Homily for Friday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/nab/100507.shtml

We must be willing to preach and to be preached to. Through our baptism, we enter into the priestly, prophetic and kingly mission of Christ. Through Confirmation, especially, we join in the mission of evangelization, of proclaiming who Christ is to others and the abiding presence of the kingdom of God through Him by the witness of our lives. Why does Jesus trust ‘goofballs’ like you and me to represent Him and to continue His mission? I guess because He knows our faith will only become real to us insofar as we are courageous enough to teach it and to share it with others. His message to those who proclaim the kingdom of God in his name is very straightforward in today’s Gospel. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me and the one who sent me. These are strong words concerning our responsibility to preach the kingdom.

I have to admit, however, that when I hear this Gospel I usually spend way too much time thinking about how I have failed to preach the kingdom, and very little about how I have failed to listen to the kingdom being preached to me. Now I, like everyone, am looking for people who can inspire me or give me new insight into the mysteries of the faith. But what I lack is the ability to give to most ordinary people that I meet the chance to proclaim the kingdom to me. Instead, I usually am intent on sharing with them what I think they need, and then moving on to the next prospect. But woe to me if I fail to see within the lives of others the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and the mighty deeds He is working within the hearts of his faithful.