Homily

What are the elements that make up a Christian life? What does it take to really be a Christian? First of all, belief in Jesus Christ, true man and true God, Who died for our sins and rose from the dead for our eternal life. Then next you might say there is a certain conduct that goes along with our faith. We seek to avoid sin and to grow in virtue by our own efforts and by relying on God's grace to help us to do so. We would also have to say that prayer in private and worship together in public are also necessary for Christians, and that's why we are all here today, thanks be to God.

And yet there is something else that I think is also very important and that is parish life. We are called to faith as individuals but we are called to then join the Body of Christ in a true and genuine way by participating in a local church, the local expression of the Body of Christ. I have been thinking about this a lot the past few weeks and I want to share a few thoughts with you.

In the early Church, Christians met in homes for the Liturgy and also for a common meal, sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ, and then also sharing in a common meal. So the local parishes, so to speak, were very small because the faithful had to fit into some wealthier Christian's house. So each parish probably had 40-60 people at best. For the longest time, this was how things generally worked because building churches when there was always the threat of persecution was not a wise idea. Now, when we read the words of St. Paul as to how Christians are to behave, I think we tend to gloss over those sections where he instructs believers how to act and live with their fellow parishioners and we apply his words as though he is speaking about how we should treat everyone in general, and remember he is speaking to groups perhaps smaller than this parish. How does he talk about conduct in the parish?

In Romans, Chapter 12, he talks of the need for everyone to build up and contribute to the Body of Christ according to the talents and gifts each person has, and he exhorts, "Love one another with mutual affection . . . Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. In Chapter 14, he speaks of not eating food at church that will offend a fellow parishioner, instead we should, "pursue what leads to peace and to building up one another."

In 1st Corinthians, St. Paul again speaks of parish life: Chapter 6—Don't be bringing lawsuits against other church members. Chapter 8 and 10 — Again don't bring meat to communal dinner if it will offend someone else, and share your food and drink with those parishioners who may have brought little because they are poor. Again in Chapter 12, he speaks of the sharing of gifts and talents with each other in the Body of Christ. In the letter to the Galatians, Chapter 6, the apostle writes, "Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest. So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all, but especially to those who belong to the family of the faith." He encourages us to bear one another's burdens.

In the epistle to the Ephesians, Paul again urges us to grow in giving to Christ by sharing our gifts in His Body, the Church, living the truth in love. We are not to lie to each other, "for we are members of one another." We should be "kind to one another, forgiving one another as God has forgiven us in Christ." In Philippians Chapter 2, he writes that we should be "of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart thinking one thing. . . each one looking out not for his own interest but also for the interest of the others" and "humbly regard others as more important than yourselves." Paul instructs the Colossians to "bear with one another, forgiving one another. . . And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another. . ."

When Paul writes to the parish in Thessaloniki, he says, "On the subject of mutual charity, you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. . . Be at peace among yourselves. We urge you brothers, admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather always seek what is good for each other and for all."

All these quotes I have read are not about conduct and attitudes and realities for believers towards those outside the Church, but rather those inside the Church, and even more specifically not in the Church at large but rather in their own parish, and I think many times when Catholics hear these sections read they tend to think globally not locally to the people they are standing in church with. Pope John Paul came up with a theology of the body." I wish we had someone to come up with a "theology of the parish."

I speak of these things today not because I think we are doing a bad job as a parish, but because I know that I, and we, could always do better. In the first place let us continue to pray for one another, to commend ourselves and one another to Christ our God, putting each others' needs before the Lord. Let us worship at the Liturgy together as well as we are able, in song, in prayer, in faith. Even more so, let us encourage and support and help one another where we are able, as we are able because it is this charity which then flows out into the world at large, as we enlarge our own hearts with loving service to each other here, first.

I have often been touched by the way that many of you have cared for your fellow parishioners with great kindness and care and even sacrifice in order to help them in time of need and to encourage them in time of trouble and celebrate the happy events with them as well. But yet I think we could still do better and more, and may the Lord guide and support us in our care for one another.

And then there are the practical elements necessary for a good parish life: those who cantor, serve, read, clean, do the yard work, make repairs, give people rides to church, sew, do the coffee social, take care of the website and Facebook page, donate money to pay the bills for this place, those who mow, and help with the dance group, and print up booklets and fliers and run the Bible study and feed the priest, and take care of many other jobs that have to be done so our parish life can continue in peace and thanks be to you who take up all these jobs for us for our welfare in Christ and for the support of our faith. Thank you for your service in charity. Not just service like PTA, Boy Scouts — service deeply connected with faith.

Of course we are also not the people who come to church as individuals who just happen to be sharing the same space so that we can be spiritually serviced and then go about our own business, maybe even challenging other people to get out of the parking lot first. It's much easier in a big parish to have that kind of mindset. It is true that charity begins at home but it's not supposed to stay there. It should also begin here, in our spiritual home so that as we pray for, respect and serve and care for one another, our charity returns home with us stronger than when we came, and we can better share it there and with the world.

Thanks be to God.