HOMILY WEEK 08 02 – Year II
Setting All Our Hope on the Grace of Christ
(1 Pt 1:10-16; Ps 98; Mk 10:28-31)
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One Sunday at the Oblate Scholasticate at Battleford where I began the study of theology, Fr. Kedl, one of our professors, gave an eloquent homily. Fr. Huber, one of the elder Oblate priests in the congregation, was a type we called “a character” in our province, because of their colorful and unique personalities. His response to the homily was to say out loud in his broken English, “Vell den, vut does it all mean?”
The readings today are full of meaning as they invite us to set all our hope on the grace Jesus Christ brings, and be ready to leave all to follow him.
The psalm assures us Jesus is victorious over sin, sinfulness and death, this salvation has been made known, and we share in that victory.
The author of the first letter of Peter infers the prophets of the Old Testament intuited the grace and salvation, suffering and glory of Jesus Christ through the inspiration of the Spirit of Christ. What is striking is this was not so much for their sake, but for ours, for we are the ones who can now participate in this good news of salvation through the power of the Holy Spirit of Jesus sent from heaven.
Our response to this grace is to put all our hope in Jesus, to be ready for action that might include some suffering for the sake of the gospel, and to strive to be holy as God is holy – to let go of sin and sinfulness by receiving the forgiveness and healing that the Spirit of the Risen Lord wants to share with us – essentially, a sharing in the eternal divine life of the Father right here and now.
This grace, this salvation, this new creation, this new way of living is so precious and so important that we are to be ready to make it the top priority in our lives, willing to give up anything that might hinder us from following Jesus and making him the center of our lives – ready to accept suffering, persecution and even martyrdom for his sake.
We are called to live out wholeheartedly the saying “it is better to give than to receive.” We hear that in people who choose to let go of any constraints and give their lives away in service – they will often claim they end up receiving more than what they gave to others, that it is they who are most enriched when they give their lives away.
Fr. Bill and Bro. Harley at the pre-novitiate in Meru, Kenya 2003
When the call came from the superior general of the Oblates to our province of Lacombe Canada to send at least two members to help found a new mission in Kenya, Fr. Bill Stang, whom few would have thought of as a likely candidate, offered to go. Shortly after he arrived in Kenya, his mother passed away, and he was not able to return for her funeral, contenting himself with the last visit he had with her before leaving. A year or so later, his sister also passed away, and he felt he could not return for her burial either. It wasn’t until his father passed away some years later that he was able to come home for that funeral and to visit his family. He truly left home and family for the sake of Jesus, yet is a content, fulfilled and peaceful missionary Oblate. He is one of the last who is now first.
The Eucharist is part of that grace and glory given to us by Jesus. We are so privileged to be able to listen to him speak to us through his Word and receive his forgiveness and healing as we commune with his body and blood.
May our celebration empower us to set all our hope on the grace and glory Jesus will bring us, seek to make him the center of our lives and be ready to leave all to follow him.
