Second Sunday in Ordinary Time-St. Pius X
So as I looked for the Gospel today, I was grateful that this Gospel passage would close out my preaching at St. Pius X. This Gospel of the call of St. Andrew, St. John, and St. Peter (formerly named Simon) may not seem perfect, but it truly is.
Today, and even more so next week, you may have this sense of, “What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?” In this way, you are like St. Andrew and St. John, whom St. John the Baptist directs to Jesus. Today, as then, Jesus asks you, “‘What are you looking for?’” Your answers certainly have a common thread, but also are as diverse as each person is. Each of you seeks something the same and something different from the Lord. Perhaps your question is like St. Andrew and St. John’s: “‘Where are you staying?’” Or maybe better for today and next week, “Where are you?” There is nothing wrong with that question. All honest questions are welcome to the Messiah.
Today, Jesus says to you, as He did to Andrew and John, “‘Come, and you will see.’” Jesus didn’t tell them all that would happen to them over the next three years. He didn’t immediately give them the term “Apostle.” He simply invited them to stay with Him, and they did, starting with that day.
On 29 June 1955, Bishop Joseph H. Albers, first bishop of Lansing, erected St. Pius X parish. And on 7 August of the same year, Fr. John A Blasko, the founding pastor, celebrated the first Mass in the Flint CIO Labor Temple at the corner of Corunna and Downey. On those days, and all the days that followed, the invitation was the same: Come, and you will see. Jesus didn’t show us then the ups and downs of the parish; the different locations where Mass would be said; the different priests who would serve as pastor or parochial vicar; or even how long the parish would last. He simply said, “‘Come, and you will see.’” And we have seen God working. For 68 years and 7 months God has revealed Himself. He has done so through the Mass, through the sisters and lay people who taught in the school, through the CCD classes, through the faith-sharing groups, through the food pantry, through the priests, through the buildings, and through the parishioners who became more like family.
And next week, as Bishop Boyea closes the doors to this church and declares it de-consecrated, the message will not change. Jesus will still invite you: Come, and you will see. And whether you stay with Jesus by joining St. Matthew or by joining another parish, Jesus wants you to stay with Him. Today: stay with Him. Tomorrow: stay with Him. The rest will work itself out. As long as you stay with Him.
It wouldn’t always be easy. Simon, after meeting the Lord, got a new name. This group of three would grow to a group of twelve, which would shrink by one when Judas betrayed the Lord, and then would add Matthias and later on Paul. Christ would demonstrate great miracles like the feeding of 5,000 with fives loaves and two fish. Pharisees and scribes would seemingly constantly harass this wandering Rabbi and His disciples. Most would abandon the Lord after He said that they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood to have life within them. All of Jerusalem would welcome Him right before Passover, and then they would all yell out, “Crucify him!” five days later. All but John and Peter would abandon the Lord after He was arrested, and even then Peter would deny he even knew Jesus. Talk about your ups and downs. But, even after abandoning Him, they would gather to stay in the place He celebrated the First Mass with them, and see Him risen from the dead and receive both His peace and His commission to spread the Gospel.
It has been and always will be the same: someone points out Jesus to us, and Jesus invites us to stay with Him. It’s that simple and that complicated. Stay with Jesus; stay with the Church. I don’t know what that will entail for you, but the Lord of History, Jesus Christ, does. What will happen if you stay with Jesus? “‘Come, and you will see.’”
