The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Sunday morning, October 6, at St. Augustine
Boys and girls, why don’t you come up? Come on up. Come on up. Oh, Lord. No, come all the way up. Come on, come. We’re going to sit here. Come, come. The carpet’s very small, though, so many of you are going to have to sit on the marble, which is going to be a little bit cool. Sit, sit, relax. Now, aren’t these children Good. Not a single one sat on the carpet. They were all around. Boys and girls, good morning to you. Good morning. Are you excited? Yeah. Yeah, good. Because I’m going to need your help to help me and everyone here understand what Jesus was talking about today. Is that okay? Okay, so I have to ask you a question. Have you ever made a promise in your life? Raise your hand. What about everybody else? Nice. Thank you. Now, if you’re comfortable, can you tell me what type of promise you made? Tell me. To be good in life. To be good in life. How many of you made a promise to be good? Great. What else? What other type of promise? Tell me. To not? To not do any drugs. Yeah, that’s an excellent promise.
You want to keep that your whole life. What else? Tell me, what did you promise? Never to drink alcohol. Never to drink alcohol. An excellent promise. You’re going to keep that your whole life, right? Or at least That’s not in excess. But who haven’t made the promise not to fight with your brother and sister? Raise your hand. How many of you ever made a promise not to talk back to your mother and father? How many of you ever made a promise to do your homework every day when you get home. Now, let me ask you a question. How many of you kept your promises? Oh, the numbers are fewer. I’m not asking out there at all. We How can you keep that to yourselves. For you see, boys and girls, promises are very important in life because they either can help us to do what is good or to stop us from doing things that are not good, that can even be sinful. We pray that when we make promises, that we’ll have the strength to continue to live those promises because it’s not easy. You and I have discovered that. Let me I’ll tell you a secret.
Last year, I went to my doctor, and my doctor said to me, You have to lose 10 pounds. I said, I promise I will do that. Boys and girls, this is the bad news. I didn’t lose 10 pounds. I gained 10 pounds. I see him in two weeks. You must pray for me. Pray for me. You see, boys and girls, some promises we make for of time. Like in Lent, we make promises to do something special or to make a sacrifice so we could grow in Holiness. Some promises are for your whole life. Like, for example, when a man and a woman fall in love and they want to marry, they make promises that should last their whole life. When you were a little child, someone made a promise for you at your baptism, and you were baptized into Jesus, His life, and you were given the Holy Spirit. That promise lasts for your whole life. That promise lasts for all eternity. When you are confirmed, you’ll have the opportunity to make those promises for yourselves. So promises are important. And for those people who have made promises for their whole life, those who are priests, bishops or deacons, those who are sisters and brothers, those who are married, please pray for all of us that we will be able to live our promises well with the grace and power of the Holy spirit.
But there’s someone else who makes a promise. When He makes a promise, He keeps it always, forever. Who do you think that is? Tell me. God himself, excellence. Thousands of years ago, God made the promise to the Jewish people that one day He would come and save them and us, that He would come to give them and us new life and new grace, that He would send a Messiah. And who is that Messiah, boys and girls? Jesus, the Lord. And then Jesus made promises, did he not? On the day When He died, He turned to one of the thief and promised him that he would be in paradise, in heaven, forever. And Jesus kept that promise for him. And Jesus also promised that He would send the Holy Spirit, and the Holy spirit is alive in you because God always keeps His promises. And why does He keep His promises? Why does He keep His promises? Tell me. Because He loves us. That’s the greatest promise of all. Because boys and girls, God has promised you that He will always love you. Always. No matter what you do, no matter even whatever mistakes or sins you commit, God will always love you.
And He promised always to be there for you so that when you do commit sin, He’s here to forgive you through the sacrum of reconciliation. He’s here to feed you when you’re old enough with the Holy Communion, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus. That He’s always there when you pray every single day. He will never stop loving you. And He asks that we promise to love one another as He loves us. That is not always easy, but that’s a promise worth trying to live every day of your life.
And the same is true, my friends, for you and me. So boys and girls, who here likes to do homework? Raise your hands. Oh, good. Good. Because I have homework for you. What do you think? What do you mean no? Yes, of course. We have to do homework. And for those who are a bit older, feel free to do this homework. Is there something that you are doing, boys and girls, that you know you should not be doing? Is there something that people who love you, your parents, your teachers, your catechists, maybe your grandparents are saying, You know what?
You should stop doing that. If there is, are you willing to go home, talk to your mother, father, both of them, and see if you can make a promise to stop doing it and to ask God to help you to stop doing it? Or is there something that you’ve always wanted to do that you know is a good thing to do? And you say, Well, you know what? I’m too busy. I’d much rather play this video game. I’d much rather spend time with my friends. I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll do it next week. I’ll do when Father or the Bishop tells me to do it. I’ll do it Christmas time. Is there something you know that’s good, that you can do, but you haven’t yet done it? Can you make that promise after talking to your parents? Make that promise, and with that help, try to live that promise. Because promises are important. And promises that we make to one another and to God will help us to get to where we really want to be. And where is that, boys and girls? Where does God promise us one day to be together when we’re joyful, happy, no suffering, no pain, no death?
Where is that? Heaven, which is where, please God, we will all go. Boys and girls, you were great today. Tremendous. Weren’t they great? Let’s give them a round of applause. I promise you that the next time I come to Mass here, which is in two weeks, if you are here, I’m going to invite you up to come so we can have another talk. That time, hopefully, I’ll have a bigger carpet for you to sit on. Okay? Off you go. Back to your places.
