Homily: 6th Sunday of Easter - Lukewarm or Fiery Faith?

Pope Francis tells a story from his childhood about a moment where Christian faith took deep root in his heart.  He said that as a child every Good Friday his grandmother took him to the Good Friday Procession, and at the end of the procession was an image of Jesus’ body, taken off the Cross and lying in his mother’s arms.  “And my grandmother made us kneel down and told us children, ‘Look, he is dead, but tomorrow he will be Risen!’”  Then the Pope added, “this is how the faith in Christ Crucified and Risen really entered into my life.” 

Perhaps you can remember when a family member taught you to pray or shared their faith with you.  Personally, I’ll never forget my grandparents insisting that we pray before meals, even though we didn’t always do it at home.  To this day, I always insist, whomever I am with, at a restaurant or wherever, that we pray before meals.  Nor will I ever forget how my babysitter would always make the sign of the cross with her rosary as we drove past our church, and her telling me she did so because Jesus was there. For Pope Francis, it was kneeling down with his grandmother in front of an image of Jesus’ body as she explained the very simply, the resurrection. So important was that moment that 65-70 years later he looks back and says, “that was a moment when I received something very important.”

The Pope gives us an illustration, I think, of a moment, where he fell in love with God.  And I hope each of you has a memory of where the love of God really took root in your life, because Jesus teaches what happens when we really love God and keep his commandments, today in the Gospel.  Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” 

The love of God turns ordinary people into saints and temples of God.  The love of God turns you and me into the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. This is the love that softens the most hardened of hearts and gives us courage that compels us to be faithful no matter the cost. 

Saint Augustine said, “To fall in love with God is the greatest of romances, to seek Him the greatest adventure, to find Him the greatest human achievement.”  

But Christian love and faith aren’t automatic.  Faith and love of God are transmitted to us and are nurtured in us by the lives, examples, and prayers of other Christians in our life.  This is why parents and godparents and families must raise their children to know Jesus and follow his teachings.  Parents especially must cooperate with the grace their children receive in baptism, by teaching the faith and nourishing the faith.  Parents must provide the atmosphere where children learn to know, love, and serve Jesus as Lord.  Baptism is not a guarantee of heaven, it’s not a get-in-to-heaven free card. 

Our children need to be taught to love the Mass more than sports, they need to be taught to love Jesus more than Lebron James or whoever is famous this year, they need to be taught to love the teachings of the Pope more than the opinions of dissenting politicians, and they need to be taught to guard their souls against the lies of the devil by loving and knowing and understanding the truth of the Catholic Church.  And if parents fail to do this, the culture will quickly fill up the void with its own version of the truth, putting their minds and souls in danger of hell.

That’s why children need those little moments, like those described by Pope Francis, kneeling in front of a religious statue with his grandmother, praying, receiving faith from her.  
The month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Mother.  I encourage you to set up a little altar in the home with a statue of the Blessed Mother.  Teach the children and grandchildren to bring her flowers and to pray the rosary for your family.  If you don’t know how to pray the rosary this is the perfect month to learn.

Already, we are seeing how Pope Francis has this vibrant, fiery faith.  Interestingly, this week Pope Francis described the danger of letting your faith become lukewarm. 

What is lukewarmness? The lukewarm Christian focuses merely on doing the bare minimum. They want to know how far they can go with something before it becomes a sin rather seeking to remain a pure temple of the Holy Spirit.  The lukewarm Christian rarely shares their faith with others because they fear rejection.  The lukewarm Christian will typically choose what is popular over what is right when faced with conflict. They want to fit in and so they are more concerned about what people think of their actions than what God has commanded. They love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves.

Perhaps the lukewarm Christian has never had that moment of falling deeply in love with God.  And again that’s why we must help each other fall in love with God.  But, lukewarmness can also result from sin or lack of prayer. 

If it’s been more than a few months since your last confession, make a thorough examination of your conscience, and just go. And then make sure time is set aside every day for a prayerful encounter with God through scripture or spiritual reading or prayer in front of the Eucharist or something. 

Now, most of us wouldn’t describe ourselves as lukewarm Christians.  But would you describe yourself as being on fire with faith?  If not, it’s time to make some changes.  Because God created each of us for more than lukewarmness.  He created us to be dwelling places of his majesty, radiant temples bursting with love.

Today, as Christ renews his commitment to dwell within us, let's renew our commitment to be his worthy Temples, for the glory of god, and salvation of souls.