26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, 2024

Published: September 28, 2024

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily during the 75th anniversary Mass of Immaculate Conception Church in North Little Rock on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.

Bishop Taylor

In today’s Mass I am going to do something I almost never do: preach on the responsorial psalm.

I almost always preach on the Gospel, but since today we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of your parish, I didn’t think a homily about driving out demons, putting a great millstone around peoples’ necks and throwing them into the sea and cutting off hands and plucking out eyes that cause us to sin and being thrown into Gehenna where their worm doesn’t die and the fire is not quenched would be appropriate for today. 

So, I’ll save a homily about purgatory and hell for another occasion. Instead, let’s spend some time with the encouraging words in our responsorial psalm: “The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart ... the decree of the Lord is trustworthy.” 

Here is an image that might be useful: whenever we have to try something new, we usually proceed very carefully. For instance, most of us have had the experience of having to climb up somewhere on a not-very-sturdy ladder or on a stairway with loose flooring. We test the stability of the boards before putting our full weight on them. We only completely step on a ladder or board when we are reasonably sure that we have “sure footing.” 

The same is true in unfamiliar personal situations where we go through a similar pre-testing process. With a newly acquired coworker, for example, we try to kind of get a sense of them, carefully probing them to find out how much we feel we can trust them and how truly reliable they are. Then, if and when we feel we have found “sure footing” with them, we confidently step forward by confiding in them.

Today’s responsorial psalm reminds us that we don’t have to do that with God. We can always have in God this sense of “sure footing.” We can place full confidence in him because we know he is totally reliable, and every interaction with him is a blessing. God lifts us up, no matter how weighted down we may feel with guilt, sorrow or responsibility. He holds us when we need to be held. 

As the psalmist writes, “The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart ... the decree of the Lord is trustworthy.” So, with God, we have that relieved, secure feeling that comes from putting our full weight on something solid and strong. We can trust him totally. “God is great, all the time.”

Well, despite our care and precaution when first climbing on a strange ladder or walking on an iffy stairway, we sometimes find our trust was unwisely placed, be it physically or in a relationship; the board gives way and down we go. We can sometimes be deceived too, about the trustworthiness of people. Blind, naive. But we are never so deceived by God. 

As the psalmist assures us, there is solidity and stability behind God’s promises. He faithfully supports us. He is our “sure footing” amidst all the other uncertainties we face.

Of course, one of the most important places where we find “sure footing” for our life is through faith in Jesus which has been nurtured here at Immaculate Conception Parish through prayer and worship and education about our faith for 75 years, and counting. Think of all the holy priests and sisters who have served here, and all the sacraments celebrated here — all the baptisms and weddings and your Catholic school. 

All the parents who truly lived their faith and worked hard to pass it on to their children so that they too would have “sure footing” for their lives. Some of them were parents and grandparents of people who still are fellow parishioners today.

We believe in God’s loving commitment to us, and so, we share the psalmist’s joyful security. We know, as he does, that our faith is wisely and confidently placed in God. This is our special wisdom. As the psalmist says, “The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart…the decree of the Lord is trustworthy.”