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HOMILIES

29. Homily - Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (Lk 1:57-66, 80)

Have you been able to recognize Jesus’ presence in your life?

Over the course of the last three and a half months, since the onset of the pandemic, have you
been able to recognize Jesus’ presence in your life? In retrospect, when we look back at our
personal, family, social and faith-life experiences, what have we learned from them? In
general, a test is much like a double-edged sword; it can cut us, it can force us to the ground,
but it can also open up a time for growth. Some questions that can come to mind: what will
help us emerge from this experience and grow from it? It is through trials that we will
succeed. The pandemic is a trial. But what can lead us through it? How do we look back at
our experiences and make sense out of them? What do these experiences lead us to discover?
Somehow, we tend to feel that all the powers of this world have been “weakened”. What is
left? It is the dignity of every human that remains; every human having been created in the
image of God. And that, regardless of our situation, our health, our illness, or our loneliness,
remains constant. Every human being is created in the image of God and called to eternal
life. This is the inherent dignity of every human being. It is the dignity of each and every one
of you. It is the dignity of all mankind, to be created in the image of God, which characterizes
our inherent value. It becomes a matter of rediscovering the dignity of every human being.

Another area in our lives which needs to be recognized, but is sometimes taken for granted,
is the family. As the world lives in confinement, only those closest to us live together on a
daily basis. The family is what we often take for granted. The family, which is often tested, has
already, under normal circumstances, its own share of trials to face amid its many commit-
ments and engagements. During these times, however, the family has come together, more
than ever before! Perhaps it was the first opportunity in a long time for many families to have
happiness and rest restored in their homes by their newly found time together. However,
perhaps certain wounds emerged as well, through fragile relationships, or misunderstand-
ings. Maybe for many families, the time together was an opportunity to forgive again.

In every case, the time together became an opportunity to rediscover the importance and
the true value of family; and not only the value of family, but that of every individual,
every human being, given that everyone is, in one way or another, related to a family! It was
a chance to rediscover not just the importance of the family to the individual, but also the
importance of the family to society as whole. The family is the nucleus that serves as a build-
ing block for society. We must also recognize the importance of the family unit in the Church.
It is the family from which life is born, that provides new life, that raises new citizens, that
brings forth children for Baptism; it is the true backbone for society and the Church.

(cont’d)

Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 205