Dear Parish Family,

Open your eyes to Christ. Our Psalm tells us that the Lord gives sight to the blind, raises up the lowly, and guards those who need protection against evil. God wants to open our eyes to see the image of Christ embodied in ourselves, in others, and in all creation. In Christ are all the seeds of truth that provide the moral foundation of the universe. When we open our eyes to see the truth of Christ embodied in reality, we live out His entrustment given to us as stewards to guard the goodness of creation from all that would jeopardize its integrity.

 

In our first reading, the prophet Amos warns against complacency towards this stewardship. Woe to those who take from others, who operate from selfish motives, who are unsympathetic to the needs of those around them. "They are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph" speaks of this insensitivity to evil that tempts us not to live our lives as a gift for God and for others. 

 

In the Gospel, Jesus offers the parable of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus. Every day Lazarus was at the doorstep of the rich man, but the rich man didn't open his eyes to see him in his most basic human needs or in his deepest need to be loved and treated with dignity and respect. As the rich man suffers torment in the afterlife, we notice him still trying to get Lazarus to serve him, "Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger and water and cool my tongue." His obstinacy to see God's truth in this life keeps him blind even in the next. 

 

Whenever we show this same insensitivity, obstinacy, or rejection to open our eyes to see the truth of Christ, we will notice in our hearts and in our words and actions a dismissal of the commandments, the witness of the prophets and the martyrs, the self-giving love and joy of Mary and the saints, the truth of the Scriptures, the Sacraments, and the Church's Tradition and Magisterial teachings. Jesus ends today's Gospel with words for us to reflect on: "If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead." We know Christ rose from the dead, and yet this knowledge may not remove the difficulty for us in following the commandments and obeying the truths that the Church proposes for our belief and salvation.  

As I was reflecting on the second reading from First Timothy this week, I couldn't stop thinking about how fitting these words were to describe the life and faith of Charlie Kirk who was assassinated on September 10: "But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses." More than anything, Charlie was a man of faith, a believer in Christ who brought his faith-filled convictions into the public and political sphere to the best of his ability. He promoted dialogue and gave his interlocutors a platform to debate their points. Charlie was courageous and wanted to glorify Christ in everything he did.

 

He was also first to admit that he was a sinner in need of God's grace. He strove always to better himself for the sake of Christ. Charlie's wife, Erika, said in her livestream two days after his death that Charlie would ask her every day, "How can I serve you better? How can I be a better husband? How can I be a better father?" That question shows great humility and openness to receive truth. We should first and foremost ask Christ these questions each day. "Lord, how can I serve you better? How can I be a better spouse, mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, friend, student, priest, deacon, employer, employee" etc. Then, if we have the humility and courage to do so, we can ask the people entrusted to us this question as well so we can learn and grow in self-knowledge, wisdom, and grace.

 

While everyone may not be in agreement with all of Charlie's political viewpoints, we should nonetheless respect and honor him as a man of God who promoted the dignity of the human person from conception through natural death, who upheld faith and family values in the public sphere, who called out the inconsistencies of many false ideologies (inadequate anthropologies) of the human person being promoted in our society, and who engaged actively in political discussions on a number of leading moral issues of our day. He did so from a perspective of biblical faith that was rationally grounded in a philosophical framework consistent with the teachings of Christ and His Church. 

 

As we saw exemplified with Charlie Kirk's assassination, there are some in our culture on all sides of the political spectrum who violently oppose rational and political discourse, especially around the leading anthropological questions of what it means to be a human person. We need to be able to have respectful dialogue without resorting to silencing or destroying our opponents. This obstinacy to see or hear is exactly what was condemned by Christ in the rich man in today's Gospel. 

 

Without free speech and a commitment to bring our faith-filled convictions into the political discussion, we will not progress in virtue or stability as a nation. I found the following article from Bishop Robert Barron very enlightening on these points: https://firstthings.com/he-died-with-a-microphone-in-his-hand. I encourage you to look it up and read it. 

 

For myself, I loved Charlie and still do. I learned a lot from him about courageously speaking the truth in love. I have been listening to him for many years and feel confident to adequately understand and convey many of his convictions in the spirit and context in which they were given. I am disheartened that so much animosity has developed around cultural "soundbites" of some of Charlie's comments that don't grasp the structure of his reasoning and discourse. If you're wrestling with any of these comments that make you question Charlie's good character, please share that with me. I would be happy to process that with you, not to defend his viewpoints or get you to change your mind, but to help us all to be able to say, "While I may disagree with him here, I can appreciate where he's coming from and the truth point he is trying to make." 

 

Along with many of you, I am grieving Charlie's assassination, I am praying for his wife and family, and I am more committed now than ever to proclaim Christ in our society as Charlie did. The overwhelming number of people coming back to Church here and around the world after Charlie's assassination tells me I am not alone. Together, let us open our eyes to Christ and proclaim his holy Gospel with our lives. 

I am yours in Christ,

Fr. Scott Goodfellow