Saint
Francis of Assisi
556 South Jersey Street; Denver, CO 80224
National Catholic Church (PNCC)
St. Francis of Assisi Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) @2008
Homily - January 22nd - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
"Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God." He came to announce to all men the good news of God's eternal plan for them. He spent his public life convincing the Jews of Palestine the truth of this message, and he died on the cross. He died on the cross because he claimed to be what he was— God's divine Son, who had come in human nature to raise all people to the standing and status of adopted sons and daughters of God. That very death, cruel and unjust as it was, was part of God’s divine plan. Christ conquered death and was raised from the grave to prove that we too, if we accept his divine gospel and live by it, will be raised from the dead and we’ll be with Christ in God’s kingdom forever.
Christ preached this doctrine in Palestine. It’s the doctrine he gave to his Apostles to hand down to all future generations. And it is the same doctrine preached by Christ's Church today. It’s the good news of God's mercy and love toward us weak, mortal creatures. To some it seems too good to be true; it would be too good to be true if God were a limited, finite being like us, but he is Being itself. He’s without limit. His nature is limitless goodness and love. What God sees in us creatures has ever been a puzzle. One of the psalm writers said centuries ago: "What is man that you should spare a thought for him, the son of man that you should care for him?" (Ps. 8: 4). Many a saint has repeated this remark ever since. We can’t hope to fathom the mind of God, nor do we need to. He’s gone to such a length as the humiliation of his divine Son in the incarnation in order to give us a new standing in relation to himself and a new mode of eternal living after death.
We’re still God's creatures, we’re "the work of his hands,” but through accepting Jesus and his gospel – ¬his message of divine truth – we’re no longer mere mortals. We are mortals and we will die, but death is the beginning of the true life which God has arranged for us. It’s no wonder that St. Paul could cry out: "O death where is your victory, O death, where is your sting?" Christians should be the happiest people on earth. For the simple reason we know why we’re here, we know where we’re going and we know how to get there. Of course there’re trials and troubles along our journey; there’re rough parts of the road and weaknesses in our human nature which often lead us off the right road, but we’re not left to our own human resources. We have help to strengthen and comfort us on our journey. We have divine aids in the Church that Jesus has provided us and we have the guarantee of our Good Shepherd Jesus that he’ll keep us in his fold.
Should we foolishly wander from his fold, we know he will bring us back. We Christians can indeed be the happiest people on earth, if we live according to the divine good news revealed to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus told the people of Galilee, "Repent and believe in the gospel," The same call goes out to each of us today: repent change your outlook on life – see it, as God sees it to be for us, a short journey toward heaven. If we really believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the revelation of God's plan for our eternal happiness, our earthly troubles will look small, we’ll recognize our trials and temptations for what they really are—a means of earning the eternal victory. Jesus has gone before us carrying his heavy cross; How can we refuse to carry the relatively lighter cross he places on our shoulders as our means of making atonement for our own failings? We must pray that we do not. If we’ve failed in the past, we have the opportunity to repent today and show our belief in the truth of the gospel, by living as true Christians who are truly on their way to heaven.
We must not lose sight of the fact that the time we have to earn everlast¬ing life after death is very short, even for the youngest amongst us. But be it thirty days or sixty years, whatever length of time it is, each one of us can make sure that we’ll be found ready when our last moment comes. We can indeed assure ourselves we’ll be ready, if we begin today to live a true Christian life, lov¬ing God and neighbor. Jesus is calling to us as he called Simon and Andrew and James and John. He is calling us to follow him. And if we do, we will achieve the kingdom of heaven and be with him for all eternity. St. Paul’s three short verses in the second reading clearly remind us of the warning Jesus gives to his followers: Always be ready for the judgement, stay awake because you know not the day nor the hour.
Christ preached this doctrine in Palestine. It’s the doctrine he gave to his Apostles to hand down to all future generations. And it is the same doctrine preached by Christ's Church today. It’s the good news of God's mercy and love toward us weak, mortal creatures. To some it seems too good to be true; it would be too good to be true if God were a limited, finite being like us, but he is Being itself. He’s without limit. His nature is limitless goodness and love. What God sees in us creatures has ever been a puzzle. One of the psalm writers said centuries ago: "What is man that you should spare a thought for him, the son of man that you should care for him?" (Ps. 8: 4). Many a saint has repeated this remark ever since. We can’t hope to fathom the mind of God, nor do we need to. He’s gone to such a length as the humiliation of his divine Son in the incarnation in order to give us a new standing in relation to himself and a new mode of eternal living after death.
We’re still God's creatures, we’re "the work of his hands,” but through accepting Jesus and his gospel – ¬his message of divine truth – we’re no longer mere mortals. We are mortals and we will die, but death is the beginning of the true life which God has arranged for us. It’s no wonder that St. Paul could cry out: "O death where is your victory, O death, where is your sting?" Christians should be the happiest people on earth. For the simple reason we know why we’re here, we know where we’re going and we know how to get there. Of course there’re trials and troubles along our journey; there’re rough parts of the road and weaknesses in our human nature which often lead us off the right road, but we’re not left to our own human resources. We have help to strengthen and comfort us on our journey. We have divine aids in the Church that Jesus has provided us and we have the guarantee of our Good Shepherd Jesus that he’ll keep us in his fold.
Should we foolishly wander from his fold, we know he will bring us back. We Christians can indeed be the happiest people on earth, if we live according to the divine good news revealed to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus told the people of Galilee, "Repent and believe in the gospel," The same call goes out to each of us today: repent change your outlook on life – see it, as God sees it to be for us, a short journey toward heaven. If we really believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the revelation of God's plan for our eternal happiness, our earthly troubles will look small, we’ll recognize our trials and temptations for what they really are—a means of earning the eternal victory. Jesus has gone before us carrying his heavy cross; How can we refuse to carry the relatively lighter cross he places on our shoulders as our means of making atonement for our own failings? We must pray that we do not. If we’ve failed in the past, we have the opportunity to repent today and show our belief in the truth of the gospel, by living as true Christians who are truly on their way to heaven.
We must not lose sight of the fact that the time we have to earn everlast¬ing life after death is very short, even for the youngest amongst us. But be it thirty days or sixty years, whatever length of time it is, each one of us can make sure that we’ll be found ready when our last moment comes. We can indeed assure ourselves we’ll be ready, if we begin today to live a true Christian life, lov¬ing God and neighbor. Jesus is calling to us as he called Simon and Andrew and James and John. He is calling us to follow him. And if we do, we will achieve the kingdom of heaven and be with him for all eternity. St. Paul’s three short verses in the second reading clearly remind us of the warning Jesus gives to his followers: Always be ready for the judgement, stay awake because you know not the day nor the hour.
