Homily
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time A
9 October 2011
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
Evangelization. The new evangelization. It is a buzzword of John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. It is new because it must find new ways to present Jesus Christ, the hope of the world, to a world who is too ready to ignore him. It is new because it is a re-evangelization, a re-presentation of the joy that comes from following Jesus Christ and from accepting a deep, intimate friendship with the one who loves us more than we love ourselves. It is a re-evangelization to those parts of the world who once sent great missionaries to the end of the world, but now are faced with the reality of having more lapsed and lukewarm Catholics than fervent Catholics. Indeed, right here in our midst, the two largest Christian denominations are Catholics, and fallen-away Catholics.
Many of the reasons why Catholics have fallen away can and should be fixed. Catholics Come Home is a national outreach to remind Catholics that they are invited to the best wedding banquet there ever was or ever will be, the holy Mass, and to welcome them home to the biggest and most beautiful family the world has ever known, the Catholic church. Some Catholics do not come to Mass because they are able to rationalize that the Mass is not that relevant, and that they have something better to do, a forgetting of who has invited them. If the Lord Jesus has invited us to his banquet, and he is surely present there, as he is in every Eucharist, there can be nothing better nor anything more important than our attendance. Sometimes we forget what our role in the Church is, how much others are counting on us. Sometimes a past hurt or misunderstanding of the Church makes us openly hostile, and a re-catechesis and a personal outreach are needed to heal these wounds. All of these reasons are present in today's Gospel, when those invited did not come. Some even killed the servants who invited them. We see the same today, when 70% of Catholics do not regularly attend Mass. A re-evangelization, a new evangelization is needed.
Yet it is remarkable that the king in today's parable does not cancel the banquet. In a dramatic shift, he goes and invites new people, for those invited were not worthy to come. The Gospel is a reminder to us as Catholics that our church's strength is not found so much in maintaining our membership, but in reaching out to the good and the bad and inviting them to the banquet. The world is not our enemy, its people are our patients, those whom we are called to gather at the Lord's banquet, a feast that is a real participation in the eternal joy and salvation that the Lord desires for his people. The new evangelization is about a new zeal for souls, something Catholics are especially bad at. We do not feel the pain that we should that souls are being eternally lost, and there are so many who because of our lukewarmness do not have a chance to enjoy divine friendship with Jesus Christ, which brings so much depth, and meaning and happiness to life.
We will not have this zeal for souls, nor a willingness to go into the streets and gather all we find, unless what we receive on Sunday in the Holy Eucharist is of paramount importance to us. When we come to Mass, we do not do so in a relative way; as the parable says, we must wear our wedding garments, our baptismal garments, to ensure that we are truly participating in the Mass in a way that completely changes our lives, that advances us on the road to sanctity and conversion. By sincerely repenting of our sins, by going to confession, and by preparing ourselves for the most powerful hour of our week, the Sunday Eucharist, we have no other option after the Mass then to go into the streets and gather all we find. This is the only response of one who has been truly filled with the grace, mercy and peace of the Holy Eucharist. Amen.
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time A
9 October 2011
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
Evangelization. The new evangelization. It is a buzzword of John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. It is new because it must find new ways to present Jesus Christ, the hope of the world, to a world who is too ready to ignore him. It is new because it is a re-evangelization, a re-presentation of the joy that comes from following Jesus Christ and from accepting a deep, intimate friendship with the one who loves us more than we love ourselves. It is a re-evangelization to those parts of the world who once sent great missionaries to the end of the world, but now are faced with the reality of having more lapsed and lukewarm Catholics than fervent Catholics. Indeed, right here in our midst, the two largest Christian denominations are Catholics, and fallen-away Catholics.
Many of the reasons why Catholics have fallen away can and should be fixed. Catholics Come Home is a national outreach to remind Catholics that they are invited to the best wedding banquet there ever was or ever will be, the holy Mass, and to welcome them home to the biggest and most beautiful family the world has ever known, the Catholic church. Some Catholics do not come to Mass because they are able to rationalize that the Mass is not that relevant, and that they have something better to do, a forgetting of who has invited them. If the Lord Jesus has invited us to his banquet, and he is surely present there, as he is in every Eucharist, there can be nothing better nor anything more important than our attendance. Sometimes we forget what our role in the Church is, how much others are counting on us. Sometimes a past hurt or misunderstanding of the Church makes us openly hostile, and a re-catechesis and a personal outreach are needed to heal these wounds. All of these reasons are present in today's Gospel, when those invited did not come. Some even killed the servants who invited them. We see the same today, when 70% of Catholics do not regularly attend Mass. A re-evangelization, a new evangelization is needed.
Yet it is remarkable that the king in today's parable does not cancel the banquet. In a dramatic shift, he goes and invites new people, for those invited were not worthy to come. The Gospel is a reminder to us as Catholics that our church's strength is not found so much in maintaining our membership, but in reaching out to the good and the bad and inviting them to the banquet. The world is not our enemy, its people are our patients, those whom we are called to gather at the Lord's banquet, a feast that is a real participation in the eternal joy and salvation that the Lord desires for his people. The new evangelization is about a new zeal for souls, something Catholics are especially bad at. We do not feel the pain that we should that souls are being eternally lost, and there are so many who because of our lukewarmness do not have a chance to enjoy divine friendship with Jesus Christ, which brings so much depth, and meaning and happiness to life.
We will not have this zeal for souls, nor a willingness to go into the streets and gather all we find, unless what we receive on Sunday in the Holy Eucharist is of paramount importance to us. When we come to Mass, we do not do so in a relative way; as the parable says, we must wear our wedding garments, our baptismal garments, to ensure that we are truly participating in the Mass in a way that completely changes our lives, that advances us on the road to sanctity and conversion. By sincerely repenting of our sins, by going to confession, and by preparing ourselves for the most powerful hour of our week, the Sunday Eucharist, we have no other option after the Mass then to go into the streets and gather all we find. This is the only response of one who has been truly filled with the grace, mercy and peace of the Holy Eucharist. Amen.
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