Homily - Prayer and Action

What would it feel like to be separated from God? To be truly separated from Him? I know it is almost inconceivable to be separated from God.

Now I do not mean to have issues about religion or to be an intellectual atheist, or to have issues about the Church...but for someone who knows there is a God, and yet separate themselves from Him.

It was true of the rich man in today’s Gospel -- he concentrated so much on his wealth and place in life that he gradually separated himself from God. He thought that he could find happiness in his possessions; to find joy in his lifestyle - it even says that he not ate - but ate scrumptiously - what a great word. And yet as he focused so much on his lifestyle, gradually he separated himself from God - so as in life, as in death. Now I could be here this morning and talk at length of how each of us separate ourselves from God -- when we sin, get angry, the things we fail to do and so on -- how we too separate ourselves from God.

But then I turned and I saw the Lazarus of today’s Gospel and was inspired of how he lived in God’s presence -- during his life he was with God and so too in death.

Being in the presence of God. Well, how do we do this? How do we put ourselves into God’s presence? As I have preached many times before, in three ways. We do this -- ‘go to Church’; ‘say your prayers’; and ‘do good’. When we do these three things then truly we are in God’s presence.

Prayer -- this is really nothing more than putting ourselves in God’s presence. It really does not matter what you say, or if it is praise or thanks or petition, so long as you pray. To pray and put yourself before God in his presence. To pray and to go to Church. To do good. This means that we fulfill Jesus’ great command - ‘to love your neighbour as yourself’. To show in true and practical ways to put others first and ourselves last. Not to take our families so much for granted and our friends, our sense of peace and our Church for granted. But to truly live out the command to love -- to do good.

In trying to think of an example or image of these things - of being in God’s presence - I could not escape the images of Tuesday September 11th in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. And especially I will always remember the one person -- Fr. Michael Judge. Fr. Michael was the Chaplain of the New York Firefighters and was truly loved by them all. The disaster of the day began and many medical persons, police and firefighters raced into that horrible scene. Fr. Michael too rushed alongside them. In the midst of the chaos and horror he showed love. He did not have to be there - he was only a priest - and yet out of the command to love he went forth and brought God’s presence into that scene of the World Trade Centre. Not only that -- he brought prayer and the Sacraments. He went around anointing the dying firefighters and persons in the last rites.

And as he had a heart attack and lay crumpled on the ground, a Protestant firefighter who was nearby reached over for the vial of sacred oil and blessed Fr. Michael. Later the firefighter would ask the Cardinal -- "Was that okay? Should I have done that?" And the Cardinal’s reply -- "Yes, thank you for anointing Fr. Michael". Four firefighters then carried Fr. Michael’s body around the block to the safety of a Church and laid his body in front of the Altar.

This great man, because he lived in the presence of God, could bring that presence of God even into such a horrible scene of chaos and destruction.

And you know -- as I thought about him -- I thought these three things -- to go to Church, say your prayers and do good were oh so wrong. For we are not only to go to Church but to be Church. We are not only to say our prayers but pray our prayers. And we are not only to do good but to do great things in the name of the Lord. When we are Church, when we pray our prayers, when we do great things then truly God’s Presence is with us.

What is our response to this Gospel?

What is our response to the Lord’s Presence?