Homily for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 7-8, 2013.
Readings: Wis 9:13-18b; Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14-17; Phmn 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14:25-33
This version is slightly different from what was presented at Mass. The actual homily included specifics about faith formation classes in the parish. Contact your own parish to find out what is available in your parish.
Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Are you an apostle of Jesus?
Before you answer that question, you might be asking some questions of your own. What is a disciple? What is an apostle?
If you research the word disciple, you will find it is derived from a Greek word which means pupil or apprentice. Which can be translated into learner or student. So if you are a disciple, you are one who learns. And if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, you are one who learns about Jesus.
Likewise, if you research the word apostle, it is also derived from a Greek word, which means messenger or ambassador. So if you are an apostle, you are one who is sent. And as an apostle of Jesus Christ, you are one sent to spread the message of Jesus.
A couple of weeks ago, I received a Facebook message from Anne. Anne is the mother of my son Matt’s fiancée. Attached to the message was a video of a parent speaking at the Brookings Boys & Girls Club, where my son Matt works. This parent was a young mother with her daughter next to her. This mom was telling about how her husband passed away when their daughter was fairly young. So she often sought out strong male role models for her daughter.
When her daughter started school, she decided to enroll her daughter in the Boys & Girls Club after school program. It wasn’t long after her daughter started attending that she would come home and talk about Mr. Matt. One day, when she went to pick up her daughter, she found her in the gym with Mr. Matt. Her daughter came running and she saw a Band-Aid on her check. Mr. Matt got her attention and explained the “injury” was a basketball grazing her check which caused her to start crying. So Mr. Matt put a Band-Aid on her check to comfort her. Another time, kids were talking about doing things with their fathers and her daughter started to cry. When Mr. Matt asked what was wrong, her daughter told him she couldn’t do things with her dad like the other kids because her daddy had died. So once again, Mr. Matt comforted her daughter. Mr. Matt is the type of strong, supportive, kind, understanding, energetic, positive male role model she wanted in her daughter’s life.
As I read, prayed and meditated over the readings, that video kept coming to mind. And then it was revealed to me, that at those moments, Matt was doing what Jesus commands everyone to do, to love each other as he has loved us. During those moments, Matt was an apostle.
So how did Matt become an apostle? He became an apostle by first being a disciple, someone who learns about Jesus. Some of what he learned about Jesus was at home, from his Mother and me. We went through a lot of Band-Aids when the kids were growing up. But he also learned it from the parish. Some members of the parish were his teachers, some were his classmates, but all of them were his parish family.
Being a disciple of Jesus can be hard. In the Gospel reading, Jesus says you cannot be his disciple without hatting your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even yourself. Does Jesus really want us to hate anyone? What does Jesus mean by saying this? Could it really be a warning for us? Jesus should always be our first love, the most important person in our lives. And if our family and friends are trying to separate us from Jesus, we may have to renounce them for the sake of the Kingdom. I have read many stories, and I personally know several people, that as they got closer to Jesus, their family and friends trying separating them from Jesus. It actually cause a riff in their relationship. But they kept Jesus as the most important person in their lives. Their broken relationships were a cross they had to bear.
Discipleship, learning about Jesus, is not something we only do as kids while in school. It does not end with confirmation or graduation. Discipleship is a lifelong journey that never ends. And faith formation is for everyone, including those missing from Mass. Giving up some time each week, taking time away from your family can be difficult. So spend the time with your family learning about Jesus with your parish family. If you are a football fan, and attending faith formation means missing your favorite team’s game, that can be hard. Do you really want a football game to come in between your and Jesus? It might be one of those possessions you need to give up, a cross you need to bear, for your ultimate goal. All of us should have an ultimate goal of spending eternity with Jesus in heaven.
So right here, right now, I challenge each and every one of you, to make a commitment to faithfully attend faith formation classes. By being a disciple of Jesus, by being a student of Jesus, it will help prepare us to take what we’ve learned, and spread the message of Jesus Christ. It will make us an Apostle of Jesus.
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