Homily for
Ordinary Time 14
July 5, 2020
Ready to be Taught
Back in
the 1840s, a Jesuit priest named Fr. Peter deSmet began missionary work to the
Native Americans out on the plains. He founded a mission in South Dakota (the
St. Francis Mission) and was able to earn the trust of the Lakota Indians. Unlike
the other “white men” that these natives encountered, Fr. DeSmet was not
interested in their land or their food, but only their souls – and they
recognized it.
When Fr.
deSmet had to move on to found other missions, two Lakota chiefs – Chief Spotted
Tail and Chief Red Cloud – petitioned the US President to send more “black
robes” (priests) to teach the Faith to their people. These chiefs had been
baptized, and wanted their tribes to follow the Lord Jesus as well – and they
knew that to do so, they needed teachers. Several more Jesuit priests were
sent, and their work flourished among the people – so much so that one of their
converts, Nicholas Black Elk, is in the process of possibly being canonized a
saint soon.
One of
the great titles of the Church is “mater et magistra” – Mother and Teacher (in
fact, Pope St. John XXIII wrote an encyclical by this name). The Church exists
to teach us the way to Heaven.
But we
must be open to being taught. That is why Christ says in the Gospel today that
the mysteries of the Kingdom are only granted to the simple little ones. “Learn
from Me,” He tells us. Those who are not puffed-up in their own pride are open
to being taught by Christ and His Church.
What does
this mean, practically? Three steps.
First,
we recognize that we are not perfect and that we need the Lord Jesus to teach
us how to be holy! The Christian life is full of joy, but it’s also a struggle.
The Gospel these last couple weekends have been really challenging – take up
your cross, choose Christ over your family. Being faithful to your spouse is tough; being
open to life is tough. Standing up for your faith is tough; living virtuously
is tough. So we must first recognize that we can’t do it on our own – we need
to learn how to live it well. We’re
not saints yet – we are sinners on a journey, being redeemed by the Blood of
Christ.
Second,
we recognize that Christ teaches us through the Bible and through His Church,
and that these teachings are good. The
longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, which has 176 verses. This long
Psalm is entirely a hymn of praise for God’s law. As the Psalmist writes, “Your
law is a delight to me.” Christ’s teachings are for our life, even the ones that are tough like “take up your Cross and
follow Me.” We learn God’s law through Scripture and the enduring Tradition of
the Church.
Finally,
we seek to know what the Bible and
the Church teach, and apply it to our lives. As Pope John Paul II said, “The
Church is an expert in humanity.” The Church gives us guidance on almost every
aspect of human life: prayer, love, sexuality, family, money, work, politics,
the meaning of human history. Are we open to hearing what the Church says, and
then conforming our lives accordingly?
It would
be an error, though, to think that we have to understand in order to believe. It’s actually the exact opposite –
we believe so that we might understand the Faith. The Medieval scholastics had
a saying: Fides quaerens intellectum –
Faith seeking understanding. There are things I don’t yet understand about our
Catholic Faith – but I believe them nonetheless.
There is
a huge difference between “I don’t
believe” and “I don’t understand”. The first comes from pride, the second comes
from humility. The first says, “Unless I fully agree with the teachings of the
Church, I won’t follow them.” The second says “I will follow the teachings of
the Church, and will seek to understand them more and more.” We must have the
humility to say “I don’t understand” and not the pride which says “I don’t
believe!”
Our
Church is not anti-intellectual! Our Catholic Faith welcomes questions and
inquiry – there are good reasons for what we believe – but we must seek from an
attitude of faith. And where to we learn about what the Church teaches? From
the Church itself – the Catechism, church documents, and learned priests and
teachers. Once I was teaching an eighth grade class and we had a question and
answer session. Almost all of the questions were ran along the same theme: “Why
does the Church discriminate against gays?” I said to the kids, “The Church
does not discriminate against anyone –
all are welcome to encounter Christ, to repent, and to seek holiness and
purity. Where did you get the impression that the Church discriminates against
gays?” Sheepishly they all answered, “Uh…Instagram… Twitter…Facebook.” If you
want to know what the Church teaches, read the Catechism, not the New York
Times or your uncle’s Facebook posts!
The Bible
and the Church exist as a teacher because we need to be taught the way to
Heaven. One of the early Mohawk converts, Maria Tsiaouentes, said it best when someone
asked her why she spends time with the “black robes”: “The Fathers who instruct
us have left their own home and friends to teach us the way to Heaven.”
May we
always be ready to learn.
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