Homily Refection: Remaining in Him - 15th Sunday OTC

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071325.cfm

Praise God! Praise Be to Jesus Christ—now and forever. Amen.
Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

This week, I witnessed how words—simple and sincere—can expose profound misunderstandings.

At a funeral memorial I officiated, a guest remarked: “We were Catholic, but my momma found Jesus.”

That statement echoed in my heart. I didn’t respond with correction—I responded with prayer:
That I might not argue, but love. Not debate, but proclaim the truth.

Jesus did not step into history to disappear.
He established His Church—not as a building or bureaucracy—but as His living Body.
At every Catholic Mass, He arrives—not symbolically, not metaphorically—but truly and substantially:
Body. Blood. Soul. Divinity.

We don’t need to find Jesus elsewhere.
We need to remain in Him. To dwell in His Church.
To kneel at His altar. To receive Him in His sacraments.

Baptism and Confirmation are not rituals of convenience.
They are divine encounters.
Moments that mark us as priests, prophets, and kings—sealed with fire by the Holy Spirit,
who already dwells within us.

And then came the scholar of the law, standing before Jesus.
“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus, ever the Good Shepherd, pointed him back to the source:
“What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
And the scholar answered:
“You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”

This is the law of love.
The command of the covenant.
The heartbeat of the Gospel.

But Christ does not ask us to love Him from a distance.
He draws near. He dwells with us—in His Body, the Church.
He speaks through His Word. He feeds us in the Eucharist. He heals us through His mercy.

As Moses pleaded, “Return to the Lord with all your heart and soul,”
so too, we are reminded: our home is here.
This is the place where His voice still speaks.
Where His grace still flows.
Where His mission still calls.

Saint Paul affirms: Christ is the Head. The Church is His Body.
To walk away from the Church, hoping to find Jesus elsewhere,
is to step outside the very place He resides.

So let us reclaim reverence.
Stand at the foot of the Cross.
Kneel at the altar.
Let our prayers rise—not into silence—but toward the One who waits for us in the Tabernacle.

And just as the Good Samaritan brought mercy to the wounded,
let us go and do likewise.
But never forget—the source of mercy is the living Christ,
present and active in His Church.

Love the Lord with everything you are.
Love your neighbor with everything He gives you.

Remain in Him.
Revere Him.
Receive Him.

Be good. Be holy.
And let your life bear witness to the world:
Jesus is not lost. He is here.

Praise God. Praise Be to Jesus Christ—now and forever. Amen.