Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time, C November 3, 2019
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
What is your mission? The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. But his mission didn’t end with him. We are his body the Church and that mission continues today. Every single one of us shares in that mission to seek and to save what was lost. The first step is to be saved, to let God find and save you.
But you’re going to get away with just a general reminder to be a good Catholic. It’s much more than that. Each and every one of us has a specific mission entrusted to us and only to us. Even within the general categories of marriage, consecrated life, and priesthood, there is the unique way you are called to live that out in your specific circumstances. Every married couple should love each other, but the number of children and the unique needs of those children are different for each family. Every priest must celebrate the sacraments, but every assignment is different; It’s not that God micromanages your every move, but His providence accounts for you as a unique person in specific places.
Whatever your circumstances, the call always comes back to the love of God. This mission to seek and to save what was lost that motivated God to send His Son to die and rise for our sins. So, what is your mission? What is your way of sharing in that work? If you can’t answer that question, that’s a problem. If you think it’s not your problem, that you don’t need to worry about that Church stuff, then you need more conversion. A Catholic who does not have some kind of mission is unhealthy and hypocritical. The Church exists for the sake of saving souls. You belong to the Church, so you must share in that work.
Today begins National Vocation Awareness Week, where the Church in the U.S. focuses on helping young people recognize when God is calling them to be a priest, a monk, a nun, a religious sister or brother who serves the Church’s mission in a direct way.
But the fact is that these capital “V” Vocations are connected to everything I’ve said. Every human being is called to love. Every human being is naturally called to marriage – to have a family. Some human beings, however, are called – they have the vocation – to give up that natural call to family and become a priest or consecrated religious. Yet, if I am going to convince young people to consider such a call, they have to first recognize their call to conversion and their call to love. If you are going to help your children and grandchildren to recognize these vocations, they will need to see you living out your own mission in the Church to give them a foundation and an example.
And there are many similarities between an initial conversion to Christ and the recognition of a vocation within the Church – both of these can be compared to what we see with Zacchaeus today. Seeing this pattern of conversion and vocation will help you identify those people in your life who might be converted or who might have a vocation. Seeing this can help you to help them along and in turn help you carry out your mission in the Church to seek and to save what was lost.
As with Zacchaeus, the first step both in conversion and in a vocation is curiosity. He wants to see Jesus. An acquaintance might have questions about your faith. A child or grandchild might be interested in what a priest or sister does in their daily life. It can’t just be idle curiosity; It must include a willingness to search, to climb a tree. Point out those trees by directing friends and family to good resources: books websites, knowledgeable people. Sadly, this is the step where we lose the most conversions – rarely do we provoke and nurture that curiosity.
This curiosity often leads to an encounter with Jesus. “Come down, I must stay with you.” A person open to the grace of conversion eventually experiences God in personal prayer or the example of a Christian. A young person open to God’s call on their life experiences an invitation, sometimes through another person, sometimes through an experience in prayer or with the sacraments. Perhaps you see the potential for conversion or vocation in someone and you get the sense you should make that invitation: “come to a bible study with me” or “have you ever considered becoming a religious sister?”
This encounter, this offer of love and communion with Jesus can dead end if it doesn’t meet with some kind of repentance, some kind of generosity. “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” This is more than an apology for sin; It is an effort to repair the damage and more for good measure. In a priestly or religious vocation, it can be a decision to break off a relationship, to add a serious commitment to prayer or service that wasn’t there before, or to enter the seminary or postulancy. This is often the step where we lose the most vocations – they end up in perpetual discernment, always seeking another encounter, but not willing to make any commitments. For your part, you can pray and encourage people in this phase of repentance or commitment, perhaps adding a smaller commitment yourself to be an example and to be in solidarity with them.
Finally, “salvation has come to this house.” A person who repents in a concrete way then formally identifies himself as Christian through sacraments, either by coming back or approaching them for the first time. A person with a vocation settles into the call and begins to incorporate it into their very identity, not just being a guy or girl who loves Jesus, but starting to think “I am a priest… I am a religious sister… this is part of my identity where I am at home with Jesus.” You can carry out your mission by supporting them in this identity, not just when it’s new and exciting, but also when they’re weary and uncertain.
So, consider your own life and mission. How have you helped God to seek and to save the lost? Don’t fret about the past. Instead look to opportunities in your life now. Who in your life is like Zacchaeus? At the beginning of conversion or open to a vocation? Where step are they on? Curiosity, Encounter, Commitment, Identity? Pray for them and consider how to help them to the next step. Take another step yourself. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost: It’s his mission. Help him however you can. That is your mission.