Homily
for July 23, 2006
Liturgical Year B - Cycle II
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. John Carney Topic:
Evangelization +
+ +
Every
Sunday, after the homily, we all stand and recite the Creed. We know
that Creed very well. Indeed, most of us know it by heart. Later, we
receive Holy Communion. We believe that that is the body and blood,
soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. Do you believe the
Creed? Do you believe in the presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist?
Then why do we keep it such a secret? We do, you know. Christians in
general and I think Catholics in particular consider our religion a
secret. We live by that American maxim: Do not discuss religion or
politics. The world has picked that up. The world doesn’t discuss
religion. They just kill each other over it. It would be better if we
discussed it.
“And Jesus saw the crowds, and took pity on them and began to
teach them.” So must we. He took pity on the people, not because they
were lonesome or lonely but because he wanted to save them and without
him they could not be saved.
I want to talk briefly this morning about evangelization. We think of
evangelization as something the Pope does, the bishops do or the
priests do. However, it is something each and every baptized Christian
is given as a responsibility from the moment of their baptism, to
evangelize. The word evangelization comes from the Latin word for
Gospel. In fact, in Spanish, which is so close to Latin, the word evangelio means the Gospel.
Evangelization is defined as the winning or revival of personal
commitment to Christ.
By far, the largest group of Christians in the world is Roman Catholics
or those who are associated with the Latin Rite Church, our Church. I
think probably the next largest group are lapsed Roman Catholics. You
know, I looked up the definition for the word lapsed. It says, “to
depart from an accepted pattern or standard; having given up or allowed
to lapse of a former position, relationship, or commitment.” Do you
know what the dictionary uses as an example of the word? As an example:
a lapsed Catholic. So, I think that’s the second largest church in
America: The Lapsed Catholic Church. You know what I’m talking about.
Every person here has family members who are lapsed. Does anyone not?
One? Well, you are Polish, that’s why. Everybody is Catholic in Poland.
God Bless them. That includes cousins, right? Anybody else? So, we have
this in common.
We are here today worshiping Christ. We proclaim the Creed. We eat His
body and drink His blood. We are Catholic. We are Christians and so we
share that. That’s why we are here. Every one of us has family members,
loved ones, brothers, sisters, spouses, whatever, who are lapsed.
People leave the Church for a number of reasons. A few have converted
to other religions but not that many. Sometimes, people leave the
Church because they don’t like a particular teaching. It’s like someone
leaving the family because they don’t like what Dad said. You are still
a member of that family. I have had people come back after thirty
years, and say, “Well, I left because I didn’t like this. What do I
need to do to get back?” I say, “Go to confession.” Ten minutes later,
they are back. They never really left us.
We believe in baptism. You are stamped as one of our family. You have
Catholic DNA. You don’t change your DNA. Some people have left because
they are angry and they are bitter. People in the Church have hurt
them. But most people have left because they are lazy and that’s the
truth.
I have met many people who have left the church because they are angry
or bitter. They have a real or perceived hurt, especially from a priest
and it’s true. One of the great things about our Church is that the
priest is ordained In Persona Christi;
that this poor, miserable, sorry human being somehow is changed from
his very substance. We use the word ontologically; that this poor man
is ontologically changed to be Christ and that is why the priest can
perform the sacraments. It’s not me; it’s Christ that does that as
unworthy as I am. That’s the basis of our sacramental life as
Catholics.
The problem though, with that is, is that we, as priests, do speak for
Christ. We are weak and sometimes we’re wrong. Sometimes we are
hurtful. It is not John Francis Carney who hurts someone with a bad
word or a grouchy moment. I know you never have any of those days. It
is Christ that hurts them in their perception, you see? That’s why they
get so angry with the Church. Of course, there has been so much scandal
and sexual abuse, real terrible scandal and real terrible abuse and so,
some have left.
I remember visiting a man who was dying. It was about seven or eight
years ago. His mother demanded that I go and see him. He didn’t want to
see me. I really didn’t want to see him either but I was afraid of his
mother. I was. He was very angry with the Church because a priest had
molested him. I went to him and I said, “Jerry, I apologize for what
happened to you.” And he said, “Well, you didn’t do that to me.” I
said, “I know but I’m a Catholic priest and he’s not here to
apologize.” Actually, the guy who had molested him had died. I said,
“But I am here. Please accept my apology,” and he did. He said, “Would
you hear my confession?” And I did. He died the next day. His mother
was very grateful and so was I.
Some have left for those reasons and that is understandable. Some, and
this is not uncommon, some see us as a bunch of hypocrites because we
say one thing but we do another. I’m guilty. Are you? We are. I tell
them, “Well, you’re a hypocrite too. Why don’t you join us?” I mean,
who lives up to their standards perfectly? I haven’t met anyone.
