If there’s a theme to this homily,
it is the quotation associated with a group called “The Christophers”:
It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
First, let me make sure you know that
this weekend we are hosting Fr. Anaclet Mukendi Mpunga,
pastor of St. Peter and Paul Parish in Haiti.
He was here with us last evening at 5 pm,
and is getting to as many of the Masses as possible.
But it’s practically impossible
to go from the 9 am, 10 am, 10:30 am, and 11 am Masses.
I know: I tried it, just once.
But we are having an information night tomorrow,
Monday, at 6 pm in the school cafeteria at St. Henry.
I hope you will go and meet him.
So, for this Mass, pretend I’m Father Anaclet!
He is reporting back to us the work he’s doing,
with the help of many of our parishioners,
with the St. Jude Clinic that he oversees in Haiti.
This started as a project at St. Henry in 1988.
About a year ago, we started including an envelope for this project
in the giving envelopes mailed out to everyone,
with the promise of hosting an evening for parishioners to know more –
and as mentioned, that’s tomorrow night.
In the meantime, here are a few details.
Haiti is a small country in the Caribbean.
It is desperately poor. The government is consistently corrupt.
Disease and poverty are everywhere. Very limited schooling.
In recent years, criminal gangs have had the run of the country.
Someone shot at Father Anaclet;
the bishop shut down the parish and clinic for two years.
Things have gotten slightly less bad in the past two years:
the parish and clinic reopened in 2024.
At Father Anaclet’s recommendation, we stopped sending money
from the Haiti fund at St. Henry for a while,
but we resumed it when Father Anaclet gave us a green light,
and we boosted for a short time what we sent to catch up.
We’re not talking about the hospitals and urgent-care facilities
we all take for granted here.
The building that folks here helped build is simple,
but provides basic care with two doctors,
a pharmacy and a clean place for medical tests and treatment,
including for mothers to give birth.
Now, we might recall the point today’s readings make bluntly:
the foundational, most structural problem the world faces
isn’t medical or political, it is spiritual.
That problem is evil, which is a result of sin.
Why is Haiti such a mess? It isn’t lack of money or stuff.
It’s the problem of violence and greed and I think,
the power of spiritual darkness associated with Voodoo.
And so, what you and I do in Haiti is lighting candles amidst darkness.
The same fundamental problem – spiritual darkness – afflicts us, too.
Our country has no lack of resources.
Consider what two of our biggest health problems are?
Too much food, and too little exercise. Those are spiritual problems!
Our society can be measured by statistics;
and it can also be measured by how well or badly we do
with the seven deadly sins:
greed, wrath, gluttony, lust, pride, sloth and envy.
Lent is a time of amplified focus on battling these sins,
and lighting the candle of faith and conversion.
So, there’s one more thing happening this morning:
you and I welcome a group of spiritual pilgrims:
Men and women who, by divine providence, have found their way
to our St. John Paul Parish Family.
It bears some reflection: what led them here, to us?
One way or the other, they saw the light of Christ in our midst.
And, in seven weeks, they’ll be back in this church,
at the Easter Vigil: some to receive the sacrament of baptism,
all to receive confirmation and Holy Communion.
They are on a pilgrimage this Lent; so are all of us.
Some to be enlightened by Christ; some to have that light renewed.
Whoever you are, of any age or condition, as we begin Lent,
I challenge you: be a light-bearer.
That’s the whole point.
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