Jan 14 , 2024 Homily: Fr Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:01So, I'm preaching to you this morning
2. 0:02from the chapel inside Casa Santa Maria
3. 0:05here in Rome. It's the
4. 0:07student housing or the residence where
5. 0:10the American priests who are studying
6. 0:12live here in Rome.
7. 0:13Such a beautiful place, this beautiful
8. 0:15chapel, such a great opportunity to be
9. 0:18here in the center of Christianity.
10. 0:20I give thanks to almighty God for all of
11. 0:23you, for allowing me to celebrate this
12. 0:25Eucharist this morning.
13. 0:27And I am sending back home this video to
14. 0:30my parishioners
15. 0:32at St. Augustine's. And while I'm away
16. 0:36here in Rome studying, I hope to be able
17. 0:38to send a video back to them once a
18. 0:41week. So,
19. 0:43you know, I've always been fascinated by
20. 0:45the thought that there are those who
21. 0:47defend themselves
22. 0:50from allowing God to get too close to
23. 0:52them.
24. 0:54Fearing that a close, warm, personal
25. 0:56relationship with God will take the fun
26. 0:59out of life.
27. 1:01Deprive them of their pleasures and make
28. 1:04them miserable.
29. 1:06They love to portray Christianity or
30. 1:09Catholicism as nothing but something
31. 1:12that is a bunch of rules.
32. 1:15Rules to be followed.
33. 1:18They put Catholics in a box as mindless
34. 1:21little unthinking robots who blindly
35. 1:24follow the church having surrendered
36. 1:26their freedom over into the hands of
37. 1:28rule-bounded priest. You must do this.
38. 1:33All of that sort of thinking is of
39. 1:35course nonsense.
40. 1:37The truth is that our religion calls us
41. 1:40into having a warm, personal friendship
42. 1:43with Jesus Christ, to have a
43. 1:45relationship with the Lord.
44. 1:48Far from asking us to follow a whole
45. 1:50bunch of impossible rules, it asks us to
46. 1:55actively listen to God's calling voice,
47. 1:59to hear what God has to say to us,
48. 2:02and then to be able to follow, trusting
49. 2:06in what God has to say.
50. 2:09The first scripture reading we've just
51. 2:11heard takes us back to the very
52. 2:12beginning,
53. 2:14to the very beginning of the genuine
54. 2:16religious experience.
55. 2:19When eventually becomes journeys,
56. 2:21pilgrimage, we all are on a pilgrimage.
57. 2:25Note that in all religious journeys we
58. 2:27find the initiative of God coming to us
59. 2:30first.
60. 2:32It is God who calls us,
61. 2:35inviting us to freely choose to respond.
62. 2:39And the response, as the story of Samuel
63. 2:42suggests, is not always immediate.
64. 2:45Some have noteworthy anxieties about
65. 2:47responding to God, and we've seen this
66. 2:49all throughout the scriptures. What do
67. 2:51we hear Moses say? Moses says, "If you
68. 2:55please, Lord, I have never been
69. 2:57eloquent, neither in the past nor
70. 2:58recent. I am slow of speech and tongue."
71. 3:02The prophet Jeremiah Jeremiah cries out,
72. 3:06"Ah, Lord God,
73. 3:07I know not how to speak, I am too
74. 3:10young."
75. 3:11Amos, what does the prophet Amos say? "I
76. 3:14am no prophet, nor do I belong to a
77. 3:16company of prophets. I am a shepherd
78. 3:19and a dresser of sycamore trees." In
79. 3:22other words, he's saying, "Leave me
80. 3:24alone so that I can go do my
81. 3:25landscaping."
82. 3:27In the Old Testament account just heard,
83. 3:29Eli, the prophet to whom Samuel goes in
84. 3:32response to the calls he hears, is
85. 3:34cautious. He's very cautious.
86. 3:37In the end, however, he teaches young
87. 3:39Samuel the right response, the response
88. 3:42we should all have at the tip of our
89. 3:43tongues. And what does he say? He says,
90. 3:45"Speak, Lord, your servant is
91. 3:46listening."
92. 3:49Today's gospel takes us to the very
93. 3:51beginning of the Christian movement.
94. 3:54The movement of God into our humanity in
95. 3:56Jesus Christ. The story is so familiar
96. 3:59to us. We've heard it many times. It's
97. 4:01very familiar and very simple.
98. 4:05But because it's sometimes so simple and
99. 4:07familiar to us that we lose sight of
100. 4:10this overwhelming importance that it has
101. 4:12for us.
102. 4:14John the Baptist initiates it by
103. 4:17introducing two of his own disciples
104. 4:20to go to Jesus.
105. 4:23Andrew being the key player here.
106. 4:25John points out Jesus to them by
107. 4:28exclaiming, "Look,
108. 4:30there goes the lamb of God."
109. 4:34As in all significant encounters with
110. 4:37people who play an important role in our
111. 4:39lives, think about it.
112. 4:40Recognition is vital.
113. 4:43It is necessary before anything else can
114. 4:45happen.
115. 4:47Spiritual inattentiveness is deadly.
116. 4:52Then a conversation develops between
117. 4:54Andrew and Jesus. Conversation with
118. 4:56speaking words like, "What do you want?
119. 5:00Where do you live?
