June 16, 2024 Homily: Fr Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00there was this young man who stepped
2. 0:02across a little spit of land separating
3. 0:05turkey from
4. 0:07Greece thereby moving from Asia into
5. 0:11Europe he came to Athens and he started
6. 0:15to preach the
7. 0:17gospel no one really
8. 0:20noticed no historian would have seen
9. 0:23this as a significant
10. 0:27event he just wanted to be faithful to
11. 0:30the
12. 0:32Lord almost everyone ignored him or
13. 0:34laughed at him and thought that he was
14. 0:38crazy but a few individuals asked to
15. 0:42hear
16. 0:45more in the 6th Century another young
17. 0:48man disgusted by the moral laxities and
18. 0:51worldliness of Rome withdrew from
19. 0:55civilization and became a Hermit in a
20. 0:57cave in the mountains of Italy
21. 1:00again no one would have thought this to
22. 1:02be
23. 1:04significant he just wanted to be
24. 1:06faithful to the
25. 1:08Lord almost everyone who passed by the
26. 1:10cave kept
27. 1:13walking but a few individuals wanted to
28. 1:16know what he was
29. 1:19doing in the 13th century a young man
30. 1:24heard the voice of Christ calling him to
31. 1:26build up the
32. 1:28church the the young man was moderately
33. 1:31wealthy but he gave everything to the
34. 1:34poor and he devoted his life to prayer
35. 1:37and preaching in the
36. 1:39streets if you had seen him you wouldn't
37. 1:41have thought anything special about
38. 1:44him but again he just wanted to be
39. 1:47faithful to the
40. 1:49Lord and almost everyone who heard him
41. 1:52just kept on going about their
42. 1:55business but there were a few a few
43. 1:59individ uals who joined
44. 2:02him in the 20th century another young
45. 2:07Catholic a young nun also heard the
46. 2:11voice of Christ telling her that he was
47. 2:15thirsty understanding this as a call to
48. 2:18tend to Christ in the poor who were
49. 2:21thirsty hungry or sick she went to the
50. 2:24poorest
51. 2:25section of the poorest city and simply
52. 2:30just started taking care of the
53. 2:34sick that action would have never made
54. 2:36news but she just wanted to be
55. 2:41faithful almost everyone who walked by
56. 2:43ignored her in fact many people were
57. 2:46revolted by what she was
58. 2:49doing but there was a few individuals
59. 2:52who came and started to help
60. 2:56her today we hear Jesus preaching about
61. 2:58the kingdom of God using this strange
62. 3:01image of a mustard
63. 3:05seed as he describes it is the smallest
64. 3:08of all the
65. 3:10seeds major parts of his preaching as
66. 3:13recorded in the gospels are devoted to
67. 3:15proclaiming the kingdom of
68. 3:19God so this Sunday we're asking
69. 3:21ourselves what does he mean when he says
70. 3:24the kingdom of
71. 3:27God what did Jesus mean
72. 3:31that the kingdom of God is at
73. 3:35hand what are we saying when we pray thy
74. 3:38kingdom come in the Lord's
75. 3:41Prayer the kingdom of God is not a place
76. 3:44that you can point to or that you can
77. 3:47see or that you can say there it
78. 3:51is certainly the kingdom of God is in
79. 3:54heaven we understand this but Jesus also
80. 3:58said that it's here right now Among
81. 4:00Us so what is
82. 4:04it I want to Define for you the kingdom
83. 4:06of God and I want to listen
84. 4:10closely let's say that the kingdom of
85. 4:13God is something that comes about within
86. 4:15a person within a
87. 4:19community when God's holy laws are
88. 4:22obeyed and Faith trust and love and When
89. 4:27sin is actively shunned and
90. 4:32avoided but also when God's will is
91. 4:35actively sought and
92. 4:37fulfilled where God is exalted above all
93. 4:40and placed at the very
94. 4:42center where the self is
95. 4:45forgotten where love of God and love of
96. 4:48neighbor reign
97. 4:51supreme in other words the kingdom of
98. 4:53God is where God
99. 4:56Reigns where God is King
100. 5:00that's the kingdom of
101. 5:03God while we're at it we need to
102. 5:06contrast what the kingdom the of the
103. 5:08world
104. 5:10is this is a kingdom that behaves as if
105. 5:13God doesn't
106. 5:16matter where God is is not known and
107. 5:19doesn't want to be
108. 5:22known selfish Pursuits human passions
109. 5:25and appetites are the ones that govern
110. 5:27all behaviors
111. 5:30this world promises no hope Beyond
112. 5:32itself and therefore it commands Us Eat
113. 5:36Drink be married today for tomorrow we
114. 5:39die so you better take it all
115. 5:43now that's the kingdom of the world and
116. 5:47it's marked by the exaltation of the
117. 5:49self it's all about
118. 5:52me here now I am King I decide I know
119. 5:58what's best
120. 6:00quite a
121. 6:02difference so into the kingdom of the
122. 6:04world comes Jesus Christ and he comes to
123. 6:07Proclaim that the kingdom of God is at
124. 6:09hand we needed Christ to
