Homily for the 5th
Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
“You are the salt of the earth...
You are the light of the world,
You are a shining city on a mountain " (Mt 5:13-14)
My brothers and Sisters, these words Jesus addressed to his disciples are addressed to us this morning to remind us how wonderful is our mission in the world. Through our baptism we have become disciples of Jesus called to be the light that shines in the darkness of the world and the salt that gives taste to life. The light we are called to reflect is not our light but Jesus’ light; it is the light which was given to us at our baptism, that light which our god-parents accepted to keep lighted, the light we receive everyday in the word of God, in the sacraments through which our whole being is transformed and "seasoned" with the new life which comes from Christ (cf. Rom 6:4). We are the salt of the earth. The first role of the salt is to give taste to the food. In this regard, our mission is to give taste to life in our secularized world. Indeed, sometimes life around us can be tasteless! When for example we see everything falling apart around us, people becoming indifferent to the Christian faith and values, when innocents people we know are killed by wars or natural cataclysms, when we see babies dying from hunger, when we lose a loved one while we still need him or her, when children turn against their parents because of incompatibility of views about moral life, religion, when we lose our job, and so forth. Jesus recommends us to give taste to life in all these tasteless situations by sharing his word with those who are in despair so that they might learn from him how life is beautiful even in sickness, in death for those who believe in him. The second role of the salt is to preserve from decay. You know, in our villages in Africa there is no electricity and we use salt to preserve food (meat, fish) from decay. I imagine it was the same thing at the time of Jesus in Palestine. Thus to be the salt of the earth means also to preserve the faith that we received, to preserve the sanctity of life even in sickness, in old age, the sanctity of marriage, to preserve the Christian values and to pass them on intact to the new generations. But we can only preserve the faith of the Church if we remain in touch with its roots the apostles and if in our daily prayer we seek to deepen our knowledge of the spiritual heritage which we received from the apostles, following in the footsteps of the many witnesses and teachers who have gone before us! Only by remaining faithful to God’s commandments and to teaching of Christ we will be true light and true salt for the world because we can only give what we receive from the Lord. Today’s first reading taken from the prophet Isaiah teaches us how concretely in our day life we can be the light and the salt for the world and how there is no secret discipleship, discipleship only in my heart, me and my God… We are disciples with others and for others. That’s why Jesus calls us a shining city on the mountain. Our light has to shine for others. “If you share bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked, if you do not turn your back on your neighbor in need, if you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech, then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like mid-day.”
My brothers and sisters, may this Eucharist give us the grace of keeping our small flame lighted so that we might shine for our brothers by our dedicated life and preserve the faith of the church by our liturgy, our conduct and our good deeds.
The Lord be with you.
You are the light of the world,
You are a shining city on a mountain " (Mt 5:13-14)
My brothers and Sisters, these words Jesus addressed to his disciples are addressed to us this morning to remind us how wonderful is our mission in the world. Through our baptism we have become disciples of Jesus called to be the light that shines in the darkness of the world and the salt that gives taste to life. The light we are called to reflect is not our light but Jesus’ light; it is the light which was given to us at our baptism, that light which our god-parents accepted to keep lighted, the light we receive everyday in the word of God, in the sacraments through which our whole being is transformed and "seasoned" with the new life which comes from Christ (cf. Rom 6:4). We are the salt of the earth. The first role of the salt is to give taste to the food. In this regard, our mission is to give taste to life in our secularized world. Indeed, sometimes life around us can be tasteless! When for example we see everything falling apart around us, people becoming indifferent to the Christian faith and values, when innocents people we know are killed by wars or natural cataclysms, when we see babies dying from hunger, when we lose a loved one while we still need him or her, when children turn against their parents because of incompatibility of views about moral life, religion, when we lose our job, and so forth. Jesus recommends us to give taste to life in all these tasteless