Homily for Installation of Rev. Gary Lazzeroni, Pastor of St. James Cathedral, Immaculate Conception & Christ Our Hope Parish Family

The Problem of Evil

In today’s first reading from the Book of Numbers we hear a story which in many ways is a paradigm for people of all time, as well as the time in which God prefigures his plan of salvation through the cross.

First, we hear how the people of Israel had grown impatient with their situation and complained against God. So, let us ask ourselves, how and when do we grow impatient with our personal situation? How often do we find ourselves weary from the journey of life? Does the reality of the present world cause us to despair, to be impatient, angry, disrespectful – while at the same time somehow justifying our reaction?

And when we become impatient with the world, how does this manifest itself in our relationships with others and with God? Does it cause us to join in the present polemics of ‘choosing sides’ claiming to have the right opinion while demonizing anyone who sees the world differently? Does it lead to our own complaining against God?

We may not be quick to recognize how we might complain against God, but stop and think about the quality of my prayer. When I pray, do I truly listen to God? Or do I only listen for what I want to hear? In other words, am I taking my view of things to God and telling God how it should be? Or am I truly capable of taking my concerns to God and trusting that God’s power, love and mercy is sufficient to provide for me and our world?

Today’s Feast of the Exultation of the cross reveals clearly God’s way is not our way.

As we read further in this first reading we hear how God sent seraph serpents which bit the people so that many of them died. Here we must be cautious in our interpretation of this passage. Our Catholic tradition believes that God wills only the good of each person and desires only for our holiness. However, God always respects our free will. Thus, we also believe that God allows evil to exist – but this evil is not of God’s making. Evil exists solely because of the misuse of our free will.

So, we could understand this presence of the seraph serpents as the mere presence of evil which is a result of the people’s impatience and complaining against God. The reading gives no further detail of how this manifested within the community itself other than they were at odds with God. 

Now we get a glimpse of God’s response to evil as well as God’s loving will towards all. But first, we cannot overlook the peoples’ recognition of their sin and their response. We learn that they realized their sin and they went to Moses asking that he pray to the Lord to take away the serpents. In essence, they are asking the Lord to remove the evil from their midst.

As a good shepherd, Moses prayed for the people and the Lord gave the remedy to Moses.

Here I will interject a note regarding the installation of your new pastor and one of the primary roles of a pastor. Fr. Gary, as we just heard, Moses prayed to God on behalf of his people. As pastors, this is one of our greatest responsibilities, to pray for God’s people. To pray God keep us from sin and lead us in the paths of holiness, peace and justice.

Now, back to our reading: God tells Moses to make a serpent and mount it on a pole so that anyone who gazes upon it may live. Here again, some interpretation is necessary. What does it mean to mount a serpent on a pole? Is this not symbolic of the cross and Christ’s victory over sin and death? The instrument of death (the serpent) is destroyed by God. The impatience within us that leads us to selfishly follow our own pursuits (the serpent) now has a remedy in God’s power, love and mercy.

Love is the answer

This brings us to today’s feast of the exaltation of the cross!

“God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” 

St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians gives us a beautiful understanding of Christ. Before listing these, I want to say how important it is for us to truly know Jesus. On this feast, it is helpful for us stand at the foot of the cross and allow the brutal reality touch us deeply.

St. Paul tells us Jesus humbly entered the world. He had his rightful place in heaven, equal to God, yet he humbled himself to enter the world; to humbly take on our humanity; to humbly submit himself to death on a cross, for us. And what was his sole motivation? LOVE. Love of God and love of all of us.

The cross is not a symbol of death, but of life! of God’s love! of God’s mercy!

I draw our attention to modern day Palestine and Jerusalem.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa recently offered a deeply moving reflection on the power of the Cross in the face of suffering, particularly in the context of the devastation in Gaza. Speaking after a pastoral visit to the region, he emphasized that Christ is not absent from Gaza, but is profoundly present — “crucified in the wounded, buried under rubble, and yet present in every act of mercy, every candle in the darkness, every hand extended to the suffering” 

He described walking through ruins and tents that have become homes, witnessing both immense suffering and extraordinary resilience. In the midst of destruction, he saw the dignity of the human spirit — mothers cooking for others, nurses tending wounds with gentleness, and people of all faiths praying to the God who sees and never forgets.

The response of God to the evil that we bring into this world is LOVe, mercy, reconciliation. And for those of us who are baptized into Christ, this must be our response as well. Do we believe that Christ suffered, died and rose from the dead that we might have life? And do we believe that life is now present within us and present within the Church, the body of believers.

The present reality of our world is crying out for every Christian to live their faith in this Truth. To allow Christ who was crucified, who died and rose who lives in us to help us elevate the present standards of living in our world. of loving our neighbor, and yes, loving our enemy.

Pope Leo has said that in the human family there are no enemies, only brothers and sisters.

This is the love Christ calls us to. It is the love lived upon the cross.

Let us say with St. Paul: “I live no longer myself, because I have been crucified with Christ and it is now Christ who lives in me. May this true Christ live in his Church, in his members, in you and in me. May we live his love in a world that is desperately seeking love today.

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