There once was a man who worked in the post office whose job was to process any mail that had illegible addresses so that they could be delivered. One day he came across an envelope that had one simple word on the address line: God. He could barely read the name; it was written in very shaky handwriting. The man opened the letter and read what it said: “Dear God, I’m a 83 year old widow living on a small pension. I am thankful for all my blessings, but I have a hard time making it financially each month. Yesterday, someone stole my purse. In it was a hundred dollars, all the money I have until my next check. Next Sunday is Mother’s Day. I’ve invited my two good friends over that day for dinner. But, without that money, I can’t buy the food to prepare that dinner for my friends. God, I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?” The postal worker was touched by the letter so he went around showing it to all his coworkers. Each of them dug into his wallet, donating a few dollars. The worker collected $96; he sent the letter back to the lady. The workers were happy that they have done a good deed. A few days after Mother’s Day, another letter from the old lady addressed to God arrived at the post office. All the workers were anxious to hear what the letter said. It read, “Dear God, I can never thank you enough for the kindness you bestowed upon me. Because of your generosity, I was able to fix a lovely dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day. I told my friends about your wonderful gift. But there was $4 missing from the $100 you sent me. I bet one of the those thieving workers at the post office stole that $4!!!”
This humorous story illustrates the gratitude, thanksgiving, and mercy that are the attitudes we’re all called to have as disciples of Christ. But our gratitude and thanksgiving need to come from our hearts, not just our lips. Giving thanks to God needs to be a way of life. Namaan, commander of the Syrian army in the Second Book of Kings, and the Samaritan from Luke’s Gospel who are both cured of leprosy, cannot thank God enough for the healing he brought into their lives. We all are to have our hearts filled with that same sense of joy and thanksgiving that those lepers had when they were cured from that terrible disease. God had mercy on these lepers who cried out for help in the midst of their suffering and infirmities. Throughout this Year of Mercy, the Church has called us to merciful like God the Father. Pope Francis wanted to call attention to the Father’s mercy because in so many situations, that mercy is lacking in our modern world. Yet, we can see works of mercy around us if we look. Out of Christian charity, our Knights of Columbus here at St James asked our parish to help them bring aide to a number of families in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who were trying to recover from the recent flood. Those families were touched by the compassion and love of our Knights of Columbus who delivered that help to them last weekend. Also, last week, our parish reached out to the police and fire fighters and first responders in our community, offering up our prayers in a Blue Mass on the vigil of the feast of the Archangels. Having never had a Blue Mass before in Tupelo, I wasn’t sure what response we would have, but I was very touched to see so many in our community respond out of love and support for the men and women who protect us today. We live in a world where it is easy to lash out at others in our words and our actions, to be sarcastic, cold hearted, and critical of others rather than to work towards unity and reconciliation. God’s mercy calls out to us and asks us to be bearers of that mercy to others.
That bring us to the month of October, Respect Life Month in our Catholic Faith. The theme this year is Moved by Mercy. The Respect Life program in our Catholic Church has been commemorated each year since 1972, when the Roe v Wade case was being argued in the Supreme Court, and with the resulting decision that legalized abortion in our country. Abortion and other beginning of life issues are a very important part of our Catholic view of respecting human life, but they are not the entire story. In our faith, we respect human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, emphasizes the need to protect human life at every stage. He asserts: “From each tiny child waiting to be born, to individuals nearing death, all are precious and deserve our care and protection.” Cardinal Dolan states: “Women and men suffering after abortion, individuals tempted to end their lives (through suicide), couples longing to conceive a child, people pushed to the margins of society by a ‘throwaway culture,’ expectant mothers facing challenging pregnancies… - each ‘has a place in God’s heart from all eternity’,” citing the pope’s 2016 apostolic exhortation, “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”). At St James, we make a big effort to commemorate Respect Life Month each October. We invite you to engage in the different activities we will have this month, which will include praying the rosary before all of the weekend masses, reflecting about the mysteries with a pro-life theme.
Although the Year of Mercy will end in November, hopefully what we have learned from this journey through this jubilee year will affect our lives of faith after November. In the spirit of today’s readings, may the hearts of all the faithful be stirred by the love and mercy that the Father has first shown us. May our hearts be filled with gratitude and thanks.
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