![\"\"](\"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Campfire.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It’s a beautiful October day today,
\nand I have to admit that October is my favorite month.
\nI love the colors of the leaves as they change,
\nthe foggy mornings that we often get,
\nand the pumpkin spice food and beverages
\nthat show up in the stores and coffee shops.
\nBut I also love the feast days that come one after another in October:
\nSt. Teresa the Little Flower, the Guardian Angels,
\nSt. Francis of Assisi, and Our Lady of the Rosary.<\/p>\n
The month of October is also set aside as Respect Life Month,
\nAnd the first Sunday in October, today, is Respect Life Sunday.
\nAnd if there\u2019s anything that needs respecting in today\u2019s world,
\nit is life.
\nWe hear the words of the prophet Habbakuk in the first reading,
\n\u201cDestruction and violence are before me;
\nthere is strife, and clamorous discord.\u201d
\nThose words apply just as much to us today
\nas they did in the days of the prophet when they were written.<\/p>\n
Our world is full of violence and strife
\ntowards people of all ages, of all abilities, of all backgrounds,
\nand of all nationalities.
\nWe might even say of today\u2019s world that there is a great disrespect
\nfor the value of human life.
\nWe seem to have lost our way
\nwhen it comes to recognizing the dignity of every human person,
\nbefore they’re born, after they’re born,
\nor when they’re at the end of their journey in this life.<\/p>\n
And trying to defend the value of those lives,
\nthe lives of infants,
\nthe lives of those who are disabled or dying,
\nthe lives of those on death row,
\nthe lives of immigrants, the poor,
\ntrying to defend the lives of any vulnerable human population
\nis often met with enormous resistance.<\/p>\n
And what about our own efforts to respect human life?
\nOctober is a good month for us to ask ourselves
\nif we need to improve in the respect we give to every person in our lives,
\nfrom family members to coworkers,
\nfrom acquaintances to strangers.
\nDo I gossip? Do I bully? Do I ignore those in need around me
\nsimply because they are different or believe differently than I do?<\/p>\n
We have to challenge ourselves,
\nwe, who profess to know and respect the value of human life,
\nto live out what we believe,
\nto put it in practice in our own lives.<\/p>\n
So it is vitally important that we take time this month
\nto refocus on the inherent value human life,
\nand help others understand.<\/p>\n
But when we look at the work required It seems like too big a task for people as small as we are, But today\u2019s scripture readings As Paul writes what is probably his final letter, Timothy is the leader of the Christian community in Ephesus, And what Paul says to Timothy is this: He wants Timothy to stir that gift into flame, Paul wants Timothy to remember, And Paul says it’s a spirit of power, We see the same thing in the gospel. So the disciples say to Jesus, \u201cIncrease our faith.\u201d He says, \u201cIf you have faith the size of a mustard seed, What Jesus is telling them is, you have the amount of faith you need. That’s the message for us today It\u2019s like getting a brand new credit card in the mail. We have received a gift from God that needs to be activated. This very day there are well-meaning politicians and cultural leaders We have the faith we need to help them, Our challenge is to take time in this month of October It’s a beautiful October day today, and I have to admit that October is my favorite month. I love the colors of the leaves as they change, the foggy mornings that we often get, and the pumpkin spice food and beverages that show up in the stores and coffee shops. But I also love the feast days that come one after another in October: St. Teresa the Little Flower, the Guardian Angels, St. Francis of Assisi, and Our Lady of the Rosary. The month of October is also...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Stir into Flame the Gift of God: #Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[349],"tags":[361,1130,679,1131,1132,455,1133],"class_list":["post-7381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homily","tag-gospel-of-luke","tag-habbakuk","tag-october","tag-respect-life-month","tag-respect-life-sunday","tag-st-paul","tag-st-timothy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Campfire.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pOucj-1V3","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7381"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7587,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7381\/revisions\/7587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nto try to change the culture so that all human life is valued,
\nand to make sure we are living out what we believe,
\nwe might feel intimidated or overwhelmed
\nby the sheer enormity of the task.
\nHow do we transform our culture
\nso that each individual human life is understood as sacred,
\nas important,
\nregardless of what a person can or cannot contribute to society?
\nHow do we help people see
\nthat our worth does not derive from our ability to do<\/em>
\nbut our worth derives from the fact that we are<\/em>,
\nthat we exist,
\nthat we were created by a loving God
\nwho chose us into being?<\/p>\n
\nand there seems to be too much inertia in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
\nchallenge us to live out our call to discipleship.
