Important Feature
Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, to people of good will. We praise You, we bless You, we worship You, we glorify You, we give You thanks for Your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, Almighty God and Father; Lord Jesus Christ, only-Begotten Son of the Father: and You, O Holy Spirit. Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father: You take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us. You are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For You alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord, You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
George Garrow Homily
Homily for George Garrow, Sr.
Given at T. Revels-Gibson Funeral Home
Utica, New York
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Dear Friends,
Many years ago, I was given an image of two women embracing. Before I realized they were women, I thought it might be the usual icon of St. Peter and St. Paul or St. Peter and St. Andrew. On closer inspection, I saw that the figures in the picture were, in fact, two women. I was somewhat surprised but then realized that the women depicted were the Mother of Jesus and the mother of Judas Iscariot. Both mothers lost their sons on Good Friday and both mothers were helpless as one watched while her Son was being brutally murdered and the other having to hear the news that her son took his own life. That day, a sword pierced two hearts, not one.
In the picture, the Blessed Virgin Mary is providing comfort and assurance to the mother of Judas, whose son betrayed Jesus and delivered Him over, for thirty pieces of silver, to those who sought to kill. Even in her own agony and anguish, the Mother of our Lord took the time to comfort the mother of the man who played a key role in the brutal death of her Son, Jesus. Mary showed compassion and understanding to one who was in need, even while she herself was suffering the anguish of the loss of her own son. This is what the Christian faith is all about…compassion, forgiveness and love; about caring for others in their hour of need when our own pain is so great and intense.
We probably will never know the real reasons that led to the tragic murder of George last Wednesday night. Two things we can be sure of, however, are that his death was unnecessary and that we all share responsibility for his dying the way he did.
Why are we responsible for his death? The reason is because many people in our community shunned him and thought him to be unworthy of friendship, of compassion or even respect because of his past sins. They chose to withhold from George the compassion and forgiveness, the mercy and the love which God showers upon us so abundantly each and every day of our lives.
The local newspaper, in covering the news of the homicide, did not hesitate or fail in each and every one of its articles to point out and remind everyone that George was a convicted sex offender. What useful purpose did it serve to bring that up at a time when a human being, a child of God, was brutally murdered in his own home? Regardless of what he did in his past, God offered George an opportunity for redemption and forgiveness, an opportunity I believe he seized and used to try to turn his life around. But yet, the newspaper, and many in our community, did not deem George worthy of compassion or mercy, of forgiveness and love. They sought only to characterize him as an outcast and an unacceptable member of our community. It was as if by constantly pointing out George’s past sin, his murder was somehow justified because it rid our city of one more undesirable; a person we deemed unfit to walk among us.
People can speculate all they want about why George was murdered. Maybe he was involved in something he shouldn’t have been. We don’t know. Hopefully the truth will come to light some day but even if it is proven that he was involved in something he shouldn’t have been it doesn’t change the fact that a human life ended in violence, and that is something we have to share responsibility for.
The reason for this is because we opt out of our Christianity when the circumstances are such that they disturb our sense of security and stability. We pick and choose when and where we want to practice our Faith and when and where and under what circumstances we want to identify ourselves as Christians. We apply our faith only to those situations which are convenient to us and which do not challenge us to really live what we say we believe.
It’s easy to say we love our fellow man but when the time comes to really express and show that love, especially to those who may make us feel uncomfortable or did something we think we is unforgivable, we opt out and become like the mob who brought the woman accused of adultery before Jesus, and who were prepared to stone her to death for her sin. Our Lord had a lot to say to them about what they were prepared to do. His words were very clear, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)
In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus again speaks some very strong words. He tells us, “Judge not, that you not be judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to take the speck our of your neighbor’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)
We are hypocrites! We are great at pointing out the faults of others and holding their sins against them, but we refuse to acknowledge our own sinfulness. We are like the tombs about which Christ spoke; all white and beautiful on the outside, but filled with corruption, decay and the stench of dead men’s bones on the inside. We appear outwardly righteous, but within we are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
George died because we refused to do what God expects of us. We, as individuals and as a community, allow violence and evil to walk among us because we are content to live with injustice, poverty, ignorance, intolerance, hate, greed, jealousy and all the other vices that are part of human nature. We pay lip service to the eradication of these evils from our midst. We do not play an active role in cleansing ourselves and our community of them but are content to let others do the dirty work. We pass the buck all the time and refuse to change the way we think and act in our own lives and toward each other. If we changed our attitudes and ways of living, our police department would not be as busy and as taxed as it is in trying to preserve law and order and tragic events like George’s murder would no longer be a part of the fabric of life of our city.
Yes, we are just as guilty of George’s death as the actual killers because we turn our heads and look the other way when we see injustice and wrong being done to another person. We cross the street and walk on the other side when we see someone coming toward us who makes us feel uncomfortable, who may not look like we do, or talk like we do, or whose social status may not be the same as ours. We look the other way when we see a homeless person sitting on the sidewalk unbathed, in tattered and smelly clothes and alone. Sometimes we look at them in disgust, or maybe even in pity, but no matter what our reaction is to them, it is one that makes us feel uncomfortable and we can’t deal with that. So, we look the other way. We can’t tolerate other people’s sins, but we can find excuses for our own and even cover them up so that they are not recognizable by others.
