Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter April 22, 2018
Fr. Albert St. Peter’s, New Iberia
Do you belong? Do you belong to St. Peter’s parish? To the Church as a whole? Sure, many of you are registered parishioners and many of you contribute to the collection, but do you really belong? And it’s not like Fr. Blanda and I just want to brag about the numbers. Truly, this is a question that should matter to you more than anyone else. Because, well, Jesus is quite blunt about what it means for you if you don’t belong to him: “without me you can do nothing.”
When most people hear this, they think, “oh, that’s just Jesus exaggerating again… surely I can do some things without him.” No, you can’t; He’s not exaggerating. Besides the fact that your very existence depends on God at every moment, anything you try to do without Christ is fleeting, unimportant, meaningless. Businesses, books, sports, high scores, streaks on snapchat, and even helping others all means nothing if they are not rooted in Christ, if you do not belong to him.
Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. If we do not bear fruit, if we do not actually live like Christians who belong to Christ, we will be cut off and thrown into the fire. Those are Jesus’ words, not mine. The most dangerous belief in the world is that everyone will automatically go to heaven, that you don’t have to do anything. Believe that if you wish, but that doesn’t come from Jesus and he is very clear about that.
You cannot earn salvation, but your salvation does take work, and hard work at that. Then again, what doesn’t take hard work? Growing up is hard. Getting and keeping a job is hard. Growing old is hard. Falling in love and staying in love is hard. Being happy is hard!
Does this scare you? St. John’s letter, our second reading, is trying to reassure Christians in the early Church. They’ve been paying attention; They get what happens if they don’t belong; They are willing to ask this very important question: “How do I know if I belong?” So, John gives them an answer “This is how we shall know that we belong to the Truth,” to Jesus. He says that “those who keep his commandments remain in him and he in them and the way that we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us.”
So, do you belong? Look at your life. Do you try to keep his commandments? Do you have the Spirit in you? The spirit of humility, the spirit of love for God and neighbor, the spirit of fidelity to the Truth even when it’s unpopular.
Just look at St. Paul. When he first converts to the faith, other Christians don’t trust him. They aren’t sure that he belongs. Eventually they accept him, but they wanted evidence that he belongs to the truth. The evidence that won them over was this: “in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.” The bible uses the word “boldly” for a reason. It’s not bold to say what people want to hear, to stay comfortable. It’s bold because it challenges people; It means taking a risk. Paul risked his reputation and his own safety because he belonged to Christ. When the other Christians saw that, when they saw that he lived Christ’s commandments, they knew that he belonged.
Now, I’m not saying that you should leave the Church and not come back until someone throws stones at you for your preaching. What I am saying, however, is that being a registered parishioner doesn’t automatically mean you belong to Christ, to the Church, to the Truth. It doesn’t guarantee heaven. Like Paul, our faith should make us take risks.
So many people come here for 55 minutes once a week and want it to cover everything: prayer, education, fun, hanging out with friends, listening to cool music… that’s just not how Mass. We come to Mass to offer ourselves to God, not to enjoy each other’s company or have fun. We can do that in a thousand other ways, so complaining that Mass isn’t satisfying those desires is like complaining that water has no calories – it’s not supposed to!
It’s also impossible to please everyone; There’s no point in getting into an argument over how other people do it. The best thing we can do is offer Mass reverently, the way that the Church tells us. Like the rest of our faith, we must be willing to take risks to do Mass the way we’re supposed to. Risk being bored by not playing with your phone the whole time. Risk looking silly by singing along even if you don’t sound great. Be bold enough to invest your attention in the prayers and readings. Then perhaps you will recognize how you do belong. You are welcome to participate, to pray, to offer yourself to God. You are not welcome to make the Mass about you and your personal preferences.
I’m not naïve. I know some say they feel unwelcome here, like they don’t belong. They say it about Fr. Blanda and me, they say it about St. Peter’s. People in every parish in the world say that about the Church. It’s true that some people in the parish can be judgmental and exclusive and prejudiced. That’s awful and please let us know if that’s happening. I’ll admit I’m not perfect either. There are things that I can and will try to do better. But, the good news is that your belonging isn’t up to me. Belonging to Christ and his Church is your choice. Where were you when we pushed for perpetual adoration? Where are you when we are always looking for more CCD teachers and choir members? Where are you when we have men’s and women’s groups? On parish work days? Or when we have festivals and cook offs and bingo? Is there something educational or fun that you think we need? Have you tried to make it happen? Not everyone can do everything, but everyone should be doing something. Are you bold enough to contribute?
Perhaps this sounds like I’m just fussing at everyone, venting my frustrations. I’m not, this really comes from the Gospel. Jesus is clearly concerned with only one thing, the glory of God. And he says, “by this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” You bear fruit by doing good for God and his Church – and many of you do, thank you. Still, you might need a little pruning to bear more. We all need to periodically evaluate how effective and whole-hearted we are.
And if you aren’t bearing fruit, the solution is simple: Pray, use the sacraments, invest yourself in the Church. You don’t have to like me or Fr. Blanda or even the Pope. What you need is to love God, to stay a branch on the vine, to belong to Christ and his Church. And it’s not just to avoid the fire, but because of what Jesus promises: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.” What you want, what I want, what everyone ultimately wants is happiness. And true happiness is salvation, it is heaven, and it really is possible if you belong to Jesus Christ. So, do you belong? Are you willing to do what it takes to stay that way?