Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Homily

When someone plants a garden, whether it has vegetables or flowers (or both), that person expects good results. If we tend the soil, fertilize, and continue to water, then we hope for a bountiful harvest. When there is hot weather, we have to be more attentive to water frequently. We have every good intention for success. I think the parish of Sacred Heart can be seen as a garden. After all, Jesus Himself often talked about providing good fruit for God's Kingdom. Sacred Heart Parish is a part of God's Kingdom. Has this garden produced good fruit? Despite the usual struggles and one noticeable unusual struggle (mainly the pandemic), I believe that this parish has produced some good fruit. There is always room for growth and the production of more fruit. We pray that Fr. Bryan Ochs will lead this parish in this production. 

The good fruit is a sign of a growth in holiness. This is not just evidence of personal holiness. It is also a sign of a growth of holiness as a community. After all, we are all members of the Body of Christ. It is Jesus who promotes this growth with His grace. Jesus enlivens us to share this faith with others through our words and actions. Some of the good fruit can be seen in the parish's Outreach programs - the food bank, clothing bank, and the rent and utilities assistance. There are numerous people in our area that are struggling. Due to many circumstances beyond our control, many people struggle to survive. Our generosity at Sacred Heart helps many poor people in our area. 

God had a garden, which we know as the Garden of Eden. It was a successful garden until, one day, an enemy decided to cause disruption. The serpent talked Adam and Eve into disobeying God, and things were never the same after that. This caused damage that lasted from generation to generation. We heard of this in our first reading from the book of Wisdom (Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24). "God did not make death. . . For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are wholesome. . . For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him. But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who belong to his company experience it." It is because of this envy that the devil, if he couldn't become God, decided to do everything that he could to destroy all that God created. What was good and wholesome, the devil attacked with a vengeance, trying to poison all of creation. 

We have this problem today because of Adam and Eve's bad choices. It shows how one bad mistake can have negative consequences down through the generations. Original sin was not our mistake, but we suffer from it to this very day. Because of this mistake, creation continues to experience corruption and decay. 

We hear of some of the consequences of this original mistake in our Gospel reading (Mk 5:21-43). These two examples point out how our human nature is subject to illness and death because of sin. The woman with the hemorrhages had been suffering for twelve years. Some of us who may have experienced bad health for a long period of time can empathize with the woman's situation. She went to many doctors for help, but her condition only got worse. She was seeking some kind of relief but was unable to find any. I'm sure that she might have felt that she would have to live with her situation for the rest of her life. 

The synagogue official, Jairus, was seeking help too. He was seeking help for his daughter, who was close to death. The Scriptures don't say it, but I would have to believe that he sought help for his daughter from others as well. Obviously, the situation for his daughter was much worse than it was for the woman with the hemorrhages. Yet, both Jairus and the woman were desperate for help. 

Jesus came into our world to bring us this help, to restore humanity to its original state of good health and wholeness, and to give us the hope of new life in Him. God's mercy extends to all His people. He offers this healing to every person. How many people don't know about this offer, ignore the offer, or just don't believe that it is possible? As we heard in the Gospel reading, Jesus said to Jairus, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." How shaky was the faith of the people? When Jairus' daughter had died, Jesus told the people, "The child is not dead but asleep." They ridiculed Him. They did not have faith. "Then he put them out." Jesus had to get all the unbelievers outside so that their lack of faith would not stifle the Holy Spirit. Jesus only took those who had faith into the room so that through their faith, the little girl would rise from the dead. Remember the story of when Jesus visited His hometown of Nazareth (see Mk 6:1-6). Jesus took the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor." In His hometown, Jesus could not perform many healings because of their lack of faith. 

So it is with Partners in the Gospel. July 1st marks the beginning of this parish family with Sacred Heart, St. Columban in Yelm, and St. Peter in Tenino. Much prayer and discernment has gone into this process, so we should believe that it is the work of the Holy Spirit. With faith, this new family will produce good fruit. With faith, Jesus will be able to do wonderful things. However, the serpent will always be there to sow doubt. It is a lack of faith that prevents the Holy Spirit from working to His fullest. This is the garden that God has given us to take care of. Will our faith continue to grow? Or will doubt cause some of us to say, "No, this is not going to work. We should never have done this in the first place." It is important to note that Jesus had to put the naysayers outside before He could raise Jairus' daughter from the dead. We don't want to be on the outside with the naysayers. Jesus wants us to be on the inside, where, with great faith, Jesus will be able to raise an abundant crop for God's Kingdom. 

If you think that it is hard work to keep a garden free of pests and weeds so that it will be healthy and thrive, imagine how hard we have to work to keep our souls healthy and thrive. For the devil is always trying to sow corruption and bring decay to our souls.  It is through temptation, especially the temptation to doubt, that he tries to sow corruption and cause decay. If we aren't careful, he will cause this to happen. We have to be vigilant so that we don't give in to the temptation. But if we do, we can trust that Jesus will be there to help us. God gave us the sacraments of reconciliation to heal our souls and the Eucharist to strengthen us. Jesus is calling us to join Him in producing good fruit for God's Kingdom. Jesus is also constantly at work to help us and guide us on that journey to the garden of heaven, where there will be no more corruption or decay. Only the fullness of joy and peace that only God will bring about. 

Fr. Tim Ilgen