September 21, 2025 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03In the se in the 1740s,
2. 0:06a British slave trader by the name of
3. 0:09John Newton left the coast of Africa.
4. 0:14He left the coast of Africa with his
5. 0:16ship packed full of men, women, and
6. 0:19children. Human beings that were chained
7. 0:23in darkness, treated as cargo,
8. 0:27their lives bought and sold.
9. 0:30Newton was on his way to the Americas to
10. 0:34sell them into slavery.
11. 0:37We have all heard the the stories of the
12. 0:40terrible slave trade,
13. 0:44the cruelty,
14. 0:45the inhumanity of it all. and we rightly
15. 0:49oppose it wherever it exists still
16. 0:51today.
17. 0:53But something happened to Newton on that
18. 0:56voyage.
19. 0:58A storm came, but not just in the sea,
20. 1:02but in his soul.
21. 1:05Somewhere in the midst of all of it, he
22. 1:08was touched by God's grace.
23. 1:11pure,
24. 1:13unearned, unmmerited,
25. 1:16undeserved grace.
26. 1:19He did not seek it out. He did not even
27. 1:22ask for it. But the living God broke
28. 1:25through his blindness and showed him the
29. 1:28horrors of what he was doing.
30. 1:32He suddenly saw the path his life was
31. 1:35on.
32. 1:37He knew with piercing clarity that he
33. 1:40was leading his soul into destruction.
34. 1:45Predition was not an abstract idea. It
35. 1:48was a tra trajectory. He was on his way
36. 1:52to losing his soul for all eternity.
37. 1:56And in that very moment, in that very
38. 1:59instant, something extraordinary shifted
39. 2:02in him.
40. 2:04He turned his life around.
41. 2:07He even turned his ship around.
42. 2:10He made his way back to Africa
43. 2:13and released the prisoners.
44. 2:16That was the beginning of his
45. 2:18conversion.
46. 2:20And as I'll share later, the rest of his
47. 2:22story would end up giving the whole
48. 2:24world one of the most powerful hymns
49. 2:26we've ever known.
50. 2:31Of all the parables of Jesus, today's
51. 2:34might be one of the strangest.
52. 2:38We just heard about a dishonest steward,
53. 2:43a corrupt manager who's about to be
54. 2:46fired for wasting his master's goods.
55. 2:49What does he do? He panics.
56. 2:52He knows he's about to lose his job
57. 2:57and with it his security, his
58. 2:59reputation, and his future.
59. 3:03And in that very moment of desperation,
60. 3:06what does he do? He acts.
61. 3:09Not in the most moral way. He cheats his
62. 3:12master by slashing other people's debts,
63. 3:15but he acts quickly and decisively.
64. 3:20And the strange part of it all is that
65. 3:22Jesus says that the master praised him
66. 3:25for it.
67. 3:27What are we supposed to make of this?
68. 3:30Is Jesus condoning dishonesty?
69. 3:33Of course not.
70. 3:36The point is not that he was dishonest.
71. 3:38The point of the parable is that he saw
72. 3:41clearly where it his life was heading
73. 3:44and he acted immediately to change
74. 3:46course.
75. 3:48Jesus is telling his disciples and he's
76. 3:51telling all of us that this is what
77. 3:53conversion looks like
78. 3:56to see where your life is heading. Not
79. 3:59to wait, not to hesitate, not to delay,
80. 4:01but to act right now.
81. 4:06Let's be honest. All of us here in
82. 4:08church today could look around and say,
83. 4:10"I'm doing pretty well. It's I showed up
84. 4:13to mass today. I haven't killed anyone.
85. 4:18pay my taxes. I I show up. I pray. I I
86. 4:23listen to the word of God.
87. 4:26But if we listen to the saints, if we
88. 4:28study the saints and holy men and women
89. 4:30of God, those who lived before us, they
90. 4:33never stopped searching and seeking for
91. 4:37a deeper conversion. They never stopped
92. 4:40looking for a way to have a deeper
93. 4:42relationship with the Lord.
94. 4:45What about us?
95. 4:48Are there corners of our lives not yet
96. 4:50surrendered to Christ?
97. 4:52Are there inconsistencies in the way we
98. 4:55live? Parts of us that sing his praise
99. 4:58on Sunday. Yes, Jesus, I love you. I
100. 5:00want you. I need you. But then on
101. 5:03Monday, we compromise all of that by the
102. 5:05way that we behave, the way that we act,
103. 5:07the way we respond.
