"Creating a ‘Faith-Friendly’ Atmosphere in Westerly."

The prophet Amos was sent by God to proclaim his word to the northern kingdom of Israel in the 8^th century, B.C. It was a hard, challenging message that he was to deliver—consequently, the job was not easy. But what made things even more difficult for this great prophet was the lack of support he experienced from the very people who should have been cheering him on! Today’s first reading provides a case in point. Amaziah was a priest of the Bethel temple who should have been grateful to Amos for calling the people to repentance and faithfulness. But, unfortunately, his attitude was exactly the opposite. In effect, he told Amos, "Get out of here; go home!" He said, "Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah . . . never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple."

So not only did Amos have to defend himself against the lay people of the nation who were denouncing him; he also had to defend himself against the clerics who should have been on his side!

Sadly, Amos had to serve God in an atmosphere that was not "faith-friendly."

Well, let’s be clear about it: we live in a culture right now which is also not very faith-friendly. Much of what we see and hear each day threatens to weaken or even destroy our commitment to Christ and his Church. That means we must make every effort to create local environments where our faith—and the faith of others—is both supported and strengthened.

Let me give you a timely example of what I’m talking about. Fifty-plus teenagers from our community are at LaSallette Shrine this weekend participating in the Steubenville East Youth Conference. Most of them will return later today with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for their Catholic faith. Praise God! But what will they receive from us in response? We already know what they’ll receive from the media. From the media they’ll get images and ideas that will undermine their faith and threaten to wipe it out! (That will happen the very first time they turn on a TV set or a radio after they get home.) From some of their friends (and maybe from some of their own family members) they’ll get discouraging messages that will tempt them to get off the right track: "What happened to you on that retreat?" "Don’t you like to have fun anymore?" "What’s wrong with you?—you’re not the same."

These are the "Amaziahs" they’ll be forced to deal with.

But what will they get from us? Hopefully they will get words of encouragement and support. Hopefully they’ll get examples of faith that they can try to follow in their own lives. Notice the uplifting words of St. Paul in today’s second reading from Ephesians 1. There he says, "Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him." And on and on he continues in that vein. Paul knew how important it was to build the Ephesians up in faith. That’s why he gave them this message. He was trying to help create a "faith-friendly" environment in the city Ephesus, which was a bastion of paganism at the time.

Our young people are counting on us to do the same thing for them here in Westerly—so that they can grow and mature in Christ.

My prayer at this Mass is that we will not disappoint them.