Homily for Teacher's Retreat at St. Catherine of Siena in Trumbull, CT

Homily for Tuesday, August 26^th

St. Catherine of Sienna Parish Teachers’ Retreat

Handing on Traditions

 

            It kind of boggles my mind that it took about thirty years after Jesus’ death to write down the Gospels. I mean, if I just saw my best friend do some incredible miracles, raise the dead, multiply bread and fish, heal the sick, walk on water, and preach sublime truths in simple parables, then be tortured and crucified, die forsaken on a Cross, then on the third day rise again, ascend into Heaven, and send the Holy Spirit into our hearts through tongues of fire – if I experienced all of this, I’d probably want to write it down. At the very least, it would make the NY Times bestsellers list.

            But they didn’t write it down for several reasons. First, they were too doggone busy spreading the Gospel to write it down. Second, they believed that Jesus would return again within their lifetimes, so they didn’t bother writing it. Third, they lived in a culture where things were passed on more orally than in writing. But I think there was a fourth – and more overarching – reason why they didn’t write it down. It’s because the tradition was so written on their heart and in their lives that they didn’t need to write the Gospel, they lived it.

            St. Paul instructs us in today’s first reading to “hand on the traditions” they have received – in other words, to teach others about Jesus Christ. What a perfect thought for those who are preparing for a new school year! That is our mission – to pass on the Faith to a new generation. What we teach here this year will impact eternity! It will form these souls to become closer to Christ, closer to becoming saints!

            I love the story of St. Francis Xavier, the great missionary who ended up baptizing tens of thousands in India and the Pacific Islands. He wrote in a letter to his friend, St. Ignatius of Loyola: “I have noticed among (the natives) persons of great intelligence. If only someone would educate them in a Christian way of life, I have no doubt that they would make excellent Christians. Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity: ‘What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of Heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!’ I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books!” In other words, he saw an incredible openness to God among the people – all they needed was someone to help form them in the Catholic Faith!

            I see that same openness in today’s world. I’ve been blessed to work in youth ministry for the past thirteen years, and as our general culture gets more and more messed up (in many ways), I really believe that God is raising up a new generation of young saints who want to live for something more than the selfish goals of pleasure and money and ambition that the media is portraying. It’s up to us to help form that new generation of saints.

            For example, just recently I was taking with the twelve-year-old son of some of my friends from Bethel, and he was telling me that recently when he was praying the Rosary during a thunderstorm, there was a huge bolt of lightning that hit nearby right as soon as he began the Rosary, and another huge lightning and thunder as he concluded the Rosary. He thought it was so cool that the lightning was so well-timed – while I was amazed that this twelve-year-old public schooled kid prayed the Rosary on his own, apart from his family. Wow!

            Or as another example, I was talking to another one of my youth group kids from Redding, who was telling me that his parents one weekend didn’t take him to Mass, because they were just too busy. So on Monday morning in mid-July, he got up early and walked two miles along a busy road with no sidewalks to Mass. He said that when he got back home, his parents were angry at him for doing such a dangerous thing – but at the same time they looked at him differently because they realized that he really did take his faith seriously. This kid is thirteen years old, a student at St. Mary’s school in Bethel. Yes, there is a hunger, and God is raising up new saints who want real heroism, real traditions, real holiness.

            If we present the faith and the traditions of our Catholic Faith with enthusiasm, they will be welcomed. It’s up to us to form the saints out of the next generation.

            Honestly, a part of how to do this is to keep that goal in mind during this whole school year. Our mission as a Catholic school is not, fundamentally, about good grades, getting Blue Ribbon status, having the best facilities or the highest enrollment. It’s about forming souls for Heaven, it’s about forming saints. You are not merely at a job – you are doing ministry. You are handing on the traditions that have been handed on to us. Think about it – we are here this morning, hopefully, because we are motivated by a burning, passionate love for God, one that we wish to pass on to these kids. We have received this love for God from many sources – from our own personal prayer, from hearing talks and reading spiritual books, but probably mostly from those who have taught us about the faith. Maybe it was our parents, or a priest or nun, or a religion teacher. But someone has probably influenced your personal friendship with Jesus Christ – that is the hope. And now it’s up to us to set these young souls on fire with love for Him who first loved us.

            But we can only do that if we are striving for holiness ourselves. We have to have those traditions of faith so written on our hearts that we live them out in our daily lives. And that, my friends, is the subject of my next talk.