21st Sunday Homily Its all about the person of Jesus

One of the most difficult choices we can make, is the choice to continue; whether it be a journey, a relationship, a faith.  Do we go on?
What can motivate us to continue is that we want the goal, the prize, the end.
Once again we in the United States are confronted with the revelation of failures of an institution.
The revelations of some men who chose poorly.
Giving so much harm to others.
Giving so much shame.
Some question now their faith and whether to continue as Catholics.

What is the goal of our Christian Catholic faith?
It is salvation.
Salvation as the freedom to be true to who we are as persons, as community, as a species.
Salvation as coming home to who we are to our innermost being.
Salvation is God’s will for us.  
The Father so loves us that he sent the beloved son so that we can be free.  So that we can know how incredibly we are loved by the Father, and to know that this love empowers us to choose to go on.



Jesus is the source, the strength, the way of our salvation.
He alone.
This person, this human, this son of God.
Jesus’ ministry faces a test in our Gospel for today.
HIs Disciples that have followed him are now feel challenged.
He has taken his followers to a turning point in their journey to freedom.
Jesus has, in John’s gospel of the past weeks, led them to a newer understanding of their own faith.
He has called them from a literal superficial faith, to a deeper faith, a faith in him.
Those unwilling to let go, do not go on.  They choose to not continue to follow this man Jesus.
The twelve, in such a short but beautiful statement who know and trust in this man Jesus, they too are challenged, but, but they go on.
They continue because they have a vision of a goal.
Why do we choose to remain Catholic?
Why would some choose to become Catholic?
Starting with John Paul II, and more openly with Pope Benedict and certain very loudly with Pope Francis the call has been:  We follow the person of Jesus Christ.


Catholicism is about that relationship with the person of Jesus Christ.
Catholicism is NOT about the institution.
It’s goal is not the triumphant organization, not about royal imperial priests and bishops trying to live some false myth of from Days of Yore of power over potentates and people.
The institution has a place, to serve the people in their goal, in our common goal.
Again, that goal is Jesus Christ.

The Goal is the mystery of our salvation as revealed by his person, by his life, and most wonderfully by the cross and resurrection.
He shows us what it truly means to be human;  that we are created to be persons who are compassionate, merciful, generous, healing.
He reveals to us that human beings are works in progress, we are on a pilgrim journey of discovery of ourselves, of others, and that there is nothing to fear from God in this discovery.
Jesus reveals to us the power of God’s love, and that there is nothing we can do to lose it.
We killed Jesus, and God gave him back to us.
God forgave us, God continually forgives us, so that we do not have to live with the guilt and shame for our mistakes.
Freed, forgiven, we move forward; we make amends, we grow, we continue the journey.
This is the heart of our celebration of the Eucharist, and all the sacraments.
God’s love, God’s will, God’s forgiveness is made real.
And this is why we make Jesus our Lord.

It is he who calls us to go spread this good news in our work with the poor, outcast; the sick and dying.
It is Jesus who calls us to cry out for peace and the dignity of life for all; unborn and condemned, the migrant, the refugee, the addict.
Through our Faith, the celebration of our liturgy, our spiritual practices we open ourselves to this mystery of God’s love and call.
There is no other way to know this love, this extent of love.
It will not come from hiking in the mountains, nor watching football on tv
It will not come from a bottle, or drug; nor even from the most eloquent Shakespeare play, or poem from Emily Dickinson.



The anger, sadness, the fear we may be experiencing yet once again over the failures of men and institution, we must honor.
Jesus shows this us this too.  It is part of our flesh, it is part of our humanity.
Yet, he also calls us to see past the flesh, to see the bigger picture.  
The mystery of being human is not reacting and living only based on the emotions, but to something more...the spirit, the love.
Again the Eucharist calls us to this.  God’s love is made real.
We Catholics, celebrate with extravagance this love.
It is the source and summit of all that we do as people.
It is our food for the journey of life, so that when we come to a turning point, and we are faced with a decision; when we are challenged, we choose to love.

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 25, 2018 at 8:16 AM

    Agree with your Homily that the goal of the institution is all about Jesus. And, at this critical time, I believe it is important to acknowledge and admit to the monumental failure by the institution to protect its children from harm. For this horrendous behavior to be such a widespread, global issue, means that there are significant flaws with the existing structure and systems in the entire institution, not just some horrible individual decisions and human failures.
    Yes, as a follower of Jesus, forgiveness is a core belief. Beyond forgiveness, to be a part of and to support an institution requires trust. Much work on significant changes to the institution will need to take place to regain that trust. I hope all Priests in the institution do all they can to insist on significant change and make those changes happen.

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