Good morning. We just heard this proclaimed from the Gospel of Luke: “And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, ‘Isn’t this the son of Joseph?’” Now, growing up, my parents were asked this question - “Isn’t he the son of Vinh & Mai?” - quite often and, depending on the situation, my mom would either reply with a “Yes, he is my son!” or a “Yes, he is my son. . .” followed by “What has he done now?” I am sure you all have experienced this, am I right? Last Saturday, at the Catholic Schools gala, the keynote speaker shared that when she was in Catholic School, there was a nun whose stare could send her “straight to hell”. [I am pretty sure my mom - and, perhaps all moms for that matter - are masters of said “stare”.]
My sisters and brothers in Christ, we go through life and our identity is so tied to our family of origin, especially our parents, that we work hard to break free of these connections. We want to go into the world and be our own person, to put our own mark in society and in history. We want to live our life like the Frank Sinatra song - I did it “My Way”. Now, there is nothing wrong with doing things our way. My parents, as I am sure all parents do with their children, raised me to be my own person. However, this “do it my way”, “pick myself up by my bootstrap”, “I am the master of my own destiny” mentality often leaves very little room for God in our lives, especially in our interior and spiritual life and in the practice of our Catholic faith. The truth of the matter is, we are too busy trying to establish who we are in this world and overcoming whose we were (our family of origin) that we forget who we are and Whose we are. I repeat: “We are too busy trying to establish who we are in this world and overcoming whose we were (our family of origin) that we forget who we are and Whose we are.”
So the question is, who are we and Whose are we? The answer is, we are beloved sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. My wife and I lead the CALLED TO BE ONE Marriage Class ministry, as well as the Marriage Spiritual Guidance team, and young couples love to choose today’s second reading, from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, as one of the readings for their wedding ceremony. I can see why because it is about love that they desire in marriage. However, what we fail to realize is, we love because God loves us first. When we replace “love” and “it” with “God” and “He”, we can see and come to know how much God loves us. Just listen: “[God] is patient, [God] is kind. [He] is not jealous, [He] is not pompous, [He] is not inflated, [He] is not rude, [He] does not seek [His] own interests, [He] is not quick-tempered, [He] does not brood over injury, [God] does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. [God] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [God] never fails.” God is love.
My sisters and brothers in Christ, we are God’s beloved sons and daughters. That is who we are and Whose we are, and Jesus loves us so much. Perhaps this fact is so simple that we forget who we are and Whose we are or, worse yet, we take God’s love for granted. Hard to believe, right? Well, we only need to look at the empty pews around us to see and know the reality of this sad truth. I am not talking about Catholics who cannot join us at Mass because of health reasons during this time of global pandemic, but Catholics who choose (of their own God-given freewill) not to live out the precepts of their Catholic faith - first and foremost of which is: “Attendance at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation”. And make no mistake about it, sisters and brothers in Christ, all Sundays are Holy Days of Obligation. Jesus wept for Jerusalem then; he weeps for us now. So many Catholics forsake eternal life for secular, temporal life and, worse of all, they are okay with that. Well, it is not okay for us, fellow pilgrims on this journey in life, to stand idly by as Satan picks off our loved ones and friends - one soul at a time - from the embrace of our Father in heaven and drops them into an abyss that is devoid of the Father’s love.
The reason why Catholic churches have crucifixes instead of crosses without the Body of Christ is to remind us of the great price that was ransomed for our salvation. The beloved Son of God, the Pierced One, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ spilled his Precious Blood for us because God loves us. Psalms 8:5-6: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor,” and also these verses from today’s first reading: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you. . . I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.” Yet, only 32% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, meaning that the other 68% of Catholics do not know how much Jesus loves them. Yesterday, I officiated my 9th wedding as a deacon and this is what I shared with the newly-weds because I wanted them to know in their hearts how much Jesus loves them. I told them: “In a world where we sometimes have to hide a part of who we are to feel accepted, to fit in with the prevailing culture of society, God sees us for who we truly are and He hears the true voice that cries out from our hearts and He loves us and He blesses us because we are perfectly and beautifully made by our Creator.” We have Catholics who need to know that God loves them.
My sisters and brothers in Christ, the Catholic Church of our Lord Jesus Christ needs us to stop standing on the sidelines and go out into the world and carry out the mission that He has entrusted since the day of our Baptism: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). Remember at the end of the movie “Saving Private Ryan”, when Captain Miller (played by Tom Hanks) pulls Private Ryan (played by Matt Damon) close to him and, with his dying breath, tells Private Ryan: “Earn this.” Jesus is not telling us “Earn this” because He died on the Cross in obedience to the Father for our salvation but my sisters and brothers in Christ. . . really: “Earn this” - out of our love for Jesus who loves us so much. How? It can be as simple as reaching out to an inactive Catholic in your family or circle of friends and letting them know how much Jesus loves them and how much the Church misses them. Then, invite them to attend Mass with you. If you do this, then you would have done your part to save their souls from the hands of Satan. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.
As I mentioned earlier, last Saturday, my wife and I attended the annual Catholic Schools gala and listened to an excellent presentation by the keynote speaker, Katie Prejean McGrady. I was struck by two things in her presentation. I share the first for the benefit of all parents and catechists who have the responsibility of forming our children in the Catholic faith: Proverbs 22:6. I would invite you to go home, look up Proverbs 22:6 in the Bible, and read and reflect on it as a family. The second thing she said that struck me, I will share to close my homily. I want to leave you with this image so, if you are comfortable, then I invite you to close your eyes. I find that the images in my imagination are more vivid and more focused when I close my eyes.
Imagine that you are standing just inside the gates of heaven and next to you is your guardian angel. The both of you are watching as others enter through the pearly gates and every now and then, your guardian angel points out this person to you, then another, and then another. After a while, you ask your guardian angel who are all the people that he is pointing out to you. Your guardian angel gives you a big smile and says to you, "Those are the people you helped get to Heaven because, through your faith in God and faithfulness to His Church, you led these people to an encounter with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and they came to know the love of their Father in heaven with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind." Then, from behind the two of you, you hear the Father say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
