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25 Oct 2015 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Seventeen-year-old Valerie Herrera, a senior at Cristo Rey high school in Chicago, received the rare opportunity to ask Pope Francis a question via satellite on national television several weeks prior to the pope’s first visit to the United States. Herrera, who suffers from vitiligo, a skin disorder that causes white patches to appear around her mouth and eyes, told the pope that she had been bullied for years but found faith and strength by singing in the church choir. “Music was a way for me to show people who I really am. I wasn’t just the girl who looks different from everyone else, but the girl that has many talents.” She then asked the pope what he wanted from youth: “What do you expect us to be and do?” The pope’s initial reply: “I would like for you to sing a song to me.” When the young woman hesitated, he said, “Be courageous!” Herrera then sang “By you, Mary,” a song about the Blessed Virgin her mother had taught her. Francis thanked the young girl and then told her, “What I hope from youth is for you all not to walk alone in life.” Throughout the gospels, Jesus reminds his followers that their role as disciples is to live with love and help the blind see. A 17-year-old in Chicago and the Holy Father in Rome showed the world what such discipleship looks like today.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

discipleship blind

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Homily themes

25 Oct 2015 - Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way. Who is the model disciple? If it’s the Gospel of Mark, chances are it’s not “the disciples.” They’re too busy deciding who can and cannot talk with Jesus. They may be walking with him out of Jericho, but they’re not necessarily following. No, that role goes to Bartimaeus, who though “blind” is the only one who sees the Messiah in Jesus. He has faith: He’s persistent; he won’t be shushed. In the whole Gospel of Mark only he calls Christ Master. And he’s willing to get up and follow not his “own way” but the way of Jesus—even though that road goes to Jerusalem.

blind bartimaeus disciples

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Exploring the word

18 Oct 2015 - Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

"The church must be missionary.” So says the Catechism (n. 851) in a terse echo of the Great Commission of Jesus: Go and make disciples of all nations. We’re reminded on this World Mission Sunday that church isn’t primarily a place where we come to pray, or even a happy assembly of the already convinced. Church is a community “on a mission from God,” as the Blues Brothers would say. That mission is to be the “universal sacrament of salvation” (Lumen Gentium)—which we can’t be sitting on our hands. Here’s the rub: It’s hard for most of us to put our love into a void. We love what we know and who we know. World Mission Sunday is therefore an easier sell in parishes that have yoked themselves to a more disadvantaged parish across town; support a particular local or global mission with money and supplies; or in fact have sent one of their own out to serve in a foreign country. If your parish hasn’t personally “owned” the missions yet in one of these ways, this is the year to launch such an initiative. Issue the call, find out whose heart is burning, and prepare to be surprised. When my college-grad niece felt a vocation to the missions, she found an organization to accept her but needed to raise money for her training. Approaching her well-heeled parish from which she’d attended 12 years of parochial school, sung in the choir, lectored, taught summer Bible school, she asked permission to make an appeal to the community and was refused. The parish leaders didn’t see what her missionary call had to do with the parish. What a grievous miscalculation! One hopes her awakened faith had everything to do with the formation she received in their midst. Many of us were taught that we come to church to eat and drink. While this is true, it’s even more essential to realize that service goes with our supper. The Table of the Lord is set with a cup of suffering that we agree to share. The first disciples were a little fuzzy on this, and so are we in the early years of our faith. But we can’t stay that way. If the Sunday preaching doesn’t seek to awaken that understanding and sense of purpose, from where else might we expect it to come? Humans are a competitive species. We’re attracted to seats of greatness, and we’re first in line to be annoyed when someone else seeks those same places of honor. In today’s gospel we see two disciples reach for the top and 10 others get into a snit about it. All 12 have missed the point of what Jesus has been saying and doing. Can we put that competitive spirit to good use in our eagerness to serve? Related scripture links Passion predictions in Mark: 8:31-33; 9:30-32; 10:32-34 John and the Hour: John 2:4; 4:21; 5:25; 7:6-8; 16:1-4, 25-33; 17:1-5 Matthew’s sermons: Matt. chs. 5-7; 10, 13; 18; 23-25 Luke’s meals: Luke 5:27-32, 33-35; 6:1-5; 7:33-34, 36-50; 9:10-17; 11:37-53; 12:37-48; 14:1-6, 15-24; 15:23-24; 16:19-30; 17:7-10; 22:7-20; 24:29-32, 41-43 Laying down your life: Luke 9:23-26; John 15:12-15

