Homily for Easter 7
June 1, 2025
Come Lord Jesus!
Since
the beginning of time, evil has been oppressing the good. Ever since Cain
killed Abel, injustice seems to win the day. Today we see myriad examples of
the suffering of the innocent: the unjustified invasion of Ukraine, the
genocide of Palestine, where 80% of those killed in the war are civilians, the
extreme poverty of 770 million people in the world who make less than $2 per
day, the sixty million unborn babies in America who are unable to see the light
of day due to a woman’s choice, the people addicted to drugs and lust to fill
corrupt wallets. These injustices should break our hearts, as I’m sure it
breaks the heart of God.
Such
injustices cry out for justice – will the evil always triumph? Why do the
wicked prosper while the good suffer? Is God silent in the light of such
tragedies? We ought to do our part to end these injustices, but we live in a
world where there will always be more injustice, more evil to fight. It can get
depressing just to read the morning news!
Which is
why the Church has cried out for all time, “Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!” We
need a definitive answer to human evil – a definitive judge to set right all
that humans have messed up – and Jesus Christ is the answer to human evil and
the suffering of the innocent!
In today’s
first reading we see one such injustice: the martyrdom of St. Stephen. He was
the first one to shed his blood for Christ, but only the first of many – there have
been about fifty million people who have been faithful to Christ until death,
and the persecution of Christians continues today. For example, this past
Tuesday, Islamic radicals attacked two Christian villages in Nigeria, taking
the lives of over 40 Christians, solely for the “crime” of believing in Jesus
Christ. In 2019, Xi Jinping in China ordered Catholic churches to stop displaying
the 10 Commandments in their churches, and instead to display quotes from
President Jinping himself - closing any churches that do not obey. In May of
2023, a two-year-old in North Korea was sentenced to life in prison because his
parents were caught with a Bible. In that country, over 70,000 Christians
suffer in prison camps due to their faith – and many more in the middle East,
sub-Saharan Africa, and Asian countries. Persecution is, sadly, quite prevalent
in much of the world.
This
should break our hearts, and move us to cry out to God for all the innocent who
suffer, particularly among His people. Our hope, then, is in Jesus Christ, Who
promised to end all injustice when He returns. Our second reading is full of
this hope – come, Lord Jesus! Come to bring justice to the innocent!
In our
Catholic tradition, there are four sins that have been called “sins that cry to
God for vengeance” – all of which are sins of injustice. They are: oppressing
the poor and widows and orphans, killing the innocent, unnatural sins of
impurity, and cheating the poor out of their money. Just this past Sunday, my friend
Colleen was telling me how she fell for scammers. They had hacked the email of
their pastor and she got an email she thought was from him, asking her to buy a
bunch of Amazon gift cards. She ended up buying $500 worth, and then the next
email came in telling her to send the PIN numbers. This made her suspicious, so
she called up the pastor, who was (understandably) confused and told her that
he didn’t need any gift cards. She felt incredibly foolish – having spent a
large chunk of her family’s money on this scam!
But then
she did something surprising – she wrote back to the scammer, “I want you to
know that I forgive you for your lies and evil. You must have had some real
problems in your life to lead you to do this – please know that I will pray for
you.” And to her surprise, the scammer wrote back, “Please do pray for me.”
So what
do we do when injustice hits close to home? Perhaps some of us have been seriously
wronged – abused, maltreated, unjustly accused, lied to. Our role is to forgive
them, love them, and leave the justice up to God. It says in Scripture, “Vengeance
is mine, says the Lord.” And trust that God really will bring justice – the
guilty will not go unpunished – this is good news because evil needs a
real answer!
Of
course, we do not want any soul, no matter how wicked, to be lost for eternity.
We want all to be saved, but not without repentance. Consider that the young
man Saul, from the first reading, consented to the stoning of Stephen…and then
converted to Jesus Christ, was re-named Paul, and wrote most of the New
Testament. How beautiful that both St. Stephen and St. Paul rejoice together in
Heaven! Although I’d imagine their first meeting in Heaven may have been a
little awkward… “Hey, Paul, remember that little incident with the rocks?” It
is Christ’s desire that all be saved, but evildoers must first turn from their
evil ways – Scripture also says, “God is not mocked”. Our second reading
actually omits a line from the Book of Revelation – after Jesus says, “Blessed
are they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life and
enter the city through its gates,” He then says, “Outside are the sorcerers,
the unchaste, the murderers, the idol-worshipers, and all who love and practice
deceit.” Only the repentant receive mercy.
This may
seem a bit dark, but ultimately it is good news that wickedness will
not win. Christ is the triumphant victor – so even if we suffer from
injustice, God will bring about our redemption.
I close with
a powerful story of a saint who endured a great deal of injustice – but found
vindication in the Lord: the first Black priest in the United States, Venerable
Augustus Tolton. Augustus was born a slave in Missouri before the Civil War,
but his whole family escaped when he was a young boy. They settled in Illinois,
which was a Union state. His family was Catholic, but uneducated. However, the
local parish priest saw great intelligence in the ten-year-old Augustus, and
offered him a full scholarship to his Catholic school. This was unheard-of –
even the Catholic schools were segregated in those days. But Fr. McGurr was
adamant that Augustine be treated well. Despite great racism, the lad received
a great education, and even graduated as valedictorian for his class.
But entering
seminary was another matter. He was rejected by every American seminary due to
his skin color. But Fr. McGurr was persistent – and kept writing letters on
behalf of young Augustine. Finally, it was decided that he would study in Rome,
where racism wasn’t such an issue. He was finally ordained a priest in Rome,
and, realizing that America wasn’t ready for a Black priest, prepared himself to
do mission work in Africa, and asked the Cardinal in charge of the missions
where he should be sent. To his shock, the Cardinal famously replied, “America
has been called the most enlightened nation. We will see if it deserves the
honor. If America has never seen a Black priest, it will see one now." He
was sent back to Illinois to minister – and what a job he did! He was such a
good preacher and singer that many white people began to attend his Black
church. He was known as “Good Father Gus” – and is now known as Venerable
Augustus Tolton, on the path to sainthood. Here was one who endured injustice –
but forgave, persevered, and trusted that God was going to bring justice in the
end.
When
faced with injustice – either in the world, or in our own lives – we must do
the same. Forgive, persevere, and cry out with the Church in every age: “Come,
Lord Jesus!”
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