situations by sharing his word with those who are in despair so that they might learn from him how life is beautiful even in sickness, in death for those who believe in him. The second role of the salt is to preserve from decay. You know, in our villages in Africa there is no electricity and we use salt to preserve food (meat, fish) from decay. I imagine it was the same thing at the time of Jesus in Palestine. Thus to be the salt of the earth means also to preserve the faith that we received, to preserve the sanctity of life even in sickness, in old age, the sanctity of marriage, to preserve the Christian values and to pass them on intact to the new generations. But we can only preserve the faith of the Church if we remain in touch with its roots the apostles and if in our daily prayer we seek to deepen our knowledge of the spiritual heritage which we received from the apostles, following in the footsteps of the many witnesses and teachers who have gone before us! Only by remaining faithful to God’s commandments and to teaching of Christ we will be true light and true salt for the world because we can only give what we receive from the Lord. Today’s first reading taken from the prophet Isaiah teaches us how concretely in our day life we can be the light and the salt for the world and how there is no secret discipleship, discipleship only in my heart, me and my God… We are disciples with others and for others. That’s why Jesus calls us a shining city on the mountain. Our light has to shine for others. “If you share bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked, if you do not turn your back on your neighbor in need, if you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech, then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like mid-day.”
My brothers and sisters, may this Eucharist give us the grace of keeping our small flame lighted so that we might shine for our brothers by our dedicated life and preserve the faith of the church by our liturgy, our conduct and our good deeds.
The Lord be with you.
Homily for the 12th Sunday A
In today’s Gospel Jesus urges us to fear no one but to stand
up and speak out his saving truth. As we begin this celebration, let us
acknowledge our fear and reluctance to stand for what we believe in our daily
life and in our society.
Brothers and sisters, Shalom!
In today’s gospel, Jesus is preparing his disciples for the mission. Jesus’ recommendations can be summed up in the following words: Do not be afraid, proclaim God’s word in season and out of season. Be ready to give an account of your faith. Fear not those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather Trust in God the heavenly Father who holds the humanity in his hands.
The beautiful testimony the disciples are called to do for Jesus is to overcome fear in their life and their ministry. Like Jesus who saved the world by his supreme sacrifice freely accepted, the disciples have to be courageous, speak out the truth of God without fear, ready to endure sacrifices, rejection, and oppositions. They have to follow in the footsteps of their master Jesus who underwent 14 stations of the Cross without giving up his mission nor doubt about God’s love. To save us, Jesus had to affront the religious authorities of his time, the secular leaders, and even his own brothers the Jews. For his stubbornness in proclaiming God’s word without fear, he was put to death, a death on the cross. But on the third day, God raised him up and made him the savior of the humankind.
Brothers and sisters, Shalom!
In today’s gospel, Jesus is preparing his disciples for the mission. Jesus’ recommendations can be summed up in the following words: Do not be afraid, proclaim God’s word in season and out of season. Be ready to give an account of your faith. Fear not those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather Trust in God the heavenly Father who holds the humanity in his hands.
The beautiful testimony the disciples are called to do for Jesus is to overcome fear in their life and their ministry. Like Jesus who saved the world by his supreme sacrifice freely accepted, the disciples have to be courageous, speak out the truth of God without fear, ready to endure sacrifices, rejection, and oppositions. They have to follow in the footsteps of their master Jesus who underwent 14 stations of the Cross without giving up his mission nor doubt about God’s love. To save us, Jesus had to affront the religious authorities of his time, the secular leaders, and even his own brothers the Jews. For his stubbornness in proclaiming God’s word without fear, he was put to death, a death on the cross. But on the third day, God raised him up and made him the savior of the humankind.
The apostles of Jesus understood this message of Jesus. Even though they were from different origins and social status, they all died martyrs of the Christian faith after undergoing trials by Kings and governors, imprisonment, beatings, stoning, shipwreck, toil and hardships from false brothers, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, fasting, and so forth.
