serving overseas, performing dangerous missions. It is very difficult going from day to day, hoping that those two men in service dress uniform, do not come knocking at the door to personally deliver the devastating news of the loss of a loved one. No amount of sympathy or compassion can bring back a loved one who has died in combat.
Last week, Kathy and I were traveling. I served our country for 27 years, half active duty and half of the time in the reserves. So I was able to retire from the military. One of the benefits of active duty and retirees is to be able to use the USO facilities at airports and other locations. Usually they offer free sandwiches and soft drinks, a cot to rest on, television, computers, free phone calls to loved ones. So, as we got near our departure gate at the airport, we decided to poke our heads into a nearby USO. The sign in front said, “USO reading room.”
So we stepped into the facility, where we saw service men and women, in their desert camouflage uniforms, reading to their children. The volunteer in charge greeted us and asked if she could help us. Kathy said, “My husband is retired military, and we have enjoyed visiting USO’s wherever we go, so we thought we’d stop by.” The volunteer said, “Wonderful! Well, this is a new type of USO facility. All these servicepeople are in uniform, because they are about to get on a plane to go back for a second tour of duty in Iraq. They select a book that they think their children will enjoy; the book will be given to the children when they leave. Then the active duty parent reads to their children before they depart. They are making DVD’s of this to give to their children, so they’ll have something to help them remember while Mom or Dad is away.” With that, Kathy’s lips began to tremble and tears formed in her eyes, and she had to walk away. I was also very moved by this, and could barely speak. The volunteer had a painful look on her face as she asked me, teary-eyed herself, “Did I say something wrong.?” I said, “No, you didn’t say anything wrong. We are both, very moved by what we see here, and we’re going to have to leave. But thank you for what you’re doing here, and God bless you.”
I’m telling you these things, not to bring attention to myself or my family, but everyone I have mentioned so far, including every one of you, has had to make some kind of sacrifice, no matter how big or small, in order to maintain our freedom and independence.
There are a number of parishioners here, who have experienced combat, in WWII, the Korean War, Viet Nam or in Afghanistan or Iraq. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude, because they were willing to lay down their lives, in order for us to remain free and independent. They are heroes...by no stretch of the imagination. And we need to thank God for what they did for us, and for our country.
We have all heard it said, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” There is some truth to that, but one of the saddest sacrifices that I know of that occurs as a result of fighting for freedom, is the loss of the most valuable thing God has given us. ...Our Souls. Some people come out of war and turn away from God and religion. Thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who have turned away from God can be helped by our prayers. So please, help them to regain their freedom,...their freedom of (and not from), religion; help them to regain their souls, by praying for them.
Our priests and religious, also make huge sacrifices for independence. Some of them go into combat trying to save the souls of those around them. A marine once told me, that the person they feel the greatest need for in combat is the chaplain. I thought “that’s strange, I would have thought they would feel the greatest need for the doctor.” They certainly have a great love and respect for the hospital corpsmen and medics. But, he said, that many of them know when they’re not going to make it, and the one person they really want to see is the military chaplain... before they leave this world.
Many of our priests and religious have loved ones fighting overseas themselves. And many spend time with those, whose loved ones are performing dangerous duties overseas, or with those who have lost loved ones in combat. It takes a lot of time and emotional energy to help those at home. So, we all make sacrifices.
Last of all, I want to mention those who have fought and have come back scarred in one way or another. I have had the honor and privilege of providing medical care to many of them. Some of them have permanent scars and physical injuries. Some of them have emotional scars...those are very difficult to heal. In fact, they are the most difficult to heal. How do you help someone who can’t sleep or doesn’t want to go to sleep, because the horrors of war continue to play in their minds as night mares. Some of them turn to alcohol, and are destroyed by it. Everyone comes back scarred in some way
We need to keep in mind, though, that we, as a country, have a very powerful ally, Our Lady, Patroness of the United States. She has done an outstanding job of helping us, interceding for us, and protecting our freedom and independence, through her intercession with Jesus. So I invite everyone to keep praying for the intercession of Our Lady to protect us and to bring an end to war and violence in this world.
