2nd Easter Homily - Belonging leads to Believing

The other day on TikTok there was a video of these two older women, from New Jersey or Bronx, somewhere in that area based on the accent. Albeit they were hamming it up a bit. Remind you, this video was meant to be humorous. It was too. They were talking about an experience of mass, and they said that this family brought their toddler, and lots of toys were spread out. They talked about in their days, nuns clicking when to sit and stand, and the severity of it all. The gist was they couldn’t get nor did they want to, the church in now.

I bet if we administered a test to determine people’s idea of what “church” means, we would have a wide variety of ideas. This is technically called Ecclesiology. 

We all do have an idea of what we believe church is supposed to be like and its mission, whether we are conscious of it or not. The problem is that we can think our idea is the only idea, and that it is shared with the billion other Catholics in the world, and the several hundred here in the parish.

Nope.

The word “catholic”, greek for universal, with the intent that it is for all people. Right away that tells us church is to be for all people, not a select group, nor those who look like us, but all people.  Our mission is that, to be for all people, to help all people believe in the Good News of Jesus Christ. Ironically, our mission is not to necessarily recruit new Catholics, that is a happy by-product.   Our mission is to share the faith we have experienced with all people, to help them believe. We share our experience of finding life in Christ, so all people.

Jesus said go out to all nations and spread the good news.  Jesus reveals new life, the way to live and experience life.  And presumably we have at least begun to live that way, and will attract others. 

The key to this, hospitality.

We as church, at our worship and in our personal lives, live as hospitable persons. To be Catholic is to welcome, to invite and to include.  Not just those we simply agree with, because Jesus points out that is the way of the world; we are called to do better.

This amazing Gospel today gives us reflection on how to be Church.  Jesus appears to the disciples on the same day of his resurrection. He appears with peace, no accusations, no hostility, no ax to grind, and his disciples become overjoyed.

Except Thomas, who for whatever reason is missing. One of their own.  Notice the exchange, they go and share the good news with him, but he remains apprehensive. This is not something he can easily wrap his mind around.  And what happens, or not happens? Does his community chastise him for his disbelief? Do they exclude him? Do they place demands on him?

Nope.

He joins with them and within that community he experiences the Risen Christ. Jesus invites him to experience his reality; again not acrimony, no accusations; only a desire for Thomas to believe. Thomas makes THE statement of John’s Gospel: “My Lord and My God”

Faith happens within community; faith grows in being included and finding a safe place to experience the risen Christ through the community.  A community that shares in each other’s experiences.  A vibrant community draws all, those new and those already established, deeper and deeper into understanding of Christ, and of life.   A vibrant community shares faith, shares stories, explores the richness of the Church and our traditions. This leads people to experience the richness of Life that comes from believing and following Jesus Christ.  That first reading records this progression of Church. This early church lived, and grew.

Our own parish, Our Lady of the Snows, has been slowly changing. Our demographics over the past twenty years have diversified. We also face challenges as most Catholic parishes do in our world; how to remain vibrant, and for some parishes, how to recapture a vibrancy that has been lost.

So that we remain and grow as a vibrant and vital parish for Midtown and all of Reno/Sparks; change has become necessary.  Our parish culture needs to develop. 

We will move to a culture of “Belonging leads to Believing.”

We will develop the dynamic of this parish to increase our hospitality.  We will use the energy that we have to help others find and deepen faith, and we will use that energy to go out into our little piece of paradise to spread the Good News, to Evangelize; to demonstrate to those who do not know how we live our faith in the works that we do.

We will help us and others to experience the beauty, the elegance, the sophistication, the wisdom of our Christian-Catholic Faith; and also wrestle with us as to what that means in this day and time.  We will have to realize that we are all in different places, just like Thomas was, but that is okay. We “learn” in different ways. We grow differently.   This means that part of our work as parish will be to offer different platforms by which we and others can join us; to feel as all belong.  It means we, as Christ and those disciples, respond with patience, with respect.

Knowing though that we have limited resources, we will discern which we can do and which will need to be placed on hold.  

And crucial to this will be that sense of welcome we offer here.  

Already we changed; COVID made that possible. People are greeted by people. More people know each other’s names. But this is all of our work.  If any of us see someone who looks new, greet them.  The other month, a young man came to the parish. He had been away for years. He was alone, sitting in a pew. He got introduced to MaryAnn Williams, long time parishioner; they chatted, turns out this man went to school with one of her grandsons; connection made.  The other week, I found another parishioner talking with two other young men new to the parish, inviting them to lunch. Such simple ways to include.

Christ lives! We celebrate this each and every eucharist. Christ lives in us. That spirit of Christ lives in us. Express this.  Take the risk to welcome.  Take the risk to be challenged and grow  There is really nothing to lose. 

We only have new life to share, in Jesus Christ;  And that is who we are.