Then, some people are scandalized, not only by priests but by other
Catholics, even really devoted Catholics. I know people, I’ve met
several people who know every prayer, have said every novena, go to
Mass several times a week, wouldn’t miss the stations of the cross
during Lent, and they’re as mean as junkyard dogs. You know? People
say, “Well, if that’s what a Catholic is or a Christian is, well, I
don’t want what she’s smokin’.”
In addition, there are false people who claim they are victims who have
left the Church. When I was a seminarian, I was assigned to a parish
for a summer and they had one woman who was the cantor for all of the
Masses. It was a small, rural parish. She could not sing. Not only
couldn’t she sing it was hurtful to listen. You know? You’ve been in
churches, right, where that’s happened? Finally, the priest is pulling
his hair out, “What do I do because she’s kind of a strong character?”
Finally, he said, “I’m sorry and I don’t want to hurt you but this
isn’t working.” Every Sunday after Mass, dozens of people would say,
“Father please, please I can’t stand it.” She didn’t get it and finally
he said, “You’re not to sing anymore.” Well, she went around town and
started a petition against him. Of course, everyone acted sympathetic
to her but no one signed the petition because they all agreed with the
priest. She couldn’t sing. She saw herself as the victim. She went on
later to start her own little church.
Anyway, there are lots of reasons why people leave. Some are very
understandable and some aren’t. However, the majority of people who are
not here today at the 11:35 Mass are not here because they are lazy.
You know, in this community, half the Catholics are registered in our
parish and half of the registered Catholics go to church on Sunday.
That means about 25% of the Catholics go to church on Sunday. That is
true in Cleveland. That is true in New York. That is true in
California. That is where most of the people are. The others are just
not here because they are lazy. I speak from experience. I have to
confess to you for many years I was a lapsed Catholic in terms of the
fact that I was lazy. I always had Roman Catholic on my dog tags but
that is as far as it went. Unless, I remember when I was shot at in
combat, I got very religious. If there was a priest around, he heard my
confession. I went to Catholic grammar school, high school, and
college. Frankly, when I went to the Army to begin my adult life, I
didn’t go to church for several years. Not only that but I was a
hypocrite as well. I remember one time my parents visited me. I was at
Fort Benning, Georgia. I said, “Oh, Mom and Dad are going to be here. I
better find out what time Mass is.” I went to the post chapel the
Sunday before. Of course, I got a bulletin, all sorts of stuff, put it
all over the apartment and removed other things from the apartment.
After Mass, the Sunday before my parents visited, I went to coffee and
doughnuts and really chummed up to the priest. The next Sunday I took
Mom and Dad to Mass and after Mass the priest said, “Captain Carney,
how are you? Good to see you.” It was the only time in my life I fooled
my mother. You can’t fool your mother. Moms know but I did trick her. I
never told that story when she was alive but now she knows it’s so.
People are lazy, they need an invitation to return, and that is your
job. Actually, you have more credibility than I do. I represent the
institutional church somehow. You represent yourself, your faith, and
your God. Therefore, I would ask you to consider seriously becoming an
evangelist. First, you can do that by selecting at least one person you
know who has left and pray for them every day. Put that person up, get
a picture of him or her if you can and pray for them every day.
Secondly, model your faith with good works. Thirdly, make haste slowly.
There’s a Latin expression Festine Lente; it means make haste slowly.
Nothing is more troublesome than an evangelist who is too pushy. Isn’t
that right? Don’t knock on doors but make haste slowly. Plot a
strategy. Be as gentle as a dove and as wise as a serpent as the Bible
says and then invite them to come home. We have in our parish RCIA
starting in September. If you know someone, you could refer them to Tom
Farish who leads RCIA; his number’s in the bulletin or Toni Rogers on
our staff. Others just need to come home to confession.
Please, if you have medicine that could save a person’s life and you
didn’t offer them that medicine, shame on you. You have something
greater than that. You have the knowledge of Jesus Christ that could
save a person’s eternal life. If you have that and they need it, don’t
hesitate to give it to them. It says in Luke 15, “I tell in just the
same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over 99 righteous people who have no need of repentance.” And in
the Letter of James, “My brothers and sisters, if any one among you
wanders from the truth and is brought back by another you should know
that whoever brings back this person from wandering will save the
sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins of
himself.”
A Catholic evangelist, a former LA county deputy, Los Angeles, the
other LA, a fellow named Jesse Romero, gave one last definition of
evangelization. He defined evangelization as, “to evangelize is to
encourage each other so we can all make it home one day.”