Faith & the New Evangelization (Homily #8)

 

Audio of Homily #8

 

 



  

("Mary, Star of the New Evangelization," taken from the Diocese of Arlington, VA)



 

HOMILY: FAITH & THE NEW EVANGELIZATION

(Question From the Homily: "How Is Your Faith in God Doing?) 

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Aug. 17, 2014

8am Mass

 

We know what it is like to make telephone calls and leave messages for someone we care about.  We also know what it is like when we leave more than one message for that person, and that person that we care about doesn’t return our phone calls.

God invites, is patient, and calls us.  But at the end of the day, our hearts are either with God or our hearts are sadly away from God.

Our response to God is called Faith.  It is where you and I can encounter God on a very intimate level.  It is impossible to please God without the response of Faith.

So let me ask you this morning: Where is your heart, brothers and sisters?  How is your faith in God doing? 

In today’s Gospel, the Canaanite woman had great faith.  She continues to engage conversation with Jesus.  For our modern ears, the conversation with Jesus can seem strong in tone.  But Jesus is making a point here.  He is showing that everyone, not just a chosen few, is called to faith.  The Responsorial Psalm reflects this universal call to Faith.  It is written in Psalm 67, “Oh God, let all the nations praise you.”  (This is actually one of my favorite Psalms.)

Jesus eventually says to her:  “O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you wish.”

Like in the story, faith involves both one’s heart, will and intellect in responding to the invitation.  The whole person must respond in love.  Compared to the telephone call story, she is the total opposite of the Canaanite woman.

The Canaanite woman persisted in her faith, even with all the difficulties.  “One thousand difficulties do not make one doubt,” according to Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, the great English convert to the Catholic Faith.  “One thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.”  The Canaanite woman’s faith was certain amidst the difficulties.  Difficulties are sure to come, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t believe.

Also, like in the story, the young woman made a free act of her will.  She wasn’t forced to pick up the phone or coerced.  The response of faith is free.  The response of love and faith is free.

 

The second major point is the universal call to faith.  All nations are called to faith in God!  In fact, this was one major theme that was consistent throughout all the readings this morning.  That Faith is meant for all nations, for everyone.  It isn’t meant to be just a private matter.  All the nations should be brought to God. 

In the First Reading, it is the foreigner – not the Jew – who loves the name of the Lord and becomes His servants.

The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
ministering to him,
loving the name of the LORD,
and becoming his servants—

In the Second Reading, St. Paul describes as the “Apostle to the Gentiles” in his Letter to the Romans.

Thus, the call to Faith is universal, not specific to any one particular nation.

This means that we, the Church, are called to spread faith in God.  This is called “Evangelization.”  Evangelization is where we share God with others.

Pope Paul VI wrote, “The Church exists for evangelization.”

Also, Pope Paul VI wrote, “Modern world listens to witnesses before it listens to teachers.  And if it does listen to teachers it is because they are witnesses.”

Yes, I admit, it is difficult for many to talk about God in the public.  Or perhaps praying in one’s family or doing something related to church can be difficult.  But like the Canaanite women, a thousand difficulties do not make one reason to doubt and not share the faith.

Pope Francis wrote in “Light of Faith”:

In the family, faith accompanies every age of life, beginning with childhood: children learn to trust in the love of their parents. This is why it is so important that within their families parents encourage shared expressions of faith which can help children gradually to mature in their own faith. Young people in particular, who are going through a period in their lives which is so complex, rich and important for their faith, ought to feel the constant closeness and support of their families and the Church in their journey of faith (LF #53).

The Church is a Mother who teaches us to speak the language of faith.

 The purpose of the Church is to spread the name of Jesus Christ.  “Oh God let all the nations praise you!”  The call to faith is universal.  The word “catholic” in Greek means “universal”.  The Church is universal and catholic.  St. Ignatius of Antioch around the year 100 said, “Where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”  It is our calling to spread the Faith.

But here’s the thing: We cannot spread Faith in God if we ourselves have not been converted and engaged with a passionate relationship with Jesus. This relationship is strengthen most especially in the Seven Sacraments of the Church, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation or Confession which can be received many times.  These sacraments will help us be converted first.  Conversion happens daily. 

Many of us know people who have left the Church or perhaps we ourselves need to be strengthened to practice our faith.  I used the world “Evangelization,” but there is a term used by the Church these days called the “New Evangelization.”  The New Evangelization is directed at Catholics who have left the Church.  It doesn’t mean new methods and new media, even though these are part of it.  It means that we need to re-evangelize societies that have left the Faith.  We need to remind them that the Church is their home.  It is in the community of believers that Christ is encountered.  It is in the Eucharist most especially where we experience Jesus.  We need to invite fallen away Catholics back home to the Church.  Let them know that we miss them and that something is missing from the altar of sacrifice and the table of the Lord.

The New Evangelization also refers to practicing Catholics to deepen their faith in God.  Pope Emeritus Benedict said that the New Evangelization takes a step forward every time a Catholic goes to Confession.  We bring the world closer to God every time we ourselves pray and have daily conversions ourselves.  In addition to the Eucharist, we encounter Jesus in Confession.  This is where he waits for us.

The great spiritual master Fr. Garragou-Lagrage says that in one’s spiritual life, if one is not advancing, then one is regressing.  We must constantly and daily nourish our faith.

So if we return to the question I asked this morning: How is your Faith doing?  It is in personal prayer, holiness, the practice of a fervent sacramental life, and love of neighbor where we can measure our faith.

To evangelize the world, to invite Catholics who have left the Church or simply do not regularly practice their Faith through Sunday Mass, we ourselves first must be converted to Jesus Christ like the Canaanite woman.  Let our response of faith be enflamed so that ALL nations will come to faith in God.

Like the Canaanite woman, let us have a strong faith, so that all nations may come to faith in God and His Only Son whom He has sent into the world.

Oh God, let all the nations praise You!

Purificacion, Dennis (Aug. 17, 2014).  "Homily: Faith & the New Evangelization" (Vallejo, CA: St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church) blogged at www.marysdeacon.blogspot.com on Aug. 17, 2014.