Homily for the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/061508.shtml

Today's readings for the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time invite us to think about the priesthood and vocations. We forget too easily, I'm afraid that each one of us in this Church today is a priest, set apart by God just as the Israelites in today's first reading were set apart to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. On the day of our baptism, each one of us was anointed on the head with holy chrism, so that we might share in the prophetic, kingly and priestly mission of Christ. Through baptism our lives are ordered to Christ in a special way. We become his special possession, more dear to him because we belong to him as sheep belong to a shepherd. From the moment of our baptism onward, we begin following the new commandment that Christ gave us, described by Paul in today's second reading from the Romans, to love one another just as He has loved us. We follow the new commandment and remain faithful to the new covenant inaugurated by the paschal mystery of Jesus, just as the Israelites followed the commandments given them by Moses, and remained faithful to the covenant inaugurated by God's tremendous signs in leading them from slavery to freedom.

We all share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, and so we must all offer the sacrifice of our lives so that God can make us holy, and so that others can be made holy through the sacrifice we offer. Liturgically, this sacrifice that we are all offering together as a kingdom of priests is represented by the bread, wine and money brought forward during the offertory. If we are truly living our identity as priests, then this is a most significant moment for us; not only when the basket passes us in the pew, but most especially when the gifts of bread and wine that represent our lives are placed upon the altar. Jesus himself was the priest, the altar and the lamb of sacrifice, as one of the Easter prefaces for the Mass says. Those of us who share in his priesthood by virtue of our baptism, then, must see the bread and wine that are placed on the altar as the real and complete sacrifice of our lives, in imitation of the one who gave his life as a ransom for many.

The ministerial priest, whom we think of most readily when we think of the priesthood, is there to enable the priesthood of the baptized to offer their gifts to God. All of us who are baptized are a people set apart by Christ to be priests, prophets and kings. A ministerial priest is one who has been further called, as were the first apostles whom we hear about today, to not only participate in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, but to represent Christ Himself to the community and to act in His person. If Christ is the bridegroom and the Church His Bride, as we say in our theological tradition, then the ministerial priest is there to represent the bridegroom who both offers His life for His bride and also receives Her sacrifice, so that the two leave the altar together no longer two people, but one flesh. The ministerial priesthood of the groom does not dominate or control the priesthood of His bride, but is there to show in a personal way Christ's giving of His life for His bride and in turn His receiving the gift of Her life.

From the beginning of the tradition of our Church, Jesus set apart men not only to preach and to rule, as we hear Him instructing the first apostles in today's Gospel, but also to give their lives in imitation of Him who gave His life out of love for His bride, the Church. Later on in our tradition, the requirement of celibacy in the western Church was added to enhance the sign value of the priest as one who, in imitation of Christ who was married only to the Church, represents Christ and the offering of His life, especially in and through the celebration of Mass. It is at Mass most fully that the priesthood of Jesus Christ and the priesthood of the faithful work together to produce a marriage that wells up to eternal life. St. Paul in his letter to the Romans tells us that it is when we come to realize that Christ gave His life for us while we were still sinners that we grow in confidence that we also share in His resurrection, and that we will live forever with Him. In saying this, Paul points us to the Mass, where we encounter that even though we are not worthy to receive Him, Christ continually offers His life for us as our priest. When we realize that eternal life is not a ticket that some lucky people receive if they don't screw up too badly, but is actually this unique and salvific love of Jesus poured out for us in the Mass, it is then that we want to do everything we can as His bride to offer our lives through our priesthood on that altar with Him, so that we may drink more deeply of this unique love that a Savior has for sinners. As St. Paul says, this is where most especially we will know for sure that we will live forever with Christ, if we truly experience what it meant for Him to give His life for us.

It is when young men realize what is really at stake through the celebration of Mass that a call to follow Christ in the ministerial priesthood can be heard and answered. It is as true today as ever, that the harvest is rich but the laborers are few. The Church in the United States is 'missionary country' now because of our inability to teach our children how to hear the call of Jesus to follow Him, and how to respond to that call with generosity and love. Jesus gives us the key for understanding the vocation problem in our country. He says in the Gospel that without cost we have received, and without cost we are to give. The ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ is a gift of immeasurable value, and not something that can be compared with the hundreds of other opportunities that are typically in front of a young man. Jesus told the original twelve disciples to follow Him, and they left everything to do so, and they did it immediately. Unfortunately, we most often tell the young men of our Church to follow their desires, and to check every so often to see if Jesus is behind them supporting their decisions. A priestly vocation is often pursued not with singleness of heart, as it should be, but as one option among many, and against Jesus' advice, we put a relative value on His call to the priesthood like we do on all the other options in front of us. This is not the way to realize a vocation, however. Jesus asks us to follow Him, and to trust that He will pick out a life for us much greater than the life we would pick out for ourselves. Without cost we have received, without cost we are to give. There is no reason for more young men not to hear this call of Jesus to follow Him, and to receive from Him the incalculable privilege of representing Him and of loving His bride, the Church, in imitation of Him. We must lead our young men in realizing what is really at stake in the Eucharist. It is through authentic faith and love in the Eucharist that a young man can gain confidence that Jesus is calling Him and asking Him to leave everything to follow Him.