30 August 2023 - Wednesday of the 21st week in Ordinary Time - Matthew 23:27-32

     I have a great love for the saints and love learning about the saints. This week we have some very interesting saints that we are celebrating.  Yesterday, we commemorated the Passion of John the Baptist, his martyrdom for the faith.  This week we also celebrate the separate feast days of the mother and son St Monica and St Augustine.  It is well-known that Augustine resisted entering the faith, but it was the prayers of his mother, St Monica, that always persisted in praying for his soul.  Augustine eventually became a very influential scholar and Bishop in his day, a theologian whose works are incredibly influential to this day. This week, we commemorate the day in which a very important Archbishop from Brazil departed this world: Dom Helder Camara, who passed away on August 27, 1999.  His work as a young priest in the poor neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro impressed on him the intrinsic connection between love and justice in the Gospel of our Lord.  He stated that charity was not enough; instead, as disciples of Christ, we need to work toward justice and toward changing our society.  As a military dictatorship came into power in Brazil just as he was named Archbishop of Recife in northern Brazil, he became a brave spokesperson for human rights and democracy. The Brazilian government forbade his name to be mentioned in the newspapers for years.  Years after his death, he is still an inspiration to many.  In one quote of his, he said:  “When we are dreaming alone it is only a dream. When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality.”  Yes, we all have to work together as disciples of Christ.  He also said: “Watch how you live.  Your lives may be the only Gospel your brothers and sisters will read.”  

In 2015, Dom Helder Camara was declared a servant of God in the process of becoming a saint.  Just as Jesus proclaims in the Gospel today that the Pharisees and scribes have white washed tombs on the outside, putting on a good appearance, but old dead bones on the inside, we are called to radical action and away from hypocrisy in the way we live out our faith as disciples of Christ.  Yes, that is what the Gospel message is about.