125. 6:13come and show us the
126. 6:16way he founded the church the great task
127. 6:19of the church that's us all of us to
128. 6:22transform the kingdom of the world into
129. 6:25the kingdom of
130. 6:27God it's a huge
131. 6:32task where do we
132. 6:34start how do we do
133. 6:37this well the answer is in very small
134. 6:43ways the kingdom of God is like a
135. 6:45mustard seed Jesus
136. 6:47said that small little
137. 6:51seed the kingdom of God starts with
138. 6:54every individual being
139. 6:58faithful that's
140. 7:00it just be
141. 7:04faithful see to it that the kingdom of
142. 7:06God Reigns in your
143. 7:09heart that you're obeying God's holy
144. 7:11laws with faith trust and love and that
145. 7:14you're actively shunning and avoiding
146. 7:17sin that you are instead actively
147. 7:19seeking out the will of God and
148. 7:22fulfilling it that you're exalting God
149. 7:25and plac him placing him at the very
150. 7:27center of your life that you for for get
151. 7:31yourself and allow the love of God and
152. 7:34love of neighbor to reign
153. 7:36supreme and that you come to an
154. 7:39understanding that God is the king of
155. 7:41your
156. 7:43life and
157. 7:46then the kingdom of God
158. 7:51Appears that's what it
159. 7:55is I promise you that you can't live
160. 7:59that way and not have people
161. 8:02notice maybe most will ignore you or
162. 8:05laugh at you or think you're crazy oh
163. 8:08that's just another one of those holy
164. 8:11rollers but I guarantee you people will
165. 8:14begin to notice if you're being
166. 8:18faithful and some will want to join
167. 8:21you and some will want to know what
168. 8:24you're doing and some will say to you I
169. 8:27want what you have what truth have you
170. 8:30come to
171. 8:33know and then the kingdom of God begins
172. 8:36to
173. 8:37grow and slowly we transform the kingdom
174. 8:40of the world into the kingdom of
175. 8:43God starts with each and every single
176. 8:47one of us just being
177. 8:50faithful that's how it's always been
178. 8:54that's how it's been from the very
179. 8:56beginning when St Paul stepped from
180. 8:59turkey into Greece and started preaching
181. 9:01the gospel he certainly had no idea that
182. 9:04those few people who were listening to
183. 9:06him would become the Bedrock foundation
184. 9:09on which all of the evangelization of
185. 9:12Europe would be built
186. 9:15upon he was just trying to be
187. 9:18faithful when St Benedict left that cave
188. 9:21which you can still see today and
189. 9:23founded the first Monastery he certainly
190. 9:25had no idea that the benedicted
191. 9:27monasteries would spring up all over the
192. 9:30world and that his rule of life would be
193. 9:32used by all future religious
194. 9:35communities and that he would preserve
195. 9:39and save Christendom and all of Western
196. 9:42Civilization through the Dark Ages up
197. 9:44until today he didn't know that was
198. 9:46going to
199. 9:47happen he just wanted to be
200. 9:50faithful when St Francis of AI sold
201. 9:53everything he had started preaching in
202. 9:55the streets he had no idea that 800
203. 9:57years later there would be Fran isan
204. 9:59Friars churches hospitals universities
205. 10:02missions all over the world he just
206. 10:06wanted to be
207. 10:08faithful when Mother Teresa started
208. 10:10caring for the sick in the streets of
209. 10:12kolata she had no idea that so many
210. 10:15sisters would join her and that they
211. 10:17would set up soup kitchens and shelters
212. 10:19for houses for the sick and for women
213. 10:22all over major cities across this globe
214. 10:27she was just trying to be faithful
215. 10:31all of these people were mustard
216. 10:35seeds single individuals that loved the
217. 10:39Lord and strove to be faithful through
218. 10:42their faithfulness they began to build
219. 10:45up the kingdom of
220. 10:47God in fact it was Mother Teresa who got
221. 10:50at the heart of what we're talking about
222. 10:52today once when she was asked if she
223. 10:54thought she would be successful in a
224. 10:56certain project that she was working on
225. 10:58she famous ly replied God didn't call me
226. 11:01to be
227. 11:02successful God called me to be
228. 11:05faithful she understood it perfectly I
229. 11:08guess that's why she's a
230. 11:10saint so my brothers and sisters on this
231. 11:1311th Sunday of ordinary time our task as
232. 11:16the church is to transform the kingdom
233. 11:19of the world into the kingdom of
234. 11:23God I hope everyone of you realizes that
235. 11:27and also realizes that it we need your
236. 11:30participation in
237. 11:33this the job is enormous trust
238. 11:37me but we know how to begin
239. 11:41now just be a mustard
240. 11:44seed just be
241. 11:47faithful if you're faithful then God
242. 11:50will take care of the rest amen