Homily:
21st Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Evangelical
Catholicism is the name that Catholic author George Weigel gives to what he
calls the “mode of being” that the Church must take on in order to remain a
relevant voice proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ in the 21st
century. Among other things, Mr. Weigel proposes that, in contrast to the
inwardly-focused Church of the Counter Reformation (which is the Church that we
all know as the “pre-Vatican II Church”)—in which communion with the Church had
clearly defined boundaries (meaning, one is either “in” or “out”) and was
guarded closely by the Church hierarchy—an evangelical Catholic Church would be
one that admits of various “degrees of communion”.
And
what he means by that is this: that while receiving the sacraments of baptism,
confirmation and communion would be the basis of communion, one could
nonetheless be more or less “in communion” with God and the Church based on how
deeply one engaged (that is, practiced) the faith. In other words, he
proposes that we focus less on affiliation (that is, whether or not one is a
member of the Church... as important as that is) and more on how deeply one is
in communion with God and his Church. This
means, for example, that instead of simply trying to ensure that each person
receives the sacraments, we focus on ensuring that each person has a deep
relationship with God, after which we will lead them to the sacraments. Does this make sense?
To
be sure, this isn’t the first time that God’s people have grappled with this
notion. In our Gospel today, Jesus encounters someone who is asking a related
question. This person says, “Lord, will only a few people be
saved?” Really, what this person is asking is “Lord, is salvation only
for a select few (that is, the affiliated), or is it truly available for
everybody?” You see, in the ancient Jewish understanding of it, God
selected the descendants of Abraham—Israel’s twelve sons (otherwise known as
the Israelites)—to be his specially chosen people on whom his favor would
rest. Yet in prophesies—much like the one we heard today from the prophet
Isaiah—God revealed that his favor (that is, salvation) would extend to peoples
of every race and nation throughout the world. And so this person, it
seems, was trying to see if this “salvation” that Jesus was talking about would
be just for a select few—meaning God’s “chosen” people—or if it would be
available to anyone, thus ushering in the final age that gathers all of the
nations into one in Jerusalem.
Jesus,
for his part, answers the question by saying something somewhat controversial:
by his response, he says that affiliation in a particular group won’t be enough
on its own to be saved. In other words, just being a part of the
Israelite heritage won’t be enough for one to enter the Kingdom of God.
For a proud Jew of Jesus’ time, this would have amounted to a “slap in the
face” since they saw themselves as “guaranteed a spot” in God’s coming Kingdom
because of their ancestral lineage.
I
suspect that even today I might find a few folks who, perhaps unwittingly,
believe the same thing. The culture of the Counter Reformation Church was
one that focused heavily on the notion that there would be “no salvation
outside of the Church” and thus that salvation was all but guaranteed as long
as you maintained a valid membership card in the Catholic Church. For these
individuals, Mr. Weigel’s proposal that an evangelical Church is one that
admits of varying “degrees of communion”—degrees that are affected by the level
in which one practices the faith, instead of being defined solely by the
sacraments one has received—would be a similar “slap in the face”; because, in
this kind of thinking, for example, a non-Catholic Christian who adheres
closely to biblical moral teaching could be considered more deeply in communion
with God (and thus closer to salvation) than a fully-initiated Catholic who
never worships God in Mass and who never prays.
Having
discomforted the questioner, Jesus offers encouragement. He says, “Strive
to enter the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will
not be strong enough.” In a way, what he’s saying to this person is:
“Yes, salvation is available to everyone; but it isn’t easy to obtain.
Salvation requires more than just affiliation; it requires effort and strength
to live a life in communion with God and with others.” For many (and,
perhaps, for this person) this was Good News, for it meant that there was hope
for everyone, not just for the religious elite or for those with Israelite
heritage.
For
us today Jesus’ message of encouragement is the same: “Strive to enter the
narrow gate.” In other words, don’t just rest on your laurels of having
received all of the sacraments of initiation and of having “punched your
timecard” every Sunday. Rather, be a striving Catholic, an evangelical
Catholic: someone who practices faith deeply, seeking a profound friendship
with the Master who is our communion so that at the final judgment you won’t be
found outside of the door, pleading to get in and hearing those desperate
words: “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me…”
My
brothers and sisters, Bishop Doherty’s pastoral plan for our diocese, “Uniting
In Heart 2030”, has at its heart the desire to make the Catholic Church here in
this part of Indiana evangelical again by moving from “maintenance” to
“mission”. In other words, Bishop Doherty sees what George Weigel
sees—that we can no longer be focused on affiliation alone (that is, only
initiating people into the Church), but that we must be focused on helping
people to grow in communion with God and his Church by leading them to deeper
practice—and so he has set forth a plan that has modify how we are organized so
that we might be more ready and able to respond to this challenge and achieve
our goal. This plan will only be successful, however, when every one of us
decides to make the same move from “maintenance” to “mission”: that is, from
maintaining the status quo to making evangelical Catholicism a reality in our
own lives.
My
brothers and sisters, our Lord wants more from us than just membership in the
Catholic Church, he wants communion. Our baptism is the entrance to that
communion and what we receive from this altar effects that communion in its
deepest sense, but only if we are striving for it. Therefore, do not be
idle there in your pew, but choose today to seek what you receive, and I
promise that you will find so much more: profound friendship with Jesus now and
eternal joy with him in heaven.
Given in Spanish at Saint Paul Parish: Marion, IN - August
20th, 2022
Given in Spanish at Saint Joseph Parish: Delphi, IN and Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish: Carmel, IN - August 21st, 2022
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