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Fr. John "Jack" Mitchell, S.J.
(June 28, 2014)
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My wife took a photo of our surprise visitor before my Ordination Mass to the diaconate at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, California.
10am Mass (audio)
5pm Mass (video)
“Jesus
Invites You ‘Follow Me’ in All Circumstances” (Homily #158)
So one day, as I was greeting parishioners after Mass,
a parishioner came up to me and said, “Gee, Deacon, I really like your new grey
hair.” I replied, “I know, I know, the
diaconate has aged me.” She then said, “Oh,
no, fatherhood has aged you.” A few
weeks later, a different parishioner also came up to me after Mass and said,
“Gee, Deacon, I really like your new grey hair.” So, thinking of the first parishioner, I said
to the second parishioner, “I know, I know, fatherhood has aged me.” She said, “Oh, no, the diaconate has aged
you.” 😊
My mom affectionately calls my hair “salt and pepper.” (And for the record I do love our parishioners,
so thank you for letting me tell you that story.) I bring up this true story not only to
explain today’s Gospel, but because Deacon Juan Moreno and I this weekend
celebrated our 5th anniversary as permanent deacons. Five years ago, I remember most of my hair
was black, and today it is not.
I’ve been blessed to have baptized over 100 beautiful
souls, help with funerals and vigils, prepare couples for marriages and
sacraments, Benedictions and blessings, and preach over 150 homilies at 300
Masses and liturgies, to name some examples.
But prior to all this, while I was a candidate for ordination, the
Diocese asked me, for my case, to do the 30-days Spiritual Exercises of St.
Ignatius with a seasoned Jesuit priest for the first year. His name was Father Jack.
In the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, one is
invited to follow Jesus in meditation. And
by the end of the year, asked the Jesuit priest, “But what if I fail Jesus in
the future?” Fr. Jack was like the wise Mr.
Miyagi from the Karate Kid movie when he replied, “Ah, ah, ah!" He continued, "Where are you now following Jesus? That’s the future; let’s focus on today. Are you with Jesus today?" So I said, “Today, I am following him” but I then added, “What about my past, my failures, and my sins?” And Father again like Mr. Miyagi said, “Ah,
ah, ah, are you following Jesus now, today?
Do not worry about the past, and do not worry about the future. Are you following Jesus today?” So I said yes.
The invitation to follow Jesus is today, one day at a
time, on our journey home to Heaven. The
invitation to follow Jesus does comes not with ordination— in a sense, we have
it mixed up, as if the invitation to follow Jesus is only for a select few. Following Jesus starts with baptism! Vatican II calls this the universal call to
holiness. St. Josemaria Escriva says,
“The greatest male saint that ever lived was not a deacon, not a priest, not a
bishop, not a pope; rather, the greatest male saint was a husband, and father,
and a worker.” His name was St.
Joseph. He followed Jesus regardless of
his background and circumstances.
So if we want to remember this one simple point from today’s
Gospel, it’s Jesus’ words to us from Luke Chapter 9, “Follow me!” You know, there are thousands of other things
or people we are tempted to follow in the world. But are we following Jesus today, regardless
of our situation, regardless of our past, our failures, and regardless of the
unknown future?
In the Gospels, when Jesus invited others to “Follow
me,” he said, “Let the dead bury the dead.”
Now, let’s look at the spiritual meaning of the words of Christ here. Jesus wants the dead failures of our past,
and this should not stop you from following him. “Go and proclaim the Kingdom.” Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord. To another who wanted to say bye to his family
in the future, the point is that no earthly worries should stop us from
following Jesus now. Jesus is shows us
in Luke Ch. 9 that there really are no good excuses not to follow him.
Some might say, for example, “When my health is
better, I will follow you.” Ah, ah, ah,
like Mr. Miyagi or Father Jack would say, Jesus also still says, “Follow
me.” Some might say, “When I’m better
off financially, I will follow Jesus. Ah,
ah, ah! Jesus says, “Follow me.” If your health is bad, Jesus says follow
me. If your health is good, Jesus says
follow me. If you have no food on the
table and no money in the bank, Jesus says follow me. If you have an overabundance of food your
middle name is money, Jesus says follow me.
If you think you’re too young, Jesus says follow me. If you think you’re too old, Jesus says
follow me. If you think you’ve failed
with school or work or relationships, Jesus says follow me! If you think you’ve succeeded with school or
work or relationships, Jesus says follow me.
And in my case, if my hair is black, Jesus says follow me; if my hair is
gray, Jesus says follow me. Regardless
of our circumstances, all that matters in this life is to follow Jesus. In the First Reading from the First Book of
Kings, Elisha replaced Elijah but went to say goodbye to his family. The point here is that Elisha eventually
followed the way of God, regardless of his situation.
Finally, we practically accept Jesus’ invitation to
follow him in the Sacraments and in the Commandments. For those of us who are not baptized, Jesus
invites you today, “Follow me.” For
those who have not been born again in the Sacrament of Confirmation, Jesus
invites you, “Follow me.” If you haven’t
had your First Communion, Jesus invites you, “Follow me.” If you need help going to Confession, Jesus
says, “Follow me.” If we are sick and in
need of healing, Jesus invites you Follow me.
If we need the Sacrament of Matrimony, whether convalidating a civil
marriage or couples cohabitating without marriage, Jesus says, “Follow
me.” And finally, I turn to our own priests
in the Sacrament of Orders, Jesus says, “Follow me.” Let us build a culture of vocations in our
parish and invite other youth and young adults to follow Jesus in the
priesthood and religious life. I remember
being with a group of bishops for Youth Day.
I asked a bishop how things were going, and one of the bishops said, “Well,
Deacon, we are seeing parishes where there are no longer two priests but only
one priest, and sometimes one priest is assigned to two parishes. So let’s invite young men to follow Jesus.
In closing, the month of June is the month of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. So few have
returned love. When the U.S. bishops met
recently, they noted the alarming number of people leaving the Church. For every 1 Catholic that enters the Church, 6
leave. And many of these Catholics leave
when they are around 13 years old. So
how that we follow Jesus, go and announce the Gospel of the Lord. Invite others to the Sacraments, especially
in the Sacrament of the Eucharist which we will receive in a few moments. While it is true that God loves you, we too
should in our turn love God. Follow me
not just physically but follow Jesus’s Sacred Heart with your broken heart,
regardless of our circumstances. Love
God and neighbor in the Sacraments, in keeping his Commandments. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the
Immaculate Heart of Mary help us to always, always regardless of our
circumstances, to follow Jesus.
Jesus says to us today, “Follow me.”
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| 1st draft |
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| (started writing 1st draft on the back of randomly picked paper from my daughter, Hope) |
