I've spoken lately about how the Word of God can hit you over the
head, making it impossible to ignore a message. It can be painful.
But sometimes God, like a good
teacher, makes sure I'm listening just by repeating himself. That happened last
week..
Friday was the feast of St.
Matthew, apostle and evangelist. It was no surprise that the first reading at
Mass was from the Letter to the Ephesians, where St. Paul writes “The gifts
Christ gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building
up the body of Christ...”
But before the day was out, the
scripture readings in the breviary repeated the same text two more times, at
which point I began to think the Lord was trying to tell me something. Whether
he was or wasn't, the triple dose of Ephesians 4 sure made it easy to preach
today, the Sunday when we bless the women and men who teach the faith as
catechists in our parish.
“The gifts Christ gave were
that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and
teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the
body of Christ...” That tells us two key things about our catechists: first,
that they are a gift, and second, that they have a purpose.
Usually, when we speak about
God's gifts, we're speaking of the graces he gives us. We all know that when
God calls someone to a particular work, he grants the grace or gifts they need.
But in the passage we’re discussing, St. Paul is calling people ‘gifts’.
Another translation says “he gave some as apostles, some prophets” and so on.
Our teachers and evangelists are a gift from God.
The purpose of their calling
also comes from God. It is “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for
building up the body of Christ...”
The meaning of that is lost if
we think Paul is talking about the saints in heaven, who certainly don't need
to be equipped for ministry or anything else, for that matter.
Again, another translation
explains things. In this context, the word “saints” means holy ones—simply
the members of the Church. All the baptized need to be prepared for service,
for ministry, and every service has the same goal, building up the body of
Christ.
But even though every one of us
needs to be taught and equipped, there is one group of saints, of holy ones,
that needs special attention: our children. Although our catechists serve many
adults, particularly through R.C.I.A. and Bible studies, the majority of them labour
in the parish religious education program, the liturgy of the word for children
program, and in our schools. (We will commission the school teachers at a
school Mass during the week.)
These dedicated volunteers
welcome our children as they would welcome Christ himself. In today's Gospel,
as elsewhere, Jesus shows how much he loves children. He identifies himself
with the child whom he takes in his arms and he calls his disciples to treat
little ones as they would treat the Lord himself.
(No wonder that on another
occasion Jesus says that anyone who harms a child would be better off tied to a
rock and dropped into the ocean. Sadly, we have all too many opportunities
lately to reflect on those words.)
Delighted as I am to
acknowledge our catechists today, I want to speak briefly about two other
groups as well.
The first is evangelists. We’re
comfortable finding pastors and teachers on Paul's list of servants of Christ's
Church. We know what a pastor does and what a teacher does.
But evangelists? We don’t
expect to find one of those in the next pew. Not so many years ago, all the
evangelists were priests, some specially gifted ones like Fulton Sheen. One of
the most wonderful blessings that’s come to the Church in recent decades are lay
evangelists, men and women who are exactly the people St. Paul is talking
about. I hope before long there will be a special blessing to commission
evangelists. But today we will include them alongside our catechists as they prepare
for the launch of Alpha—our parish’s number one evangelization effort—in less
than two weeks.
The second group, of course, is
parents. They don't need to be commissioned to the work of preparing their
children to serve Christ and his Church. They've already taken their children
in their arms, welcoming them as God's gift.
What parents may not have
thought about is how their generosity is blessed by Jesus in today's Gospel. We
all recall his promises of an eternal reward to anyone who visits prisoners or
the sick, or who offer a cup of cold water in his name. Today Jesus extends the
promise further, telling parents that they have welcomed not only a child but
their Lord.
Parents should think carefully
about that. Jesus says that whoever welcomes a child in his name, welcomes him.
That promise is huge. But with the calling comes a responsibility. Welcoming children
in the name of Christ—indeed, welcoming children as Christ—takes more than
bundling them into your arms.
Among many other sacrifices, it
requires prayer. Which is why I am going to conclude with a brief word about
this Saturday's Seminar of Hope,
subtitled “How to Pray for Your Sons and Daughters.”
The seminar, which runs from
9:00 to 4:30, is given by a man who is definitely one of those gifts St. Paul
has listed for us; specifically, Vernon Robertson is an evangelist. He will
reshape any parent or grandparent's understanding of praying for children,
whether they are young or old, doing well or faring poorly. He will offer a
clear path to embracing even the most troubled son or daughters in the name of
Jesus.
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