Speaker 1: Welcome to Saint Patrick Catholic Community podcast. We're glad you're with us.
Speaker 2: Before I was ordained a priest, I would be in the pews just like you. And this is a very normal human thing that many of us do. That when we hear homilies or talks on our faith, we might sit there and go, you should be talking more about this. You should be talking more on this. You know, I could do a better job because if I would be able to share my agenda and idea, people would change their hearts, and that's a very normal thing to do.
So when I was ordained, I started preaching my agenda. And that lasted about four Sundays. After that, I thought, now what? And really, it was the beginning of journeying of forty years to go to the cross and the gospel rather than what I think or what I thought or what my agenda was. And that's a lifelong process for me and for all of us here.
And that's exactly what's happening to Peter today. His agenda does not fit Jesus. Just last week, we all heard how Jesus affirmed Peter. You are right to call me the Messiah, And he is pleased with Peter. But then Jesus says, you know, the Messiah will suffer and will be killed, but he will rise on the third day.
And Peter doesn't want that. And who can blame him? The people of that time are under oppression with the Romans. They are hated for the way they treat the people there. And so in political circles and in the religious minds, they look for a messiah who will bring victory, a strong military, drive the Roman enemies away, and we will be victorious.
And that bothered Peter. He says, that doesn't fit my agenda. And that's why Jesus says, in order to follow me, you must deny yourself. Take your cross and follow me. Now when we do that, many times spiritually, you and I add that in a good way, like, I'm dealing with a difficult relationship.
That'll be my cross. Maybe I'm dealing with health issues. Maybe I'm struggling at work, or I'm struggling with family issues, or school, or whatever that is. We would say, I'm gonna take up my cross and try to do better, and that's good. But I think the church needs to deny itself too.
Now, the church is more than Rome, more than clergy, more than people who have authority in the church. We are all the church. We, the faithful. And there are some things that are happening now, thanks to technology and social media, is that many times Christianity is misrepresented. It is done in ways that have very little to do with the actual teachings of the church, but it's more about power and control and, unfortunately, people's agenda.
So what can we, as a church, do to deny ourselves to take up the cross and to follow Jesus? The first thing we do as a church then is listen before speaking. Listen before speaking. Many times, Christians already know the answer. They've arrived at an answer that works for them.
They've arrived at the answer and said, this is what I've come to discover because I read a book, or a priest told me, or someone or grandma shared that with me. And they know the answer, so they already know to tell people, this is how you ought to live. And if you don't, you don't go to heaven. I'm worried about you. There's no listening.
Jesus encounters people before correction. Jesus encounters people before correction. That's why we have to deny ourself and think we have all the answers already. To listen is the role of us, the church, to deny ourselves. The second thing, serve rather than rule.
Serve rather than thinking we rule over people and use the gospel to our own powerful advantage. Matthew 25, which is chapter 25, speaks of what we are called to do. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison, welcome the stranger. And in fact, in that parable, it's the one place in the New Testament that we know what judgment day will be like. And in fact, in the parable, it says, if we don't do that, we don't enter.
The church is at its best, and when it denies itself and say, it is power, no. It is service. And so service gives us credibility in our proclamation. If you were to study church history, here's how some leaders or governments and those in authority used to treat Christians, especially in the early church in Rome. Because they weren't into power, they were helping the vulnerable, the lowly, those who were really not important.
The church was invited, meaning us, to the table to discuss because we were respected, because it wasn't about power or being close to power. It was about service. And so many times, the church gets its real authority by service, not by saying we are being persecuted or you better be listening to us. The third thing is lead through sacrifice. Lead through sacrifice.
Leadership is not measured by power or authority. Leadership is not measured by whatever authority we think we have. First of all, God does give people authority. God does call people because all authority comes from God. But the problem is we in authority or those who support leadership don't read the fine print.
God is saying through generosity and through sacrifice. I can't tell you how many times in the scripture God speaks against leadership that is cruel, self centered, corrupt, and not of God. And to sit there, you and I say, well, God chose him, so I guess we'll just have to stand back and do nothing. God speaks against improper leadership. And to deny ourselves is to simply say in the cross then that leadership is to be given through generosity and sacrifice.
Our world needs this more than ever. And yet, we somehow end up with leaders who are not sacrificing and who are not generous in church and in world. Fourth, make room for others. Many times Christians will say the only people who get to heaven are those who live the perfect life, those who are Roman Catholic, those who have the direct correct theology or doctrine. And what we forget in denying ourselves, dying to ego power, the need to control is saying everyone is made in the image of Christ.
Be careful of any church or any community that seeks to serve God who never talk about loving enemy, but will always talk about who our enemies are. Be careful with Christian communities who never talk about loving enemies, but always talk about who the enemy is. All are created in the image of God. All are invited to the kingdom of God. Not to exclude people is not denying ourselves in the cross.
Be willing to repent, to say that we've made mistakes. You know, when the church doesn't do that in its two thousand year history, it doesn't grow. Many of you who are here remember the sexual abuse crisis. It was a time when, unfortunately, there were many stories of leaders in the church who were more interested in image and protection of image. There are countless stories where bishops and other leaders went to victims and their families and said, don't talk about this because you will ruin the image of the church.
