Friday, July 1, 2016

Homily: July 1 2016 - St. Junipero Serra - Bringing Jesus to Others



On this memorial of Junipero Sera, patron of promoting vocations, we have the Gospel of Jesus, the original vocation promoter, calling Matthew, the tax collector.

Matthew was a Jew who collected taxes from his fellow Jews on behalf of the occupying Roman forces.  Tax collectors, therefore, were considered as loathsome as murderers, assassins, thieves, robbers, criminals, and prostitutes. Yet, The Lord entered into Matthew’s life, the world of sinners, and invited him to the life of grace.

Notice, immediately after Matthew begins to follow Jesus, they go to Matthew’s home, where Matthew had invited other tax collectors and sinners to come and meet Jesus. Matthew, called out of sinfulness, becomes the conduit for Jesus to meet other sinners. Matthew becomes an instrument for the conversion of others. 

That’s what we are called to.  Jesus calls us out of our sin, that he may use us to be instruments of conversion.

What a fitting Gospel as we honor the Franciscan missionary, Junipero Serra.  St. Junipero. Was a university professor in Spain, who gave up his position to come to California to teach the Native Americans about the Lord. He devoted himself to building churches and schools for the poor and the native people, catechizing those in his care and raising up dedicated priests to continue the Lord’s work. Pope Francis canonized Junipero Serra on September 23, 2015. during a Mass in Washington, DC.

Junipero like Matthew was called by the Lord out of sin, to go back into the world, and build up the Church.

The promotion of priestly vocations and building up of the Church is the responsibility of the whole Church; from parents and grandparents raising their children in faith filled homes, all of us praying and encouraging young people to consider priestly and religious vocations. Sometimes it is difficult for young people to accept the call.  They think Jesus only calls the supremely holy.  But no, Jesus calls sinners, he calls the ordinary, to do extraordinary things for the Father.

We do well to ask ourselves what we can do to promote and work for vocations, how in our neighborhoods we can work to promote the Gospel.  It has never been harder for young people to hear the call of the Lord, but that also means that they have never been hungrier, they have never longed to hear his voice more deeply.  As we read in the Psalm: “My soul is consumed with longing for the timeless ordinances” of God. 


As we prayed in the Collect this morning, may our hearts be so joined to Christ as to carry always and everywhere before all people the image of God’s Only Begotten Son for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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