Homily for Saturday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/110307.shtml

It is not too difficult to tell if a young Catholic is growing in faith or is losing his/her faith. The ones that are growing in their faith are those who have decided their mission is to evangelize, and to share the treasure they have received. The ones who are losing their faith are always comparing the life they could have in Christ with the life they could have without him; in other words, they are asking the question, what’s in it for me?
St. Paul in his letter to the Romans is reflecting on the reality of the Gospel message being taken from the nation of Israel and given to a nation that will bear its fruit, the Gentiles. It is not that God is rejecting Israel; no, God does not annul his covenant. He is love, and does not change. But the success of the Gospel among the Gentiles was to one day serve as a catalyst for the Israelite people to recognize the true treasure of their faith, and to see Christ as the fulfillment of the messianic promise.
Our Church has said over and over that as Catholic people, we have been given the fullness of the means of grace that Christ intended the Church to have. This is to say that the Church Christ founded subsists in the Roman Catholic Church. Because we have been given much, much is expected. But until that day when the Church fully owns her responsibility not simply to guard the faith, but to evangelize, we should not be surprised that other Christian ecclesial communities will have great success, and even share in the gift of salvation, not as a sign that God has withdrawn his love from the Church, but as motivation for us to fulfill our mission to evangelize the culture!