(Readings)
Yesterday, an elderly friend called me aside before mass.
He was upset. Working hard all his life, he felt he had failed to study
scripture as he should have. I told him this homily was for him.
I have known him for over 30 years and the one thing he
always got right is that he has always showed up for mass.
I shall live in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life. The Lord invites us to his house bad and good alike.
This brings me to the story of a young man I recently met.
Cody met the love of his life when he was 16 and she was
14. He was Catholic. She was protestant. Her dad didn’t like him or Catholics.
Gathering courage, he asked the father for permission to
date the daughter. The father’s said OK, but you must renounce your Catholic
faith and join our church.
For the dream of that girl’s love, he left the Catholic
Church and joined the family’s protestant church. He said it was a church that taught
scripture as prophesies against the Catholic Church.
After college, Cody returned to his hometown to marry the woman of his dreams, the same girl from years earlier. He worked in his family’s business
and continued to attend that anti-Catholic church.
As a couple they attended a bible study regularly. They
studied the Gospel of John. At John chapter 6, Jesus says “I am the Bread of Life” and God began to speak to Cody’s
heart. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlightens our
hearts to know the hope that belongs to our call.
He knew the Lord was calling him back to the Catholic Church and the
Blessed Sacrament. Finally, he said to his
wife “God is calling me to the Catholic Church and I would like you to come
with me.”
Her look was shock. Her mouth dropped open. She began to
cry with a response that surprised him, “I feel God is calling me to the
Catholic Church.”
Together, they went to Mass and joined RCIA. The next Easter they entered into full
communion of the Holy Roman Catholic
Church.
They heeded God’s call to their heart and returned to the
Church. By their witness, most of his wife’s family has become Catholic as
well. Cody’s story is like the parable Jesus teaches.
The King invites us to the feast. We’re only asked to show
up.
Hate and anger will fight to keep us from the invitation.
But show up and the King will protect us. Show up and the Lord provides a
feast. Show up and God saves us. God asks us to come.
Show up and share the invitation with
others. It’s a call for all believers to
bring the truth of the Gospel to the world. That’s our call. That’s how we know the hope that
enlightens our heart.
Don’t worry if you stutter. Don’t worry thinking you’re
unworthy. Don’t worry thinking you’re too young. Don’t worry you’ve never memorized
a bible verse.
Remember what is written, I can
do all things in him who strengthens me. God will supply whatever your need.
Like the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament - Listen
to God. Like the apostles and disciples of the New Testament - Sit at Jesus’
feet as the Gospel is proclaimed. Come the supper of the Lamb and bring the invitation
to others.
Don’t worry about what to say or how to say it. It will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of God speaking
through you.
We have to show up for the King’s invitation. We have to
show up to live the gospel. We have to show up to share the gospel. We have to
show up for the feast found in the Bread of Life. All
are invited the bad and good alike. All God asks is that we show up with
right intentions ready for the banquet.
It’s not hard. Show up in small simple of acts.
Last week, a special lady gave me a rosary that belonged
to her aunt, a nun. Since it belonged to a
religious and was made in Germany, the rosary has a small skull, crossbones,
and heart. That evening, examining the rosary my daughter asked, “Was she a
Pirate nun?”
It’s called a memento mori (Latin 'remember you
must die') and used to reflect on mortality and becoming a better person.
Look at the invitation a rosary and the simple act of
showing up gives. A woman showed up with a rosary. I showed up to pray. I
showed up at home. My children showed up. You and I have showed up here.
To show up is our memento mori. Life on earth is short so be good. Show up
for family, church, neighbors, and community. In small simple acts, show up for
God.
Show up women in the freedom and dignity given by God.
Show up men as God’s champions of justice and right. Show up young people as virtuous
and moral witnesses of Christ. Show up; announce our faith, what we believe.
Christ Jesus showed up for all of us even to the cross. The
real presence of Christ shows up for us in the Blessed Sacrament.
Show up to know the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Be good, be holy; SHOW UP to preach the gospel by the way
you live and love. Amen.
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