Saturday Homily – 28th Week in Ordinary Time, YEAR A
By: Deacon Bill Frere
Gospel – Luke 12:8-12
Theme: Lay Your Burden Down
St Joseph Church, Nazareth
Sharing a Native American tradition today!
Before the First People were forced onto reservations, Burden Baskets were used to gather wood by the women of the tribes. This wood would be used for cooking fires and Grandmother Fires to heat the inside of the lodges. The heating fires were so named because the wood was small enough that even a Grandmother could carry it. The wood was placed in the Burden Basket to free the hands to gather and collect items for cooking.
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Native women were not asked to bear a burden heavier than their Burden Basket could handle. When not in use, the Burden Basket was hung outside of the home to serve another purpose. Native American etiquette differs from other cultures and the Burden Basket played a role in a custom honored by all Tribal members.
Before entering the home, all burdens were to be placed in the Burden Basket outside. Leave your complaints and problems outside, please. It is not polite to bring those troubles into the Sacred Space of the family you are visiting. The Burden Basket becomes a symbol of the internal strength of knowing how to keep your own counsel and not to inflict our burdens onto the shoulders of others. It takes a strong heart to feel compassion for the burdens of others and not to take the burdens on as our own.
The Burden Basket: Medicine of Self Reliance by Beverly Two Feathers.
It’s easy to get down and depressed this time of year. The weather turns colder and the wind bites. The trees are starkly bare and all seems so cloudy and sad. In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues His warnings against hypocrisy, He reminds us that we are called to acknowledge Him before the world. “But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.”
It all sounds rather dire and disheartening and yet Jesus reminds us: Do Not Worry! The Holy Spirit will be there to guide us! We talk so much about how God is a God of Love. But He is also a God of faith and a God of Hope. Even when we fall, when we fail, even when we deny and lose faith, God still has faith in US! He still believes in US! He still hopes for US!
“Do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”
Through it all, our God is a God of love and mercy. At the end of today’s reading, Jesus reminds us in very simple terms – do not be afraid! Whatever burdens you are carrying, you are not alone! I am with you!
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