\nFirst we hear from Paul in his second letter to Timothy.
\nAs Paul writes this letter,
\nhe is close to the end of his life, and he probably realizes it.
\nHe’s in prison in Rome,
\nand he’s writing a letter to his closest companion
\nand probably his best friend, Timothy:
\nTimothy who traveled with him on two of his journeys,
\nTimothy whom he sent on several special missions.
\nPaul knows Timothy’s family well.
\nHe knows Timothy’s grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice,
\nand he admires both of them for their faith,
\nthe same faith that he sees in Timothy.<\/p>\n
\nhe wants Timothy to fully understand and be confident in
\nthe gift that he’s been given by God
\nthrough Paul’s imposition of hands on him.
\nYou see, Timothy is in Ephesus while Paul is in Rome,
\nand he’s sending Timothy this letter
\nbecause he knows that Timothy has a big job ahead of him.<\/p>\n
\nand there are a lot of false teachings that are beginning to spread
\nby well meaning people who think they are being helpful.
\nIt’s a big task for someone to take on,
\nvery similar to the task of trying to help people understand the value of life. So Paul\u2019s words to Timothy are also good for us to hear.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI remind you to stir into flame the gift of God
\nthat you have through the imposition of my hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nthe gift of the spirit Timothy has been given,
\nthe gift of the spirit by Paul\u2019s imposition of hands.
\nWe have been given that same gift of the Spirit
\nthrough the sacraments of baptism and confirmation
\nand which are renewed every time we come to this altar
\nin the sacrament of the Eucharist<\/p>\n
\nto remember that he has that gift,
\nthe gift of the spirit,
\nand to stir that spirit,
\nto stir it into flame.
\nThe picture here is a fire pit full of coals
\nthat have begun to grow colder;
\nthe coals have died down,
\nthey’re just glowing now,
\nnot providing much heat,
\nnot providing much light,
\nand Paul is saying to Timothy
\n\u201cPoke a stick in there and stir those up,
\nstir them up into a flame,
\nget that flame going again, you have this gift from God,
\nyou have the spirit.<\/p>\n
\nit’s a spirit of self-control
\nand it\u2019s the spirit most of all of love.
\nTimothy has what needs.
\nWe have what we need.
\nBut it must be stirred up!
\nIt must be made active.<\/p>\n
\nJesus and the disciples are on their way to Jerusalem,
\nand it\u2019s a long journey,
\nand as they’re on the way,
\nJesus has just finished telling them
\nabout the temptations they\u2019re going to face,
\nand how difficult discipleship is.<\/p>\n
\nThey feel the need to have Jesus\u2019 help in strengthening their faith,
\nin increasing their faith,
\nand what does Jesus tell them?<\/p>\n
\nyou would say to this mulberry tree,
\n\u2018Be uprooted and planted in the sea,\u2019
\nand it would obey you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe faith that you need is in you, no matter how small it is.
\nNow stir it up, bring it to light, rely on it and trust in it!<\/p>\n
\nas we we recommit ourselves to respecting life:
\neach one of us already has access to the power of the Holy Spirit
\nto do what needs to be done.
\nThe presence of Christ dwells in our hearts.
\nThat should excite and delight us,
\nand give us joyful hearts,
\neven in the face of a world that doesn\u2019t fully understand the value of life.
\nPaul says, \u201cRemember that!\u201d
\nStir up those embers!
\nThe presence of the Holy Spirit needs to be activated in our lives.<\/p>\n
\nYou open up the envelope and what\u2019s the first thing you see?
\nCall this toll free number to activate your card.
\nIf you don\u2019t activate it, then it\u2019s useless.<\/p>\n
\nToday.<\/p>\n
\nproposing laws and initiatives
\nthat they mistakenly believe are helpful to society,
\nbut which will harm the dignity of human life.
\nThis very day there are young women in Spokane
\nwho have just found out they are unexpectedly pregnant,
\nand who are scared to death and don\u2019t know what to do.
\nThis very day there are people all around us
\nsuffering from terminal diseases,
\nand in their pain and confusion,
\nthey wonder if their families would be better off without them.
\nThis very day there are children in our schools and neighborhoods
\nwho are growing up under the weight of poverty,
\nand who are on the verge of committing their first or twenty-first crime.<\/p>\n
\neven if it is as small as a mustard seed.
\nWe have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit
\nthrough the sacraments of the church
\nrenewed every time we come here to Mass.<\/p>\n
\nto stir into flame the gift of the Holy Spirit
\nfor the sake of all those lives that are so precious to God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"