Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Exodus 22:20-26 / 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 / Matthew 22:34-40
The following is the homily I will be delivering at all Masses this morning at St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis:
I would like to share a very brief, very basic lesson on the liturgical seasons of the Church. There are six liturgical seasons.
The scripture passages chosen for the seasons of Advent and Christmas focus on preparing our hearts for the coming of Jesus. God chose to offer the sacrificial gift of His only begotten Son Jesus, with the intent of showing us the way to eternal life.
Scripture passages chosen for Lent, the Paschal Triduum, and Easter seasons focus on cleansing our hearts to receive the sacrificial gift Jesus offered up for us. His passion, death, and resurrection opened the door for us to enter eternal life.
The scripture passages we hear during our current liturgical season, Ordinary Time, focus primarily on the work the baptized are called to do to continue the ministry of Jesus. The readings direct us, lay out the responsibilities we have been given, and encourage us to assess our efforts to glorify God.
God sacrificed by sending Jesus to show us the way to heaven.
Jesus sacrificed by laying down his life to make heaven possible for us.
During Ordinary Time, we reflect on what we are willing to sacrifice. We take stock of how we are carrying out the work to which we have been called. We work on getting to heaven and helping others do the same.
Today’s second reading, the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, is a congratulatory letter applauding the efforts of the newly formed church in Thessalonia.
He wrote: “You received the word…with joy from the Holy Spirit…from you the word of the Lord has sounded…in every place your faith in God has gone forth…”
Paul recognized that the Thessalonians joyfully accepted Jesus into their hearts and shared their newfound faith everywhere they went. They were carrying out the work to which they were called.
I recently spoke at the monthly Catholic Business Exchange – a breakfast meeting of local Catholic business leaders. During my talk, I said if there is something we are passionate about and we want others to be passionate about it too, we need to be three things:
First, we need to be storytellers. We need to share the why of our passion. What were the experiences that lit a fire under us? What stirred our hearts and made our passion come to life? What has caused our passion to continue to grow and flourish? When we share our experience, we may help others realize they want that experience too.
Second, we need to be intentional. St. Augustine once said, “…our true priorities come to light in how we allocate our time.”
If something is a priority or passion for us, we will dedicate time to it. We will not focus on our passion in our spare time or when we get around to it. Rather, we will be intentional; we will make the time. We will do it so often and so regularly that it will become a habit.
Third, we need to be joyful. If our goal is truly to share our passion with others and ignite the same passion in them, joy is critical. People are drawn to joyful people. Think of your five favorite people in the world. I am going to guess that most or all of those five exude joy.
Listen again to what Paul said about the Thessalonians’ efforts:
“You received the word…with joy from the Holy Spirit (they were joyful)…from you the word of the Lord has sounded (they were storytellers)…in every place your faith in God has gone forth (they were intentional)…”
They intentionally and joyfully shared their passion with others; they told their story.
Be a storyteller. Be intentional. Be joyful.
A current example of this very thing is our parish capital campaign. We want to grow, beautify, and enhance our parish campus. We do that by telling our story – sharing the needs of the parish community and the desire to do the work necessary to offer a similar experience for school children and parishioners for years to come.
How do we encourage others to participate? By sharing our passion for St. Pius X and the positive experiences we have been blessed to enjoy over the past 70+ years. We tell our story!
We have been intentional. Fr. Francis has asked the children in the school to pray three Hail Marys every day for the success of the campaign. We recite the campaign prayer as a community before every Mass. Sometimes we may even mention the campaign briefly in our homily.
Finally, there is joy! You may notice that in the campaign prayer, the word joy is included three times:
…so that we may joyfully share the gifts you have given us…
…building a future where faith is lived and shared with joy.
…help us to joyfully say yes to God’s will…
Others being encouraged to join in our passion will be drawn to our joy.
Be a storyteller. Be intentional. Be joyful.
St. Paul gave the Thessalonians high marks for the work they were doing to continue the ministry of Jesus and grow the Church.
We will be heading into the Advent season in about a month. Now is a great time to evaluate our work.
Ordinary Time is our season. What are we sacrificing? How would St. Paul assess our efforts to spread the faith and grow the Church?
Are we telling our story, sharing our passion? Are we sharing with others the “why” of our faith? How God has made Himself known to us? The beauty of our personal encounters with Christ?
True passion for our faith should include a willingness to share it just as the Thessalonians did – sounding the word of God in every place we go.
Be a storyteller.
Are we intentional in our efforts? This is where sacrifice comes into play. Intentionality means making the passing on of our faith a priority. It means making time for this work, time that may need to come from other activities we enjoy. It means making a commitment.
Be intentional.
The liturgical seasons ask us to examine our hearts. For Advent and Christmas, we prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. For Lent, the Paschal Triduum, and Easter we cleanse our hearts to show our gratitude to Jesus for His sacrifice. During Ordinary Time, we fill our hearts with joy, in the knowledge that others are drawn to a joyful heart.
Be joyful.
If we are passionate about our faith and we want others to be passionate about it too, we need to be three things:
We need to be storytellers; we need to be intentional; and we need to be joyful.
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