Following the example of the apostles, many courageous men and women, martyrs, saints and blessed have witnessed to this Christian faith in difficult times, in bankrupt societies in matters related to moral issues, social and political strife, war, and so forth.
When we accepted the Christian faith, we promised to continue this mission of Christ, this story of courage, determination, faith, love, supreme sacrifice, testimony, a story which has no room for fear, a story of heroes. Today’s Gospel gives each one of us this wonderful opportunity to assess our own story as disciple of Jesus. Am I courageous in proclaiming God’s word as Jesus taught me? If not what fears keep me from witnessing to Jesus’ word? And as a community, as a church, why do we look so absent from the many debates going on in our societies? To overcome the fear and anxiety we encounter in our daily life and in our community, Jesus taught us to believe in God, to have confidence not in ourselves but in God, to abandon our entire life into the hands of God like Jesus on the day he was betrayed, to be able to find the courage to say with all our life: “ Into your hands Lord I commend my spirit”. My fear is the sign that I have confidence in myself but my courage; my determination is the sign of my faith in God for whom nothing is impossible.
The problem of our society and of each one of us is that we seem to forget this power of the Christian and give way to fear, despair, and discouragement. When we forget the power of faith, we become vulnerable and we think that what we cannot do is not possible, what intelligent and learned men and women cannot do is not possible. We have confidence in ourselves or rely on great and mighty people, instead of having Confidence in God the giver of life, creator of all things. Our fear and lack of faith leads us to the idolatry of those who put their confidence in human beings, people for whom the money is their God.
My brothers and sisters, when we fear many things in our lives, when we fear for our future, our children, our comfort, our social security, when we fear people we do not know, we fear the stranger, the neighbor, the believers of other religions, we have to ask ourselves whether we are still Christians or whether we have not replaced God by our personal strength and intelligence.
When we choose to hide ourselves in our chapels or churches, when we only care about our personal beliefs and avoid to speak out the truth of Jesus and address the burning issues of our times, than we have to remember today’s Gospel and realize that we have lost the true faith in Christ. When as Christians we fail to condemn and to take actions against the killings of many innocents in many places around the world, when we are shy to defend life and fight the exclusion in our midst, when we fear to challenge the corrupted systems installed by the secular leaders, let us remember that we are not living up to the standards of our Christian vocation and call to follow Jesus who was killed because he spoke out the truth of the salvation of the world. We cannot live genuinely our Christian faith in privacy, with prudence, or in the secret of our heart. The Christian faith is good news to be shared with all, until all are one. The neighbor is always there to challenge my faith.
What have I done of my Christian vocation? What fears keep me from saying more about God? Am I discouraged, fearing to contribute to finding solutions to the burning issues of my time? Through the merit of this Eucharist, May the Lord help us not to fear but to put all our trust in Him in order to succeed in our mission of announcing his word to the world. The lord be with you.
Homily for 14th Sunday Year A
As we come together to celebrate the Eucharist, let us welcome Jesus who alone can give us rest from the burdens we carry in our life and let us ask pardon for our resistance to the spirit of the gospel and for our inclination to the worldly desires!
