After the four o’clock Mass
yesterday, I asked a parishioner what she thought of my homily. She answered “It
was long… but good.”
I would have preferred she’d said “Good… but long.”
Oh well. There’s a lot happening this weekend in the Archdiocese and the parish that helps us think clearly about our readings at Mass today, despite the smoke in the air.
For starters, I was very inspired by Mary Healy, the respected scripture professor from Detroit who spoke yesterday at the Upper Room Conference, the virtual gathering in support of the Proclaim Movement in our Archdiocese.
Dr. Healy opened my eyes to a couple of verses from the Letter to the Hebrews [cf. Heb. 12:26-28] that I hadn’t paid much attention to before. These verses begin by saying that God is shaking things up. And certainly the pandemic is shaking our world, and not much seems the same in the home, the workplace, or the Church.
That much we know. We only have to look around us.
But then the Word of God says something that really struck me: God is shaking things up… “so that what cannot be shaken may remain.”
What a perspective on our present turmoil! Despite the loss of passing things that make us feel secure, our true foundation—the bedrock—is exposed by hard times and social uncertainty.
The prophet Isaiah calls us to see past the earthquakes around us and look for “what cannot be shaken.” Where do we find what really lasts and what really matters?
Isaiah answers, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” Human thoughts, human ways, can always be shaken. But as St. Teresa of Avila wrote, “Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, all things are passing away: God never changes.”
It’s a constant challenge to think like God thinks. But Paul gives us a great example in the second reading. He’s living with one foot on earth and the other in heaven, ready to die but ready to live if God needs him to continuing preaching the Gospel.
Paul not only has a godly attitude to death that we could all imitate; he’s also thinking with God about the necessity to proclaim Jesus. How many of us would pray “Lord, I’m ready. You can take me now—but only if I’m no longer needed here as your missionary disciple.
As our world continues to shake, we really need to look at what matters most. And when we think long and hard about why we’re here, about the unshakable things in life, perhaps our baptism could come to mind.
Although we may not be capital-A Apostles like St. Paul, we are all called by baptism to the fruitful labour he speaks of. That’s what the Upper Room conference was all about—getting ordinary women and men ready to bear fruit for God’s Kingdom.
Few if any will sail off to foreign lands. The Proclaim Movement, boldly launched last year by Archbishop Miller, is about sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with family members, neighbours, co-workers and even casual acquaintances.
Our parish signed on to Proclaim after several years of talking and learning about missionary discipleship. We were part of this movement from the beginning, a parish where lay Catholics have the confidence and the courage to tell others about their faith.
We’ve been doing this in two main ways, offering Alpha for large groups and faith studies for small ones. Alpha is an 11-week course that creates a space where people can be comfortable bringing bring their friends and family for a conversation about life, faith, and Jesus.
And it starts, online due to the pandemic, this week.
Our faith studies, beginning with one called “Discovery,” came to us from Catholic Christian Outreach, a university student movement. They have helped numerous university students turn to the Lord, so they’re a proven way of introducing people to the basic Gospel message.
Faith studies started last week, but you can still sign up; we’ll find a time and a group that works for you. They are also, for the most part at least, online for now.
Let’s take a quick look at the Gospel.
We could spend quite a bit of time wrestling with what seems to be the unfair labour practices of the landowner. And applied to God, it seems quite unjust to think that the person who makes a good confession at the end of life gets the same reward as those of us who’ve lived faithfully for years.
The deeply Catholic American novelist Flannery O’Connor helps us understand why this parable is difficult for some of us. She observed “The operation of the Church is entirely set up for the sinner; which creates much misunderstanding among the smug.”
Going back a second to Alpha and Discovery: if God’s so generous with those joining the harvest very late in the day, who are we to say that our friend Mary’s too old to invite, or our brother-in-law Joe is too set in his ways? Or even that so-and-so is too much of a sinner for Alpha?
Friends, as the earth shakes, Christ the Redeemer Parish rocks—using the word in a positive way like young people do. We’ve never been harder at work, never more focused, never more confident about what God is calling us to do.
Some of us have been in the Lord’s vineyard a long time, while others are new to the many ministries that are underway.
Today I want to ask you to join us in the vineyard. Every one of you. It’s not just me who’s asking. The Lord himself looks at us with love and asks, “Why are you standing here idle?”
And he says, “You also go into the vineyard.”
Does that seem a bit abstract? What exactly is the Lord asking?
I can help you answer him in three simple practical ways.
First, decide now who you will invite to come to Alpha with you. Think of one name, and follow up.
Second, give some serious thought to signing up for a faith study, so that you can learn more about what we believe and how to share it with others in these tough times.
And third: please consider making a sacrificial gift to Project Advance, especially if you haven’t done so before.
Our annual Project Advance campaign has normally been focused on bricks and mortar projects; that’s what it’s for. But this year the Archdiocese has concentrated on Covid relief, while the largest part of the parish goal is funding a parish coordinator of evangelization and engagement for a year.
You’ll hear more about Project Advance next Sunday. But this Sunday I just want to say that your gift to the campaign this year will contribute directly to the abundant harvest our parish hopes to produce in the Lord’s vineyard.
As I wrap this up, I want to say a heartfelt word of thanks to those who have already contributed to the campaign. Both the Archbishop and I have marveled at how generous you have been, and how quick you were to respond to his request for support.