Authors Alice Camille

discipleship Missionary

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Exploring the word

29 Jun 2014 - Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, Cycle A

It's not often that a human being is big enough to trump a Sunday observance! But the two men we honor today do just that; Mary and John the Baptist are the only others with the liturgical clout to do the same. Consider that Saints Peter and Paul, taken together, are the church—that is, they embody two significant aspects of church which incorporate the whole and cannot be separated without losing something vital. Those aspects might be defined as action and reason. Peter is a doer, and Paul is a thinker. One trait isn't much good without the other. Peter, the man of action, operates on a hair-trigger of responsiveness whenever a challenge arises. A preacher passes along the shoreline and says, "Come follow me"—and Peter is gone before the boat is sufficiently docked. Peter drops his nets into the water upon the Lord's command even after a night of fruitless efforts, dragging in a miracle catch as a result. He leaps into the water and tries to walk across its surface because Jesus invites him to. He blurts out: "You are the Christ," which is a very dangerous thing to say in Roman-occupied Israel. Peter is the disciple who draws a sword when Jesus is ambushed at the Garden of Gethsemane; a servant's ear is sacrificed before Jesus calls him off. Peter swears impulsively that he will never, ever deny his Lord—and then denies him three times before the night is out. Three days later he runs at once to the tomb because of a report that it's empty. He will soon leap from a boat and swim to shore at a sighting of Jesus. The Holy Spirit hardly rushes into the upper room in tongues of fire before Peter is out in the street, telling what he knows to the astonished morning crowds. Peter never thinks, he acts—and his impulsive actions are both courageous and sometimes wanting in premeditation. Which is where Paul comes in. Paul is a scholar: a man of law, philosophy, and debate. He spent the first half of his life contemplating right action according to the school of the Pharisees. This led him to the decision to persecute Christians, which was the only logical conclusion (staying in your head all the time can lead to a disastrous lack of proportionality). But then an experience "on the road" derails Paul's rational convictions. The mystical element can do that to a person. Paul continues to think his way through the Judeo-Christian conundrum. How do you reconcile the demands of divine law and divine mercy? How do you live in the kingdom while remaining in the world? Paul hits the pause button on Peter's relentless action. He knows that theological reflection can sometimes change the course you're on completely. Related scripture links Walking on water: Matt. 14:22-33 Lowering the net: John 21:1-14 Pulling the sword in the Garden: John 18:10-11 Easter witness: John 20:1-9 Paul’s persecutions and boasting: 2 Cor. 11:16-30 Strength in weakness: 2 Cor. 12:1-10 Catechism links Peter: CCC 440; 442-443; 551-556; 640-642; 765; 816; 861-865; 880-881; 1444

