Homily:
10th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Mass,
giving counsel to a teenager suffering from cancer, a youth ministry meeting,
washing laundry, celebrating a wedding, going to a graduation party, responding
to an emergency call to the hospital, and playing in a softball game… this
pretty much sums up my last 48 hours (oh, and I did eat, sleep, and say a few
prayers once or twice in the midst of all of that). Now, I’m not sharing these things because I
want you to think I’m important. Nor do
I share these things because I want you to pity me because I’m “so busy”. Rather, I share these things because as I
reflected on these last 48 hours, none of it made me step back and say, “What
the heck am I doing?” Let me try to
explain.
Like
every vocation, the vocation to the priesthood is rich and complex. While on the surface it might seem like the
priest is here to lead us in prayer and otherwise be a kind of “professional
about spiritual things” (much like a doctor is a professional about medical
things and a contractor is a professional about construction things), the
fullness of what the priesthood is is much deeper than that.
As
I reflect on my last 48 hours and on what the fullness of the priesthood is—or,
perhaps, it would even be good to say of why
the priesthood is—I feel like I can boil it down to just a few main
things. First, the priest, more than
just being an “expert about spiritual things”, is meant to be a reminder of
God’s physical presence and closeness in the world and to be his prophet. In the book of Deuteronomy the author
proclaims, “For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call
upon him?” This closeness, of course,
was amplified infinitely when God, himself, took on human flesh so that he
could walk among us, dine with us, speak his words to us directly, and suffer
with and for us. Since then God has
continued to remain this close to us in the form of his priests. To see a man walking around in black clothing
and a white collar is a reminder that God is always close by. And a priest must always be careful of the
words that he speaks, because he always speaks as a prophet of God.
Second,
the priest is someone who intercedes to God on behalf of the people. In other words, he is one who takes the
prayers, praises, and offerings from the people and presents them before
God. This is most obvious here at the
Mass when, at the offertory, we present our gifts to the Lord to be offered to
him at this altar. All of you bring your
gifts to me, one chosen from among you, so that they can be offered
collectively to God, together with our petitions and our praises, in
thanksgiving for the abundant blessings he bestows upon us. This happens in other situations, too,
however. Like when a sick and suffering
person will ask the priest to pray on their behalf because they are in too much
suffering to pray themselves. The priest
is meant to be the one through whom, we can be assured, God hears our prayers.
Third,
the priest is meant to be a conduit through whom God’s blessings come to his
people. In other words, the priest is
not a “one-way” channel, passing the people’s prayers, praises, and offerings
to God, but rather a “two-way” channel in which God’s sends his blessings down
to his people. Again, this is effected
most concretely in the sacraments, which are seven practical ways in which we
receive grace from God; but it also happens when we receive a word of
consolation or direction from a priest that reminds us that God’s grace is
always available to us when we seek it.
These
characteristics of the priesthood are supported by the Scriptures, even those
that we heard today. In the first
reading, we heard about how the prophet Elijah interceded with God on behalf of
the widow with whom he was staying to revive her son so that she would not be
alone. God heard the prayer of the “man
of God” and responded to restore this woman’s son to her. In the second reading, we heard Saint Paul
claiming that he had been “set apart from his mother’s womb” for the task of
proclaiming God’s truth to the world—a truth that he had received in direct
revelation from God—not because of his exceptional worthiness (he, himself,
admits that he was the Church’s greatest persecutor), but rather simply because
God had called him. Finally, in the
Gospel reading, we see Jesus, himself—Emmanuel: God with us—acting in his role
as Eternal High Priest and bringing God’s blessing of healing by restoring to
life the son of the widow in Nain. The
priest as God’s presence and prophetic voice, as one who intercedes with God on
behalf of his people, and as one who brings God’s blessings to his people. This is the priesthood that I, and my brother
priests, continue to live today.
We
are all very familiar, I suspect, with the fearful talk about the shortage of
priests in the Church. Unfortunately, I
think that this fearful talk tends to focus on the wrong thing. It often focuses on “Will we have a priest to
staff my parish?” and “If not, will we have to close?” These are valid concerns, to be sure. But I think that the more necessary concern
ought to be a concern that the three things that I mentioned would be lacking
for us: that there would be no one who would be a sign of God’s living presence
among us, that there would be no one to offer our prayers, praises, and
sacrifices to God on our behalf, and that there would be no one to bring God’s
blessings to us in concrete ways.
Perhaps these concerns underlie our concern about our parishes, but it’s
certainly helpful to say them out loud.
My
brothers and sisters, this coming Saturday our bishop will ordain two men to
the priesthood for our diocese; for this we should rejoice! Hopefully, however, we also will be energized
to promote vocations to the priesthood among our young men. I guarantee you that it is not God’s fault
that we are short on priests, he is not failing to call young men to this
vocation, but rather that we are not doing enough to ensure that young men are
hearing this call. Our Lord wants to
work many more miracles in our day, and he desires priests to help make that
happen. And so, let us commit ourselves
to promoting this among our young men; and let us be sure to support the young
men already responding to this call. For
when we do, we ensure that God’s powerful presence among us will remain visible
and active; and, through his grace poured out upon us, our world will be
transformed to prepare us for the glory that awaits us in eternal life: the
glory we view dimly even now, here in this Eucharist.
Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – June 4th
& 5th, 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment