Deacon Larry

 

Sts. Simon and Jude

Eph 2:19-22; 1 Luke 6: 12-16

Dc. Larry Brockman

We are in this together.  Yes, all of us are called to be Apostles.  We are not called to be spiritual islands unto ourselves; rather, we are called to be church.  Paul makes this point very clearly in our first reading when he says:  “You are no longer strangers and sojourners but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God”.  So, we are not called to be strangers to each other; we are called to be citizens.  The duties of citizens are collective. 

Elsewhere Paul talks about the multiple parts of the body of Christ, about how they are different, like parts of the human body.  But, nevertheless, they complement and support each other.  As a single body, the Church, we also need to complement and support each other because our mission as a Church is one of evangelization.  Lest anyone here is disillusioned, evangelization is just as important in today’s secular and sometimes Godless society as it was 2000 years ago when the Church began.  But, our evangelization is a shared ministry.  Notice that Jesus shares His ministry with those whom He called.  He selected 12, whom he called Apostles.  This was the beginning of the Church, this small group of humble fisherman, tax collectors, and peasants.  They, like us, were in it together-  they were commissioned as a group to evangelize, sent forth to preach the Gospel to all nations. 

And so, I ask you- what kind of a citizen are you of the Catholic Church?  Are you a gifted teacher involved in RCIA or CCD?  Are you a gifted advocate of an important Church teaching- like respect life?  Are you a Christian leader or businessperson that lives the creed you profess, even when it is tough?  Are you a caretaker type that ministers to those less fortunate- by visiting jails or rest homes or shut ins or hospitals?  Whatever part of the Body of Christ you are, are you acting like the Christian citizen you are called to be?  So that it can truthfully said of our Church that:  “Their message goes out through all the earth”. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 28th, 2010 at 8:39 am and is filed under Holy Family Weekday Homilies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.