A TRULY APOSTOLIC CHURCH
“Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.” -Luke 13:22
This Sunday’s Gospel gives us a glimpse of Jesus ‘on the move’. This central aspect of His approach to ministry can be easily overlooked. He didn’t set up shop and wait for the lost to come find Him; rather He went in pursuit of them. Jesus was a man with a mission but not an aimless one, but one with a very particular direction: Jerusalem, Golgotha.
Fulton Sheen so beautifully quipped, “Keep your eyes on the crucifix, for Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission, and the cross without Jesus is a burden without a reliever.” Jesus and the Cross are inextricable and thanks be to God; the Cross is His Mission! As you know, we have been sharing and lifting up our parish’s particular mission through the Beauty, Goodness and Truth--Mission & Vision document we have been drawing consistent attention to in these weeks. Please take hold of it and consider how you can share this mission and live into it.
August 24th is the Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle. An apostle is one who is sent, apostolic means missional. I want us all to consider how our parish mission flows from the mission of Christ and His apostles. I have always been stirred by the below reflection which is found in the Liturgy of the Hours each year on that feast taken from a homily by St. John Chrysostom, the late 4th century Bishop of Constantinople (Hom. 4,3,4: PG 61, 34-36):
It was clear through unlearned men that the cross was persuasive, in fact, it persuaded the whole world…How the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and his weakness stronger than men! In what way is it stronger? It made its way throughout the world and overcame all men; countless men sought to eradicate the very name of the Crucified, but that name flourished and grew even mightier. Its enemies lost out and perished; the living who waged war on a dead man proved helpless…For the good deeds which tax-collectors and fishermen were able to accomplish by Gods grace, the philosophers, the rulers, the countless multitudes cannot even imagine.
Paul had this in mind when he said: The weakness of God is stronger than men…For how otherwise could twelve uneducated men, who lived on lakes and rivers and wastelands, get the idea for such an immense enterprise? How could men who perhaps had never been in a city or a public square think of setting out to do battle with the whole world? That they were fearful, timid men, the evangelist makes clear; he did not reject the fact or try to hide their weaknesses…How then account for the fact that these men…set forth to do battle with the whole world once Christ was dead - if, as you claim, Christ did not rise and speak to them and rouse their courage? Did they perhaps say to themselves: "What is this? He could not save himself but he will protect us? He did not help himself when he was alive, but now that he is dead he will extend a helping hand to us?..." Would it not be wholly irrational even to think such thoughts, much less to act upon them?
It is evident, then, that if they had not seen him risen and had proof of his power, they would not have risked so much.
As we strive to live our parish mission, may we discover that ours is a truly apostolic Church!
~Fr. Howe, Pastor