St. Dominic Catholic Church

Homilies

May 13, 2018 - Ascension

Today I continue a three-week preaching cycle on what it means to be a Christian.

Last week I said Christianfaith says God enters our lives in discernible ways.

The beloved, unbegotten Son of the Father became human in Jesus of Nazareth, only did His Father’s will, and was rejected and crucified by sinful humans.

The Father raised him from the dead and, after instructing his followers to proclaim the Gospel to the world, he returned body and soul to His Father.

Christian faith is a personal relationship with the Blessed Trinity, encompassing our mind, heart, body and soul, and is a response to the preaching of the Gospel.

 

There are stages, or thresholds of growth in any relationship: trust, curiosity about the other, openness to change because of them, seeking a permanent relationship, and committing to that relationship.

I’ve summarized these in the pastor’s corner in the bulletin this week, so take one home with you.  They come from Sherry Weddell's book, "Forming Intentional Disciples."

The first stage in a relationship is trust, and this is the foundation.

You’d never befriend someone you didn’t initially trust.

You’re here at Mass because you trust someone; if not God, then the Church, or your spouse, or a friend who brought you here.

I grew up trusting God – He gave me parents who loved me and clothed, fed and educated me – even when I was ungrateful for it all.

We went to Mass everySunday, and my folks prayed, showing me theytrusted God.

 

But trust, while essential, is not all there is in a relationship.

The second threshold we cross on the journey to discipleship is curiosity.

It isn’t intense, just a willingness to listen, maybe ask a few questions.

It’s not just curiosity about ideas, though – it must become curiosity about Jesus, because he’s the one inviting us into a relationship.

In a friendship, you’re open to knowing more about the other – although, honestly, we often are more interested in talking about ourselves.

There were many in the crowds that listened to Jesus preach, but didn’t follow him for long – especially when he began making demands on them.

I learned some things aboutJesus in Catholic grade school and in countless homilies.

But I was passive until two Protestant buddies tried to convert me in college.

The next day I went and talked to a priest and asked some questions of my own.

I learned there was an intellectual heft behind the Catholic faith, and this also increased my trust in God and the Church.

That’s the nature of these spiritual thresholds – we don’t “graduate” and leave one as the journey progresses.

They intensify and deepen as we draw closer to Jesus – or weaken as we turn away.

 

The third threshold on the road to discipleship is one that many never cross – it’s an openness to spiritual change.

Jesus said how “hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom” – to become his disciple -  because when we’re wealthy, we have an illusion of control over our lives.

Becoming a disciple requires that we hand that control over to Jesus.

If one’s an atheist, openness can be as simple – and as challenging - as becoming open to the possibility that God exists.

Looking back on my life, being open to spiritual change has been a challenge.

Pope Benedict XVI said something in his first homily as pope that speaks to me. 

He said, “If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us?”

I was afraid of becoming someone that seemed foreign, someone “not me,” like the evangelical guy in my college dorm who always struck me as phony.

When I did begin to be open to Jesus in grad school, I began to realize how phony I hadbeen, and how I had made decisions about grad school based on my ego.

 

Seekinga relationship with the Lord and committing to follow him as a Discipleare the last two thresholds, and they’re difficult for me to talk about in my own life.

I was definitely seeking to be closer to him when I was in graduate school and knew I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.

You’d think I was a disciple when I entered the Dominicans, but I’m not so sure.

Like most of you, I grew up in a Catholic household, went to church on Sundays, and my behavior was shaped by “the rules”.

But no one talked about faith as a relationship, so how could I seek something I didn’t know existed?

No one talked about making a conscious decision to follow Jesus making him the Lord of my life.

But seeking is intentionally exploring a relationship with Christ and his Church.

It’s preparing to make a decision to entrust ourselves to Jesus by faith.

Discipleship is not unconscious or automatic – any more than choosing to marry is unconscious or automatic.

 

I’m afraid we don’t want to talk about a relationship with Jesus because we know our weakness, and we don’t want to be called hypocrites.

But I think we misunderstand discipleship.

Being a disciple does not mean we’re mistake free, we don’t need confession, or we never get angry or overwhelmed.

It does not mean we are a saint – it means we choose to follow Jesus again and again.

But the choice has consequences.

St. Paul says to strive to “live in a manner worthy of the calling we have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love.”

Disciples choose to pray, study our faith, serve others, give of themselves and their resources, discern God’s will for their lives, and seek community with other disciples.

And they do this as nurses, business owners, engineers, caregivers, teachers, attorneys, laborers, and financial consultants.

And in the choice to follow Jesus, our trust in Him deepens, we want to know Him better, and we are open to ongoing conversion.

 

Becoming a disciple of Jesus is a work of grace and it’s the beginning of a great adventure.

And the relationship, just like a marriage or dear friendship, deepens over time ifwe make it a priority.

When we are disciples, the grace given to us in baptism according to the measure of Christ’s gift, the Holy Spirit, begins to be unleashed.

When the disciples preached about Jesus, the Holy Spirit gave their words effectiveness through the signs that accompanied their preaching – signs that elicited trust, curiosity and openness in others.

I will talk about those signs next week, as we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the earth at Pentecost.

 

Last week my question to you was, “Do I have faith?”

This week, I invite you to consider at what spiritual threshold you are – trust, curiosity, openness, seeking?  Are you a disciple of Jesus?