Sunday, August 24, 2025 – The Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
As I begin this reflection, I am referring to a recent, and perhaps current politically charged event. I do not wish to make any political commentary regarding it but use it as a point of departure to offer an alternative message.
A few weeks ago, members of Democratic delegation in the Texas legislature left the state to block a vote that would change the congressional district map of the state to favor Republican candidates running for the United States House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections. This group, as I write this, remains in other states and may still be elsewhere when you read this in efforts to block the vote’s passage.
It would be safe to say these Democrats are in “exile.” As this saga continues, it has caused me to wonder and think about exile. Exile would not be fun. Consider being in exile for some unknown reason and needing to leave Cincinnati, for example. You would miss your family and friends. Your professional career would be on hold or in danger of ending. And then there are those “creature comforts” we Cincinnatians enjoy as a bowl of Graeter’s Ice Cream, a Skyline 3-Way, or a nice dinner at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. We may feel safe yet be lost in a different state or land. It is something to think about and be thankful that we are not like so many throughout our world who have had to flee their homelands and familiar surroundings for safety or survival.
Yet, good can come from being in exile. As many of you are aware, you would never have met or known any Marianist brothers and priests if it was not for an exile event. A little-known priest in the eighteenth century had to flee the religious persecution in France and go to Spain. This priest prayed at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, and he received the inspiration to found a religious order, the Society of Mary. That priest was Chaminade and “you know the rest of the story.” The Marianists, who serve and have served in this parish over the past forty years are living proof of the graces which came from Chaminade’s exile many years ago.
Life can come from exile. Sometimes being forced to move can bring new life. Chaminade’s exile brought forth a new charism which benefits the Universal Church. I also recall in Scripture God speaking to a guy named Abram who said
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12: 1-3
We pray for all who have had to go into an exile by force or other circumstances. May they find safety, peace, and new beginnings. We believe that God will not leave any of us orphans.