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Bishop's Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

August 10, 2025

View of the Altar of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu. (Bill Perry / Shutterstock.com)

Homily of Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu
[St. Anthony of Padua Church, Kailua]

I have been spending a good bit of time lately planning for several events.  One of them is the renovation of our beautiful and historic Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, which this coming Saturday will celebrate the 182^nd anniversary of its dedication. We had to plan what exactly was going to be renovated, choose materials and designs, and make sure the congregation that worships there is at least adequately cared for. Then, of course, there is the fundraising!  Another event is the 200^th anniversary of the arrival of the first Catholic Missionaries in Hawaii, which we will celebrate in 2027.  We have been meeting to plan not only for the events at which we will celebrate this momentous occasion, which is a very detailed plan, including a POSSIBLE visit from the Pope, God willing.  But there are also plans about helping us all to become more effective missionaries right here in Hawaii, bringing the Gospel to a very secularized culture, just as the first missionaries brought the Gospel to a religious culture, but one that knew nothing of Jesus Christ.

We know how important planning is in our lives, from planning a meal to planning for retirement.  While we are not always in control of what happens, we do try to plan so that the best outcomes are more likely.

Today the Scriptures challenge us to do some very serious planning, not for things that will pass away, but for eternity.  Even our faith life needs to be planned with attentiveness so that when the Lord comes to take us, we will be faithful stewards, ready to enter the fulness of the kingdom of heaven.  But what does this kind of planning mean?

First of all, our prayers and all our actions should be directed to a more intimate relationship with God, who makes himself accessible to us in Jesus.  After all, we hope to spend all eternity praising God, so we should be practicing and rehearsing even now.  Our attendance at Mass is most important, because it is here that we physically encounter the risen Jesus, Body and Blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist.  While we can – and should – encounter Jesus in our daily prayer, there is no encounter more intimate than this.  This is why it is so important for us to come to Mass every Sunday – and more often, if we can.

I often say that the best way we can learn something is to know that we have to teach it. This is why evangelization – sharing the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus – is so important.  The more we can share it with others who have not yet heard it or embraced it, the more it will become a part of who we are.  And when we are face-to-face with the Lord at the judgement, we will be able to say that we were obedient to the Great Commission he gave us, of sharing the Gospel with all the world.

We should also think about who will be with us in heaven, and prepare to be with them.  The more we love our families and friends, the more we will understand that God is love, and we will be more accustomed to live in his presence.  But what about those people we do not love very much?  People we find it difficult to be with?  Remember, God loves them just as much as he loves us, and will we be prepared to stand next to them in heaven, praising God together?  Forgiveness and reconciliation are ways we can prepare ourselves to meet our Master and be judged worthy to enter his kingdom.

Jesus also makes it very clear that the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick, and the imprisoned are very close to his heart.  Are we prepared to be with them without embarrassment in heaven because we have reached out to them here on earth, sharing our resources and our love with them?

Yes, we all have much planning to do, and many things to prepare for, not only in this life, but in the life to come.  Today we are challenged to do that planning well, so that at that hour we least expect we will be ready to meet our Master, the Lord Jesus, and happily enter his eternal kingdom.