01 July 2013

A Breath of Fresh Air

Today at Mass, after I listened to the Gospel reading and the priest stood up to give his homily, I made a quick and desperate prayer, "Lord, I need to hear something TRUE."

He certainly is the God of answered prayers. I didn't hear anything that I hadn't heard before, but that's okay, right? The Christian life, particularly the Mass, isn't about hearing something new and exciting, it's about reliving an event that happened nearly 2000 years ago. The Church, her teachings, and the scriptures are ever ancient, ever new.

Father talked about the need for the New Evangelization; he said that in order to evangelize we have to first be evangelized. He talked about the importance of a relationship with Jesus being the number one priority, especially in the context of family life. He said that we necessarily are not Christ's disciples if our lives look exactly the same as they did before we met Him. We have to be changed.

Preface: I know that I'm overly critical. I couldn't help but think about how much more effective Father's homily (about keeping Jesus at the center of our lives) could have been, if only Jesus in the Tabernacle were at the center of his Church. Instead, Jesus is hidden away in some side chapel with less than ten seats.

Regardless, it was a joy to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, and an honest exhortation coming from a pulpit, which so recently seems to have fallen victim to the "I don't want to offend anyone" sect of relativism, err, I mean.... Christianity.

Jesus, teach us to walk on water.
St. Peter and my little doubting St. Thomas, pray for us.

No comments:

Post a Comment