Homily
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time B
St. Joseph's Shawnee and St. Lawrence Center KU
Daily Readings
In my business, the vocation business, I get a lot of "I don't know's." When I ask young person after young person, especially the unmarried men of our Church, 'What is Jesus Christ asking you to do with your life?" I get a lot of "I don't know father. Why are you asking me?" It used to bother me that more young guys didn't know the answer to this crucial question that is an obvious corollary to their faith, nor were many of them desperate to find the answer. Now I expect this answer. I don't think they are lying to me . Many of them truly don't know because they are still on the journey of encountering Jesus, before they can receive a holy vocation directly from him.
Moses tells the Israelites in tonight's first reading from Deuteronomy that it will not be God's long term plan to use 'scare tactics.' It is not his plan to force us to do his will, for God is love, and love does not control, but it sets the beloved free. God had flashed his glory and thundered his power at Horeb, in such a way that the Israelites thought they were going to die. The same could be true of us, if in the discernment of our vocation God showed us in a single flash everything that his gracious will for us truly contained, we might easily die of fright, instantly. Yet God has chosen a different path - not to scare us, but to serve us. Moses tells of a prophet who will deliver God's message in a human way, by conversation and relationship. It is to this prophet, ultimately, Jesus Christ, that we must be obedient through him to find our vocation.
As Paul notes in today's second reading, Jesus Christ still personally invites men and women to a different way of life, to be conformed especially to Himself and His Church through the gift of celibacy. Yes, your heard me right. Jesus gives the gift of celibacy to those he chooses. Celibacy is most fundamentally a gift, moreso than a discipline and sacrifice, because it is a way of being with Jesus and conversing with Him, by standing in the world where he stood, and by relying more immediately on the uniqueness and depth of His divine love. Celibacy seems perennially to be more than the modern world can stand, as it provokes disbelief and mockery, even though many men and women live it well. The same media that promotes promiscuity in all its tv shows seems to delight in trying to prove through the unchastity of a few that celibacy is unnatural, harmful and impossible. They have succeeded in getting great numbers of Catholics to be misinformed and embarrassed by celibacy. But they will never succeed in disproving what St. Paul says in tonight's second reading. For St. Paul tells us the truth, that celibacy is a real way of relating to Jesus. The truth is that although our Church must always repent and make reparations for any way she fails to live up to her lofty ideals, that celibacy retains and will always retain the value that Paul gives it in the second reading. It is good for men and women to take up Jesus on his word to trust in His love in an extraordinary way. The world needs such a witness. Men and women struggling with loneliness need such a witness. Christianity does too. Sometimes Catholics get a bad rap for paying more attention to our sacraments and devotions than to scripture, but where else but in the Catholic church will you find men and women living what Paul literally tells us about celibacy in today's Scripture, men and women joyfully and fruitfully banking their lives on the love of Christ, as the vast majority of priests and religious do in the Catholic Church?
The men that I get to work with as vocations director for our Archdiocese, the men who are answering the call to be your priests after Jesus' own heart, have responded to the call of Jesus that reaches the hearts of men just as surely today as it has for 2000 years. Thank you for your prayers and support of our seminarians, who despite plenty of negativity and scandal will not let the evil one have the last say. These guys are amazing. They are not afraid of celibacy, even though many tell them the shouldn't do it or can't do it. They choose instead to listen to Christ and to trust that his teaching is always new and that He teaches with authority. Staying close to our Lord, and taking him up on his offer that his presence and love and call will be enough to sustain them, these men have cast out the demons of fear, anxiety and doubt to say yes to the Lord's call to be your priests. They need and ask for your prayers. I ask for your prayers for them. As we see in tonight's Gospel, the evil one wins when he can remain hidden and can seduce us with his lies. Yet when we take the Lord Jesus up on his promise, and don't water down what he says, then the impossible becomes possible again. Young men today, even 2000 years after Jesus' Ascension, can welcome him into their lives and when they act with him, in him and through him, the evil one who takes away our chance to be a saint is scattered, and holy vocations can once again be heard and answered in our Church. Pray God, let is continue to be so. Amen.
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time B
St. Joseph's Shawnee and St. Lawrence Center KU
Daily Readings
In my business, the vocation business, I get a lot of "I don't know's." When I ask young person after young person, especially the unmarried men of our Church, 'What is Jesus Christ asking you to do with your life?" I get a lot of "I don't know father. Why are you asking me?" It used to bother me that more young guys didn't know the answer to this crucial question that is an obvious corollary to their faith, nor were many of them desperate to find the answer. Now I expect this answer. I don't think they are lying to me . Many of them truly don't know because they are still on the journey of encountering Jesus, before they can receive a holy vocation directly from him.
