Tag: Catholic Deacon

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Be Missionary Disciples

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Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mass Readings

First Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14C
Psalm: Psalm 66:1-7, 16, 20
Second Reading: Galatians 6:14-18
Gospel: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

Today’s scriptures are about announcing the Good News. They remind us that announcing the Good News of the Kingdom of God, by our words, our deeds, our life, is not just the task of a few people. It’s not just about the priests and deacons and consecrated religious. No! Announcing the Good News is required of all baptized Christians.

In the first reading from Isaiah 66:10-14, Isaiah proclaims the good news to those who are returning from exile in Babylon. He tells them that Jerusalem will take care of them as a mother comforts her baby. Isaiah assures them that they will live a life in in the certainty of Yahweh’s promises of love, protection, prosperity and salvation.

In the Psalm, we hear, “Sing praise to the glory of God all the earth,” because of the wonders He has done.

In the second reading from Galatians 6:14-18, Paul tries to address the confusion created by those Judaizers, those ultra-conservative Judeo-Christians who insist that there their way is the only way. Paul reminds them and he reminds us that the mission of all of us is to bear witness to the saving power of the Cross through a life of sacrificial self-giving.

In today’s Gospel from Luke 10:1-12 and 17-20, we hear the story of the commissioning of the 72. The disciples are told to go out and preach the Good News of God’s love and salvation. He also gives them travel tips. They’re supposed to be walking witnesses of God’s Providence. They’re supposed to be living simple lives, preaching the Good News and healing the sick. It’s a reminder to us that of the 1.5 billion Christians in today’s world that all the baptized have the same message mission as the 72: to proclaim Good News of Jesus Christ to all the other non-Christians in this world. This makes sense, right? As disciples, we are called to share the Good News.

What’s a disciple? Three things make a disciple. First, accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Second, deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ by learning more about him. And third, we go out into the world to share the Good News, what Pope Francis calls being a missionary disciple. So, we all have the same responsibility as the 72. There are over 1.5 billion Christians in this world: about 1 billion Roman Catholics, and half a billion other Christians in 30,000 different denominations. That means that there are over 1.5 billion missionaries in the world. But how do we do it?


There’s a fascinating study coming out of Detroit, about why young adults join the Catholic Church despite the scandals. The vast majority of them say they first came to church by the personal invitation of a Catholic. Other say they were drawn to the church by people they encountered who live a lively relationship with Christ and His Church. Isn’t that interesting? As faithful Catholics, we can be good missionaries simply by living our lives as authentically as possible. But Here’s the catch. It’s really not an option. It’s our responsibility. We can’t miss the opportunity to be disciples, in everyday life, by our words and our deeds.

That means we need to avoid being counter-witnesses. The church was founded on Peter, humble uneducated fishermen who died for the Lord He loved. Compare his faith with “supermarket Catholics” or “cafeteria Catholics” or “barely-make-it-to-mass Catholics”. These kinds of Catholics bear counter-witness to Christ. Instead we are called to be heralds of the kingdom, and that starts in our own homes. For example, when spouses respect each other, we teach our children to respect others. Our neighbors then can experience the Kingdom in our own families.

But this is not an easy path. In today’s world, moral martyrs. These people aren’t being killed physically, but they’re persecuted in the media. They’re defamed or falsely accused just because of their profound love for Jesus Christ and the counter-cultural lifestyle they proclaim. They are not unlike the martyrs of the church.

The early church called people martyrs. Martyrs were people who died giving witness to Christ. The most important element wasn’t how they died. What was most important was their fidelity to the Faith, until their last moment in their lives. Martyrs are not something in the past – a subject of study. No, unfortunately, recent history of abounds with examples of martyrs from the civil war in Spain, religious persecution in Poland, Mexico, Vietnam, Russia, China, Africa. The names of Edit Stein from Germany; Maximilian Kolbe from Poland; Miguel Pro from Mexico; Pedro Poveda, Spain, Fr. Stanley Rother from Oklahoma, are just the beginning of a long list of innocent victims who died for their faith.

Even today, religious freedom is still denied in many countries, or very severely regulated, including countries you wouldn’t expect, like Switzerland where I currently live, where the faith is controlled by the government. Several Muslim nations forbid the celebration of the sacraments. And in China, we see not only control of religion, but perhaps even persecution of religious ideas that the government considers a threat.

As missionary disciples, nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and by the Eucharist, we are all called to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the courage of the martyrs. Are you ready?

Homework:

  1. What are some examples of where you’ve heard the Good News of Jesus?
  2. What are some ways you can share the Good News?

I think by doing our homework this week, we will develop a better sense of what it means to be disciples and perhaps betters skills as the disciples we are all called to be. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

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Let the Dead Bury the Dead

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Readings for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: 1 Kings 19:16B, 19-21
Psalm: Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11
Second Reading: Galatians 5:1, 13-18
Gospel: Luke 9:51-62

Today’s readings, in particular the first reading from 1 Kings 19:16, 19-21, and the Gospel from Luke 9:51-62, sound harsh. But really, at the heart of these readings is the question of attachment. From where do we draw our faith: from our belief in God or from the things of this world? This is a source of great tension in the world. The world, perhaps now more than ever, is so completely intertwined in our lives that it’s difficult to not be “in the world,” so to speak. The lure of social media seems too powerful.

