Holy Hour for Life 2024

Holy Hours for Life, Forgiveness, and Healing.

Some of you may have heard of the name of Richard Dawkins. He is an 82-year-old British biologist and author best known for his atheism and his criticism of creationism and intelligent design. He is probably best known for his 2006 book, 'The God Delusion'. Though perhaps now falling a little out of favor with some due to his extreme antagonistic positions and sometimes offensive manner, he has been and remains a firm favorite of the young atheists being named one of the four horsemen of the atheist apocalypse, along with Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. A simple YouTube search will provide plenty of material to listen to if you are so inclined.

I am not here today to directly respond to any one or other points or arguments that Richard Dawkins or the other three horsemen promote. I am here though as a simple deacon living the simple life who knows that thoughts, ideas, and words are powerful and can move individuals, families, communities, and entire countries in one direction or another. This is after all the profound reality of the freedom that we have in that we can purposely change our world, for better, and of course for worse. From the personal micro scale to the global scale, we are profoundly powerful creatures – able to give up candy for Lent in one moment and capable in a blink of an eye to wipe out a vast expanse of our world if we were so inclined.

For sure some would absolutely want to and do attempt to depose God. And for sure many very smart people argue against the very existence of God, calling him the Sky Daddy and arguing that a world without the God delusion would be better for all.

And yet you and I know, in the very deepest part of the fabric that we are made from, that God is, and that God loves. To depose God is to fly in the face of all that is true, good, and beautiful. It is to rudely interrupt the song of the universe and of all creation that sings of the transcendent truth that God is Love and that we, his creation, are the object of his love.

To depose God also results in something else. Into the vacuum comes crashing the power of the individual. With God removed we have only ourselves to enthrone – to establish as the all-powerful and ultimate judge of what is good and what is bad. And that has been, and continues to be, the scary reality of a society voiding itself of the truth of the God who creates, loves, heals, and saves. Left to our own devices we are left to judge as we will: old people become an unwanted burden, sick people become a financial burden, women can become men, and men can become women, and the unwanted baby becomes a cluster of cells with no more value than a bunion, or as we hear now, an unwanted virus. In removing God, we have lost our humanity, we lose our individual identity, and we lose the chance at a prosperous and healthy future for our families and for our country. Barring God leaves only Nietzsche’s Will to Power, a barren and cold place where the devil walks freely twisting minds and hearts and signing up recruits whether they know it or not.

The Supreme Court decision of Dobbs vs. Jackson has certainly had an impact on the abortion front but without the change of hearts and minds there is only so far, this can go. Now it must be personal discussions to be had around the family table or in small offices and other places, where we can speak to each other face to face. We are to be ready in sharing why we think life is precious from conception to a full and complete natural death.

In so many places God has been dethroned. But my friends not here and not now. Our Lord Jesus Christ the King of the Universe, the one who humbled himself to come and be with us – to heal us, teach us, love us, is with us here and now. He is the one who sought out the lost and the hurting and continues to do so. He is the one who healed by word and touch. The one who sweated blood, was crowned with thorns, whose hands and feet were pierced through, He is with us now. He is here and He loves you as He loves all his brothers and sisters for, so we are, related as closely as blood kin. Look upon him. Our infinite God humbled so we would not be alone especially in our moments of difficulty, tragedy, fear, or isolation. Our infinite God presenting an infinite ocean of mercy.

We are all in need of a savior since it is impossible for us to cure ourselves. Jesus is the divine physician who comes to visit with those who need him – to heal them, reconcile them to the Father, so once again we may have the fullness of life and the joy that comes with it. We read in Sr. Faustina’s diary Jesus’s words, “The greater the sinner, the greater the right he (the sinner) has to my mercy.” (Divine Mercy in My Soul, 723). Those words are worth taking to prayer and pondering.

Though perhaps already forgiven if there is a healing needed to reenter the fullness of life, then now is the time to speak to our Lord who is and who will always be enthroned, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and our loving brother. Irrespective of the reasons why we are here tonight, the Lord has drawn you to himself today here and now, so that you and he may have time – quietly, intimately.

We present to Him all that burdens us and then we leave it behind as we dive into the ocean of His mercy.

May Jesus Christ bless us and keep us.
Amen

Deacon Peter, Arlington, Massachusetts
January 19, 2024