Moses tells the Israelites in tonight's first reading from Deuteronomy that it will not be God's long term plan to use 'scare tactics.' It is not his plan to force us to do his will, for God is love, and love does not control, but it sets the beloved free. God had flashed his glory and thundered his power at Horeb, in such a way that the Israelites thought they were going to die. The same could be true of us, if in the discernment of our vocation God showed us in a single flash everything that his gracious will for us truly contained, we might easily die of fright, instantly. Yet God has chosen a different path - not to scare us, but to serve us. Moses tells of a prophet who will deliver God's message in a human way, by conversation and relationship. It is to this prophet, ultimately, Jesus Christ, that we must be obedient through him to find our vocation.
As Paul notes in today's second reading, Jesus Christ still personally invites men and women to a different way of life, to be conformed especially to Himself and His Church through the gift of celibacy. Yes, your heard me right. Jesus gives the gift of celibacy to those he chooses. Celibacy is most fundamentally a gift, moreso than a discipline and sacrifice, because it is a way of being with Jesus and conversing with Him, by standing in the world where he stood, and by relying more immediately on the uniqueness and depth of His divine love. Celibacy seems perennially to be more than the modern world can stand, as it provokes disbelief and mockery, even though many men and women live it well. The same media that promotes promiscuity in all its tv shows seems to delight in trying to prove through the unchastity of a few that celibacy is unnatural, harmful and impossible. They have succeeded in getting great numbers of Catholics to be misinformed and embarrassed by celibacy. But they will never succeed in disproving what St. Paul says in tonight's second reading. For St. Paul tells us the truth, that celibacy is a real way of relating to Jesus. The truth is that although our Church must always repent and make reparations for any way she fails to live up to her lofty ideals, that celibacy retains and will always retain the value that Paul gives it in the second reading. It is good for men and women to take up Jesus on his word to trust in His love in an extraordinary way. The world needs such a witness. Men and women struggling with loneliness need such a witness. Christianity does too. Sometimes Catholics get a bad rap for paying more attention to our sacraments and devotions than to scripture, but where else but in the Catholic church will you find men and women living what Paul literally tells us about celibacy in today's Scripture, men and women joyfully and fruitfully banking their lives on the love of Christ, as the vast majority of priests and religious do in the Catholic Church?
The men that I get to work with as vocations director for our Archdiocese, the men who are answering the call to be your priests after Jesus' own heart, have responded to the call of Jesus that reaches the hearts of men just as surely today as it has for 2000 years. Thank you for your prayers and support of our seminarians, who despite plenty of negativity and scandal will not let the evil one have the last say. These guys are amazing. They are not afraid of celibacy, even though many tell them the shouldn't do it or can't do it. They choose instead to listen to Christ and to trust that his teaching is always new and that He teaches with authority. Staying close to our Lord, and taking him up on his offer that his presence and love and call will be enough to sustain them, these men have cast out the demons of fear, anxiety and doubt to say yes to the Lord's call to be your priests. They need and ask for your prayers. I ask for your prayers for them. As we see in tonight's Gospel, the evil one wins when he can remain hidden and can seduce us with his lies. Yet when we take the Lord Jesus up on his promise, and don't water down what he says, then the impossible becomes possible again. Young men today, even 2000 years after Jesus' Ascension, can welcome him into their lives and when they act with him, in him and through him, the evil one who takes away our chance to be a saint is scattered, and holy vocations can once again be heard and answered in our Church. Pray God, let is continue to be so. Amen.
4 comments:
Great homily! I have been so frustrated lately and it is wonderful to read your homilies and remember that there are more people who think like I do and celebrate our wonderful faith.
Thank you Fr. I am curious as to your response to some who point out that the Church used to allow, and still does in some very specific circumstances, married priests. What is your response also to those who contend that seminarians and priests should be allowed to "opt" for a married state rather than celibate?
Hi Lynette - your comment is very responsible and accurate. Thank you. As a man formed to discern and receive the spiritual gift of celibacy, I personally find it to have a great sacramental and spiritual value in the Church. So I am for keeping it as a promise for the vast majority of Latin rite priests. If the Church decided otherwise, I would trust her wisdom, but as you can tell, I would personally 'opt in.'
Thank you Fr. for your response. May I ask you to elaborate on the sacramental and spiritual value you receive living the gift of celibacy? I am elated that you believe you were well-formed for this charism.
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