Dear Brothers and Sisters:
When I told my mother that I was accepted to the seminary for the Archdiocese of Newark sixteen years ago she said, ‘I always knew you would be a priest; I felt it the first time I held you.’ Moms can easily get carried away at moments like this and truth be told I had left the Church for many years and only came back when I saw some people on Wall Street who were on fire about the faith. This is what changed the course of my life, and many years later I entered the seminary. My parents prepared me in many ways but my vocation came from another source.
Paul in his letter to the Galatians (modern day Turkey) says that he has been called when he was in his mother’s womb, and called by a free gift of God for a particular mission (Gal. 1: 11-17). His letter is like a sword flashing; he is under attack from some strict Jewish Christians and he strikes back, first of all defending the mission that he has received from Jesus Christ himself. It did not come from ‘human origin’ but from God.
And he tells, as he always does, the story of his change from a persecutor to an apostle. He cannot stop from telling this story; he says it was only possible because of God’s work, not his. Paul defends his role as apostle not from pride but from the necessity prompted by an attack. The real test of a Christian is not the number of awards received or the number of sacraments or ceremonies celebrated or vows taken but if you have seen Christ in your day to day life. Paul shows the depth of his faith by his repeated willingness to suffer for Christ: beaten, flogged, shipwrecked many, many times in every city where he started Christian communities. He only did this knowing that his task came from God.
Paul was a man of the Law before his conversion but he realized that the Law did not save him. He studied it; he knew it like no other, and yet it did not liberate him. When he encountered Jesus Christ his life changed.
Paul knew that he was chosen for a service, not for ease or for applause. Many have fallen away at the first sign of attacks, but Paul perseveres. A disciple, an apostle, any minister in the Church is there not to please men, but to fulfill his/her mission. Let us reflect on this great responsibility we all have from our Baptism, and not to be afraid to give ourselves to the Church.
The gospel, as always, can help us. There were two crowds, one with Jesus, and one on the way to the cemetery. Jesus stops and sees this widow who is burying her only son (Luke7: 11-17). He quietly goes to the bier and touches it and the procession stops immediately. In a thundering message, calmly spoken he says, ‘Young man, get up!’ And he got up and started talking to his mother. And they all glorified God.
Brothers and sisters, when we touch Christ we receive life. We touch him in the Eucharist, in the readings and the music, in the preaching, in a conversation with a friend and this is what gives us life. Look for this. Give yourself a bit to the Church and you will find life.
