Homily for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings ) It is natural to focus on gratitude in today’s readings. I’ll get to that later. You probably never read the 1952 book, Prisoners are People by Kenyon J. Scudder. And you probably never saw the 1955 movie Unchained, based on that book. But you have definitely heard the theme song of that film, one of the most famous love songs of all time, covered by dozens of artists. I have been humming “Unchained Melody” all week, ever since I first looked at this Sunday’s readings. What made me think of this song is the phrase in today’s second reading: “The Word of God is not chained.” Although the Apostle Paul is in prison, the Gospel continues to spread. It is unrestricted. It doesn’t depend on him. Another melody comes to mind, from Leonard Bernstein’s opera, Mass. There is a sung reflection, a homily of sorts, on the same passage from 2 Timothy. “You can lock up the bold