My brothers and sisters,
After hearing the prayer of Jesus in the Gospel reading, I would like to share with you the context in which Jesus said this prayer. After a period of enthusiasm, the teaching of Jesus was strongly rejected by the majority of the people of Israel including the political and religious leaders. Even people who witnessed his miracles in the cities like Corazine and Bethsaid were reluctant to follow him. The few fishermen from the villages of Galilee who converted to his teaching were considered like crazy peasants whose counter-cultural life had to be condemned by the religious leaders and those who called themselves “wise men. Today’s gospel gives us the attitude of Jesus during this time of rejection of his message. Instead of giving in to discouragement or to anger towards his opponents, Jesus raises his voice in prayer of thanksgiving to God: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to the little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will”. Jesus gives praise to the Father for the remnant faithful to his teaching and he attributes the situation to the will of God. Telling us that in every situation we should thank God and attach ourselves to his will as we say in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. The first thing we have to acknowledge in our moment of sorrow, rejection, and when we are weary is the will of God without which human undertakings are doomed to fail. And this is the message of today: To render our joy and distress to God our heavenly Father. This message is challenge to each one of us: How many times do we think to praise God for his wonders when we are overwhelmed by life? Like the little ones of today’s Gospel, those who do not resist God’s wisdom, let us open our hearts to God so that his gracious will might be done in us, in our church, in our families, in our country. May our hope be always greater than our fear! Only the humble of heart will find this rest from God who raises up the lowly and remove the mighty from his throne. Indeed our God is great and worthy to be praised because he delivers us from the burdens of life and shares freely his bounty with the little ones of his people. In our prayer, let us thank him for giving us the amazing example his son Jesus-Christ. May he give us a humble heart to follow his teaching and find everlasting rest in him.
The Lord be with you!
Homily for the 15th Sunday
Welcome to this celebration of the Eucharist where we are all
invited to share in the table of the word and the table of the Eucharistic
meal. From today’s readings the question to each one of us is how we respond to
the word of God we hear very often, how this word is growing and bearing fruits
in the land of our life? At the beginning of this Eucharist, let us acknowledge
the many difficulties we encounter in our response to the saving word of God.
My brothers and sisters,
The church proposes to our meditation today the parable of
the sower that we find in chapter 13 of the Gospel of Matthew. This parable
does not need a homely because Jesus explained it himself and nobody can
explain it better than Jesus. Jesus distinguishes among his hearers different
kinds of people in relation to the reception of the word:
- Those who do not understand the word and who are like the seed sown on the path,
- Those who receive the word with joy but have no roots to make it survive the time of tribulations are like the seed sown on rocky ground,
- Those who hear the word but fail to bear fruit because of worldly anxiety and riches are like the seed sown among the thorns,
- And finally those who hear the word and understand it, bear fruit and yield a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold are like the seed sown on a rich soil.
The question today is which kind of soil am I? Where are the fruits of the land of my life? What I find interesting in today’s gospel is that God sows on all the different kinds of grounds. God the sower is generous towards all and is optimistic, he is not tired of anybody. He goes to sow everywhere, even on the rocky soil, on little soil, among the thorns. God goes out to sow wherever he wants. He is optimistic for each one of us! For God, all of us are originally a good soil, good ground which can yield a fruitful harvest. Even if for a while sin can separate us from him, in his mercy he cannot abandon us because he is with us always till the end of the earth. Indeed God sends his powerful word to each one of us to save us and bring us back to him. God is patient with us; he gives us time, the opportunity to repent. God knows that we hear his word without really understanding it. He knows that very often we are busier with our family, our jobs, or civil duties, our vacations than with his word and commandments. But in his mercy and compassion, he continues to sow on our little soil, our rocky soil, entangled within the thorns of our passions and desires. God sends his saving word to us, regardless our present situation, because he knows good grain can sprout if it is given time, tender and patient care. The word of God is powerful. “My word shall not return to me void but shall do my will.” His grace is for all, for every generation, for all kinds of people, because all belong to him and shall be saved by him. Nothing, Nobody is lost for God. For each one of us, this time given to us is an opportunity of salvation, a chance of responding to the word with all our hearts and bear fruit. God is visiting our land and watering it! The seed of his word has fallen in our hearts. Let us give it the chance to grow and to bear fruit. Whenever we hear the word of God, let us not harden our hearts! The Lord be with you!
- Those who do not understand the word and who are like the seed sown on the path,
- Those who receive the word with joy but have no roots to make it survive the time of tribulations are like the seed sown on rocky ground,
- Those who hear the word but fail to bear fruit because of worldly anxiety and riches are like the seed sown among the thorns,
- And finally those who hear the word and understand it, bear fruit and yield a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold are like the seed sown on a rich soil.
The question today is which kind of soil am I? Where are the fruits of the land of my life? What I find interesting in today’s gospel is that God sows on all the different kinds of grounds. God the sower is generous towards all and is optimistic, he is not tired of anybody. He goes to sow everywhere, even on the rocky soil, on little soil, among the thorns. God goes out to sow wherever he wants. He is optimistic for each one of us! For God, all of us are originally a good soil, good ground which can yield a fruitful harvest. Even if for a while sin can separate us from him, in his mercy he cannot abandon us because he is with us always till the end of the earth. Indeed God sends his powerful word to each one of us to save us and bring us back to him. God is patient with us; he gives us time, the opportunity to repent. God knows that we hear his word without really understanding it. He knows that very often we are busier with our family, our jobs, or civil duties, our vacations than with his word and commandments. But in his mercy and compassion, he continues to sow on our little soil, our rocky soil, entangled within the thorns of our passions and desires. God sends his saving word to us, regardless our present situation, because he knows good grain can sprout if it is given time, tender and patient care. The word of God is powerful. “My word shall not return to me void but shall do my will.” His grace is for all, for every generation, for all kinds of people, because all belong to him and shall be saved by him. Nothing, Nobody is lost for God. For each one of us, this time given to us is an opportunity of salvation, a chance of responding to the word with all our hearts and bear fruit. God is visiting our land and watering it! The seed of his word has fallen in our hearts. Let us give it the chance to grow and to bear fruit. Whenever we hear the word of God, let us not harden our hearts! The Lord be with you!
Homily for the 19th Sunday of Year A
Jesus welcomes each one of us to this celebration of the
Eucharist and reassures us that He is with us and that we don’t have to be
afraid. Let us put aside all our fears and worship Him with hearts and minds
renewed.
My brothers and Sisters,
Today’s Gospel is about the little faith of the apostles of Jesus. These men lived and worked with Jesus every day they failed to recognize his presence in the midst of the storm. When they saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said: “It is a ghost”. This story is amazing if we consider that this forgetfulness happened few hours after Jesus has worked a miracle in the eyes, namely the multiplication of the bread. The gospel narrative tells us that the crowd moved by the wonders performed by Jesus; wanted to acclaim him as their King (Jn 6, 14). But Jesus dismissed them and sent them to their villages. Likewise Jesus asked his disciples to get into a boat and precede him to the other side.
But what happened shortly after this scene of excitement? As soon as they left the spot of the miracle, they forgot about Jesus. Their enthusiasm lasted only few hours! Their memory of what Jesus had done for them did not last. When battered by a severe storm on the lake, the disciples failed to recognize their friend and doer of wonders. Only few hours after their encounter with Jesus, they were back to their fears like unbelievers who see bad spirits, ghosts, and devils everywhere.
Brothers and Sisters, after hearing this story of the little faith of disciples, I invite each one of us to consider our own faith, and our capacity to remember Jesus and recognize his presence the midst of the storms of life. What do I remember of Jesus who saved me? When we leave our place of worship, how long do we keep the memory of his word and grace? May be at a time I am very enthusiastic about Jesus because he did this or that for me or for people I like? Did this experience of the power of Jesus in my life help me to recognize Jesus and his presence in time of distress, sorrow? How much of my experience of the Lord helps me when I encounter all kinds of contradictions and hardships? My brothers and sisters, the gospel message today is that, we who have become disciples of Jesus, we should keep his saving power and grace in mind so that we may be able to calm and put down the many storms of our life such as sickness, loss of a loved one, failures, unemployment, divorce, solitude, etc. Jesus Promised to be with us always till the end of time and, indeed, he is always at our side reminding us of his presence and stretching his saving hand to us, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid”. May this Eucharist give us the grace to keep alive the memory of Jesus who alone can help us to quiet the storms of our life and continue our way as pilgrims on this earth. As we will receive the body of Christ during this Eucharist, let us never forget that he is always with us! May we always confess Jesus like the disciples and say: “Truly, You are the Son of God”. The Lord be with you!
