"Say What?" The 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Please send your comments and suggestions to jms48@fuse.net]
I was talking with Fr. Dressman, the pastor of St. Jude Parish,
our neighbor to the west,
just a couple of days ago.
We had lunch at Nick and Tom’s
and, as men tend to do,
we asked each other how “things” were going.
Notice, I used the term, “things.”
“Rick, how are things going?”
He told about their new parish center.
He looked at me and asked,
“Jim, how are things going?”
I told about the renovation of the church undercroft.
And that’s how the conversation got started.
But God had other plans
because, at a certain point, we started talking about how,
here on the west side, it’s easy to talk the “things” going on in our parishes,
but it’s hard for us to talk about the “faith” that’s going on inside our parishes.
That’s nothing new.
It applies to most Catholics, even us priests.
It’s a glaring indication of how easy it is
to be a Christian by culture.
And the challenge it is
to be a Christian of conviction.
It’s easy to float along as a Westside Catholic.
It’s easy to talk about Elder and LaSalle.
It’s easy to shake our head at problems in our church.
But it takes effort
to answer the question in today’s gospel
that Christ poses to each and everyone of us:
“Who do you say that I am?”
That question stops us in our tracks doesn’t it?
Yet, if we have ears to hear, that’s the line that the Lord
keeps whispering and whispering in our ear
throughout our life.
“Who do you say that I am?”
It’s like a gentle knock on the door,
that chime on the computer that let’s you know
someone just sent you an e-mail.
“Janice, who do you say that I am?”
“Todd, who do you say that I am?”
The journey of faith begins with Christ knocking on the door of your heart.
It shows up in a lot of different ways.
1. It might be a spiritual hunger in your soul.
2. It might be the call to love in a more courageous way
3. It might be the experience of upheaval in your life caused by
disappointment, illness or difficult transition.
If we open the door to God at such times,
if we have the courage to follow Christ into a place
we’ve never been before…
then, at some memorable moment,
God will surprise us and bless us beyond our wildest dream.
The lives of the saints tell us this over and over again.
So what can’t we do the same?
Let’s start talking about our faith,
it’s not hard to do.
You don’t believe me?
Well, let me give you an example.
The other day when Fr. Rick and I were having lunch,
we were talking about how our two parishes can get to know each other better.
And, as you might expect,
we right away slipped into the rut
of talking about “things.”
You know, programs, events, items on the calendar.
And I said,
“Rick, we need to talk about more than programs.
We need to talk about faith, hope and love.
How can we help our two communities
recognize the hand of God and the movement of the Spirit
within our two parishes?”
Now, when I put that out on the table,
it was a real conversation stopper.
It was like that question Jesus asked St. Peter,
“Who do you day that I am?”
Well, we struggled with the issue a bit.
Then Fr. Rick,
“You know, our parish is really concerned about a young boy in our school
who’s struggling with cancer right now.”
I look at Fr. Rick and said,
“You know, that’s something I’m going to share with my Pastoral Council
and we’ll pray for him and his family and for your parish.”
That’s my example
and I think it illustrates the point that it’s not that hard to talk about
faith, hope and love.
It’s simple a matter of making the effort
to talk about things that matter.
When you talk about things that lift your spirit
or weigh on your mind,
you’re talking about the things of God.
And, if you listen close, you’ll hear Christ
giving a gentle knock on the door of your heart.
[Please send your comments and suggestions to jms48@fuse.net]
I was talking with Fr. Dressman, the pastor of St. Jude Parish,
our neighbor to the west,
just a couple of days ago.
We had lunch at Nick and Tom’s
and, as men tend to do,
we asked each other how “things” were going.
Notice, I used the term, “things.”
“Rick, how are things going?”
He told about their new parish center.
He looked at me and asked,
“Jim, how are things going?”
I told about the renovation of the church undercroft.
And that’s how the conversation got started.
But God had other plans
because, at a certain point, we started talking about how,
here on the west side, it’s easy to talk the “things” going on in our parishes,
but it’s hard for us to talk about the “faith” that’s going on inside our parishes.
That’s nothing new.
It applies to most Catholics, even us priests.
It’s a glaring indication of how easy it is
to be a Christian by culture.
And the challenge it is
to be a Christian of conviction.
It’s easy to float along as a Westside Catholic.
It’s easy to talk about Elder and LaSalle.
It’s easy to shake our head at problems in our church.
But it takes effort
to answer the question in today’s gospel
that Christ poses to each and everyone of us:
“Who do you say that I am?”
That question stops us in our tracks doesn’t it?
Yet, if we have ears to hear, that’s the line that the Lord
keeps whispering and whispering in our ear
throughout our life.
“Who do you say that I am?”
It’s like a gentle knock on the door,
that chime on the computer that let’s you know
someone just sent you an e-mail.
“Janice, who do you say that I am?”
“Todd, who do you say that I am?”
The journey of faith begins with Christ knocking on the door of your heart.
It shows up in a lot of different ways.
1. It might be a spiritual hunger in your soul.
2. It might be the call to love in a more courageous way
3. It might be the experience of upheaval in your life caused by
disappointment, illness or difficult transition.
If we open the door to God at such times,
if we have the courage to follow Christ into a place
we’ve never been before…
then, at some memorable moment,
God will surprise us and bless us beyond our wildest dream.
The lives of the saints tell us this over and over again.
So what can’t we do the same?
Let’s start talking about our faith,
it’s not hard to do.
You don’t believe me?
Well, let me give you an example.
The other day when Fr. Rick and I were having lunch,
we were talking about how our two parishes can get to know each other better.
And, as you might expect,
we right away slipped into the rut
of talking about “things.”
You know, programs, events, items on the calendar.
And I said,
“Rick, we need to talk about more than programs.
We need to talk about faith, hope and love.
How can we help our two communities
recognize the hand of God and the movement of the Spirit
within our two parishes?”
Now, when I put that out on the table,
it was a real conversation stopper.
It was like that question Jesus asked St. Peter,
“Who do you day that I am?”
Well, we struggled with the issue a bit.
Then Fr. Rick,
“You know, our parish is really concerned about a young boy in our school
who’s struggling with cancer right now.”
I look at Fr. Rick and said,
“You know, that’s something I’m going to share with my Pastoral Council
and we’ll pray for him and his family and for your parish.”
That’s my example
and I think it illustrates the point that it’s not that hard to talk about
faith, hope and love.
It’s simple a matter of making the effort
to talk about things that matter.
When you talk about things that lift your spirit
or weigh on your mind,
you’re talking about the things of God.
And, if you listen close, you’ll hear Christ
giving a gentle knock on the door of your heart.
posted by BlueCollarPreacher at 2:29 PM
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