Homily, June 14, 2026
From The Pastor
It is hard to know what you do not know until you know. In a life of sin, many people do not know they are lost and in a state of helplessness because it is beyond their awareness. If a person is unschooled in the nature and effect of sin, they will not perceive its effect on their heart and soul. They may feel quite happy in the rhythm of their ways unaware of their distance from God. Such a person does not know what they do not know. Many in the world today do not know, or care to know of God. Others may know of God, but do not concern themselves with things of the Divine if they are satisfied with the life they have made for themselves.
It is hard to be helpless. It is difficult to be lost. Spiritually speaking, this is especially true when a person, culture, or society does not realize they are helpless or lost without God. Without faith, a time of helplessness will cause a greater feeling of despair than for those have faith and realize their dependence on God. To be helpless is to be without resources, power, or voice. It means to feel alone without the ability to change or resolve a crisis of essential need.
In the first reading, God reminds the Israelites who they are. In the bondage of slavery, the Israelites were helpless to resolve their situation. They knew God but believed they were abandoned and rejected because of their sin and infidelity. God not only reminds the Israelites of who He is but also reminds them of who they are. In their slavery, God calls to them saying, ‘harken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other peoples…’ God sees their helpless state and takes them (all humanity) as his own. These early Israelites had given up on God, but God never gave up on them.
St. Paul in his letter to the Romans highlights this same point as he recounts the fulness of our redemption in Christ Jesus. Sin seeks to be hidden; it deceives and does not want to be realized by the one who falls into its trap. The challenge of salvation is to save those who feel no need to be saved. It is possible to be completely helpless and not realize it. Most forms of addiction are like this. The addiction deceives and renders the person unable to realize the danger they are in with no sensibility for the need to be rescued.
Sin can have the same effect. Whether a person is close to God or not, sin has a way to tempt and draw us away from our truest nature in God. Without feeling the pain of our condition, there would be no desire to be saved.
This is the point St. Paul makes in the second reading. While we were lost and helpless in sin, unaware of our state before God, Christ died for us. God came to us because we were, and at times remain, helpless and unaware of our need to be rescued. Christ freely and willingly died for us sinners even though we were acting as if we were enemies of God.
Our salvation is an unsolicited, freely given, unconditional gift at a time when we were lost to ourselves. Lost to ourselves in the ways of the world and our inclination to sin, only God could be our salvation. St. Paul makes it clear this proves God’s love for us. While we were lost in sin and without remedy or solution, God saved us through the gift of the Divine Son.
This theme carries directly into the gospel. People are longing for meaning, identity, and purpose in their lives. They are immediately drawn to the power and compassion of Jesus in the helplessness of their way of life. Jesus sees their sad state and is moved with pity ‘because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd.’
Why is Jesus so moved by what he sees? Why is Jesus so quick to heal, forgive, console, and feed people? Because Jesus is love incarnate. Jesus is the agent of our creation. He made us; we belong to him. We are his beloved sons and daughters. Lost in sin and unaware of our nature and dignity in God, Christ Jesus restores us to a living relationship with God through an undefeatable act of pure reconciliation.
In Christ Jesus, the world has been freed from the slavery of sin and given the freedom to choose a new life with God. We are no longer helpless. We have been rescued from sin and death and promised the life of heaven. How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one. But the bulb must really want to change. Accept the love God offers you. Be an agent of that gift for others.
Father John Esper
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