Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 15, 2018

Homily for Ordinary Time 15

July 15, 2018

Prophets of the New Covenant

            It takes a lot of guts to tell the Pope that he’s wrong. Especially if you’re a humble Dominican nun in the 1300s.

            You see, because of political pressures, the Pope had moved from Rome to Avignon, France back in the late 1200s. Popes figured that it was better to be protected by the strong French king than to be possibly attacked by the chaotic and disunified Italian city-states. But this meant that the Popes were entirely too wrapped up in European politics, forgetting about their spiritual role as head of the Church. Really, the French government controlled the papacy – not a good situation!

            Enter St. Catherine of Siena. This feisty nun in her 20s felt inspired by God to travel to Avignon and face down the Pope himself. She was granted an audience with Pope Gregory XI, and she told him to his face that he needed to return to Rome and focus on his spiritual duties, not on worldly power. What a daring thing to do! If the Pope were offended, he could excommunicate Sr. Catherine, or even have her executed for heresy. But lo and behold, he listened to her, and heeded her advice, returning at once to Rome and guaranteeing the freedom of the Church from the influence of foreign kings. She was a prophet – and a saint.

            I think there is misunderstanding as to what the role of the prophet is. Prophets are not fortune-tellers; they don’t tell the future. Rather, they live their relationship with God so radically that it’s obvious to everyone around them. They take seriously the call to holiness, and they call everyone around them to that same faithfulness.

It’s not easy being a prophet. Usually when someone is chosen for the role, they try to get out of it. We see Amos in the first reading today explaining that it wasn’t his idea to be a prophet – it was a genuine call from God. And no wonder no one wanted to be a prophet – it usually wasn’t popular with kings and people alike to hear prophets. Even Jesus, as He sends out His disciples, tells them that they’re going to be rejected and unwelcomed because of the message they preach.

            It’s not popular – and it’s precisely what Christians are called to be.

            I always tell my students at the high school that Christianity isn’t cool. It never was, it never will be. It will always be countercultural if you take your faith seriously.

            When you were baptized, you were baptized into Christ Jesus and His three roles: priest, prophet, king. We exercise our priestly role when we offer ourselves “as a living sacrifice,” as St. Paul puts it, offering up our joys and sorrows, work and recreation, bodies and souls as an offering to the Lord. We exercise our kingly role when we use the grace of the Holy Spirit to practice self-control – not being trapped in addictions and sins and vices, but living in the freedom of the Redeemed.

            But we exercise our prophetic role by taking seriously our Catholic Faith. Does our life look different because we are Catholic? Or are our lives totally indistinguishable from the rest of the modern world? Let’s look at a couple ways to live prophetically.

            First, our language. It’s so easy to take the Lord’s Name in vain, and many Catholics do just that, not realizing that His Name is sacred. I once had a young man who struggled with that habit in my youth group, and he decided that to stop the vice, every time he would say “Oh my God,” he would always follow it up with “Praised be His Holy Name.” Of course his friends gave him strange looks…but he stopped the habit pretty quick! He wasn’t ashamed to look like a fool in living his Catholic faith radically, like a prophet. Do you take the Lord’s Name in vain? How radical are you willing to be to rid yourself of that sin?

            Second, our media. A lot of times in my office at the high school, kids will be watching videos on their iPads, and when I ask for a peek, they say, “Oh, Father, this isn’t really something a priest should watch.” Well, my friends, that’s a pretty good indication that you’re not watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood! If a priest shouldn’t watch it, why should another baptized Catholic who wants to please the Lord? That’s a pretty good test of whether we should be watching that movie or listening to that rap album – would I be ok with sharing it with a priest, or Christ Himself? So to live our faith radically, prophetically, we will need to say to our friends, “Nah, I’m good. I don’t want to see that movie.” And they will ask, “Why not?” and we can respond, “Because I love Jesus more than I love that movie, and that movie will lead me away from Him.”

            Third, our priorities, especially when it comes to Mass attendance. For a couple years I used to visit patients in a large hospital in Baltimore. I was always amazed that I would frequently see Muslim doctors and nurses in the nondenominational chapel, praying on their prayer rug, facing Mecca. They knew that they had to interrupt their work five times each day to fulfill their religious duties – and I really admired their dedication. At that same hospital, a nurse was explaining to me that she hadn’t been to Mass in a month because she always had to work weekend shifts. I said to her, “Isn’t that a double standard? Our Muslim brothers and sisters never miss a prayer even if it means they skip work for a bit, but we Catholics are too embarrassed or busy or ashamed to make it to Mass if that would require sacrifice?” Yes, it might mean coming in late to work on a Holy Day of Obligation…it might mean skipping a baseball game on a Sunday morning…but if all this is true: that Jesus Christ really died for you, rose from the dead, invites us to Heaven, left us His Body and Blood…then live life prophetically and make sure nothing stands in the way of our Sunday obligation to attend Mass!

            A warning: people who really live their faith without compromises aren’t always well-loved. There’s always something disconcerting, controversial, uncomfortable about living life radically and prophetically. But if you believe in this Catholic faith, and you believe in what God has done for you, what He continues to do for you in the Sacraments, and you believe that He has promised eternal life to you, then be courageous! Be bold! Be radical! Be a prophet!