Homily Short, 28th Sunday Ordinary Time

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Join Father Randy as he shares a heartfelt reflection on creating “safe havens” in our homes — places rooted in love, faith, and connection amid the challenges of today’s digital age. Discover how prayer, family unity, and God’s grace can bring healing and protection to our families.

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Father Randy: Today is Safe Haven Sunday. This is the third year that we’ve had Safe Haven Sunday. And it’s a Sunday where we seek to raise awareness to assist our parents in raising their kids in this technological age. The dangers of uninhibited internet access, they’re very real. And even with the growing awareness among parents about the kinds of explicit and especially adult materials that kids can find on the internet,

Father Randy: The average age of exposure in the States is still about 12 years old. So what do we need to do? How do we make our homes into safe havens? To help us understand this process, I want to share with you an image that I’ve just been praying with over this past week, because I’ve gotten ready for this weekend. So I want you to picture, there’s like a broken, just kind of run-down house. There’s rain blowing in the windows, because the windows are all broken. There’s glass on the floor. The floorboards are rotted. There’s just holes all over the place. There’s a lot of dust.

Father Randy: It’s not a safe place for anyone to be, let alone a kid. For that house to become a safe haven, there needs to be a family and strong connections between the family members. When these connections are strong, we should feel safe enough to be vulnerable to get the help that we need when we need it. But of course, remember that all families are unique. We all have different needs. So ultimately, we need to take time to ask Jesus just very directly…

Father Randy: what he’s inviting us to do to make our homes the havens that we need. Because we don’t do this work alone. God wants us to be strong in our faith. He wants us to be strong in our families. So if we allow him, he can bring healing where there is or has been brokenness and pain. He came that we might be free. And the mark of the Spirit is unity. And the authentic connections that we were created for, the connections that make for a safe haven.

Father Randy: So when we pray together, when we invite the Spirit in, he draws us together just like that, just like a family needs to have. So I want to invite you just to join me in prayer for Jesus’ power and healing to be present in us and in our homes. So let’s pray. Lord Jesus, as we seek to protect ourselves and our families, give us wisdom and the courage to see what you are calling us to do and to do it.

Father Randy: Lord, be with those who are struggling with addiction. Break through shame and isolation and reveal once again your love for them and restore their hope. St. Michael, intercede and aid us in this task of protecting our domestic churches. Amen.