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Bishop's Homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

September 29, 2024

Homily of the Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu
[St. Stephen Church, Honolulu (with Installation of Pastor); St. Michael Church, Waialua (Parish Feast Day)]

Professionalism is a wonderful thing, and we are grateful to all the professionals who serve our community.  But sometimes professionalism prevents many people from using their talents and gifts to reach out to others in simple ways.

Yes, we need professional medical personnel to diagnose our illnesses and to prescribe a treatment regime that is likely to be successful.  We need professional psychological or psychiatric help from time to time to sort out deep seated personal issues that lead to unhealthy outcomes.  We need professional teachers who understand well the subject they are teaching, but who also have good classroom management skills.  We even need professional ministers who are trained to guide a parish or a diocese with the Word of God and to help the Church grow in its mission.

But I think the Scriptures today are warning us that highly trained professionals are not the only people God can use to do his work.  We see Joshua objecting to Moses that two men who had not been in the “in group” of prophets were still prophesying, that is, speaking out in God’s name to call people to conversion.  Moses corrects Joshua and goes further to wish that God would pour out his prophetic spirit on all the people of Israel. And in today’s Gospel, John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, also objects when someone who is not one of the “credentialed” disciples is casting out demons in the name of Jesus.  Jesus rebukes John, pointing out that the work of the Holy Spirit can be done by anyone who is open to the Holy Spirit.

Here in the parish, for example, we often entrust our children to catechists to teach them about the beliefs and practices of our Catholic faith.  While not all catechists are highly trained, some devote a great amount of time to grow in their professionalism, and they should be commended for doing so.  But the Church actually teaches that a child’s first and best catechists are the parents of the child.  Even though they may not be so highly trained, they can accomplish more in imparting a living faith than a great theologian could.  So, while it is good to have our children participate in formal catechetical programs, they will be much more effective if the parents take seriously their role as first catechists.

There is a huge mental health crisis in our nation, with people suffering great anxiety, and some resorting to self-destructive behaviors, even suicide.  There is a need for mental health professionals for sure.  But let’s face two realities.  First, there are not enough mental health professionals to go around; and second, even if there were, many people would not turn to a mental health professional.  Maybe the cost would be prohibitive, or the perceived shame is a barrier.  So, our diocese has been developing a spiritual-mental health ministry. In this ministry people who are experiencing normal, everyday anxieties over an illness, loss of a job, or the death of a loved one are invited to come and simply tell their stories in a group that can listen with care and offer emotional support.  It is not meant to replace mental health professionals when they are needed, but to supplement what they are not able to do because people do not go to them for one reason or another.

There is a need for professional politicians and lawmakers for sure.  But we can be tempted to leave everything to them, not bothering to vote or to express the values that we want to be enshrined in the laws of our land.  We are not a true democracy unless we inform our elected officials of the values we want to see enshrined in law and vote so that those values can truly become the law of the land.

We have professional ministers, such as bishops and priests, and, of course, we are very important!  But the majority of people who have not know the love of Christ would probably never encounter a professional minister, so the Holy Spirit anoints all the members of the Church to go out and share the Gospel with their family members, schoolmates, co-workers, and neighbors.  This mission is given to all Christians, not just to professional ministers.

It is important that we learn the lesson from today’s Word of God that one does not need to be in an “in group” or to be “credentialed” to do God’s work.  While we recognize the place professionals play in our community and thank God for them, we can all be stewards of God by sharing whatever gifts we have so that there can be greater healing of the broken lives we often encounter and the broken world in which we live.  Each of us is filled with the Holy Spirit, so that, while recognizing our own limitations, the Spirit can enable us to do more than we may ever imagine.