By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami

Homily by Archbishop Thomas Wenski at the installation Mass of Father Steven O'Hala at St. Elizabeth of Hungary on Nov. 17, 2012.

�Heaven and earth will pass away; but my words will not pass away.� We live in a world that this ever changing, It is filled with dramatic collapses � but at the same time, it is constantly being rebuilt. The Scripture readings today speak of the end of the world � appropriately so, since we are near the end of another year, and in this month of November when we recall the holy souls we are reminded of the shortness of our lives so that whenever the world will end, our world will surely end.

However, while Jesus speaks about the end of the world, it is not all doom and gloom. Jesus� message is a message of hope. �Heaven and earth will pass away; but my words will not pass away.� Nor will his truth or his justice. His words of promise remain in full force and effect. 

These past several years have not been easy ones � we have faced the most challenging economic downturn in 70 years � and it�s probably not over yet. For not a few people, these times might have seemed like the end of the world � just like for an earlier generation, the Great Depression or the horror of World War II seemed like the end of the world. And to be sure, some people think that the results of last week�s election as something taken right out of the last chapter of the Book of Apocalypse.

We have all experience what can be describe as an end, if not of the world then an end of a world: the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, a divorce, migration from one country, one region, to another, a transition from the active life of work and raising a family to retirement.

But in all these endings I am sure that each of you in your own lives you have experienced God�s constancy and steadfastness in times of personal trial and tribulation. In times of collapse and loss when your world seemed like it was ending hasn�t God given you strength?

Heaven and earth may pass away but Jesus� words do not. Consider for yourself� has anything happened to the essential truth and meaning of Christ's words to us? The great commandment to love you neighbor as yourself remains in full force. Christ's other teachings, such as: "Whoever would be great among you must become the servant of all" remain in effect.

Christianity isn�t, as some of our critics have suggested over the centuries, �a pie in the sky� religion, a way of escaping the difficulties and problems of daily life. Our worship of God does not remove us from the world but rather it inserts us in the world in a new way. Yes, as Church, we are called not to be of the world � yet we remain in the world, not to be against the world but to be for it. Christ calls us to be salt � to give flavor to the world; Christ calls us to be leaven � to transform the world. For Christ has come to be about �a new heaven and a new earth�

This requires, on our part, hard work for one cannot transform the world without transforming first oneself. And this transformation comes about through our keeping the commandments. For the Christian, love is much more than just a sentiment or some passing emotion. For the Christian, love is not about �feeling good� but rather it is about �doing good�.

Love unites, love heals, love reconciles. Sin divides, sin hurts, and sin engenders conflict. Oftentimes, when we come across conflict and division we misidentify its causes. In the Body of Christ, we are many members � and each member is different. And when we observe division or conflict we might think that the reason is because of the difference. But that is to misplace the blame. It is almost blasphemous � because it is as if we are blaming God who created each one of us � with his or her differences. In the Church, there is great diversity � of language, of cultures, of races; we are male and female, we are rich and poor, learned and unlearned. And in God�s plan, this diversity is not meant to divide the Church but to enrich the Church � for God has made us in such wise that there is no one too poor that he does not have something to give, nor is there anyone so rich that he cannot receive. My prayer is that St. Elizabeth of Hungary �with all its rich diversity of peoples � be always a reconciled and reconciling community.

For Jesus showed us on Easter Sunday: Love is more powerful that sin � and he and his love is stronger than anything that would divide us.

Father Ohala, as your pastor, is to be a faithful steward of you, the people entrusted to his care, and he is to dispense to you � with single minded and wholehearted devotion � the means of grace by preaching the Word and administering the Sacraments.

Father Ohala, love your people with a shepherd�s heart and feed them, lead them to Christ and teach them gently � by word and example.

Father Ohala is entrusted with the �care of your souls� what in Latin is called the �cura animarum�. He is to carry out his duties �not with a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power and love and self control� (cf. Timothy)

This care of souls is a threefold task: first, he must teach you faithfully what the Church believes and teaches. In the midst of this changing world � with its trials, its tribulations but also with its joys and hopes, your pastor is to remind you that Jesus words do not pass away, they do not go out of style. His words of promise remain in full force and effect.

He doesn�t speak in his own name but in the name of Christ; second, he must lead you, like the Good Shepherd, to safe pastures and third, he must bring you to greater holiness. In the confessional, in the Eucharist, in the anointing at Baptism, Confirmation and in the care of the sick, Father Ohala will strengthen you in the grace that will have you grow in holiness before the Lord. As one gospel preacher would tell his people over and over again: We ain�t what we oughta be and we ain�t what we�re gonna be; but thank God almighty, we ain�t what we used to be.

Father Ohala, I am sure, will serve you well; and he will serve not by calling attention to himself but by calling attention to the Lord; he will serve not by seeking his own interests but by putting first God�s will and his people�s good and well being; he will serve not by trying to please everyone � for one who tries to do that usually ends up pleasing no one, rather he will serve you best by trying to please the Lord in all things.