My sister does something that’s kinda cute. The last couple of summers, she has gone one
what she calls ‘vica-vacations’… that’s short for ‘vicarious vacations’…She
can’t afford to take her family on big vacations, so she just waits for her
friends to post THEIR vacation pictures on facebook, then she pastes her own
face into THEIR vacation picture and posts it on HER facebook page. The Vica-vacation … well – I thought it was a
cool idea.
We use the word ‘vicarious’ in the church too… we can say
that Jesus’s death on the cross was vicarious too… he died in our place… he was
our substitute, since WE were the ones who deserved death.
Let me come back to that thought in a minute.. because
today… all that mess about the cross and crucifixion is behind us. Today is PENTECOST… the birthday of the
Church. You gotta wonder…Why did Jesus
start his church? Well – to answer that
– I think first you gotta answer the question – why did Jesus become
human? Think of it this way… Jesus want
to come to earth so he could touch his people with a human hand and SHOW us the
way to the Father through HIS human actions.
When he left, still wanted to be able to do that… So, He started the
church so he could CONTINUE to touch his people through a human hand… through
the hand of his ministers. In other
words – when Fr. Eugene baptizes a baby, it is actually JESUS baptizing the
baby vicariously through the hand of Fr. Eugene. You catch that? Fr. Eugene stands “in the place” of Jesus
when he baptizes… Jesus is still
reaching out to touch his people with a human hand. He wants to continue to live vicariously
through his body on earth… thru us… WE are the body of Christ. You may have heard, one of the titles for the
Pope is the “vicar of Christ”… recognize that word… vicar? It comes from the same word as ‘vicarious’…
in other words, the Pope is the substitute – or he sits in place of Christ as
the head of the church…his body of Christ on earth. Jesus continues to live his life vicariously
through the ministers of his church
But that’s not all… today at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit
entered the apostles and propelled them out of that room and into the street to
tell everyone about the great things God had done. They were the billboards advertising to the
world the great things that God had accomplished through Jesus. They were the spokesmen for the
commercials. And what was really cool
was as they spoke, everyone heard them and understood even though they were
from different countries.
What you may not realize though is that the big advertising
campaign continues… and you and I are the billboards… we are the spokesmen for
the commercial. So – what message is on
your billboard? What language are we
speaking?
We can LEAD people TO Christ or chase them away… depending
on our actions, …our words, …and just our sense of joy. If we’re always in a sour mood – why would anybody
WANT to join US at church? On the other
hand, if everyone around us is leading non-Christian lives – maybe - every
other word out of their mouths is a four letter word, but WE avoid that
behavior…, what does THAT tell people about how Jesus has changed OUR
lives?
I want to use another big word that probably sounds scary to
most of us: Evangelization. What do you think of when you hear that
word? Billy Graham? Jimmy Swaggart? The guy on the street corner shouting at the
top of his lungs that the end is near and you’d better repent? While those guys are evangelists… they
are the exception. Every ONE of us is
called to be an evangelist. No – I don’t
mean you need to be on TV or stand or a street corner. You don’t even need to be like the apostles
in today’s first reading speaking different languages… All you gotta do is try to bring God into the
world around you. You work at a factory: watch your language. You raise your family: teach them to pray. You run around with a group of friends: set the right example when they want to go
places and do things you know are not right.
How we live our lives is the first, most necessary step in
bringing others to know Christ. Jesus
wants to SHOW people how to experience the joy of following him… to do that,
Jesus wants to live his life vicariously through you and me.
There are many ways to be an evangelist…. One way is to pass
along a good book or CD. That’s the
whole purpose of the CD’s that we have at the doors of the church. After YOU listen to a particularly good,
Catholic CD, the best thing you can do is to pass it along to someone else you
know who can benefit from it. Same thing
goes for the books we have handed out.
Not too long ago, we passed out ‘Rome Sweet Home’ – possibly one of the
best Catholic books out there (after the Bible). Then at Easter, we had a couple hundred
copies of ‘4 Signs of a Dynamic Catholic’.
The title didn’t really grab MY attention, but the feedback I’ve gotten
from this book has been outstanding! In
fact, it is so good, I’d like to make sure EVERYbody gets the chance to read
it. Seriously – if you didn’t get a copy
and would like one – drop me an email and I will make sure you get one.
I’ve got another example – it just happened recently to two
of my best friends, and it gives us an example of how ANYbody can
evangelize. Many of you know Jack
Goodman – he’s been making rosaries for years – somewhere around 60,000 by his
best count. He makes them for the missions,
plus he makes special rosaries and sells them for next to nothing – often
simply GIVING them away. Chances are,
any time you run into him, if you said you needed a rosary, he’d stick his hand
in his pocket and give you one. Well –
recently, my other friend went to buy a car, and the salesman commented on the
rosary in his car and wondered where he could get one like it… so my friend
just GAVE him that rosary… one made by Jack.
That guy was so appreciative, but my friend wouldn’t take anything for it…
instead the guy made a donation to our church a couple weeks later. Once Jack found out about it – he made my
friend another one just like it – so he could carry it with him in case he ever
needs to give it away again. Where are
you and I in that story? Can you make
rosaries? Can you pass out
rosaries? Can we pass along a book or a
CD? Do we have other talents we can use
to spread the Gospel
Jesus needs every ONE of us to be Evangelists… he needs each of us speaking on his behalf –
why? Get this… you remember in the first
reading how everyone heard the apostles in their own language? Do you recognize how that applies today? Every one of us sitting here today hears the
word of God in our own way… based on our own background and
experiences. Even though I’m preaching
one thing to everybody… people HEAR different things. Proof of this comes sometimes after a homily…
people will come up and say how they heard something completely different than
what I said… the Holy Spirit is speaking to them where they are – through my
words. So – the Holy Spirit needs each
of us out there talking – because somebody is listening – and somebody needs to
hear the word of God spoken to them in a way they will understand…in the way that
YOU speak it.
The bottom line for today:
Jesus still wants to touch people in the world – and he does that
vicariously through you and me. He sends
His Holy Spirit to give us the courage and the enthusiasm to do it… we just
gotta LET Him act through us. If WE
don’t do it –How will our families know about Jesus? How will our co-worker know about Jesus? how will the WORLD know about Jesus? We are ALL Vicars of Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment