Saturday, July 07, 2007

The Laborers are not few... (Sunday homily)

The Prophet Isaiah describes a future Jerusalem,
as a place of great abundance and joy.

That richness, that abundance—where is it?
It is right here!
Right here in the richness of compassion
we share with one another.
Wealth of fellowship in the Lord.
Abundance of the Holy Spirit,
poured out from our wounded God on the Cross,
into our own, wounded lives.

Where do we find this?
Here! In the life we share together as Catholics,
united around the Cross, around the altar,
where we are nourished abundantly
from the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ.

That abundance is right here, all the time.
Whether I do a good job offering Mass,
Or the readers or servers or each of us
does our part well enough, the prosperity is still here.

When you see what the Holy Mass is,
what the Catholic Faith is—
And the Mass is the Faith:
every part of our Faith, one way or another,
is revealed and can be understood, through the Mass—
Then you know how rich we truly are!
For those who drift away, or walk away
because they are unhappy about something,
how can we help them see this abundance?

Pray to the Lord of the harvest.

The Lord said “the laborers are few.”

Some 1300 people routinely attend
the Holy Sacrifice in Piqua every weekend.
There are many more beyond that.

In Piqua, the laborers are not few.
We are not poor—we are rich.
We are not weak or uncertain—
we have the power of Christ
to cast Satan down like lightning from the sky!

What’s holding us back?

1 comment:

Eileen said...

Dear Fr. Fox,
Well said. And I agree that prayer is the best way to get people back to the Catholic church or to become Catholic. I have seen prayer work personally two times in this regard. Be patient though because God works in His own time not ours. God Bless.