Father Chris -Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Homily

" The Bread Of Hope"

“I have had enough, Lord. Let me die. I have suffered enough. I am only human like my ancestors. I don’t want to go on anymore. Lord, let me die,” says Elijah.

Elijah’s challenges were unique, the result of answering the Lord’s call to address the sins of the people of Baal at Mount Carmel. Their powerful, idolatrous Queen, Jezebel, wanted him dead, why he fled for safety in the desert. Elijah is known as the greatest, ‘most resilient’ prophet of the OT, but even he cannot stand any longer the trials he has been facing. He wants to end it all. He wants to die.

This passage should speak to all of us, because in one way or another, we have all been suffering over a year from the negative effects of the pandemic which have been ‘layered’ upon what would be our more typical trials and difficulties.

Many are shouldering the burden reasonably well using the resources of a lifetime. Others seek various distractions from the turmoil which has entered their lives, while others may be in a kind of denial. Still, some may have given up like Elijah.

The clergy certainly understand this suffering, and with great empathy, since like their parishioners they are suffering as well. Elijah especially speaks to them. Unable to provide pastoral help as they are accustomed to, they have had to seek new ways to be present to people who troubled, ill or dying, using communication tools like Zoom, Facetime, and Google-Meet. Some have less or no staff, but they try to keep up with paperwork, finances, directives from the diocese, building and property concerns; also taking the mostly supportive calls, but also the complaints. “Your church should not be open! You are spreading the virus!” Later in the day, “We need to trust in God and open up our churches again.” Meanwhile, numbers are starting to fill our hospital ICUs again. The middle-way is hard to maintain.

But we know that everyone is suffering, dealing with emotions we may never have had to deal with before. We are all suffering from a world-wide complaint! Like Elijah, we long for a safe, quiet place to rest.

In an online ‘Wellness Seminar’ we learned how humans react to stress through the day via our two nervous systems: ‘parasympathetic’ which relaxes and calms, and the ‘sympathetic’ which rapidly responds to anything resembling a threat.

Because of the pandemic, our normal daily experiences have changed. They are now ‘layered’ with concerns re Covid-19. This ‘layering’ first creates ‘uncertainty’, then ‘fear’, followed by deep ‘concern’, then ‘fatigue’. Unfortunately, this leads to what psychologists call ‘disconnection’ from normal life as we knew it. Our ‘Window of Tolerance’ is shattered. The thinking part of our brain, the ‘frontal cortex’, abandons its logic for the ‘primitive core’ in our brain which causes us to ‘fight, take flight, or freeze [now more commonly recognized].’

So, what can we do to create a healthy resilience? The Crisis Trauma Institute says: - Reach out to others: our relationships bring us meaning and security. Together we put things in better, more positive perspective. Love your neighbour as Christ said.
- Stay open-minded and flexible. Let the experts handle the virus. Let God help the experts to help you.
- Reconnect to what matters: pray, meditate, listen to God, trust God, stay active, forgive, replace negativity with positives, stay informed, laugh often and love a lot.
- Accept that we all have unique limits. Limits are healthy. They keep us balanced.
- Pause and breathe regularly. Breathe in to count of 5, breathe out 5. Do 5 times.
- Engage your Five Senses:

1.) Sight: take time to behold beautiful things, sunsets, pictures of loved ones.
2.) Touch: hold the hand of someone in your bubble, a spouse, child, or friend.
3.) Hearing: listen to sounds of nature, gentle music, wind-chimes in the garden.
4.) Taste: enjoy food which comforts the heart and brings loved ones together.
5.) Smell: scents strongly connect us to the world. Stop and take note of newly cut grass, burning leaves in the Fall, fresh baked cookies, grandma’s favourite perfume.

** Let the five senses take you to rest with Elijah under the shade of the broom tree.

Elijah was revived in the desert with bread and water from heaven. But Christ gave us the true bread from heaven, himself, the ‘bread of sacrifice and hope’. And although it is not possible, understandably, for many to receive the Eucharist at this time, remember it is the ‘bread of hope’ which Christ gave us through his death and resurrection and promise of new life which is the ultimate food for our souls.


– Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario