Homily Year C Week 20

 Year C Week 27 (Feast of St Michael’s) Sunday Homily 

THEME “ Announce the Gospel by what you say and how you act.” As Catholic Christians we are called to build up the Kingdom of God!

About fifteen  years ago I begin my journey into a deeper faith. I decided that I would become more evidently a follower of Christ. My first public foray was the decision to start wearing a crucifix as part of my wardrobe. I had already worked for nearly a decade as a faculty member at the community college and had made some very good friends and had good acquaintances as well. While it was not a secret that I was Roman Catholic it also was not a topic of discussion . The day I started to wear my crucifix for the first time, I noticed some strange reactions to it. Not from the students, but rather from my fellow faculty. Few said any thing out loud but I noticed that some who used to greet me in the hallway, no longer did and amongst them some  walked to the other side of the hallway and with intent no longer acknowledged my presence.

You see we live in an increasingly secular age. We live in an age that seeks for a level playing field and therefore has marginalized those of faith with the exceptions of certain special milestone  occasions.  To quote a old CBC television show "Hatching, Matching and Dispatching" has become the sole  touch points for many , with organized religion. 

As we consider all three readings today we can see that this is not just a modern condition. In the Hebrew Testament reading we hear "For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint" . This in response to the prophets Habuuks questions.

 In the Gospel we hear " The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree,‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you."  Here, to even those who are blessed to see the living proof, of the presence of the Christ , they are asking for more faith.

Their response is so secular, it tastes of today. It's like going to McDonalds and asking for them to supersize their pop or French fries. What they have, is not enough, they need more. There they are , at the drive in window asking Christ for more faith please. 

The Lord reminds them, that if they had faith even the size of a mustard seed they could do wonders.  I don't know if you have ever seen a mustard seed but you can hold a hundred of them in the palm of your hand easily. 

The Lord is reminding us that what we have is enough, no matter how small our portion as long as we are prepared to believe . The Apostles I think may have been looking for certainty. Somewhat like reading the last chapter of the book early on so we can see the ending before we finish the book. 

Faith is not given to us in a packet to be spent as currency in our dealings with God. Faith is not measured out according to how difficult the task or work before us. Faith is not a thing we have or get. Faith is a relationship of trust and love. It means opening ourselves to receive another’s life and giving our life to another. That other one , is Jesus the Christ. That one faith-relationship makes us  who we are and how we live.

Faith is not about giving intellectual agreement to a particular doctrine or idea. Faith is not about how much or how strongly we believe Jesus’s words or actions. When I speak about my marriage to my wife Jocelyn and my  faithfulness I do not mean that we believed or always agreed with each other’s ideas or even a particular understanding of marriage. We were  faithful, because we  committed ourselves to each other in love and trust. We were faithful because we continually give our lives to the other and received the other’s life as our own. We were/are faithful because we carry with us always  that one relationship wherever we go, in all that we are , and all that we do. 

So it is in our faith-relationship with Jesus.Faith will not, however, change the circumstances of our lives. Instead, it changes us. Living in faith does not shield us from the pain and difficulties of life, it does not undo the past, and it will not guarantee a particular future. Rather, faith is the means by which we face and deal with the circumstances of life – the difficulties and losses, the joys and successes, the opportunities and possibilities.

Faith does not get us a pat on the back, a reward, or a promotion in God’s eyes. It is simply the way in which we live and move and have our being so that, at the end of the day, the faithful ones can say, without pride or shame, “We have done only what we ought to have done!” Nothing more and nothing less. We have lived in openness to, trust in, and love for Christ. We have allowed him to guide our decisions, our words, and our actions. We have been sustained by him in both life and death.

Faith, however, is not lived out in the abstract. It is practiced day after day in the ordinary everyday lives . Some days when the pain and heaviness of life seem more than we can carry , it is by faith, relationship with Jesus, that we get up each morning and face the reality of life. Other days present other circumstances. When we feel the pain of the world and respond with compassion by feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, speaking for justice; when we experience the brokenness of a relationship and offer forgiveness and mercy; when we see the downtrodden and offer our presence and prayers — in all those we have lived, seen, and acted by faith. Then there are days when we feel powerless, lost, and do not know the way forward. By faith we sit in silence and wait.

Faith, then, is how we live; the lens through which we see ourselves, others, and the world; the criterion by which we act and speak. Faithfulness means that no matter where we go, no matter what circumstances we face we do so in relationship with the One who created, loves, sustains, and redeems us, the One who “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).

The question is not how much faith we have, rather, how are we living the faith we do have. How is our faith, our relationship with Jesus, changing our lives, our relationships, the lives of others? If it is not good , more of the same will surely make no difference. The mustard seed of faith is already planted within us. It is Christ himself.  He has withheld nothing from us . We already have enough. We already are enough. We do not need more faith. We need more response to the faith, the Christ, the mustard seed, the relationship we already have. 

This is of course not enough, we are called to more, we are called like the Apostles and the Disciples to go forward as missionary disciples and by living the Christian life to bring the Gospel to the world. We are called in our actions and our words to invite the lost and forsaken to His church. We are asked to be noticeably different to the world and inspire them to ask questions, to consider exploring the Christian life.  As Paul writes to Timothy  "So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord".

Go forward, and be defenders of the faith and builders in the kingdom. It is always time to extend an invitation to come home, to those who are away from the church, it is always time to be hospitable to those who do come and join us. It is always time to proclaim the testimony of the lord. 

Angels play an important role in the Bible. They are there to protect, to announce, to guide , to emphasize the importance of an event. Sometimes with flashes of light and sometimes as hosts and multitudes and sometimes as massed choirs. While Angels are heard of often, we only know of three of them by name. St Gabriel, St Raphael and our own St. Michael. 

Saint Michael is the triumphal angel. The protector of the faith and In revelations the killer of the great enemy, defined as a dragon. Translated into english Michael means “like God.”

It is our patronal feast day today a day to be reminded of our victories over the years of the parish. It is a day to celebrate all that we bring to our community and our tradition. This parish is filled with many faithful, devoted people. We look to Saint Michael to strengthen us and protect us, to allow us to overcome our own dragons so that we may look forward to continuing to serve his kingdom in this place. 

As a community , reflect on the many victories of the past and think about the challenges that lay before us. We as a loving and united community are called to be strong in the protection of the faith and to be dependable in continuing to build His Kingdom. Like our patronal saint we are called to be “like God”, and in a world that turns away from him.We have done well, but there is so much more to do!!!