This weekend I continue with the third homily of the current message series called “ALL IN—Becoming Faithful Disciples in Our World Today”. I am preaching the entire series at the 5 PM Mass at Blessed Sacrament and all the Masses I celebrate on the weekend. Here are the homilies for the series:
September 6/7 – MAINTAINING THE TOP PRIORITY
September 13/14 – APPOINTED FOR GREATNESS
September 20/21 – JUMPING INTO THE DEEP END
October 4/5 – THE PERFECT PLACE TO GROW
You can watch or listen to each homily with this link:
https://revjj.ca/all-in-message-series/
MAINTAINING THE TOP PRIORITY
In the first homily, I focused on the fact that if we truly want to be disciples of Christ we must place Him first in our lives and above everything else.
Our goal is not to simply be followers who walk behind the Lord and wonder where He is going but disciples who walk side by side with Christ. The top priority is to develop a powerful and loving relationship with Jesus that puts everything else in perspective.
APPOINTED FOR GREATNESS
In this second message of the series, I focused on the fact that Jesus chooses us for greatness. This greatness is not rooted in fame, fortune, power or pride. It is rooted in the cross—which is not only the symbol of our Christian faith but our opportunity to sacrifice, serve and love Jesus and those in need.
JUMPING INTO THE DEEP END
If we are going to be faithful disciples and live out our INGITE THE MISSION PASTORAL PLAN we need to dive into the deep end of faith, ministry and service. We must pray and discern where God is calling us but ultimately, we have to take the step forward trusting that the Lord will give us what we need to share the Good News. Why is there an urgency for us to do this here and now?
(1) THE WORLD NEEDS A BETTER PATH
Our family of parishes mission is to help disrupt our culture with the grace, joy, peace and love of Christ. There is an urgent need to offer a different path and better path filled with love, peace and grace.
There are many divisions, distractions and hatred in our world that causes separation, pain and suffering. The prophet Amos in first reading this weekend offered a warning to the people of Israel who were caught up in seeking only profits and success while exploiting the poor. “Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land…Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.” (Amos 8:4,7)
(2) BEING A HERALD & AN APOSTLE
Diving into the deep end in a world that needs Christ more means that we all need to be heralds and apostles in all that we do. The second reading this weekend from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy expresses this when he says, “For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I am telling the truth, I am not lying.” (1 Timothy 2:7)
(3) THE DETAILS FOR US
To be “ALL IN” and to dive into the deep end of ministry, outreach and evangelization, requires a plan, a path and time to grow. We need to reflect and recognize the grace of the Lord working through us and for us. Our IGNITE THE MISSION Pastoral Plan seeks to develop 6 distinct qualities needed to be a herald and missionary today. If we are going to change the world, we need to be equipped and empowered.
All the ministries, programs and outreach in our family of parishes is rooted in one or more the these 6 qualities listed below. We need them all to be apostles. Our family of parishes is the training ground for discipleship and a place for opportunities to use our gifts in the mission given to us by Christ.
PRAYER & THE SACRAMENTS—Maintains our relationship with Christ and others while giving us the strength and courage to be disciples.
INVEST—We need to invest our time, talents and financial resources in our family of parishes offering God and others who we are and what we have.
SHARE & INVITE—Sharing our own faith story and inviting others to encounter Christ in our family of parishes helps transform those around us.
SERVE—Putting faith into action by serving to help others and to share the love Christ has for all.
FORMATION—We need to deepen our knowledge and understanding of our faith to share it and live it effectively with others.
SMALL GROUPS—We need to pray with and care for one another in small groups that offers trust, love, support and a reminder that we are in this together.
