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Twenty-five
Years of Faith and Community
August
21, 2005 Homily
Matthew
16:13-20
Fr.
George Smiga
A
pastor of a west coast parish became frustrated by the number
of people in his community who were not coming to church on
Sunday, so he formed a committee to look into it. They eventually
sent out this letter.
Dear
Parishioner,
You
are registered here in the parish, but we have noticed that
you do not come to mass on Sunday. So we have designated next
Sunday as There Is No Excuse Not To Come To Church Sunday
. We have worked diligently to eliminate any excuse for
not joining us for worship.
Next
Sunday cots will be provided for all who feel that Sunday
is their only day to sleep in. Coffee and eye drops will be
available for those who insist on staying out late on Saturday
night. Steel helmets will be provided for those who claim
that if they ever walk into a church the roof will fall. Sweaters
will be provided for those who feel the church is too cold;
fans for those who feel the church is too hot. There will
be scorecards available for all who wish to keep track of
the hypocrites who come to church on Sunday. We will have
gift certificates for area restaurants for those who feel
that they must stay home and cook. Finally, we are decorating
the sanctuary with Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies
for those who have never seen the church without them.
The
letter caused a good deal of discussion. But ultimately very
few people decided to come back to church on a regular basis.
This should not be surprising because you cannot argue, shame,
or force people into accepting the value of church community.
Seeing
the importance of a faith community is a gift, a gift that
is connected to faith in Jesus Christ. This is clear in today's
gospel. Peter makes a strong profession of faith in Christ.
He says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
The very first thing that Jesus reminds Peter is that his
faith does not come from flesh and blood, but from the revelation
of our Heavenly Father. Peter did not believe in Christ because
he was smarter or more observant than other people. He believed
because he had been gifted with faith that comes from a God
who loved him. The same is true for us. We have faith in Jesus
Christ not because we are particularly intelligent or good.
We believe because God has loved us and gifted us with faith.
There is a mystery here. Why do we believe in Christ and there
still are so many good and intelligent people in the world
who do not share in that faith. Why is it that people we love
and we would deeply desire to believe, sometimes cannot do
so. The only explanation is that we have been given a faith
and others have not. We should respond to such a gift in humility
and in thankfulness.
Faith
is a gift. It is a gift is connected to community. This is
also clear in today's gospel. After Peter professes his faith,
Jesus establishes the church. He proclaims that it is upon
the rock of Peter's faith and faith similar to Peter's, that
his church will stand. Faith and church community go together.
People who say they believe in Christ and yet to not associate
themselves with a believing community have an incomplete faith,
because the entire witness of Israel and of the scriptures
testify that believing and church go together. In choosing
Christ we do more than make an individual decision to believe,
we also commit ourselves to brothers and sisters who believe
the same thing with us. Faith in Christ requires a place where
we worship God with others and serve one another in Jesus'
name.
Today
we celebrate twenty-five years of life for our community of
St. Noel. We celebrate that the original members of this community,
many of whom are still with us, had the gift of faith in Jesus
Christ and had the gift to value the importance of church.
They valued it enough to build this church building and to
begin many of the ministries which still continue to this
day. We celebrate our participation in that tradition of faith
community. We celebrate that whether we have belonged here
twenty-five years or a few months, we can grow deeper in our
faith in Christ together. The committee that has been working
on the anniversary celebration has asked us to wear nametags
this weekend. This is a reminder that our faith in Christ
is connected with our relationship to one another. I encourage
you today during the sign of peace to use the nametag as a
way to personalize your greeting to one another and to celebrate
our connection in Christ.
Faith
is a gift. Church community is a gift. We celebrate twenty-five
years of such giftedness today. Let us celebrate with humility
because we have been chosen to believe. Let us celebrate with
thankfulness because we have been given one another. Let us
celebrate with the commitment to pass on both our faith and
our community to others in the years ahead.
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