(Excerpt from a homily on the call to evangelize by Deacon Bill Hymes at St. Benedict Church, Eggertsville, NY)
You keep thinking that some “religious professional” will do all the Gospel work and that you can just sit back, and be fed, and punch God’s time clock at Mass. Stop looking back! Those days are behind us and they are not coming back. There was a brief period of time in Church history where we had so many priests, sisters and missionaries that they stole your job. It was always bad theology27 to begin with because your job, your calling, as lay persons is to sanctify the secular order; or to put that in clearer words – to make the world holy. The priests and nuns and missionaries stole your job. You need to take it back. Jesus is speaking to lay people in today’s Gospel; He’s speaking to you! You must proclaim the Gospel!
In fact, Church, I can tell you that there will be no good news unless you bring it now. Don’t look back! – Proclaim the Kingdom of God. And the world has never needed Good News as much as it does today. The world isn’t the problem. We are! We would-be followers of Jesus have every excuse in the world not to proclaim the Kingdom of God. We sit on our Faith. That’s because we think of religion, of Christianity, as a “hobby.” We’re not serious about it. It’s not a Way of life for us, but something we do when we have time or when we’re getting something out of it.
We try to fit Almighty God into our tiny schedules. AS IF…!!! We squeeze Jesus into the leftover spaces on our calendars. And because we think of Jesus and the Church as another appointment, we have all kinds of excuses not to do anything about our Faith:
It’s too hot to go to Church/it’s too cold…
I’m too young/I’m too old…
I’m too busy/I’m on vacation…
I’ve got hockey practice/I’ve got a party to go to…
My kids are just starting school/they’re in the middle of school/they just graduated…
I’m retired/I just got married/I’m single…
All great excuses, I guess, – and I’m certainly not judging yours – but note that Jesus doesn’t “do” excuses! He doesn’t play that calendar game. Christianity is a Way of life, not another appointment. There is no turning back once you’ve said “yes” to Jesus.
When will you proclaim the Good News and the Kingdom of God? What are you waiting for?
Oh, you’ll fly your national flag!…
tell people how proud you are of your ethnic heritage…
inform anyone who will listen that you’re a Democrat, Republican, Tea Party member, Progressive, whatever…, but Jesus?!?!
Well, that’s just a “personal” thing, a little thing I do on the side, a hidden garden of mine, I keep that quiet, people might think I’m not as smart as they are if I tell them I’m a Christian. There are some people here who have never told anyone that they believe Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. Not even once. What are the chances, Jesus is the Good News the world needs to hear, and we know it, but we keep it secret.
Read the entire message that was preached by Deacon Bill Hymes on June 27, 2010...