Homily on the Synod on Synodality and the Defense of the Sanctity of Life, by Fr. William Kelley, SJ

October 20, 2024 / 29th Ordinary / Cycle B
Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Washington, DC

Readings:

Isaiah 53:10-11 Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many.
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 LORD, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Hebrews 4:14-16 Let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy.
Mark 10:35-45 Can you drink the cup that I drink?

Homily:

You probably didn’t notice but last week marked the 62nd anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. I think it’s safe to say that none of us who were alive back in 1962 could ever have imagined how thoroughly our Church would change as a result of that worldwide gathering of bishops. Perhaps the most conspicuous shift was in the liturgy. Before the Council, our mass was in Latin, the priest recited the prayers inaudibly with his back turned to us, and we, the faithful, either fingered our beads or followed along as best we could with our missal. In a very real sense, Vatican II restored the mass to us. We became active participants because the prayers were in English, they were out loud, and both priest and people now had parts to play.

Vatican II also reintroduced us to the rich faith traditions of other Christian Churches – our so-called “separated brethren.” We finally relinquished our arrogant claim that “outside the Church, there is no salvation.” And, of course, by “Church,” we meant “the Catholic Church.” Ever since Vatican II, we here at Holy Trinity have joined with our formerly “separated” sisters and brothers not only in fruitful dialogue but also in worship and in service of God’s people.

The Council also shifted our “otherworldly” view of religion and drew our attention back to earth. Prior to the Council, most of us resigned ourselves to the inevitable presence of evil in the world, passively accepting poverty, racism, and other forms of injustice as inescapable parts of our sinful human condition. We comforted ourselves by believing that “things would be better in the next life.” But Vatican II corrected that erroneous belief, stating that “While Christians … should seek and savor the things which are above, this in no way decreases [our] obligation … to build a better, more human world [here and now].” (Gaudium et Spes, 57)

I said that none of us could have imagined the momentous changes that resulted from the Council – not even those who planned and prepared it. In fact, clerical insiders were probably the most surprised of all because, over the four years that the Council lasted, the Holy Spirit wrested control from them and carefully led the bishops step-by-step through study, discussion, debate, and prayer to the stunning revitalization of the Church from which we have all benefited.

I mention this bit of history because we now stand at the threshold of another potentially groundbreaking opportunity for renewal. Today begins the final week of the synod in Rome. Four years ago, Pope Francis convoked, not just the bishops of the world, but all of us faithful to engage in a two-year period of prayer and conversation to reframe how we think of ourselves as Church and how we conceive of our mission in the world. Then, last October and again this October, bishops, priests, laywomen and men met for a month in Rome to discern where God is leading the Church in the twenty-first century. In his own lyrical words, Pope Francis remarked that the synod’s task is not to produce more documents, but rather “to plant dreams, draw forth prophesies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships … that will enlighten minds, warm hearts, give strength to our hands.” (Preparatory Document, 32)

As for my own dream, I hope that – within my lifetime – our Church truly begin to champion the sacredness of all human life; that we develop a deeper reverence for life as a gift from God; that we marshal our Church’s plentiful resources and raise our influential voice to defend the sanctity of life in all our national conversations. You may think that we are already a prolife Church but, my friends, we are not. Sadly, we are only an anti-abortion Church. Although popes and our bishops have spoken prophetically about a whole array of life issues, most of our Catholic sisters and brothers fail to embrace these teachings. For instance, while many march against abortion year after year, they utter not a peep against capital punishment. In fact, they naively contrast the “innocent” child in the womb with the “monstrous” felon whose crimes have merited the death penalty. They fail to grasp that life is sacred not because of how we act or don’t act. Life is sacred simply because it comes from God. Both fetus and felon are created in the image and likeness of God, and their God-given dignity can never be obliterated, not even by someone who commits a very serious crime.

Our Church also falls short as prolife because of our disproportionate concern for life within the womb and our relatively scant concern for the quality of life outside of the womb. Even in a country as richly blessed as ours, millions of our fellow citizens fail to flourish because of inadequate access to health care, quality education, decent housing, and food security. Again, our bishops have written eloquent documents about these deficiencies, but they fail to address them as consistently or with the same forcefulness as they do abortion. Meanwhile, many Catholics-in-the-pews regard these social inequalities as problems to be fixed “by others” and emphatically insist that they are not the business of the Church. That shortsightedness is a result of our imperfect understanding of life as sacred, and anything that diminishes life as offensive to God. Two thousand years ago, St. Irenaeus wrote that the glory of God is the human person fully alive. That’s our mission as Church – to promote the sacredness of all human life and to advocate for those conditions that allow human life to flourish to the glory of God.

That’s part of my dream for the Church. But there’s no shortage of other concerns equally important. For instance, when will we as Church begin to practice greater compassion toward the divorced and remarried? How can we better bless the presence of our LGBTQ sisters and brothers and welcome the gifts they bring to our Church? When will we recognize that God distributes his gifts lavishly throughout the Church and recognize the ministry of all those who feel called to serve – women and men alike? These past four years of Synod prayer and discernment hardly seem long enough to engage all these topics but if – after the Synod concludes next Sunday – you and I continue to pray earnestly and to advocate for change, we can be confident that God’s Spirit will eventually lead the Church to where we’re supposed to be.