My brothers and Sisters,
Today’s Gospel is about the little faith of the apostles of Jesus. These men lived and worked with Jesus every day they failed to recognize his presence in the midst of the storm. When they saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said: “It is a ghost”. This story is amazing if we consider that this forgetfulness happened few hours after Jesus has worked a miracle in the eyes, namely the multiplication of the bread. The gospel narrative tells us that the crowd moved by the wonders performed by Jesus; wanted to acclaim him as their King (Jn 6, 14). But Jesus dismissed them and sent them to their villages. Likewise Jesus asked his disciples to get into a boat and precede him to the other side.
But what happened shortly after this scene of excitement? As soon as they left the spot of the miracle, they forgot about Jesus. Their enthusiasm lasted only few hours! Their memory of what Jesus had done for them did not last. When battered by a severe storm on the lake, the disciples failed to recognize their friend and doer of wonders. Only few hours after their encounter with Jesus, they were back to their fears like unbelievers who see bad spirits, ghosts, and devils everywhere.
Brothers and Sisters, after hearing this story of the little faith of disciples, I invite each one of us to consider our own faith, and our capacity to remember Jesus and recognize his presence the midst of the storms of life. What do I remember of Jesus who saved me? When we leave our place of worship, how long do we keep the memory of his word and grace? May be at a time I am very enthusiastic about Jesus because he did this or that for me or for people I like? Did this experience of the power of Jesus in my life help me to recognize Jesus and his presence in time of distress, sorrow? How much of my experience of the Lord helps me when I encounter all kinds of contradictions and hardships? My brothers and sisters, the gospel message today is that, we who have become disciples of Jesus, we should keep his saving power and grace in mind so that we may be able to calm and put down the many storms of our life such as sickness, loss of a loved one, failures, unemployment, divorce, solitude, etc. Jesus Promised to be with us always till the end of time and, indeed, he is always at our side reminding us of his presence and stretching his saving hand to us, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid”. May this Eucharist give us the grace to keep alive the memory of Jesus who alone can help us to quiet the storms of our life and continue our way as pilgrims on this earth. As we will receive the body of Christ during this Eucharist, let us never forget that he is always with us! May we always confess Jesus like the disciples and say: “Truly, You are the Son of God”. The Lord be with you!
Homily for the 30th Sunday A (Mission Sunday)
"By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you
have love for one another" (John 13:35). As missionaries of Christ, our
everyday mission is to love one another as Jesus loved us. As we begin this
Eucharist, let us acknowledge our failure to love our brothers and sisters as
Jesus loves them.
My brothers and Sisters,
As we celebrate today the mission Sunday in the Catholic Church, I would like to start by a short story you know certainly, a story about how we can be externally disciples of Jesus but not ready to imitate him in our daily lives. I would like each one of us to say what he or she could have done in this situation:
One Sunday morning, two thousands people were gathered in a church to celebrate the Eucharist. Suddenly after the homely, two strong men with their faces covered and heavily armed with automatic weapons, entered the church. One of them said in a strong voice: Your attention please! May those who are ready to become martyrs of faith in Christ remain in this church”. Immediately, the music director left his organ and went out to find safer place. The members of a family for which the mass was said, left one after another. And in a minute, all the pews were emptied of the faithful. Only twelve men and women remained where they were seated. Then one of the armed men discovered his face, and said to the priest, Ok, Father, I helped you to get rid of the hypocrites, now you can start the Eucharist…” If you were in this church, what could have you done! Those who were ready to risk their lives for the sake of their faith in Christ are the examples of the real missionaries of Christ we celebrate today. To be a missionary is to be ready to make a sacrifice for Christ, for a loved one, for your children, your neighbors, the widows, the orphans, the strangers of your neighborhood… If you love these little ones of Christ, speak out for their rights as human beings, you will be called missionary of God. In this perspective, you do not need to go overseas in some pagan territories to be called missionary because our mission starts and is to be lived everywhere we find ourselves. There is too much to do everywhere, in our countries, in our cities and villages. There is too much suffering, injustice, poverty everywhere in the world, starting in our own hearts, our own families. That’s why I was pleased by today’s readings that are unusual on a mission Sunday. Usually on today’s occasion the Church proposes to our meditation the words of Jesus to his disciples: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19-20). "And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