120. 5:02Come and see.
121. 5:04Come with me."
122. 5:06All of these phrases are relational.
123. 5:09Relational in terms of a friendship, a
124. 5:12relationship.
125. 5:15Let me emphasize this but by saying that
126. 5:17they're inviting words. They are words
127. 5:19that invite you into a friendship.
128. 5:22They're not words of submission or words
129. 5:24of obedience.
130. 5:27My point is that our religion is at its
131. 5:29most distilled It's a distilled form of
132. 5:33friendship between ourselves,
133. 5:36God through Christ.
134. 5:39It is the one operative principle
135. 5:40through Christ's entire life. Even at
136. 5:43the very end, at the Last Supper, Jesus
137. 5:45gets down on his knees and what does he
138. 5:47do? Washes the feet of the disciples.
139. 5:51He stands up looks each one in their
140. 5:54eyes, I no longer call you servants or
141. 5:57slaves, I call you my friends.
142. 6:00If you think about it,
143. 6:03when Jesus begins to speak and have a
144. 6:05relationship with his disciples, he
145. 6:06doesn't right away talk to them about
146. 6:08the cross. What does he do? He
147. 6:10establishes a relationship, a friendship
148. 6:12with them. Once he's their friend, then
149. 6:14he can say, "Listen, down the road,
150. 6:17there's going to be some very troubled
151. 6:19days and challenging times."
152. 6:22Because listening to God's words,
153. 6:24listening to his voice is the essence of
154. 6:27all religion.
155. 6:30It is the stuff of our spiritual lives.
156. 6:33When we come to worship, the first thing
157. 6:34the church does is to offer us God's
158. 6:36word.
159. 6:38Then, having received God's word for our
160. 6:41hearts and minds, we receive his word
161. 6:43made flesh in Holy Communion, aid for
162. 6:46our bodies and soul, food for the
163. 6:47journey.
164. 6:50There are those who defend themselves
165. 6:52from intimacy,
166. 6:54those who are afraid to love
167. 6:58for fear of losing their own independent
168. 7:00autonomy.
169. 7:01They're either they flee from religion
170. 7:04or turn to something ridiculous or
171. 7:05something that really draws them away
172. 7:08from anything that is of God.
173. 7:12So, both within and outside of our
174. 7:14church, turn its it turns its series
175. 7:17into laws, rules, and regulations to
176. 7:19follow that require only mindless
177. 7:21obedience.
178. 7:23Thus, missing the whole point about a
179. 7:25relationship with Jesus. It's not about
180. 7:27Yes, we have practical theology and we
181. 7:30have rules and canons that we need to
182. 7:33follow,
183. 7:34but it's about a relationship with the
184. 7:36Lord.
185. 7:38The truth is that God has a word for
186. 7:41you.
187. 7:42He has something he wants to say to you.
188. 7:44The story of Samuel, a story that we
189. 7:46should all make our own. The story in
190. 7:49today's Gospel account is a story we
191. 7:51should make our own. For God is calling
192. 7:54you and inviting you to come and stay
193. 7:56with him, to come and see him.
194. 8:01For whatever reason the Lord has called
195. 8:02me to Rome for this time in my life and
196. 8:04to be away from you for brief periods of
197. 8:07time. My time in Rome so far has been a
198. 8:10been
199. 8:11awkward and draining at times. I've had
200. 8:13to learn new surroundings, new people,
201. 8:16new names, introducing myself over and
202. 8:19over again.
203. 8:21Having doubt whether I made the right
204. 8:22decision to come at all.
205. 8:24But at the end of the day, I need to be
206. 8:27faithful to the Lord.
207. 8:29I need to respond as Samuel did.
208. 8:33Whatever your life situation,
209. 8:36whatever's going on right now in your
210. 8:37present time,
211. 8:40maybe you need to listen again to that
212. 8:43first reading.
213. 8:45May you repeat Samuel's words each
214. 8:47morning when you begin the day, the
215. 8:49first thoughts that you have,
216. 8:52God,
217. 8:54speak, Lord, for your servant is
218. 8:56listening.
219. 8:58And then at the close of each day, when
220. 9:00you interpret the events of the day, try
221. 9:03to make some sense out of your day.
222. 9:06And then again, I ask you to repeat
223. 9:08Samuel's words, speak, Lord, your
224. 9:09servant is listening.
225. 9:12And each time you pray after having told
226. 9:14God all that's happened in your life,
227. 9:15everything that is going on,
228. 9:17your challenges, your difficulties, your
229. 9:19joys,
230. 9:21and then
231. 9:24you tell him, speak, Lord, your servant
232. 9:26is listening again.
233. 9:29Be prepared to embark upon your own
234. 9:31vocation, upon your own journey.
235. 9:34We're all on a pilgrimage and hopefully
236. 9:36we're all walking together as a
237. 9:38community.
238. 9:40We are all called by God, and God is
239. 9:42asking something of you today.
240. 9:45He wants to say to each one of us,
241. 9:49"But the thing is that nothing,
242. 9:51absolutely nothing will happen in your
243. 9:53life until you give your complete and
244. 9:55total heart to the Lord, and you begin
245. 9:57by saying those most precious words,
246. 10:00'Speak, Lord, your servant is
247. 10:02listening.'"
248. 10:03Amen.