Yes, we are all responsible for George’s death. We are responsible because we failed him as fellow human beings and we failed him as fellow Christians. We turned our heads when he needed our help and support. We shunned him because he did something we consider as a society to be the most reprehensible thing one human being can do to another. We did not want to be associated with someone who was considered less than an ideal member of society.
It’s easy to label someone as being this or that; to hone in on their shortcomings and sins, to identify them or label them by what they did wrong. A person can do 1,000 good things in his life, but the one time he does something wrong, it’s that one thing that people remember and judge him by. We set ourselves up to be judges of one another and in doing so remove any possibility for forgiveness, redemption and compassion in our relationships with others because we know better than God what the reality and truth is. Or so we think.
Those who only had knowledge of George from the articles in the newspaper truly did not know the man. Whatever his faults and shortcomings, whatever his sins were, he tried hard to build a better life for himself, to fight against the odds and obstacles he faced in his life because of his physical handicap and past. While I was not his priest or pastor, I personally knew this to be true. He may not have shared everything with me about what was going on in his life, especially in this last weeks and days, but the George I knew for the past four years was a hard working man committed to making his life better.
Maybe George did fall short of the goals he set for himself. Maybe he fell many times in his efforts to turn his life around, but we all fall short of what God created us to be and what He expects of us. George may have been a sinner, but we are all sinners. There are no degrees to sin. Sin is sin regardless of what form it takes. All sin is abhorrent in the eyes of God. But we are all called to repentance and forgiveness and George did answer this call. He paid his debt to society for one of the sins he committed. He repented of it and tried to live a good life, despite the physical, financial and societal challenges he faced.
Life certainly was not easy for George, but he was a hard worker and a fighter. No one in this room can deny that. All of us were used to seeing him ride around the city with his lawn mower and home-made trailer in tow, going from house to house mowing lawns and doing other physical work. And for a man with one leg, he did an awesome job! George had been mowing the lawns at my Church for more than three years and I can attest to the fact that the work he did was excellent, in fact, it was outstanding! He was attuned to detail and took great pride in his work. He was always reliable, fair in price and always did more work than what he charged for.
The Cathedral was George’s home. He knew, like many in our neighbourhood do, that he could come there for help and support and be treated with respect and dignity and not be judged by his physical appearance, handicap or perceived social status.
When people walk through the door of “Mother Mary’s House” as the Cathedral is affectionately known by many in the neighbourhood, they are not seen as drug addicts, prostitutes, convicted sex offenders, homeless people, ex-convicts, rich people, poor people, unemployed or employed, married or single, gay or straight but simply as the children of God. They are people of value and worth; people worthy of the redemption, forgiveness, love and the renewal that Christ offers to all people everywhere. There are no conditions to being a recipient of God’s limitless love. God offers it freely through His Son Jesus Christ who is the only Savior, Redeemer and Judge of mankind.
Life is a gift from God to be cherished and respected, to be lived to the full and enjoyed, never to be rejected or taken away. When the life of a person is taken away in so horrific and painful circumstances, the whole of human society is shocked into silence, the silence of indignation and horror. We all suffer the loss. And our humanity is diminished every time someone dies at the hands of violence. Such an evil act calls for a response from society and indeed from God.
The response from society must entail the fullest collaboration with those entrusted with the protection of law and order in our community so that the circumstances of this terrible crime are brought to light and the one or ones responsible are brought to justice.
We must stand firm in our fight against evil in all its forms and we must send a clear message to those who seek to do evil and wrong in our midst that we will not tolerate it. At the same time, we must also be a people of compassion and mercy, ready to forgive those who sincerely repent of their ways and are desirous of living of new life as righteous and honourable members of the human family. We must accept them back into our midst, assuring them of our love and support while at the same time holding them and ourselves accountable to and for each other.
The response from God is twofold: the words of God are clear: “You shall not kill: and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment” (Exodus.20:13); however, His Son Jesus Christ paid the price of all sin by being put to death Himself, thus giving the sinner the opportunity to repent and to be forgiven, for He said: “I came, not to call the virtuous but the sinners to repentance” (Mark. 2:17).
As we commend George to the merciful care of God, our thoughts and prayers go to his children, to his brother and sisters, to his friends and to all those who, in these sad days, have come to grieve the loss of yet another of God’s children through the brutality of violence, evil and sin.
May those who are responsible for this heinous crime of taking from George what was most precious to him, his life, come forward and face up to the consequences involved, pay the debt to society that has been incurred and seek the mercy and forgiveness of the all-loving and merciful God who alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end.
May the wound which has been so viciously inflicted on George’s family, friends and on this whole community begin to heal through the love and care we all share with one another in this time of need and grief.
Today, we praise and thank God for the gift of George and for George’s life, all of it, the good and the bad, the joyful and the sad, the holiness and the sinfulness, that richly interwoven texture of the human and divine that meant so much to us and to God Himself.
And now, we come to the moment of commending the immortal soul of George to the all-loving and all-merciful God who created him in the hope that he has already encountered his Saviour, Jesus Christ, and been welcomed into the Kingdom of His Father to rest in peace with Him forever.
May Almighty God have mercy on George’s soul. We are confident that with all who have died in Christ he will be raised to life on the last day to live with Christ forever. May Christ, who is the Good Shepherd and the Light and Life of all, in His mercy and love, forgive whatever sins George may have committed through human weakness. And may we who mourn be reunited one day with our brother. Together, may we meet Christ Jesus when He, who is our life, shall appear in glory to judge both the living and the dead.
Amen.