Authors Alice Camille

discipleship Saints disciples

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Exploring the word

29 Jun 2014 - Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, Cycle A

It's not often that a human being is big enough to trump a Sunday observance! But the two men we honor today do just that; Mary and John the Baptist are the only others with the liturgical clout to do the same. Consider that Saints Peter and Paul, taken together, are the church—that is, they embody two significant aspects of church which incorporate the whole and cannot be separated without losing something vital. Those aspects might be defined as action and reason. Peter is a doer, and Paul is a thinker. One trait isn't much good without the other. Peter, the man of action, operates on a hair-trigger of responsiveness whenever a challenge arises. A preacher passes along the shoreline and says, "Come follow me"—and Peter is gone before the boat is sufficiently docked. Peter drops his nets into the water upon the Lord's command even after a night of fruitless efforts, dragging in a miracle catch as a result. He leaps into the water and tries to walk across its surface because Jesus invites him to. He blurts out: "You are the Christ," which is a very dangerous thing to say in Roman-occupied Israel. Peter is the disciple who draws a sword when Jesus is ambushed at the Garden of Gethsemane; a servant's ear is sacrificed before Jesus calls him off. Peter swears impulsively that he will never, ever deny his Lord—and then denies him three times before the night is out. Three days later he runs at once to the tomb because of a report that it's empty. He will soon leap from a boat and swim to shore at a sighting of Jesus. The Holy Spirit hardly rushes into the upper room in tongues of fire before Peter is out in the street, telling what he knows to the astonished morning crowds. Peter never thinks, he acts—and his impulsive actions are both courageous and sometimes wanting in premeditation. Which is where Paul comes in. Paul is a scholar: a man of law, philosophy, and debate. He spent the first half of his life contemplating right action according to the school of the Pharisees. This led him to the decision to persecute Christians, which was the only logical conclusion (staying in your head all the time can lead to a disastrous lack of proportionality). But then an experience "on the road" derails Paul's rational convictions. The mystical element can do that to a person. Paul continues to think his way through the Judeo-Christian conundrum. How do you reconcile the demands of divine law and divine mercy? How do you live in the kingdom while remaining in the world? Paul hits the pause button on Peter's relentless action. He knows that theological reflection can sometimes change the course you're on completely. Related scripture links Walking on water: Matt. 14:22-33 Lowering the net: John 21:1-14 Pulling the sword in the Garden: John 18:10-11 Easter witness: John 20:1-9 Paul’s persecutions and boasting: 2 Cor. 11:16-30 Strength in weakness: 2 Cor. 12:1-10 Catechism links Peter: CCC 440; 442-443; 551-556; 640-642; 765; 816; 861-865; 880-881; 1444

Authors Alice Camille

discipleship Saints disciples

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Sign & sacrament

29 Jun 2014 - Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, Cycle A

It is important to note that Saints Peter and Paul, the two men we call the “pillars of the church,” were both flawed and gifted human beings. Peter, the “rock” upon which Jesus built his church, was a simple fisherman who was the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and also the first to deny knowing him. Paul, an educated Roman citizen, intended to imprison Christians but ended up becoming a follower of Jesus himself. He was Christianity’s first missionary, establishing communities throughout the Mediterranean world. We are each called to live the gospel message. These stories offer reassurance that our weaknesses are not too much for God to overcome.

discipleship Saints disciples Leadership

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Sign & sacrament

29 Jun 2014 - Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, Cycle A

It is important to note that Saints Peter and Paul, the two men we call the “pillars of the church,” were both flawed and gifted human beings. Peter, the “rock” upon which Jesus built his church, was a simple fisherman who was the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and also the first to deny knowing him. Paul, an educated Roman citizen, intended to imprison Christians but ended up becoming a follower of Jesus himself. He was Christianity’s first missionary, establishing communities throughout the Mediterranean world. We are each called to live the gospel message. These stories offer reassurance that our weaknesses are not too much for God to overcome.

discipleship Saints disciples Leadership

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Homily themes

29 Jun 2014 - Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles, Cycle A

Saints Peter and Paul were both rescued—literally—one from prison and the other from prosecution, at least for a while. They illustrate the deliverance the psalmist testifies to for those believers who call on the Lord, as indeed they did: “I have kept the faith”; “you are the Christ.” But they were saved for something and strengthened for something: to witness to and spread the Good News. We are saved for the same reason: not only for refuge but for mission.

discipleship Saints Salvation Deliverance

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The inner word

08 Sep 2013 - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Do you have what it takes to be a disciple? Don’t panic: You don’t have to “hate” your family. Though Jesus’ words sound as strong then as they do now, see them in terms of the rest of what he says in the gospel passage, the big message of which is: Measure your resources before starting on something, like a king contemplating giving battle or a builder sizing up whether he can afford to complete a structure. That means being ready to renounce your possessions and to put your faith ahead of all else—including your family if it came to that, though it probably never will. More certain is the possibility that following Jesus will involve taking up the cross at some point. Are we prepared to make the necessary sacrifices?

discipleship family

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