HOMILY FOR CLOSING OF ST. ANN’S NOVENA
Sirach 44:1, 10-15; Matthew 13:16-17
July 26, 2024
What a joy to be together this night! Praise God for the gift and blessings of this Novena! … I know that you join me in offering words of gratitude to Father Jim O’Shea, Provincial of the Passionist community, to Father Richard Burke and the members of the Passionist community, to Father Jim Paisley, pastor of Saint Ann’s Parish, as well as to the parishioners, friends and supporters of Saint Ann’s Monastery for making this incredible time of prayer and worship in honor of Saint Ann available to us all. On your behalf, I especially want to extend our thanks to Father Luis Daniel Genera, C.P., and Father Justin Nelson Alphonse, C.P. for preaching this year’s 100th novena to Saint Ann. You have touched our community deeply and we thank you.
In Envisioning Faith: A History of the Diocese of Scranton, its author, James Earley, recalled that “from its inception in 1924, the Novena to Saint Ann proved to have a significant impact on the religious life of the Diocese of Scranton. Crowds descend on the monastery each Monday” and particularly during the Solemn Novena to Saint Ann that concludes on her feast day on July 26th. The author went on to note that “during the first year of the Novena, the Passionist Fathers received 3,844 letters of thanksgiving for favors granted.”
For the past 100 years, countless more prayers have been answered and innumerable lives have been enriched and sustained – not only within the Diocese of Scranton but throughout our country and in lands throughout the world. And the great gift of faith that has been planted in our hearts by God at baptism has been nurtured and given the grace to grow in ways well beyond our imagining through the ministry of Saint Ann’s Monastery and the Passionist Community. As the theme for this year’s Novena has reminded us of time and again, we are indeed “grateful to God for 100 years of blessings.”
Two weeks ago, I returned from a week-long meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. For the last three years, I have been privileged to serve as co-chair of the Vatican’s International Catholic/Pentecostal Dialogue, now in its 52nd year.
Typically, on the Sunday that falls during our week together, the members of the dialogue worship together in the tradition of the group that is hosting the gathering. This year, with the Catholic members serving as hosts, as you might imagine, the logical place for our Sunday worship was at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, located a short distance from Lisbon.
While we gathered for Mass in the great plaza in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima, not surprisingly, there were all sorts of devotions taking place simultaneously. People waited in lines to light candles. Some were quietly praying the rosary. And not a few were prayerfully processing toward the Basilica on their knees. … It was one of these individuals who captured the attention of the members of our dialogue – Catholic and Pentecostal alike – causing us to pause, to reflect and to pray.
We watched a young mother make her way to the Basilica on her knees, with a rosary in her hands, cradling a baby in her arms as tears streamed down her cheeks. She spoke no words to us and we surely didn’t intrude upon her time of prayer. Nonetheless, it was clear from the expression on her face that she was suffering greatly and most likely imploring God for the sake of her baby, who looked frail and in poor health.
Our eyes followed her for as long as we could, quietly praying with her and for whatever her intention might have been. When we returned to our dialogue meeting later that day, at least for a few moments, our different backgrounds and religious beliefs faded away as we reflected upon our experiences at Fatima. Catholic or Pentecostal, we all acknowledged what we had witnessed at work in the life of that young mother was nothing short of the power of God. Her faith – authentic and living – compelled her to get down on her knees, to hand herself over to God and to simply trust that through God’s mercy and healing grace, he would care for her and her child, come what may.
Brothers and sisters, the same stories of faith and the same miracles of God’s sustaining grace have been occurring on this hillside for one hundred years.
Recall again the words from this evening’s gospel, “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.” Jesus speaks these words to his disciples following the parable of the farmer sowing seeds. In that parable, some seeds fell on rocky ground. They sprouted quickly and then withered and died. Some fell among thorn bushes that grew up and choked them. And some seeds fell upon good soil and brought forth a great harvest.
In telling the parable, Jesus affirms his disciples for providing an environment of fertile soil for the seeds of faith that God had planted and he goes on to encourage them in their willingness to announce the kingdom of God, even though they will undoubtedly do so in the midst of a harsh and disappointing world that is adverse to what they believe and proclaim.
“Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.” Jesus speaks these same words to you and to me this evening.
No different than the world that faced Jesus’ disciples, these are difficult and challenging times. … Our world is polarized and filled with voices of hate, rooted in religious and cultural differences. … In this modern and sophisticated era, people are still discriminated against because of the color of their skin, the way they speak, their country of origin, their lifestyle, and what they don’t have. … Immigrant families – the foundation for this great land – are being used as pawns to support political ideologies on both sides of the issue. … The poorest among us suffer while the privileged pay little heed to their needs. … And far too many of us grieve losses and suffer due to the consequences of age, illness and sin.
In such unsettled times, brothers and sisters, we turn to the only place and power that can sustain us and carry us forward with hope. God! Yet, you know as well as I that the very faith in God that we proclaim this night is not a panacea for all of life’s ills or difficulties. While so many of us in life have experienced healings and the miraculous presence of God in our lives through the intercession of God’s saintly daughters and sons, to speak of faith also involves speaking of the reality of painful testing, of human weakness and suffering.
More than anything else, faith gives us a reason to move forward amid the struggles of our world and the challenges of our lives. Listen to Pope Francis, as he reflects upon this unique gift and its power. “Faith,” he says, “is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps and suffices for the journey. To those who suffer, God does not provide arguments which explain everything. Rather, his response is that of an accompanying presence, a history of goodness which touches every story of suffering and opens up a ray of light. In Christ, God himself wishes to share this path (of suffering) with us and to offer us his gaze so that we might see light within it.”
Brothers and sisters, these days of prayer during this annual Novena to Saint Ann are a treasure beyond imaging for those of us who seek God in our lives. … Why? … Because God is here. … Because in the stories of your lives and mine, in our desire to grow in faith, and especially through the Word of God and the power of the Eucharist, God’s presence is all around us, enveloping this hilltop with his love and mercy – giving us hope in times of struggle and challenge. What a gift we have been given.
As we bring this novena to a close, may we hold within our hearts other words from Pope Francis. “Let us follow the path that the Lord desires. Let us ask him to turn to us with his healing and saving gaze. … Never allowing ourselves to be tarnished by pessimism or sin, let us seek and look upon the glory of God, which shines forth in us all, men and women who are fully alive through faith.”
And in gratitude, brothers and sisters, let us give thanks for 100 years of blessings! … Good Saint Ann, pray for us.