Jesus tells us in scripture that we must love our enemies and that we should pray for them. There are many things that don’t come naturally to us as Christians; we are often advised that we must go against the self. How do you love someone and pray for them while they are doing everything they can to destroy us and our way of life? If we were to pray for our enemies, our natural inclination would be to ask God to destroy them. But we need to remember that our enemies are God’s children, too; he loves them every bit as much as he loves each of us. So, if we are to love our enemies and to pray for them, then our prayer should be something like this:
“Dear God, some of your children are against us and want to destroy us and our way of life. They claim that they are doing this in order to bring you honor and glory. Please show them what is truly your way and let the Holy Spirit enlighten them. Let their hearts be converted, and to be filled with love and compassion, so that we can drop our weapons and stop hurting each other, so that we can all be brothers and sisters, one family/one flock, and live in love and peace, as you have taught us and desire of us. Amen.”
Blessing: May God bless you and may God bless America!
Sunday Homily given by Deacon R. Alan "Al" Cicora, DO, USN (Ret)
July 5, 2009 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ez 2:2-5 2 Cor 12-7-10 Mk 6:1-6
This weekend we celebrate our freedom and independence. Everyone of us here has made and continues to make sacrifices in order to maintain our freedom. This homily will be mainly about the sacrifices each of us must make in order to keep our country free and independent. If anyone heard my homily yesterday morning, I promise that even though this will sound similar, it has some additional items that I hope will interest you; so please don’t fall asleep!
In the first reading we have the prophet Ezekiel being told by God to go speak to His rebellious children. He tells Ezekiel to bring His word to them, so they will know a prophet has been among them. In the Gospel reading, Jesus talks about prophets, and how they are not without honor except in their own land. We are all called to be prophets, whether in our own land or far away. And I hope that by this homily, we will be inspired to carry out our duties as prophets no matter where we are.
As I mentioned we must all make sacrifices in order to remain free and independent. In my own personal experience, I had an uncle who died in combat in the Philippines during WWII. For me that has left an emptiness that can never be filled...the uncle I never got to know. Since his body was never found, my grandmother was sent a letter saying that he was missing in action. A huge sacrifice that she made was not only the loss of her son, but also the hope that she had to the end of her life that her son would someday come home.
Many of us have loved ones serving overseas, performing dangerous missions. It is very difficult going from day to day, hoping that those two men in service dress uniform, do not come knocking at the door to personally deliver the devastating news of the loss of a loved one. No amount of sympathy or compassion can bring back a loved one who has died in combat.
Last week, Kathy and I were traveling. I served our country for 27 years, half active duty and half of the time in the reserves. So I was able to retire from the military. One of the benefits of active duty and retirees is to be able to use the USO facilities at airports and other locations. Usually they offer free sandwiches and soft drinks, a cot to rest on, television, computers, free phone calls to loved ones. So, as we got near our departure gate at the airport, we decided to poke our heads into a nearby USO. The sign in front said, “USO reading room.”
So we stepped into the facility, where we saw service men and women, in their desert camouflage uniforms, reading to their children. The volunteer in charge greeted us and asked if she could help us. Kathy said, “My husband is retired military, and we have enjoyed visiting USO’s wherever we go, so we thought we’d stop by.” The volunteer said, “Wonderful! Well, this is a new type of USO facility. All these servicepeople are in uniform, because they are about to get on a plane to go back for a second tour of duty in Iraq. They select a book that they think their children will enjoy; the book will be given to the children when they leave. Then the active duty parent reads to their children before they depart. They are making DVD’s of this to give to their children, so they’ll have something to help them remember while Mom or Dad is away.” With that, Kathy’s lips began to tremble and tears formed in her eyes, and she had to walk away. I was also very moved by this, and could barely speak. The volunteer had a painful look on her face as she asked me, teary-eyed herself, “Did I say something wrong.?” I said, “No, you didn’t say anything wrong. We are both, very moved by what we see here, and we’re going to have to leave. But thank you for what you’re doing here, and God bless you.”
