Homily on the Ordinary

Homily on Peacemakers

February 3, 2008

Peacemakers - Matthew 5:1-12a – 02/03/08
A priest went out Saturday afternoon to visit his parishioners. He knocked on the front door of a woman parishioner, but nobody answered even though the television was on. He took out his business card and wrote Revelations 3:20 – Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. On Sunday, there was a card in the collection basket with this note – Genesis 3:10 – I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.

I think at times we feel spiritually naked in our society because we cannot understand the violence of people against people. On January 13th at St. Anthony Church, Immaculee Ili-ba-giza spoke of the 1 m people including several members of her family who were murdered in Rwanda while the world watched and did nothing. And the same thing is happening in Darfur and we are still watching and doing nothing. In today’s Gospel message, Jesus has given us his requirements to live by as his followers. One of these requirements is to be peacemakers.

In Blessed Pope John the 23rd’s letter to us called Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), he writes “human society…demands that men be guided by justice, respect the rights of others, and do their duty.”

A couple of stories -

His name was Cyrus Belt; he was 23 months old. My first picture of Cyrus was on the 6 p.m. KGMB news. His little body was covered by a white sheet on a freeway in Honolulu. A 23 year old neighbor had allegedly thrown the boy from a thirty foot high overpass onto the highway below while high on crystal meth. His mother had left Cyrus in the care of her boyfriend. Cyrus’ grandmother, who has custody of Cyrus’ older brother, said “I was just hysterical crying because it was my greatest fear that something bad would happen to him.” The grandmother continued that her daughter neglected her children because of a longtime addiction to ice (crystal meth).

Her name was Janel Tupuola; she was 29 and a mother of five. Her former boyfriend stalked her for a week. And on January 16th, he rammed Janel’s car four times causing her car to spin out and stop. He pulled her out of her car and started beating her with the butt of a shotgun. While many saw the beating and heard the cries of Janel for help, only one man came to her rescue. He was badly hurt requiring hospitalization, but his intervention only temporarily stopped her beating, which was so severe that the rifle split in half.

Both of these violent killings shock me to my innermost being. I asked why is this happening in Hawaii where we call our elders - uncle and aunty and believe in the extended ohana (family). After the shock had subsided, I asked a second question – what could I have done to prevent this? Pope Paul the VI wrote if we want peace, we (you and I) must work for justice.

To finish this homily, I need your help. When I say, peacemakers, I want you to say children of God. Let us practice - Peacemakers – children of God.

What are some of the injustices in this paradise called Maui, Hawaii?

Housing for our local people is constantly in the news, but very few homes are built each year that are affordable for our people. We are losing our local people to the US mainland because they cannot buy a home here. Why can’t we find land to build homes for the locals?