But today, the Church proposes the Golden Rule of Love of God and love of neighbor, as the charter of our mission in the world. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. The Golden Rule of love implies that the mission of the Church is not only the work of all those who go abroad in mission lands to convert people to Christ. The mission of the church is the task of each one of us and starts in our hearts, in our family, at home, where we are called to love each other like Jesus loved us, and be ready to sacrifice ourselves for our loved ones, our children, our relatives who live with us, those who work for us, our neighbors, people we meet on the street, in market place, on the bus, etc. When we love these our closest neighbors, we respond to the missionary call of Jesus. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”. To every culture, religion, gender, race, at home and abroad.. All that we need to be a missionary is love, true love, the love like the one of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus who died very young at the age of 23, and who is called Patron of the Missions even though she never gone out of her convent. If we have no love in our hearts, there is no mission, no discipleship. "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).
My brothers and Sisters,
As we celebrate today the mission Sunday in the Catholic Church, I would like to start by a short story you know certainly, a story about how we can be externally disciples of Jesus but not ready to imitate him in our daily lives. I would like each one of us to say what he or she could have done in this situation:
One Sunday morning, two thousands people were gathered in a church to celebrate the Eucharist. Suddenly after the homely, two strong men with their faces covered and heavily armed with automatic weapons, entered the church. One of them said in a strong voice: Your attention please! May those who are ready to become martyrs of faith in Christ remain in this church”. Immediately, the music director left his organ and went out to find safer place. The members of a family for which the mass was said, left one after another. And in a minute, all the pews were emptied of the faithful. Only twelve men and women remained where they were seated. Then one of the armed men discovered his face, and said to the priest, Ok, Father, I helped you to get rid of the hypocrites, now you can start the Eucharist…” If you were in this church, what could have you done! Those who were ready to risk their lives for the sake of their faith in Christ are the examples of the real missionaries of Christ we celebrate today. To be a missionary is to be ready to make a sacrifice for Christ, for a loved one, for your children, your neighbors, the widows, the orphans, the strangers of your neighborhood… If you love these little ones of Christ, speak out for their rights as human beings, you will be called missionary of God. In this perspective, you do not need to go overseas in some pagan territories to be called missionary because our mission starts and is to be lived everywhere we find ourselves. There is too much to do everywhere, in our countries, in our cities and villages. There is too much suffering, injustice, poverty everywhere in the world, starting in our own hearts, our own families. That’s why I was pleased by today’s readings that are unusual on a mission Sunday. Usually on today’s occasion the Church proposes to our meditation the words of Jesus to his disciples: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19-20). "And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
But today, the Church proposes the Golden Rule of Love of God and love of neighbor, as the charter of our mission in the world. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. The Golden Rule of love implies that the mission of the Church is not only the work of all those who go abroad in mission lands to convert people to Christ. The mission of the church is the task of each one of us and starts in our hearts, in our family, at home, where we are called to love each other like Jesus loved us, and be ready to sacrifice ourselves for our loved ones, our children, our relatives who live with us, those who work for us, our neighbors, people we meet on the street, in market place, on the bus, etc. When we love these our closest neighbors, we respond to the missionary call of Jesus. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”. To every culture, religion, gender, race, at home and abroad.. All that we need to be a missionary is love, true love, the love like the one of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus who died very young at the age of 23, and who is called Patron of the Missions even though she never gone out of her convent. If we have no love in our hearts, there is no mission, no discipleship. "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).
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