Opening of the School Year Homily                   Fr. Mike Lisbeth, SM September 2, 2004 I know a lot about young people like yourselves. Not everything, but a lot. For example, I know young people generally DON'T like to be asked a lot of questions . See if I'm right. Try these on for size. Mrs. Roccosalva asks: – when she finds you in the hall between classes – “Where are you supposed to be right now?” Mr. Robertson asks: - when he calls you in to discuss your 3 rd tardy this week “So, what's your creative excuse for today?” Your parent or guardian asks: - as you head out the door on Friday night - “Where are you going, and when will you be home?” Your Aunt Martha asks: - when she comes to visit your family - “What do you want to BE or DO when you're older?” Well, I'd like to RISK our young friendship by asking you to consider with me a question more important than any of these. This morning, my question for you is: “What kind of a world do YOU want to live in?” “What problems you see in our world today do you want to confront NOW so they don't mess up your world TOMORROW ?” “What kind of world do YOU want to live in?” I invite you, please, to join me in considering this question for a few moments this morning. Our scripture readings today help us to probe our question. At the very beginning of our Eucharist, we heard the creation story from the Book of Genesis. Because God couldn't stand the thought of selfishly hoarding so much goodness within God's Self, God overflowed with the creation of our world, and US. God did a splendid job in the work of creation. Do you know that on our planet earth, there are: 300 thousand species of plants? 323 thousand species of animals? between one million and 8 million species of insects? almost 6-and-a-half billion earthling-humans each one of us - unique and wonderful! God must have a lot of fun putting all this together! But, as people of faith, we believe that this world we see is not the total extent of God's plan for us. Our second reading from the Book of Revelation talks about the NEW “city of God .” This is our world when brought to its completion : brilliant, shining, peaceful, filled with life and beauty. Remember our question? “What kind of world do YOU want to live in?” Is our world shining, peaceful, filled with beauty now? I'm sorry to say, we are not yet there. As adults, we are handing over to you a world that is far from perfect. Many problems remain to confront YOU as you prepare to assume world leadership in the future. This is an awesome task - we place before you. Our gospel today reminds us of a very important piece toward bringing our world to the perfection God intends. Jesus says: we need to love one another . By the kindness and respect we show one ANOTHER, people will see and know that we, here at VASJ, are disciples of Jesus. It sounds so simple, but it is so very challenging. It is so challenging that we must become a community of disciples to achieve it. We need to take on this task of loving one another as our common task, working at it together . This is our call, today and into the future. So, I ask you again: “What kind of world do YOU want to live in?” If you want a world of injustice, violence and unhappiness. that world is easy to produce. Just do nothing . BUT, If you wish to join us in creating this New Jerusalem, we welcome you into this forever-project of building the kingdom of God among us within our Viking community, right here, and right now. Together, we can do this. One final thought; I'd like to share with you the words of one young person like yourself. This is how she answered our question: “What kind of world do YOU want to live in?” The Paradox of our time in history is that: "We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; We spend more, but have less; We buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses, but smaller families; More conveniences, but less time; We have more degrees, but less sense; More knowledge, but less judgment; More experts, but more problems; More medicine, but less wellness We've been to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; We've split the atom, but not our prejudice. We have higher incomes, but lower morals; We've become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are the times of tall men and short character; Steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; More leisure, but less fun; More kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce; Of fancier houses, but broken homes. It is a time when there is much in the showroom and nothing in the stockroom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not yet a life; We've added years to life, but not yet life to years."* *This was written by a Columbine High School student on the second anniversary of their school tragedy: Nov 2, 1999