READING 1:
Wisdom 7:7-11
Psalm
90 READING 2: Hebrews 4: 12-13 GOSPEL: Mark 10: 17 -30
An EMT told me he was called to an accident scene. When he got there glass and debris were all over the road. Firemen were using the “jaws of life” to free the driver from the wreckage. When he was free, the EMTs took their stretcher over and gently lifted the man from the car and strapped him securely on the gurney. The EMT leaned down to the man and asked, “Are you comfortable?” The man paused, looking up at the EMT, and thinking, then he said, “Well, I make a living!” I don’t think God means for Christians to be comfortable. God means for us to make a living world. We are not supposed to put our lights under a basket; Jesus intends his followers to take the light from within us and go light our world.Our lives are a challenge to make the world a better place. This weekend, your brothers and sisters, your neighbors in the pews are asking you to make your commitment to take an active part in this family. In today’s gospel, the “rich young man” received a loving look from Jesus. Can you imagine it?! Wow! Imagine looking into those eyes of Jesus and feeling the love! That day will come for each one of us. The young man followed all the “thou shalt nots” of the Ten Commandments like a formula for success but refused the invitation to “thou shalt love.” When I think about the young man being right there with Jesus and still refusing, I am definitely not comfortable asking my family especially those who have not made a commitment before to give your time, your talent and your money but I believe it is the way to invite you to live a more abundant life. Another man, a lawyer, approached Jesus and was well versed in the thou shalt not commandments, but when Jesus told him he shalt love God and his neighbor, he asked, “who is my neighbor?” Jesus said: There was a man on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho . It was a dangerous road and thieves attacked him, stole everything even his clothing and beat him up and left him to die. A priest walked by, then a devout Jewish brother, but they left him alone. Finally, a much hated Samaritan came and he had pity on the victim and nursed his wounds, put him in his own SUV—I mean donkey—and took him to an Inn and gave the Innkeeper two gold coins and entrusted the victim to the innkeeper’s care. Jesus asked the lawyer, which one was the neighbor. He replied “the one who took care of him,” Jesus said “go and do the same.” Jesus wasn’t just telling a nice story about loving our enemies; he was commanding Christians to love God with our whole hearts, our whole minds and our whole souls and to love our neighbors as ourselves with our time, our talent and our treasure just like the Samaritan did. St. Paul wrote in 1 st Corinthians 13, “If I do not have love, I am nothing.” So, in fact, Jesus invitation to love God and our neighbor is for us to be something rather than nothing. What would we be? In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I call you friend.” [Did you see where Billy Donovan dropped the national Championship trophy and it shattered on the O’Connell Center floor last night? It was a fake trophy not the real one, but it makes a point] When you transfer your trust from all the temporary good times and things into Christ, he not only pardons you; he places you in his family of friendsthat will last for all eternity on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus defined his own family by faith not flesh. He said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those seated in the circle around him, he said, “Here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” We follow the same star, are amazed by the same manger, inspired by the same Bible, saved by the same cross, fed at the same table and destined for the same home. With whom do you have more in common than your brothers and sisters at Queen of Peace? We are everything we are because he loved us. God is love and we find meaning in our lives by sharing the gifts we have been given by God with our brothers and sisters in love. We have each been given different gifts. God uses all types to build his church. The body of Christ has nonobodies. No exceptions. Noexclusions. Our gifts make an eternal difference only in communion with the church. Apart from the body of Christ, we are like clipped fingernails, shaved whiskers, cut hair. They make no contribution. The same applies to our gifts. St. Paul says: “Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body.” (Romans12:5) Mary has a vision. We proclaim with Elizabeth , “Hail Mary, full of grace,” full of the Son of God. But every night when we priests pray our Office, we pray Mary’s response to Elizabeth . It is called The Magnificat and it is Mary’s vision. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. The hungry will be filled, the arrogant scattered, and the rich he will send away empty.” The church is where the hungry are fed. God heals his family through the church. In the church we use our gifts to love each other, honor one another, guide one another and carry each others burdens in good times and bad, in sickness and health, in poverty and wealth.Do you need encouragement, prayers, or a hospitable home? God entrusts the church to share these treasures. The church is a place where we find refuge from the drudgery of our daily routines. That’s why people don’t like us to ask for money in church [everyplace else we go asks for money]. But this is our family and families have to talk about money sometime. [As Tim and Angeli Akey said a few weeks ago], “Stewardship built Walsh Hall, Stewardship built this church, Stewardship built our Academy, and Stewardship makes everything we do here together possible.” It is our time, our talents and our treasure that keep Queen of Peace parish thriving. Our prayers, our faith, our family come together here. People say we are a rich parish and we are. But our wealth is not in money, it is in the pews. The wealth of this parish is you and me. When we do our part, God does God’s part. One man and his wife built our gym. Everything else here was built and is supported by mostly small donations that were greater than our family ever imagined they could do. We are $41,000 in the red right now but we think we will make that up by Christmas. We’ll need to average $56,000 per week in 2007 to keep up. That can only come from the family gathered here, you and me. This is your time to make good on your profession of faith. This is the moment to let the light that is within you show. Don’t turn your back on the invitation to commitment. Fill out your Stewardship card now or take it home and pray about it and bring it back next week. Your family needs you. Please, take an active role in the mission of Jesus Christ. The young man in the gospel turned his back on Love himself. Peter said, “Lord, we left everything for you.” Jesus promised that anyone who leaves everything for him will have everything ten fold and more. I can personally testify that what Jesus said has been true in my life. Don’t hold back. Don’t be afraid.Jesus makes good on all his promises. You won’t have to leave everything, although Jesus sure needs priests; just commit to an amount that is a percentage of all you have been given. Put God first in your schedule and your budget and watch how everything falls into place for you. Be part of the good that we do together. No one is strong all the time. Accept the invitation to find your place and heal your hearts. It is as if God is saying to us: “Can you take hold of your opportunity to change the world before it is too late?” The word Eucharist is from a Greek word that means “to give thanks.” Give thanks or thanksgiving appears in the Bible 140 times. Do you think God is trying to tell us something? The Eucharist is the banquet of thanksgiving. In the Eucharist we either become one with Christ or we are not present.There is no doubt about Christ’s presence; the doubt is whether we are present because if we truly are present, we can’t miss the relationship he offers us. Jesus is coming. The bridegroom is coming. Our Savior is coming. The sacrificial love we celebrate at this altar is the ultimate sacrificial commitment. Our commitment to Stewardship in our own here and now is our sacrificial commitment to the family Christ gathers, to the mission he left us, to the body which gives meaning to our very short time on this earth. We are everything we are because he loves us, we are the light for the world, and we are good news! Thank you!Fr. Jeff McGowan |
