Homily

January 29, 2006, 4^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B

St. Joseph Parish, Detroit

Catholic Apostolate, Part 1     

            There are so many directions I’d like to head off on today, given our readings. St. Paul’s passage about the high calling of a life of virginity is an unsung song, so important for young people who need to live purity, so important for encouraging vocations, and even very helpful for those within the loving bond of the sacrament of matrimony. But I’ll have to leave that for another day.

            Then there’s the passage from Mark, upon which I am eager to expound, to discuss the questions regarding demons. Such a discussion would help us in a world full of magic and Harry Potter, full of demons, Satanism and Goth, full of séances and crystal balls and tarot cards. But that too I will leave for another day.

            It is urgent that I begin a series of homilies on another topic vital to the spiritual life and survival of St. Joseph parish, and pressing for the eternal salvation of our souls. We need to discuss a fundamental aspect of our Catholic lives without which it is impossible to presume we are holy, without which it is ridiculous to think we are good Catholics. This aspect is part of Catholic life, but it is first and foremost one of the most important aspects of the life of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God who took flesh from the Virgin Mary.

            The point I need to discuss, which may surprise some, is apostolic zeal. And the series I will offer will not lead in from this Sunday to next Sunday then to the one after that. No, I will come back to it again and again sporadically throughout the year, so that other dimensions of our Catholic Lives can also be considered, lest we fall into the fallacy of thinking that we can be good apostles of our Lord while neglecting the virtues, penance, prayer, the sacraments, and other such important means of the spiritual life.

            What is apostolic zeal? What are we talking about? “Apo-stello” is the ancient Greek for “to send.” The apostle is the one who is sent. Jesus Christ is the first apostle, sent from the Father to pour upon us the Spirit of the Father and the Son, sent to die and rise to save us from our sins and give us a perpetual example of life. He then sent forth first seventy-two disciples, then his twelve apostles, those entrusted with the Church, who have been succeeded by the bishops.

            So we can describe apostolic zeal as the burning drive in our hearts to save souls, to spread the Gospel, and to spread the Catholic life to as many hearts as possible. It springs forth from love aided by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and is guided obediently by the authority of the Church.

            Jesus Christ gave us the command, “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19), an continually trains his followers in how to be good and effective missionaries of salvation.

            Some of the obstacles to apostolic zeal can be a lack of a healthy interior life of prayer, penance and union with God; it can be ignorance of the teachings of the Church and the lives of the saints; it can be a lack of faith in the Trinity, in Jesus and in Catholicism by which one thinks all the religions are the same; it can be attachments to sins, such as greed, anger, pride or sins of the flesh, all of which are deadly to apostolic zeal; it can be excuses that I’m too young or I’m too old, that I’m too busy or that I’m homebound, that I’m not comfortable spreading the faith, or other such lame excuses. Yet every baptized person is called to live a life of apostolic zeal.

            My proposal to every parishioner of St. Joseph parish, and indeed to any Catholic whosoever hears (or reads) these words, is to truly go out and make disciples of all nations. The practical way in which I encourage all of you to do this is to give at least one or two hours of your time to the parish, or four to eight hours a month, dedicated to selfless apostolic works at the parish. (Repeat, with stress.)

            Well, how? What is there to do? To help answer this question, in future homilies, I will discuss different aspects of the apostolic life of the Church and of our parish, starting with the associations that exist within our parish. They are wonderful means to easily and effectively participate in truly important apostolic works. I will discuss the Legion of Mary, and all they do and are trying to do in the future in their apostolates. I will discuss the Knights of Columbus, what the Knights are, who they are, what they do, and their importance in our parish and in the Church. Starting with our next parish council meetings, we will establish commissions and other such groups to attend to different aspects of our parish life – for which I hope we have a massive turnout, on Monday night, Feb. 13^th, put it in your agenda now. I am bringing a youth group I have founded, Trailblazers, for young adults in high school and college, into this parish starting on February 4^th, first Saturday, in the evening. The opportunities for apostolate include pro-life work, groups to sustain initiatives of Eucharistic adoration, Divine Mercy apostles, teams to help souls convert and to make our parish grow, attention to shut ins, to the hungry, and to other such corporal works of mercy.

            So, what are you going to do? Spend all your life watching TV, sleeping, going to parties, and neglect this other aspects of your faith? Are you going to miss out on the eternal good you could bring to other souls, and the personal satisfaction and peace that will bring you? Are you going to hide your head in the sand before the huge problems that rest on the shoulders of the men and women of our times? Or are you going to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ?

            I hope to hear from each and every one of you on this matter. I want to know where your interests and inclinations lie, for I strongly believe you have to participate in an apostolate that is attractive to you, or else it will be torture for you and you won’t persevere. I need to hear where the needs are in the parish, and what you have to bring to the table. Call me, send me letters, e-mails, and let’s begin to conquer the world for Christ, let’s begin to go out to the whole world, to all the world, to every person and to the whole person, to bring the light and salvation of Christ to the world. This is a supreme way to show our love for God above all things, and our neighbor as ourselves.

            In summary: Let’s be apostles. Christ wants it from us. The Catholic Church wants it from us. Let’s make the apostolate part of our progress in the spiritual life. For which, I want to discuss this point with each and every one of you sooner or later, and my desire is that every parishioner of St. Joseph, by the time 2006 is out, begins to give at least one our a week on the average to some parish approved apostolate, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.