Church of St. Mary at Clinton Heights

The Scriptures today give us a measuring stick of how to live as a Church and Christians. The first thing is that is not about me.  Jesus teaches us is that it cannot be about me.  Like St Paul, our main goal is to know Jesus and him crucified. His death shows us that our lives need to be sacrificed for the good of others.  This is such an opposite message we hear today even in the churches.  We seem to want to live the words of the old Frank Sinatra song:

I planned each charted course, each careful step, along the byway, and more, much more than this, I did it my way.*

So, if I am so completely in charge, I don’t need anyone else, care about anyone else.  I definitely don’t need God. I can do whatever I want, no matter who I step on, the poor and needy are not my concern, power is all I need.

The God that Jesus reveals to us is not selfish.  God’s very nature is to focus on the other.  Since the reason we exist to be live as Jesus did, then we need to focus on the other.  The person who sits around us on Sunday but also the person who goes to Concerns U, Circles of Mercy, Joseph House, the City mission in Albany, the starving family in Africa, children who wake up every morning surrounded by violence, the Chinese man or woman who is sick with the virus, etc.  the lamp of faith within is to be a beacon shining for everyone else in the world that only God is in charge of this world.

Isaiah tells us the profound truth that whatever:

Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

This is the mandate that Jesus gave us: “whatsoever ever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do unto me.”

My brothers and my sisters, Pope Francis told us that we need to smell like the sheep we serve.  Although these words are directed at priests and bishops, they apply to us all.  As important as our charitable giving is; we must also give of the very bread of our lives/

We will begin the sacred season of Lent two weeks from this coming Wednesday.  We need to being to prepare ourselves now.  Based on today’s readings, we need to begin to ask Jesus to show us what we is getting in our way of committing ourselves to him.

How much food are we wasting? Do we over eat? How much clothing do we have? Do we need everything we have or can some be shared with the poor? What opportunities do we have to “rub elbows” with the poor and homeless?

I am sure the Family Promise could use some volunteers.  Family Promise is a program our community participates in that provides a place for homeless families using the McManus center.  Our volunteers provide a meal and a place for people to stay.  We share in this with many other faith communities in the area.  Call the parish office for more info.

Do we fall into the trap of gossip and malicious speech? What can you and I do to help free those whose lives are oppressed by racism, prejudice, sexism, homophobia, war and violence, those oppressed by addictions and the stigma that society puts on those with mental illness?

So, my brothers and sisters, let the upcoming season of Lent be a time to shift our perspective from self centeredness to Christ centeredness.  When it is all said and done, God will not ask us:

How well did you do it your way?

Instead, He will ask us:

Did you share your bread with the hungry?

Did you share your clothes with the poor?

How well did you do it my way?

The most familiar method of fishing is very simple.  Get a pole, some line, a hook and some bait and you are good to go.  Granted, there are some variations on this, but, in all reality, it is a simple. I am not sure Jesus’s analogy in the Gospel works with our type of fishing.   This is not what Jesus had in mind because he wasn’t familiar with our style of fishing.

He would have been familiar with throwing out a net and dragging it back with the catch.  The apostles were given the mandate to throw out the net of God’s love and grace.  We are given the same mandate.  By throwing out the net of the Kingdom, you and I fulfill the fundamental responsibility of the Christian life:  to bring others to Christ. 

So, how?  By first getting caught ourselves.  There is no way for us to bring people to Christ, unless we first are caught up in His love and grace.  As important as it is to go through the ritual of Baptism, it is not enough.  To be caught in Christ’s web:  is to know peace in our life, the grace to endure anything that life throws at us, the fortitude to stand firm in our faith even when it means standing against the tide of a society that puts selfishness first and God last.  Then and only then,  are we able to go fishing for Christ. 

We are called to do this in our own ways depending on where we are in our lives.  Student, spouse, single, teacher, lawyer, contractor, stay at home mom, nurse, doctor, priest, deacon, etc.  No matter our state in life, we have to be caught up in the net of God’s love and grace and then throw the net ourselves and catch others.

            Jesus calls some of us to lead the community in this fishing expedition.  As a priest, my role is to lead you in being a fisher of men and women.  I am not always sure the shortage of priests is a bad thing.  II challenges the community of faith to own your call to be caught by Christ and to be fishers of men and women.  It your call and your right by baptism.  It is from the baptized that the priest is called.  Just like anyone else, the priest must be caught into the net of Christ’s love and grace and be committed to him and to him alone.  The priest must model his life on the example of the crucified Christ who gave everything and washed the feet of others.  Then, and only then, can he be a fisher of men and women.  A priest is a worker in the Kingdom, not the boss.  Only God is the Boss.  The priest is the steward of the Mysteries, the Sacraments, not for his own gain, but for the good of the community of faith.  He presides at the Eucharist to bring Christ to the community so that they bring Christ to others.  He empowers people to be fishers of men and women by the grace that they receive in the Sacraments.

My brothers and sisters, let yourself be caught by Christ right now and every day.  Then, be a fisher of men and women for Christ.  Invite someone to give their live to Christ as you have.  Invite someone to minister in His name.  Go, be caught by Christ and throw out the net for him.