Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time-St. Matthew
Well, certainly the second reading should be better. “Therefore, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ.” Great
Well, the Gospel is always good. It’s got to have an upbeat message. “When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, ‘Where did this man get all of this?’…And they took offense at him.” Lovely.
But, I’m told to preach on the Word of God in the homily, so I’ll work with what I have. I am not presuming that you are revolting against God, or hard of heart. I certainly hope that I won’t have to put up with many insults, hardships, persecutions, or constraints. And I hope you do not take offense at me.
But I can also tell you that I am not a perfect pastor. Neither was Fr. Tom, or even, dare I say it, Fr. Taggert. So if you were hoping for a perfect pastor who will never make any mistakes, you are in for many disappointments. I don’t try to mess-up, but I do from time-to-time. I will make certain judgments that you like and with which you agree, and I will make others that you hate and which you think are stupid. That’s ok. The key is whether or not we are being open to the Word of God, and what God is trying to do here.
Over my (hopefully) many years here as pastor, I promise to preach the Gospel to you. I promise to be faithful the Church’s teaching. In fact, when Bishop Boyea installs me as pastor on 15 August at the 11 a.m. Mass, I will, for the fifth time (I believe) in my life, make a Profession of Faith and an Oath of Fidelity to all that has been revealed by God through the Church. Sometimes you will like that. Sometimes it may rub you the wrong way.
Because the Word of God is meant to challenge us. It is also meant to comfort us. It comforts us when we are in line with what God has revealed for our happiness. It challenges us when we are out of line with what God has revealed for our happiness. Hearing those messages are hard. Because I’m not perfect, my personal friends sometimes have to tell me things that I don’t really want to hear. It’s hard; it hurts; sometimes it can even cause tears. But with my friends, I know they love me, and so when they speak a hard word to me, I can receive it better because it is spoken in love.
And I, as your pastor, also commit to loving you. You are my spiritual children (though many of you are older than I). Though I don’t know you well, I already love you, because you are the spiritual family God has entrusted to me. And like a husband for his wife, or a wife for her husband, my goal is to help you get to heaven. I can’t get there for you, but I can at least help you see the way.
But along that way, I ask for your understanding and mercy. As I said, I will make mistakes. I will, as the pastor of two parishes, sometimes get overwhelmed. I have a lot to learn about how things have been done, and how things can be done here. So please be patient with me, and give me the benefit of the doubt, as I will try to do with you.
I will also say this, as I know it’s a fear on some of your hearts: St. Matthew will be a place where both the post-Vatican II Mass (Pope Benedict used the term Ordinary Form) and the pre-Vatican II Mass (Extraordinary Form) will be offered. My hope is that parishioners who attend either will see themselves as one community, unified in their diversity, to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in and around Flint, and help people to be open to the Word of God which sometimes challenges us, and sometimes comforts us. I would love to see this parish grow and be a beacon of hope in our community. I hope that you will join with me to accomplish this goal. Will you do it perfectly? No. Will I? No. But we will do as best as we can, animated by the grace of God and by love of our neighbor. I love you, and look forward to working with you and for you!