Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Ben Riley

I think it’s interesting that most of my friends, who aren’t priests, don’t practice any faith tradition. We have similar hobbies, and so we connect over our shared interests, but other than that, our life philosophy, moral and ethical positions, and social concerns often conflict. Contrary to what you might think, most of the time, our different points of view don’t negatively affect our friendship. I’m not their priest; they are not my parishioner, and so other than expressing my faith through the way I live my life, religion isn’t something we talk about very often. However, every once in a while, my non-religious friends and I will have a discussion about faith and morals. After all, I’m a priest, and I love talking about theology, scripture, ethics, social justice, and everything in between. What I’m trying to say is, just because I am pretty sure that our opinions are going to conflict, I don’t let that be a reason to stay silent about what I believe.

A couple days ago a friend of mine and I were on the phone, and I was telling him about how I had given that theology on tap discussion about gender and sexuality for the parishioners at MMG, and I was preparing to give it again at Saint Andrews. Which happened yesterday. Naturally, he was pretty interested, So, we talked about it, and unsparingly, we disagreed on almost every aspect of the Church’s teaching regarding gender and sexuality.

This conflict, between a religious and non-religious person, as we all know, is not unusual. Turn on the news and you will see many stories about protests, violence, debates, politics, civil law, and so much more, that is all focused-on societies apparent rejection of anyone or any group that claims to be religious. Andon a more personal level, this conflict is something that we all experience to some degree within our own families. I doubt, I am the only person here who has a friend or coworker who disagrees with the teachings of Christianity. This tension and conflict only appears to be getting more common, and so we, as faithful Catholics need to know how to respond.

Let’s look to our first reading from the prophet Jerimiah. He says, “Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violence and outrage is my message; the word of the LORD has brought me derision and reproach all the day.” He says. “You duped me, oh Lord, and I let myself be duped.” Very interesting language. Remember that Jerimiah was a very young man when he was called by the Lord. Probably only 14 or 15. And when he was called, Jeremiah says he is too young, that the Lord made a mistake in choosing him. Jerimiah is kind of hesitant, kind of unsure of what the Lord wants, and then the Lord gives him this terrible burden. He doesn’t say “hey Jeremiah I’ve got this message for you. You’re gonna announce wonderful, good news and because of it you’re gonna be the most popular person in Israel. No.

Jerimiah is given a very challenging message to deliver. That Israel is going to fall under God’s judgment. God is going to use the Babylonians to punish Israel, for its infidelity, its idolatry, its mistreatment of the poor, and there’s no escaping it. That’s the message Jerimiah is called to give. Did it make him popular. No. Everyone hated Jeremiah. One of his nicknames “terror on every side.” Because as he looked around, that’s what he heard and saw. The threat of Babylon yes, but also the terror coming from his contemporaries who are so angry with his message. They persecute him. They throw him down in the cisterns, and we don’t know this for sure but very likely he was put to death by his own people.

So being a prophet, not the easiest of vocations. Certainty not. And Jeremiah himself says, “you duped me oh Lord and I let myself be duped.” He expected the prophetic life to be very different. It’s not always easy to express the truth. The truth of God’s word, the truth of the Gospel.

And yet, that is exactly what we are called to do. You too are a prophet. Every single baptized person is anointed priest, king, and prophet. Your priesthood is exercised every time you go to Mass, every time you pray, every time you intercede. That’s your priesthood. Your Kingship is expressed every time you order things, or work toward building up the Kingdom of God. And you are a prophet, every time you speak the Word of God. Prophecy is not just for rare people like Jeremiah and Paul. Everyone of us, every single one, through your baptized, were baptized a priest, prophet, and king. The Gospel message that we are called to profess, it is not easy. It requires conversion, it requires change. Constant reorientation to the Life of Christ. And people don’t like change. They don’t like being told they need to change. This is what we are experiencing in our culture right now. Push back and conflict with religious beliefs. So what do we do? Give up, don’t try. Leave it to the priests and theologians.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” Its challenging to evangelize, it is a heavy cross to bear. Its challenging to share our faith and the love of Christ. I have only been a priest for a couple of years, but already I see how much push back there is when I speak about Gospel values. My friend and I ended that phone call, by agreeing to disagree. But we have to remember that as we actively participate in spreading the Gospel. Being the prophets, we were baptized to be, we are not trying to dupe people. If we truly believe that the Bible is the word of God, then what we are offering is nothing less than the words of everlasting life and the path to eternal salvation. Scripture has a way of seeping into the very core of the human person. And often the most impactful thing we can do is to express our faith not with our words, but by the example of our actions. When someone sees the joy, peace, and consolation you have from your relationship with God. That is attractive for people

Evangelization is not about winning an argument or convincing someone of a moral teaching, it’s about expressing God’s plan for salvation through His Holy word, and letting our actions speak louder than words. If we prophets are not striving to live holy lives, then why would anyone believe what we have to say about Jesus. Don’t be afraid to express your faith. Its true, you may not win a popularity contest, but months or years from now, your testament of faith, will inspire someone to accept a love and mercy that they never thought possible. What a gift. My brothers and sisters, this week lets share that gift. May God bless you.