I’m telling you these things, not to bring attention to myself or my family, but everyone I have mentioned so far, including every one of you, has had to make some kind of sacrifice, no matter how big or small, in order to maintain our freedom and independence.
There are a number of parishioners here, who have experienced combat, in WWII, the Korean War, Viet Nam or in Afghanistan or Iraq. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude, because they were willing to lay down their lives, in order for us to remain free and independent. They are heroes...by no stretch of the imagination. And we need to thank God for what they did for us, and for our country.
We have all heard it said, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” There is some truth to that, but one of the saddest sacrifices that I know of that occurs as a result of fighting for freedom, is the loss of the most valuable thing God has given us. ...Our Souls. Some people come out of war and turn away from God and religion. Thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who have turned away from God can be helped by our prayers. So please, help them to regain their freedom,...their freedom of (and not from), religion; help them to regain their souls, by praying for them.
Our priests and religious, also make huge sacrifices for independence. Some of them go into combat trying to save the souls of those around them. A marine once told me, that the person they feel the greatest need for in combat is the chaplain. I thought “that’s strange, I would have thought they would feel the greatest need for the doctor.” They certainly have a great love and respect for the hospital corpsmen and medics. But, he said, that many of them know when they’re not going to make it, and the one person they really want to see is the military chaplain... before they leave this world.
Many of our priests and religious have loved ones fighting overseas themselves. And many spend time with those, whose loved ones are performing dangerous duties overseas, or with those who have lost loved ones in combat. It takes a lot of time and emotional energy to help those at home. So, we all make sacrifices.
Last of all, I want to mention those who have fought and have come back scarred in one way or another. I have had the honor and privilege of providing medical care to many of them. Some of them have permanent scars and physical injuries. Some of them have emotional scars...those are very difficult to heal. In fact, they are the most difficult to heal. How do you help someone who can’t sleep or doesn’t want to go to sleep, because the horrors of war continue to play in their minds as night mares. Some of them turn to alcohol, and are destroyed by it. Everyone comes back scarred in some way
We need to keep in mind, though, that we, as a country, have a very powerful ally, Our Lady, Patroness of the United States. She has done an outstanding job of helping us, interceding for us, and protecting our freedom and independence, through her intercession with Jesus. So I invite everyone to keep praying for the intercession of Our Lady to protect us and to bring an end to war and violence in this world.
Jesus tells us in scripture that we must love our enemies and that we should pray for them. There are many things that don’t come naturally to us as Christians; we are often advised that we must go against the self. How do you love someone and pray for them while they are doing everything they can to destroy us and our way of life? If we were to pray for our enemies, our natural inclination would be to ask God to destroy them. But we need to remember that our enemies are God’s children, too; he loves them every bit as much as he loves each of us. So, if we are to love our enemies and to pray for them, then our prayer should be something like this:
“Dear God, some of your children are against us and want to destroy us and our way of life. They claim that they are doing this in order to bring you honor and glory. Please show them what is truly your way and let the Holy Spirit enlighten them. Let their hearts be converted, and to be filled with love and compassion, so that we can drop our weapons and stop hurting each other, so that we can all be brothers and sisters, one family/one flock, and live in love and peace, as you have taught us and desire of us. Amen.”
Blessing: May God bless you and may God bless America!
Labels: Al Cicora, BirthRight, il Poverello d'Assisi, Mystic Monk Coffee, Newsvine, Portiuncula: the Little Portion, ProLifeBlogs, Ralph Cicora, Warm Glow Candles, WorldNetDaily, Yahoo
posted by Fra Giles Mary Christopher at 8:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home