But these readings offer a caution to us all – not just the community of believers. Look, we’re all surrounded by stuff. Indeed, some of our homes are so crammed with stuff that it’s difficult to even walk around. Isn’t it funny how attached we are to things or to our cell phones or to various social media sites? Have you ever had the experience of sitting with someone who was so absorbed with their cell phone that they didn’t know what was going on around them? That can be so frustrating! Sadly, some forms of social media can really bring out the narcissist in people. Some of our family and friends seem obsessed with posting selfies of themselves in various poses or wearing various outfits.

In many ways, people like this, people so absorbed with their stuff, are dead. They’re dead to what’s happening around them. It’s as if they don’t really care – or they might care a little as long as you don’t interfere with their stuff. The minute you cross the line – the minute you ask them to put their cell phone down – well, you might as well have asked them to cut off their arm. Paul describes obsession with the stuff of this world as in today’s second reading from Galatians 5:1, 13-18, as the yoke of slavery.

Paul says we shouldn’t waste our freedom on things that will dull our minds or our senses – and that includes everything from drugs, alcohol and food addictions to binge-watching shows, losing hours to online gaming or social media – you name it! All this stuff belong to the flesh. But we are called to be integrated bodies and souls. So we need to be careful with worldly distractions. Paul reminds us that the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself, (Galatians 5:14). If we believe that God is love, and if we believe Jesus’ command that we are to love God with every fiber of our being and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, then we can’t allow ourselves to become so distracted with worldly things that we forget to look up and see the people around us, starting with our own family and friends.

We were not created to be alone with our stuff. We were created to be part of the community. We must resist the temptations that pull us out of our community – that try to isolate us, for it is when we feel alone that we are must vulnerable to give in to temptations.

Homework!

  1. First, try to tally up the time you spend watching shows on TV or over the internet, the time you spend playing any sort of video game, and the time you spend on social media. Can you reduce that number by 5% this week to spend with your family and friends?
  2. Second, in what ways are you present to the people around you? Try to name a few concrete examples for yourself.

I think by doing our homework, we might shift our time and attention away from the allurements of this world and more toward loving God by loving those around us. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

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The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

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Mass Readings

First Reading: Genesis 14:18-20
Psalm: Psalm 110:1-4
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel: Luke 9:11B-17

Today we celebrate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. You see, in our faith tradition, we believe that the bread and wine are transformed into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.

In today’s Gospel from Luke 9:11-17, we hear the familiar story of Jesus feeding the crowd of 5,000 people. Now there are many things working in this account. Let’s try to tackle them.

First, why did it go so late that the disciples had to prompt Jesus to dismiss the crowds. Did he get carried away healing and teaching? No, I don’t think so. I believe Jesus wanted to spend more time with them. He wanted to experience that sort of peace and contentment that only comes from sharing a meal together. So, he asks his disciples to bring him what they have, just like in the mass when we bring forward bread and wine. He receives these small tokens and looking to heaven, prays to the Father and transforms the meager meal into such an abundance of food that there are 12 wicker baskets filled with leftovers.

Next, I’d like us to reflect on the crowd for just a moment. Jesus wants the crowd to stay so they can be fed. This is very important for us because as Catholics, we believe that the community is important. Jesus doesn’t come to save you are me by ourselves. He offers us eternal life in the context of each of us within the community. Can you sit on your porch with a cup of coffee, watch the sunrise and say, “Praise God!” Yes, of course you can. But we mustn’t forget that we are called to be part of the community of believers.

Now, you think this miracle would be enough, in the very next section of Luke’s Gospel, the people want another miracle. But Jesus tells them, that he himself is the true bread from heaven, John 6:32-40. When the Jews doubt his heavenly origin in verses 41-42, Jesus responds by saying that they must believe in him in order to have eternal life. He says, “I am the bread of life.” Then he makes his teaching more emphatic. He says, “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh,” (John 6:49-51).

The people scoff at the idea of eating Jesus’s body and drinking his blood. But Jesus says, “My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (John 6:55). In verses 60-65, Jesus then clarifies that it will be his resurrected body which we are to eat. He isn’t asking his followers to cannibalize him. Through the power of the Spirit, we can eat his crucified, resurrected, and ascended flesh, wholly and entirely (without him having to die again). That’s why the Eucharist isn’t cannibalism: Jesus doesn’t die when we consume him. Instead, he lives in us.

This message is a difficult one for people to hear. We will read in John 6:66 that “many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him.” Some people cannot accept what Jesus is saying to us. Why?

I suggest to you this is difficult for those who wrestle with God’s Word intellectually – for those who are not willing to open their hearts to the question of faith. What’s missing is an encounter with Jesus Christ. Just like we heard in today’s Gospel, just as Jesus wants to be share a meal with the crowd, Jesus is waiting for us…he is waiting for you. It is Jesus who waits in the Eucharist. It is Jesus who waits in the Tabernacle of his divine presence. What are you waiting for?

Homework!

  1. Go to mass every weekend. It’s too easy to come up with excuses why we can’t get to mass, but whether you’re Catholic or not, come to mass.
  2. Try to spend time with the Eucharist, either in adoration or even with the tabernacle. Find some time to sit quietly with the Eucharist.

I think by doing our homework, we can open ourselves to the possibility of an encounter with the risen Jesus Christ. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!