In this homily series, we are looking at “What does it mean to be Spiritual?” We hear many people say that they are spiritual but not religious. What does that mean? For some, I’m told that they believe in God and the message of Jesus but don’t like the rules of a formal religious organization. In the letters to St. Paul to the Corinthians that we have been focusing on the last several weeks, we hear that one cannot be spiritual without belonging to a faith community. We hear that being spiritual and religious go hand in hand. During the first week, St. Paul tells us that we all have spiritual gifts and that we need to use them for the common good. Each one of us has different gifts; if we all had the same gifts the world would be a really boring place. Last week, St. Paul tells us that we can do nothing unless we work as a team – just like the Patriots!
I certainly want us to be a winning team at The Catholic Community of Sacred Heart. To be a community we must gather together to practice our faith so that we can live that faith in our daily lives. Our team practices are at weekend Mass when we gather as a community at 4:00 P.M on Saturday evenings; and 8:30 and 10:30 A.M Sunday mornings. It is at this time that we gather to hear the game plan as explained in the readings and as I coach you through the words of the homily so we have, “One Church, One Message.” We are not only fed the Word of God, we are also fed the body and blood of Christ to receive the energy we need to play in the game of life as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
As I often say, “Faith is caught, not taught!” We catch our faith by bonding with other people who are on the same road eager to make the world the place God says it ought to be. It pains me when I see many of our young people enrolled in Faith Formation Classes who come to learn about our Catholic Faith, but their parents do not bring them to Mass to practice their Catholic Faith. How shocked I was when one day during Coffee and a young boy said, “Hi Mister” to me. How sad that he did not know who I was. I don’t know how to encourage those who are bringing their children to classes to make their way into the church for Mass! I guess I just need to say it our right. Please, as a Catholic, come and participate with the community in all aspects of our lives as a Catholic Community of faith. I do not want you to come out of guilt, obligation or responsibility; I invite you to come out of a desire to grow in your personal and communal relationship with Jesus Christ and one another.
Some will say, he is preaching to the choir. I am asking you to hand this bulletin to any whom you would like to join us at Mass as an invitation to our community of faith. Why would anyone want to join the team and sit on the bench?