THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

The church parking lot was covered in two feet of freshly fallen snow.  I noticed an SUV drive into the church parking lot for the 5:00 pm Saturday Mass.  The driver got out and went around to the other side to help her young daughter get out of the back seat.  What struck me was that the mother took normal steps walking around the SUV, but then the mother took very small steps, so her daughter could walk in her footprints towards the church door.  The 4-year-old daughter made a special effort to walk in her mother’s footprints. There was only one set of footprints.

I couldn’t help but wonder.  Does my life have just one set of footprints or would there be two sets, one belonging to Christ and the other distinctly belonging to me?

Am I making my own footprints rather than following the footsteps that make me a disciple of Christ?  Or am I struggling and dragging my feet? 

In today’s Gospel from the Book of Matthew, Jesus invited four simple people to follow him.  And they did.  Jesus invites all of us to follow in his footprints and become his disciples.  “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.” 

In the same way, we are each invited to follow Christ, our leader, and in doing so, to make more disciples.

And we hear from Paul in our Second Reading, his Letter to the Corinthians, that we are to “… be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”  Paul writes about the Corinthian syndrome:  “’I belong to Paul’ or ‘I belong to Apollos’ or ‘I belong to Cephas’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’”  Paul begs us this morning to be united in mind and spirit.

There were definitely rivalries among the first Christians, and these rivalries still exist today. 

In sports:

I’m for the Patriots; you’re for the Steelers.

I’m for the Packers; you’re for the Falcons.

 

In our very own church:

I’m for singing at Mass; some are against singing.

I support serving in ministries; some can’t be bothered.

I am for going to Mass; some would rather go skiing.

 

In politics:

I oppose the death penalty, does that make me a liberal?

I oppose abortion, does that make me a conservative?

I support a preferential option for the poor and marginalized, am I a liberal?

I support traditional marriage; in your eyes, am I conservative?

 

I am not a liberal or conservative. If you have to label me, tag me with being a Catholic.  I am not loyal to a political party but to the Catholic Church, which is for me the voice of Christ.  Psalm 27, which we sang today, reminds us, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”  Christ is the light of the world that dispels the darkness.

Squabbling and complaining kill the spirit of a family, a parish, a community, or a nation. God is manifest when we love one another, forgive one another, ease one another’s burdens, and strive to be Christ to one another.

We, the people of God, are called to proclaim and be the Kingdom of God, by loving, healing, forgiving and serving one another, even our enemies.

Jesus’ message of the Kingdom is that it is here and now, but not fully here.  God needs our help to bring it to fullness.  Yes, you and me.  That is why He set out from His hometown to the fishing town of Capernaum, where Jesus invited others to help with His mission. 

It is really important that we understand what the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven means.  Mark and Luke use the term Kingdom of God, while Matthew uses the term Kingdom of Heaven.  Both mean the same thing. 

You are going to have to work with me on this because this will be a challenge to explain in five minutes or less, and nobody wants a homily to go on for too long.

What is the Kingdom?

Jesus never defined the Kingdom specifically.  He did, however, describe the Kingdom by using parables. 

Matthew describes that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a sower who plants different seeds, it is like a mustard seed, a net thrown into the sea, a treasure hidden in a field, a pearl of great price, a father forgiving a prodigal son or a wedding feast in which all are invited, but not everyone is ready to come.  It is like a mixture of the good seeds and bad weeds, and they will be sorted out in the end.

We imagine the Kingdom to be a place, but it is not a specific place.  The Kingdom is a state of being of total peace, joy and contentment.

As a chaplain and federal government employee with the Bureau of Prisons for 25 years, I became well aware of the distinction between essential and non-essential personnel.  In certain emergency situations, like a hostage crisis, suicide, inmate riot or fight, I was considered essential.  In other emergency situations, like a flooded building or mechanical malfunction, I was considered non-essential.

In the Kingdom of Heaven, we are all considered essential personnel.  We are each given different gifts or charisms to build this Kingdom of God here and now.  We might not feel fully qualified, but that does not matter.  We are called.

So maybe the Kingdom of God is like the mother who takes small steps so her daughter can safely follow her.

When Jesus invited Andrew, Peter, James and John to follow him, he didn’t pick the best or brightest.  They were common, ordinary people with faults and doubts.  At one point, they wanted Jesus to bring fire on the Samaritans.  They fought with each other over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom.  They ran for their lives when Jesus was arrested. 

But they heard the call and took the risk.