September 13 2019 - St. John Chrysostom - Preach in and out of season

St. John Chrysostom was born in Antioch, about 250 years after our parish patron, the bishop St. Ignatius of Antioch went to his martyrdom. Perhaps the seed of our patron’s martyrdom yielded the fruit of St. John’s great faith.

The Gospel reading for his feast day is the parable of the sower of the seeds, for St. John sewed the seeds of the Gospel through his eloquent preaching and teaching. His name “Chrysostom” means golden tongued, about 600 hundred of his sermons and commentaries on scripture have been preserved, as well as many treatises on the moral and spiritual life, and a very famous book on the priesthood.

He explains that priests, as preachers must never simply preach what people want to hear, but preach the fullness of the Word of God. “A preacher must have a noble disposition to be able to check the inordinate and useless passion of the people, and to direct their attention to what is more profitable, and so to lead and direct them without being himself the slave of their fancies.”

Our Lord, we know from the Gospels, faced much hostility for the content of his preaching. He did not compromise the truth in order to appease the fancies of his audience.

In an age of moral relativism, when even many Christians turn away from authentic doctrine and sound moral teaching, each of us has the duty to remaining faithful to the truth of Christ despite pressures from the world and the worldly. Priests and bishops are under great pressure to compromise, to deviate from the truth, to preach to appease those "itching ears that turn away from sound doctrine" as Paul say, just as faithful Christians are labeled as “intolerant” by those who reject Church teaching, even by members of our family.

Rather, we seek to develop our skill in preaching, in sharing the truth of the Gospel clearly and eloquently, like St. John the Golden-Tongued, “to preach the word; in season and out of season; to reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction” as St. Paul writes to Timothy; for we were not made Christian to win the adulation of men, but for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That the bishops and priests may be men of sound doctrine, and courageously preach the Gospel in its fullness. We pray to the Lord.
That government leaders around the world may carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for freedom and the dignity of human life.  We pray to the Lord.
For the grace to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our neighbors and enemies and those who persecute us, and to share the truth of the Gospel with all.  We pray to the Lord.
For all those who share in the sufferings of Christ—the sick, the sorrowful, and those who are afflicted or burdened in any way, especially those effected by hurricanes and storms.  We pray to the Lord.
For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased clergy and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray to the Lord.
O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.