It's documented. It's not my opinion. And the reason today that people struggle to listen to bishops is because they never repented. When I was growing up, bishops really were on the news all the time. You young people don't know Nightline.
Us old people, raise your hand if you remember Nightline. And you know who was on quite often? Bishops. And they wanted to know what does the church teach about economics, about nuclear arms race, about dealing with the poor and the unemployment. They were on the news, and the world wanted to listen to them.
But since not repenting, not saying we're sorry that people are more important than power and image, We've lost that. And I'm just gonna say something straight. That's why nobody listens to bishops anymore. They know it. They know it.
I've talked to them, so I'm not speaking just my opinion. They know it. And it's because they haven't repented. And, you know, that's why I love my Catholic faith, but I'm not afraid to share with you the shadow side of two thousand years. We've gotten it wrong.
We've fallen short. But I love God's people. I love you, but I want you to be your best. But if we never look at our mistakes, then how can we grow in truth and denying ourselves and picking up our cross? And finally, trust God more than power.
Whenever the church seeks to be union with any government in power, it is corrupt. And that's history of two thousand years because you can no longer preach the gospel because someone who has no love of Christ will tell the church what you ought to do and the church will give in because it's more interested in its placement, its power, because they feel people will talk to them and they have access and they get what they want. That never works. And there's two thousand years of history. Talk to your historians, they'll tell you.
Trusting God is what? Letting go of the agenda. My friends, it took me four Sundays to get all my agenda out and after that, I was on empty. And thus began my journey of the cross. The cross is not power.
It's not ego. It's not pride. It is letting go and denying. And the center part of the cross is self giving love. One of the programs we're restarting again here that ties into today's reading and the homily is alpha, an opportunity to reach out to people, to ask simple questions that are deep and saying, what is going on?
What does god want? And so I've asked Lenny Kelly, our staff person, to briefly share with you what is alpha, why we do it. There's a meal included in every session. That's why I'm for that ministry, and I've asked Lenny to come and share. So he will talk to us about Alpha.
Speaker 3: Thank you, father Eric. My father was raised Southern Baptist. He had no understanding of the Catholic church and he didn't care about it all that much. His first experience of the Catholic church was during the Vietnam War when he was stationed in Southeast Asia. There he met a priest and they were that priest was running an orphanage.
And the orphanage was for biracial children of American GIs who went back to The United States. So they got a woman pregnant, they got sent home, and that was a disgrace for the family and they banished the child. These children would end up in these orphanages and my father got involved. They would take with other GIs, they would take games, balls, and he did this throughout his experience in the Vietnam War. He was so enamored with this priest and the Catholic church when he came back he told my mother he wanted to become Catholic and raise the children Catholic.
My mother was born and raised Catholic in a small town called Fort Madison, Iowa in a church called Sacred Heart. For a hundred and twenty years Homilies attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church. She was baptized there. My grandfather was baptized there. My great grandfather, great great grandfather, and great great great grandfather.
Five generations were baptized there. She went to the school. It was a k through 12. Three months before graduating her senior year, they found out she was pregnant. They kicked her out of school and the priest said, you can no longer receive communion.
So when my dad came back from Vietnam, this is now in the seventies, he said I wanna become Catholic and my mother said, we can't. They kicked us out. I can't be Catholic. You're divorced, I'm divorced and we're married outside of the Catholic church, they'll never take us. Well, my dad persisted and said, let's go talk to him.
So they went and they talked to a priest, he was a military priest and after the conversation the priest listened to him. He didn't he didn't preach to him, he didn't chastise him, he didn't judge him. He simply looked at my mother and said, welcome home. And he looked at my father and said, welcome to the church. And then over the next few years he helped him get each got an omen.
They finally got married into the church. All of my brothers and sisters were baptized into the church as was I. Alpha is a program designed to do just that. Listen to people where they are without judgment and without preaching. It's a soft landing into the Catholic church.
If you were to invite somebody to mass, they have no idea what's going on. But you invite them here, we're gonna have a meal and we're gonna give them a chance to talk while we listen. But in order for Alpha to work, I need your help. I've create we've made a thousand invitations And at the top of the invitation is a blank line for a name. We are asking that you take a handful of these, go out to your coworkers, loved ones, family, and hand them an invitation and invite them to dinner so we can have a conversation and find out where they are.
My dad I called my dad yesterday at 03:00 and I wanted to make sure I had the story correct. I wasn't talking out of school. And without hesitation, he said, father Keene and father Nasita, fifty five years ago, he remembers the two priests that helped him come into the church. Maybe you're that person for somebody fifty five years from now. They'll remember you because you invited them to come to dinner.
So please come see me out in the narthex afterwards. I'm gonna give you some invitations to pass out to your friends and loved ones. Thank you so much. Thank you, Lenny.
Speaker 1: This has been a Saint Patrick Catholic Community podcast. For more of our shows, go to our website and click Saint Patrick's Studio.