Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time_A - And Miles to Go Before We Sleep_092720

Deacon Tom Writes,

“And Miles To Go Before We Sleep”

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

In his Apostolic Exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium, the Joy of the Gospel” Pope Francis wrote “The Church which “goes forth” is a community of missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice. An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, He has loved us first (1 Jn 4:19), and therefore we can move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the outcast!”  The Pope’s reflection here captures well the image Matthew uses in today’s gospel in which the Father sends both his sons into the field to do the critical work of harvesting the field.  In this gospel passage and Francis’ comment we have a vivid picture of our task as missionary disciples: we have been sent into the world to do not our work but that of the Father's. We are, in the words of Fr Rodger Schroeder, S.V.D.,  “to proclaim, witness and serve God’s reign of love, salvation and justice” everywhere we go, to everyone we meet.  

Giving a list of chores to our children is something all parents can relate to. And, undoubtedly so is our kid's response. One might say “Yes” but doesn’t follow through; another says “No” but does what is asked. Both have been given a chore; only one obeys! Today’s gospel message is God’s request of us, His children, to bring His message of love, compassion, forgiveness and mercy to others, to a friend or neighbor who has given up on church, perhaps, or has been going through a difficult time and feels no one cares. There are many who need to know God loves them. There are so many who feel that God has abandoned them or is punishing them and they have isolated themselves from a parish community and they carry their sorrows and disappointments alone. Pope Francis is reminding us that we have all been called to share God's love, mercy and healing with others. This is the Joy of the Gospel, the Good News, to be shared with the lonely, those who are afraid and those who have fallen away from their faith. We are all active players in the work of spreading the Joy of the Gospel. There are no passive players, no benchwarmers sitting on the sidelines waiting for others to do the work. Spreading the gospel, being missionaries, and evangelizing – being joyful transmitters of the faith that we believe - is a requirement imposed upon us by our Baptism. It is, when all is said and done, about being “human” and in a way that Jesus was human, sharing in the lives of others in a most caring and sensitive way.

Many Catholics resist this notion of being “missionaries”, of “evangelizing” or being “sent” to engage in “missionary activity.” That is primarily because so many of us have a limited understanding of the word “mission”.  We associate it with going to the far reaches of the earth to preach the faith. True, many have done this – vis-a-vie the Maryknoll Fathers, the missionary arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, over the past century. But, over the years, we  have come to a better understanding about the nature of mission work to include any work that we do to “gossip the gospel” that is, to tell others how the gospel is alive and working in our life. That is essentially what missionary work is.  Any effort we do to help a neighbor because of our willingness to be a “servant” as demonstrated by Christ, is missionary work. Any sacrifice we make for others because of our love of God is a sacrifice that makes us a “missionary”. The prayers we offer in light of the suffering and misery of others is “missionary” work. Any and all Sacramental graces we receive into our lives that we pass on to others by listening without criticizing, feeding without judging, forgiving without blaming is the work the Father is asking of us today as He sends us out into the Fields of the Lord today.

What we know about mission from the profound writings of recent popes is that the Church doesn’t have a mission; rather, the mission has a Church… So, when Jesus tells his disciples, “Go, make disciples of all nations”, that’s what we are to do… How are we to do that?  As a community of missionary disciples sent out by our Church to whom that mission has been entrusted.

Enjoy the day and may God bless the work of your hands….

Deacon Tom

"The Sounds of Silence”

Deacon Tom Writes,

“The Sounds of Silence”

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

We said goodbye to Summer just last week. The arrival of Fall is usually a time to catch our breath. Vacations have ended; the kids are back to school. We welcome this brief silence before we gear back up for the holidays. Maybe we can craft a new vision for ourselves in the few silent days that Autumn takes root. But this year, for those living in the Caribbean, Eastern Texas, the Florida Peninsula, the Southern coastal United State, there was no quiet time, no chance to reflect on the change of seasons, no chance to catch a breath before things ratchet up again.  

Hurricanes Harvey and Marie and the devastating earthquake in Mexico have taken away any chance for their victims to ponder the change of seasons or to enjoy any quiet time they be accustomed to having this time of year. Key West and Southern Florida were pummeled; many of the islands in the Caribbean were leveled. Parts of Mexico brutally shaken, Puerto Rico was devastated. Nature herself imposed an eerie and unwelcomed silence upon millions of people. No lights or hot water, drinking water, no computers, cell phones or WII, no XBox, no gas, food spoiling in the refrigerator / freezer; no time for silent reflection of any kind. It will take months to return to normal, and, many suggest that there is a new “normal” to which people will have to adjust. In the matter of several hours millions of people were tossed back to bygone days when silence was the natural order of things.

So many people have lost everything they have worked all their lives to obtain. Yet, if the truth be known, they may have been robbed of something I believe is equally important. They have lost that little bit of silence that nature affords those who seek her. Silence i an essential ingredient for spiritual growth. Just like plants need light and water to take root and grow, we need silence if we are to grow spiritually. The language of God is silence and it is in silence that we hear the voice of God. Yet, we live in a society where there is a cacophony of sound surrounding us constantly and making it difficult, if not impossible, to hear the voice of God within. To balance this din we need to find some quiet space to process the events of our lives and find out where God is working in them, or where He is absent. We need some reflection time to let the words of Scripture from the weekend reverberate within us so that the Word of God can come alive in our hearts, take root in us so that we may become living witnesses to the truth that we profess.  

Jesus told the Chief Priests and the elders that, “tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you!” That’s certainly no way to make friends and influence people. Yet, His message is poignantly clear: gaining access to the kingdom of God requires a complete turnabout in our lives. And how could that ever happen if we are not spending quality time, alone and in silence, struggling with our sinfulness, wrestling with those character defects that gnaw at us, or seeking to soften our hardness of heart.

We don’t need another hurricane to come through and leave us in the dark, fearful and unable to enter into the silence of our hearts.  We can make a voluntary choice to unplug ourselves from the noise and din of this world while we pray for those who have lost so much and wait for God to come and fill the silence  in our lives.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom