23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Fr. Dom Homily - Unpacking the Depths of the Catholic Faith

The name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, good morning. I had to give a talk up at Ferris State University to maybe about 60 Catholic students that are involved in a Newman Center up there, and as I prepared for the talk I remembered a quote from a book that I've been reading. The author is writing about the state of the Catholic Church and the toxic environment in which we find ourselves surrounded by, and he said throughout church history there has been a need of two things Good theology, good theologians Upholding Catholic Church morals, faith, doctrine and dogma and teaching them to the faithful and witnesses. But he went on to say in the state of church in which we find ourselves, we need good theologians, absolutely. There are a lot of ignorant Catholics out there, but he said we need witnesses. In today's day and age, we need people to witness Christ to others. How do you witness Christ to others? I thought that was a powerful statement and I think that's deeply connected to our readings today, our first reading in our gospel. Are connected because it answers the question of what Am I, my brother's keeper? Jesus says, yes, you are, for if you see your brother or sister sinning, whether it be vigno, whether it be mortal, regardless of the state of soul of yourself. We're supposed to encounter that brother or sister and encourage them to stop sinning. That's really hard to do in our culture because people are so sensitive and temperamental. We are emotional people, full of passion, absolutely. But we're not called to be emotivists, where we operate our reason and our intellect solely out of emotion, or hedonists, where we operate all our decisions based off our lust. We're called to be reasonable, logical, commonsensical individuals, grounded in natural law, filled with the spirit of God. Yes, we are supposed to call out our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need witnesses to do that, and many people in my life have called me out. Yes, was it humbling? Absolutely. We need that from time to time to humble ourselves, and they're good friends, good people calling me out on sins that I knowingly was committing or didn't, and my spiritual director and my confessor. So I'm completely open to them. They call me out as well, but it makes me a holier person and I thank them for that. We need witnesses. When I was coming into the Catholic faith and completely on fire for it and discerning the priesthood, I went to a cave immense conference a long time ago and the main speaker was Father Larry Richards. I like him. He reminds me of my college baseball coach. I respond when people get in my face. I've been an athlete my whole entire life. All my coaches have done this, even in business. I respond to that and that was his talk. He was in our faces, all the men that were there, and he said something that transformed me and he was a witness, transformed me, and then it helped me do something that transformed me that very day. What he said in his talk was this quite simply, he says men, tell the people you love that you love them. If you have hurt them, ask for forgiveness. It's everything our readings are talking about calling people out. St Paul talks about love and the Greek word he uses, agape, which is sacrifice. Jesus talks about the authority of the church, which is the ultimate form of forgiveness and confession. But he said this to us and it struck me deeply. After the talk there was a break and I felt the Holy Spirit telling me go out into the parking lot, pull out your phone and I want you to call everyone you can think of whom you hurt. And I have lived the life of paganism and, as I'm coming into the Catholic faith. My soul is struck, my consciousness is struck. So I'm thinking of a great list of people. I was like, oh Lord, are you kidding me? He says no, I'm not. So I took my phone out into the parking lot. I began, still quite emotional, I began to call those who are closest to me and ask for forgiveness. First it was my mom, then it was my dad, and then it was my brother John, my brother Nate, my brother Jake, my brother Mark, my sister Monique. Guys, it was freeing. Was I scared? Absolutely. Was I shaking as I looked them up on the phone? Yeah, did I want to do it? No, did I know I had to do it? Yeah, would I have done it if Father Larry didn't call me out? No, but he called me out, he called all the men out. But that goes for all of us, all of our readings. Have the courage to speak the truth. Speak it boldly. You've got to know the truth. See, that's where we need the good theologians, don't we? To teach us the truth, to teach us what the church teaches on sexuality and human dignity and abortion and contraception and marriage between a man and a woman. We know all that stuff, but what does the Catholic Church teach? Are you teaching your children the truth? You have to teach your children the truth. You plant those seeds of truth in your children. Why? So? That when they become doctors, lawyers, politicians, teachers, architects, businessmen and women, they will proclaim the truth and begin to change the culture in which we live in today. That's important. Well, father, that's impossible. No, it's not. It's hard. Yeah, it is. Are we going to see the fruit of our labor? Sometimes, maybe, maybe not, but we still do it with the Holy Spirit. That's how we can do it To teach your children the truth to the best of your ability. But, parents, you have to continue to learn the faith. You are the primary educators of your children. I've said this before. We here at OLC, in every way, shape or form, from faith formation to our teachers, to me, to Father Danny, to Deacon, we are secondary. We provide stuff here that supports you when you go home to your domestic church and you teach the truth to your kids and you live it through the vocation of your marriage. It's hard, yeah, it's hard to do. St Paul talks about a very, very powerful word love. I want to end with this. It's agape. If you look at the Greek reading of this text. It's agape that means sacrifice. I've said before you know the word love in English loses its definition in many ways. I've said before you know I love pizza, I love grandma. I mean there's a different love there. Right, st Paul uses agape. It's sacrifice. It's sacrifice there. Where do we see love there? Jesus is the epitome of what it means to be a human being. So who do we look to? To be a human being, jesus. What does Jesus say? Pick up my cross daily and follow me. What does that look like? Sacrificial love. To who? Everyone you meet? Sacrifice comes from two Latin words sacra and fechere. Sacra means holy, fechere means to make. So when you sacrifice in a loving way, you make something holy. Jesus sacrificed. What did he make holy? His bride, the church. And in the church we find that ultimate form of confession when we meet our brother and sister and we call them out on their sins in charity and love. If they don't listen, take a friend or take someone who's very informed about the topic at hand so for you to bounce ideas off of them, so you don't act out of anger towards that individual. We need friends sometimes, so take a friend to this individual out of love. And if they don't listen to you or your friends, then you invite them to the church, where the fullness, the form of reconciliation, takes place in confession. And if they don't listen to the church, if they don't go to confession, sometimes the church in her past has excommunicated people. Meet them as a Gentile and tax collector, they're excommunicated. What does that mean? Oh, that's a harsh word, father Dom. No, it's love. The church's love is excommunication. What does that mean? If there's someone who's preaching heresy in the church let's say there's a public figure who openly supports abortion and calls themselves Catholics, really the church's duty is to call that person out. And if excommunication needs to happen, it's not like the Catholic Church is kicking them out and letting them just wither in the desert. Excommunication is removing that heretical person from the body of Christ so that he can or she can stop preaching heresy to save her soul and others. Bring them into the church and then talk with them to try to convert them. That's excommunication. The church did that with Arian, did that with all the other heresies. Excommunicate them so that they can talk to them and convert them. Then, when they know the truth and they're apologetic, they go to confession. They can come back into the church. They're reunited to the body of Christ. So that's what Jesus is talking about in her gospel. I love these readings. I think it's an exciting time to be Catholic. I say that all the time. It can be called witnesses. We can be saints Just going out and bringing Jesus Christ In whatever way the Holy Spirit moves you with your talents and charisms. We're all different, but we all need to pray. We all need to fast for our brothers and sisters in Christ and those around us in our country today. So this gospel in our first reading and second reading are very powerful. Read them again, let them wash over you, pray through them and ask the Holy Spirit to be that witness that the church is looking for.