Homily: July 6, 2024, Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary time/ Feast of Maria Goretti.

“Thus says the LORD: On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David; I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old…”

In today’s first reading, ‘the fallen hut of David’ refers to Jerusalem which had disobeyed and sinned against God, and fallen into captivity. But God does not hold a grudge against His people, He wants to rebuild Jerusalem, the house of David. He wants to free His people from captivity and bring them back to the glory He gave them since the beginning.

At the very beginning of creation, God created everything good, but soon after, man destroyed what was good and made it imperfect. From then, God started His restoration work, rebuilding His creation and renewing His relationship with man all through the history of salvation. Man breaks, God mends. Man messes, God fixes.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Maria Goretti. She was canonized a saint in 1950, 48 years after she died as a young child. I have visited her tomb at Nettuno on the outskirts of Rome numerous times. Her family home still stands there.

Maria was born into a poor peasant family, and she took on the responsibility of caring for her younger siblings and managing household chores while her mother took over the work in the fields after her father died when she was nine. 

A co-worker’s son Alessandro took advantage of Maria, who refused to sin and rebuffed all his advances. 

Angered with her refusal, he stabbed her 14 times in the heart, lungs, and stomach. She survived twenty hours in the hospital as the doctors stitched up her wounds without the use of anesthesia, she felt all the excruciating pain of the stitching. Yet, in her agony, she forgave Alessandro, saying, "Yes, for the love of Jesus I forgive him...and I want him to be with me in Paradise.” She died the next day. She was only 11 years old.

Unrepentant, Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison. On the 11th year of his imprisonment, Alessandro had a beautiful vision of Maria, afterwhich he repented all his sins, and his heart was fully converted. After his release, he went first to Maria’s mother and asked for forgiveness. He led a devout life of prayer and penance. Later, Alessandro testified to Maria's sanctity during her Cause of Beatification.

Through Jesus His Son, God restores His relationship with us. Through His saints, God rebuilds our broken faith.

Believe it, God has the power to convert our sinful past into a glorious future. He will raise up our fallen hut and rebuild it back to its original state of sanctity. He wants it, do you also?

St. Maria Goretti, pray for us.