Lead others to salvation

The priests are at the Annual Convocation with Bishop. I had the opportunity once again to lead Communion Service this morning at Saint Mary Cathedral. Below is my homily for the Thursday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time (Year C - 10/13/2022):

“Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” With these words, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, chastised the scholars of the law, as he did with the Pharisees, for forgetting who they are while burdening the people they lead with rules imposed on them. Rather than leading others to faith in God, they became a hindrance for others to come to know Jesus because, through their pride and envy, they forgot who they are and their story.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, have we forgotten who we are? Have we forgotten our story? In case we have forgotten, Saint Paul helps us remember that we are “the holy ones. . . faithful in Christ Jesus.” We are blessed by God in Christ with “every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” We are chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish.” God so loved us that He “destined us” to be His adopted sons and daughters through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is who we are, let us not forget it.

What is our story? We are sinners redeemed by the Blood of Christ, the Crucified One, for the forgiveness of our sins, reconciling us to our Father in heaven. This is the story of our salvation and, while it is hard to imagine us ever forgetting such a hopeful story, we are not unlike the Pharisees and scholars of the law. We forget and have to be reminded over and over again of God’s faithfulness to us in the face of our unfaithfulness to Him. The question then becomes, how should we respond to the successors of the Apostles and the “prophets” of our time? Would we build “memorials” of them while never intending to heed what they say? By the grace of God, may that not be the case but rather that we respond with expectant faith and hope.

Then, let us go forth and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others in our words and actions. And, by the grace of God and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may we never be a hindrance for others coming to knowledge of God and encounter with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Rather, let us serve the mission of the Church, proclaiming the kingdom of God so as to lead others to salvation.

. . .

Gospel of the Day

The Lord said:

“Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets 

whom your fathers killed.

Consequently, you bear witness and give consent

to the deeds of your ancestors,

for they killed them and you do the building.

Therefore, the wisdom of God said,

‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles;

some of them they will kill and persecute’

in order that this generation might be charged

with the blood of all the prophets

shed since the foundation of the world,

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah

who died between the altar and the temple building.

Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!

Woe to you, scholars of the law!

You have taken away the key of knowledge.

You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”

When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees

began to act with hostility toward him

and to interrogate him about many things,

for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.