Homily During Lent
Fr. Jon Pedigo
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In this homily I will speak to the Transfiguration by way of reintroducing you to our parish vision. I do this because several people are asking that I need to share with the community what our parish is all about because many people are new to the parish and many of the parishioners who have been here over 5 years have noticed changes in the liturgy and ministry structure and want to know what all these so-called changes are all about. The Transfiguration is a perfect way to begin to share our way of being CHURCH. A
couple of days ago I was doing an interview with Univision, the
Spanish news channel
Seriously, what was it that he noticed or failed to notice that this
was a Catholic church? Statues of the saints, the high altar, the long pews, marble and stone do not make a church “Catholic.” Those things do not give a church a Catholic identity. Christ gives the church its Catholic identity: Christ in Word and Sacrament. Christ in Mission and Fellowship. Christ in us, the Body of Christ! Turning now to the Transfiguration…Christ’s identity is revealed in the communion with Moses and Elijah. Moses who is the giver of the Law, the Torah represents the figure of authority, the power of God who led the people, Israel, out of bondage and into freedom. Jesus’ ministry is the ministry of liberation. Like Moses, he leads people from places of bondage and captivity into freedom. Moses did not come to make people “feel better” about themselves. In fact, as he led the People Israel into the desert, they complained. The people preferred the predictability of the slave life to the unpredictability of living with the responsibility of freedom. As slaves, choices were made for you. You were told where to live, what to do, when to work and when to stop working. As a freed person, you must make your own choices and hold yourself responsible for consequences, in other words, freedom. Liberation in the case of Moses had two dimensions: the level of actual oppression and injustice and the level of personal and personal freedom. Elijah preached a message of holiness and justice, fed the multitudes, cured the lepers and came to the aid of widows and orphans, represents the intimacy of God and the promise of God’s healing love. Elijah restored the broken and the broken-hearted back to the heart to the community. Jesus’ ministry of healing and outreach and his words to the disciples reflect an “Elijah-identity.” Standing between these two figures is Jesus. Jesus is both Liberator and Healer. The disciples are understandably overwhelmed by this. Speechless, they go down the mountain and are told not to speak of this until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. They did not understand at the time because they themselves had to experience the Passion of Christ. The identity of the Christ, like Moses and Elijah, is understood only in how Jesus himself lived out the Good News, the Gospel. For every action of healing and forgiveness to those who were outcasts – Jesus was propelled ever closer to Jerusalem and ultimately to Calvary. Liberation and healing led Jesus to the cross and only until he rose from the dead, did the disciples understand Jesus’ identity. Resurrection brings HOPE. Hope is founded upon the identity of Christ as liberator and healer. Authentic disciples of Christ follow his same footsteps: to die to self that others might live.“ Our parish vision flows from discipleship: “Come, take up the cross and follow me.” Our liturgy reflects discipleship, our ministries and parish activities reflect service. Our words whether it be teaching in faith formation sessions, Generations of Faith, catechist training reflect discipleship. The subject matter of homilies and workshops address the intimate connection between Christ and the issues of this wounded society. As disciples we are also leaders. We take responsibility for being liberators and healers. Disciples is not simply obedience, but listening to others, sharing joys and hopes of other people. Disciple-leadership is not about making rules, plans or doing paperwork. Disciple-leadership is about looking toward the future…about reaching out to others and inviting them to join in the work of building a more just and peaceful “Today” and seting the foundations for a more compassionate “Tomorrow.” Our mission statement reads: “St. Julie Billiart Parish is a diverse, welcoming, and contemporary Catholic community nurtured by Word and Sacrament. The Table of Christ inspires our faith and commits us to bring His message of hope to the world.” Closing this reflection with the mission statement, I want to echo the last line: the Table of Christ…commits us to bring…hope to the world.” Indeed, gathered at this Table we see the Christ, we hear the Christ and we eat the Christ. After this Transfiguration-like encounter, we are to go back down the mountain and live it out in the world. Let our feasting on Christ bring the message of hope to others. TAKE HOME REFLECTION…. This mission statement summarizes the charism or gift of community. The mission statement is followed by a series of commitments or promises each stating that the parish community is dedicated to living the gospel in a variety of ways.
“St. Julie
Billiart Parish is a diverse, welcoming, and contemporary “We pledge…To embrace all peoples as children of God respecting all cultures, lifestyles, and socio-economic backgrounds. To advocate for those with no voice and reach out and care for those in need. To educate our community about Catholic social justice teachings. To strengthen religious education programs which foster more in-depth faith foundations for individuals and families in the parish. To promote responsible stewardship through the contribution of ideas, time, talents, and financial support. To encourage appreciate and recognize volunteer participation. To enrich our parish lay leadership and recruit and train new leaders. To empower youth, young adults and lay ministers to have an active role in shaping the future of our parish. To keep parishioners informed on issues and opportunities for involvement in our parish, our Church and our world.
To celebrate joyful activities with our parish
family and the local community.” A mission statement – whether in a for-profit business, a non-profit service agency or church – is only “real” when the budget and parish activities reflect the mission. Please think of the following questions and discuss them with members of your household or your fellow parishioners. Does
the budget of the parish actually reflect the activity of the
church? Are resources going toward making the mission statement
real? The mission statement we have and the promises are somewhat
non-threatening; however, when we take the words, “to embrace all
peoples” seriously, we begin to have a community that struggles with
the issues of diversity and plurality. How does diversity make you
feel? Is it fair to say, “enough is enough?” When we say, “to
advocate for those with no voice,” and then speak up for
undocumented immigrants, how do I feel? Do our religious education
programs help form the character, inform the mind and inspire
“young” Christians and “adult” Christians? Do we participate enough
in ministry and in our parish social activities? REFLECTIONS ON OUR SUNDAY CELEBRATIONS What does it mean to you that we are arranged in concentric circles around the Table of the Lord? That we have chairs that are movable, not fixed pews? That we have no kneelers and our liturgical environment at different times in the church year reflects a variety of cultures: Southeast Asian, East Indian, East Asian, Latin American, European, and African?
Christ has no body now on earth but yours; you are the only hands with which he can do his work, yours are the only feet with which he can go about the world,
yours are the only eyes through which
his compassion can shine Christ has no body on earth now but yours.
What prayer would you want to write?
Please share your prayers with us. |