104. 5:09Do I see where the road could lead me?
105. 5:12Am I in danger of losing my soul?
106. 5:16Jesus said in today's gospel, "The
107. 5:18children of the world are more prudent
108. 5:20in dealing with their own generation
109. 5:22than are the children of light."
110. 5:25Think about that.
111. 5:28Even unbelievers,
112. 5:30people who care nothing for God, can
113. 5:32sometimes be more diligent about their
114. 5:35earthly future than we are about
115. 5:38worrying about our eternal future.
116. 5:42People in the world will plan and
117. 5:44sacrifice for many years to be able to
118. 5:47retire comfortably.
119. 5:50But do we plan with urgency for
120. 5:52eternity? Is that even in our mind?
121. 5:57Or do we assume that salvation just
122. 5:59happens?
123. 6:02Well, this parable today should be a
124. 6:04wakeup call for all of us.
125. 6:07Jesus is telling us act,
126. 6:10be careful,
127. 6:12turn around,
128. 6:14change course while you can.
129. 6:18The word conversion comes from the Latin
130. 6:20converter,
131. 6:22which means to literally turn around.
132. 6:26And that's exactly what John Newton did.
133. 6:29He turned his ship around. Yes. But more
134. 6:32importantly, he turned his life around.
135. 6:34He went back to England back became an
136. 6:38Anglican priest and eventually one of
137. 6:41the strongest voices against the slave
138. 6:43trade.
139. 6:45And along the way he began to write
140. 6:46hymns.
141. 6:49He wrote hymns for people, hundreds of
142. 6:51them. The most famous one is one we all
143. 6:55know,
144. 6:57Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that
145. 7:02saved a wretch like me. I was once lost,
146. 7:06but now I am found. I was blind and now
147. 7:09I see.
148. 7:11Do you see his life in those words?
149. 7:15That was Newton's testimony.
150. 7:18grace had broken into his life, shown
151. 7:22him his sin, shown him the way he was
152. 7:26acting against God, and then gave him
153. 7:28the strength to change course.
154. 7:32That's what the today's gospel is all
155. 7:34about. The dishonest steward saw his
156. 7:37life falling apart and acted with
157. 7:39urgency.
158. 7:41John Newton saw his life heading towards
159. 7:43destruction and he acted with urgency.
160. 7:48And Jesus is asking for you to do the
161. 7:50same, to reflect on your own life.
162. 7:54Because here's the truth. We don't drift
163. 7:57into heaven.
164. 7:59We don't stumble into holiness by
165. 8:01accident. Salvation requires conversion.
166. 8:05And conversion means turning around
167. 8:07again and again every day of our lives.
168. 8:11Having an intentional
169. 8:13disciplehip.
170. 8:16Maybe for some of us that means finally
171. 8:18letting go of sin we've excused for too
172. 8:21long.
173. 8:22Maybe it means reconciling with someone
174. 8:24that we've written off. Or maybe it
175. 8:27means going to confession after many,
176. 8:30many years of not going.
177. 8:33Maybe it means taking prayer seriously,
178. 8:36committing to a relationship with the
179. 8:38Lord.
180. 8:40Whatever it is, the Lord is saying to
181. 8:42you, why are you delaying?
182. 8:45Why do you act as if you have all the
183. 8:47time in the world? Act now.
184. 8:52John Newton never forgot the horror of
185. 8:54who he was, who who who he had been, and
186. 8:59the wonder of who God made him to be.
187. 9:03That's why late in his life when he was
188. 9:05nearly blind, he said, "Although my
189. 9:08memory is fading, I remember two things
190. 9:11very clearly.
191. 9:13I am a great sinner and Christ is my
192. 9:17savior.
193. 9:19That's the heart of the gospel.
194. 9:22That's the amazing grace that saves us.
195. 9:25So my brothers and sisters, as we gather
196. 9:27on this Sunday, let us pray for that
197. 9:30same grace. That we may see clearly
198. 9:33where our lives are headed.
199. 9:35That we may turn around while there's
200. 9:37still time. and that we may one day sing
201. 9:40with Newton and with all the saints in
202. 9:43heaven. I was once lost, but now I'm
203. 9:47found. I was blind, but now I see. Amen.