Last week, in reflecting on Jesus’ invitation to ‘Come to me,’ I emphasized the importance of the altar around which we gather as God’s people. Abraham built an altar around which the pilgrim people he guided could gather as a more permanent symbol of God’s presence with them on the journey. He invited families out of their tents to gather around it, and in doing so to experience prayer and God’s presence. I believe that we are all a lot like those people, because we are all God’s people. We are all on a journey and we all dwell in tents. The tents that we dwell in house very sacred experiences of life as a family unit or in smaller gatherings. But we also live in emotional, spiritual, political and ethnic tents that help us to form some sense of support or community. In a world that has many tensions and divisions these days, I believe that many of the tents we dwell in harbor disrespect, discord and tension as well as the intimate, personal and private of life.
Amidst this mixture, I believe that it is more important than ever to come to the Lord – to get out of our tents and gather around the altar of the Lord. May our altar at Holy Family Catholic Community represent the most fundamental identity that we all share – God’s love. 1 John 4:10 says that God loved us first and the most important thing is not that we love God, but that God loves us. I believe that we all have a baptismal responsibility to invite others into that reality and around the table that is God’s love for us.
Our Roman Catholic tradition adds something essential to the altar. We believe that the altar also symbolizes gratitude. The most important thing that we celebrate around the altar is the Eucharist, which at its heart means gratitude. Simply giving gratitude to God for our many blessings can go a long way in breaking down barriers. I would like to challenge all of you – all of us, by virtue of our baptism – to invite others out of their tents and to gather around the altar of the Lord here at Holy Family. Invite them out of their tents to share the unconditional LOVE of OUR God.
This week’s scriptures give a beautiful complement to the altar. They poetically proclaim the importance of the WORD of sacred scripture. In our first reading from Isaiah, we hear that the word is like the snow and the rain coming down from heaven that do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it fruitful and giving seed for the sower and bread for the earth.
The Gospel story of the Sower and the Seed has Jesus telling us that there are different conditions and scenarios for the word of scripture attempting to be fruitful.
This parable inspires something that I do before I proclaim every Gospel at Mass. I first hold up the book of scripture so ALL can see it, then I say the following:
Lord, in some way may we come to know you more deeply and more fully as we break open your word.
Make our hearts, souls and minds rich soil
so that your word may take root in us.
Plant your word in us Lord, make us the richest soil
so that your word may take root and become fruitful and we may carry it’s fruits into a world
waiting for its goodness.
This is a prayer that I have crafted over many years. It is one that I would offer you to say before you read any scripture. Perhaps it can be a good opener for your Small Christian Community gathering, or one that you say by yourself before praying with scripture.
Every year for the past several, we have used the feast of St. Mary of Magdala to highlight, thank and acknowledge all of the women who minister in our church. Among our ministry leaders 128 are women and 43 are men. That means 75% of our leadership is women. The feast of Mary of Magdala is much more about courageous discipleship than about numbers, but I do find the number of women, particularly here at Holy Family, who have responded to their baptismal vocation by leading ministries is truly inspiring.
To help acknowledge the gift of women leaders in our Church we have invited Cynthia (Sam) Bowns to join us for the 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00am Masses next weekend. Sam is from Crete, Illinois and has recently retired as a development associate and alumni coordinator at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. She holds a Masters of Divinity and a certificate in spiritual formation from CTU where she continues as a volunteer. She is married and has three children. Sam has served for decades in a variety of parish ministries. She recently preached with Catholic Women Preach, which uses modern technology to bring the voices of diverse Catholic women to the proclamation of the Gospel through web-based resources. She is a spiritual director and has become a vocal advocate for restoring a women’s diaconate. She has been interviewed or featured by the National Catholic Reporter, America Magazine and PBS in their reporting on the possibility of ordaining women deacons. Please give Sam a warm Holy Family welcome.
We also welcome 200 teens this week from New Jersey, Tennessee, Iowa, Oswego, Wisconsin and California as we host Catholic Heart Work Camp. This is a teen service program that our teens have participated in for many years. This is Holy Family’s first time hosting. Welcome, campers!