A Kentucky Spirituality
Excerpts from the homily given by Fr. Anthony Shonis at an outdoor Mass on the grounds of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, Henderson, Ky., during Faith Quest Week, June 9, 2010
We are gathered here under a beautiful Kentucky sky and I would like to reflect with you on our Kentucky Spirituality -- a spirituality born out of the farmlands of Kentucky. It’s a spirituality nurtured on hard work, large families, faithful marriages, and the simplicity of a life lived close to the land. It is a spirituality that lives by the rhythm of nature and “all things in due time,” a spirituality of patience and a great confidence in God.
The other wing of our Kentucky spirituality is a love for the Church. The early settlers who came from St. Mary’s County in southern Maryland, through the Cumberland Gap and settled in Pottinger’s Creek and then down the Ohio to Daviess, Henderson, and Union counties. These were the settlers who kept the faith on the frontier. They would often say that they gave a son or a daughter to the Church and we know what they meant. And sometimes it was more than one daughter or son. They gave several to the Church. And their children would say, “I want to give my life to the Church.”
Today, we hear a lot about the scandals in the Church and we hear a lot about what people are unhappy about in the Church. Eventually we have to say enough is enough. The Church is not simply another institution like other institutions that you can keep tinkering with, it is also the Bride of Christ, spotless and unblemished. And you can give your life to her because the inner reality of the Church is the Holy Spirit. In Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans, he says that Christ died for sinners, but in his letter to the Ephesians he says that Christ died for the Church.
As long as there are people who love the Church, and are willing to live for the Church, and willing to die for the Church, there will always be the Church.
Reflection
Go with Angela to the feet of Jesus
v What is the story of your faith tradition?
How does it deepen your appreciation of your tradition?
v What do you appreciate most about your faith tradition and your Church community?
v How have you given your life to the Church?
v Saint Angela’s seventh counsel says, “… pray and get others to pray that God not abandon (the) Church but reform it as (God) pleases.”
Spend some time praying for the Church.
v Write a prayer that expresses your appreciation for the Church.
Prayer:
Gracious God,
from living stones, your chosen people,
you built an eternal temple to your glory.
Increase the spiritual gifts you have given to your Church,
so that your faithful people may continue to grow
into the new and eternal Jerusalem. Amen.
slightly adapted from Common of the Dedication of a Church