{"id":459,"date":"2023-04-17T15:38:26","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T15:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/?p=459"},"modified":"2026-02-24T01:06:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T01:06:02","slug":"mercy-through-solidarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/2023\/04\/17\/mercy-through-solidarity\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercy through Solidarity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Homily, 4-16-23; Divine Mercy Sunday, Cycle A:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of weeks ago, someone at St. Cornelius asked me to answer the question: \u201cWhat is solidarity?\u201d My response to that question is in my Ask the Deacon column in this week\u2019s bulletin. At the time I prepared the response, I didn\u2019t know I would be preaching this weekend, and I didn\u2019t realize how well the question fits in with today\u2019s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solidarity is the virtue by which we work together in charity for the common good based on our belief and understanding that we are all one family. We heard this morning: \u201cAll who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one\u2019s need.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>Peter Kreeft points out that it can sound a little bit like Karl Marx\u2019s definition of communism: \u201cFrom each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Kreeft makes a distinction between communism and communalism. Communism is imposed by force and fails because it rejects God. Communalism, such as that demonstrated by some of the early Christians, is voluntary and works when it is motivated by a strong faith in God. We are not all called to live a communal life like some of the early Christians\u2014it is a very difficult challenge\u2014but we can learn much from their example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we do see successful communal life within loving families. Mom and Dad and the kids, each contributing according to their abilities and each receiving according to his needs. It\u2019s one of the few places that Marx\u2019s principles can actually work. And even there it can be a challenge. There can be confusion between wants and needs. There can be selfishness and jealousies. Sometimes parents have to give more of their time and resources to one child who has greater needs, and resentments can rise up. My grandparents provided my dad with a vehicle when he returned from fighting in Europe during World War II. His six sisters never let him forget that they never received a car. It haunted him throughout his life as he tried to help his own children equally, even though some had greater needs from time to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s difficult enough trying to make communalism work within a family. How can anyone ever expect communism to work in a country? But communism and socialism sound idealistic on the surface and our country is being driven more and more to that direction. We hear about redistribution of income. Instead of equality where everyone has the same opportunity, we hear about equity where everyone has the same outcome. These principles sound nice on the surface, but when mandated by a socialist government they demotivate and cause conflicts. They do not end up contributing to the common good. Our tax dollars often go for misguided federal programs that claim to help the disadvantaged, but end up being ineffective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belief in God is belittled in our current political system. Laws are no longer being enacted based on truth and justice and the principles set down in the Ten Commandments. Politicians no longer pursue the common good, but instead their own selfish good and greed for money and power. Without a moral compass directed by a belief in God, our country is adrift. We need to pray for our country and its conversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we must also learn from the example of the early Christians and be examples ourselves to the world. We must reach out to advance the common good through voluntary charity based on our Christian beliefs. We reach out in solidarity to our fellow men throughout the world because they are our extended family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We start within our own families teaching our children charity and justice and mercy and peace. We must make a place for God in our daily lives and in our homes. We show the love behind our sacrifices so that everyone has what they need, but not necessarily everything they want. We are called to sacrifice our personal goods to advance the common good of the family. Families are under attack in society. Young people are choosing not to get married or getting married in godless civil ceremonies. Many selfishly choose to have few or no children. Divorce is rampant. Children are under attack by confused and evil people who promote sexual perversion. And all this is promoted and encouraged by our government which is supposed to be promoting the common good. We have to stay strong and be willing to suffer to protect our Christian families. We have to be joyful and happy to witness to others that we are making the right choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And beyond our immediate families we reach out to our extended families and our local community. The Church\u2019s teaching on solidarity is balanced with its teaching on subsidiarity which claims that problems are best solved at the lowest, local level where the issues are best understood. It is better to help our family members, our friends, and our neighbors directly when they are need and not sit back and expect the government to come to their aid. And I have seen many wonderful examples of this with meal chains and fund raisers for families undergoing a rough period. I\u2019ve seen people helping with medical care for of extended family members and fellow parishioners, giving them rides to medical treatment and to church. It is a beautiful witness. It is fulfilling the works of mercy found in scripture. On this Divine Mercy Sunday, we are reminded of our call to be merciful if we dare to ask God for mercy on ourselves. Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And beyond our families and our local community, we are called to also have concern for the common good of all mankind across our nation and the world. This becomes more difficult because we are further from their issues and conditions and there is a conflict with the principle of subsidiarity. I have found this out personally through my efforts with Friends of the Congo. It is hard to solve problems in a faraway country. So I encourage you to search out Catholic charities with boots on the ground in the communities that they are helping. Government aid to foreign countries is often used to promote abortion and contraception and perverted sexual agendas. We must counter this by directing our personal donations to charities that truly aim at advancing the common good, starting with strong families and Christian principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can learn much from the great faith and example of the early Christians. Let us be willing to sacrifice our personal goods for the common good of our families, our communities, our nation, and the world. This is how we are merciful. This is how we can confidently ask God for mercy in return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homily, 4-16-23; Divine Mercy Sunday, Cycle A: A couple of weeks ago, someone at St. Cornelius asked me to answer the question: \u201cWhat is solidarity?\u201d My response to that question is in my Ask the Deacon column in this week\u2019s bulletin. At the time I prepared the response, I didn\u2019t know I would be preaching… Continue reading Mercy through Solidarity<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-homily","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":460,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459\/revisions\/460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthoscopy.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}