18th Sunday Year C - Homily 1

Homily 1 - 2007

Whenever people ask questions in the gospels, they seem to ask the wrong questions, and get an answer they didn’t expect. That was, obviously, the case in today’s reading. Perhaps, there is a lesson for us there.

Today we are invited to ask God for more vocations to the priesthood. I feel uneasy.

Jesus doesn’t suggest anywhere that the Church needs more priests. His concern was more lay apostles. Go, make disciples of all the nations. Pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into the harvest. He was concerned about the need for more lay-apostles because of the crying needs of people generally. The harvest is great.. needs seem infinite.

God’s first love is people – everyone – the world. We’re mixed up, vicious, violent, indifferent… hungry. We’re confused, barking up the wrong trees. We’re hurting! And God wants to help us, because God is concerned about all this, because God loves us.

His method was to send Jesus. Jesus’ method was to select some of this vast humanity, to train them, to motivate them, to enlighten them, to share with them his dream, and then, to send them out to do the same with whoever crossed their paths and looked interested – to be lay-apostles in the world of people he loves.

But the inertia of the world at large makes it all hard work. Lay apostles need on- going support, constant enlightenment, renewed encouragement, and so on. We need each other. Together we are Church. We have our sacraments to remind us who we are and what we’re for, to keep the vision and the goals clear, above all… to put us in touch with the source of it all, our creating, life-giving, redeeming, forgiving and patient God.

And to have the most important sacrament, the Eucharist, some of us need to be priests.So if we are to be able as Church to carry out our mission to the world, if we are to be kept in touch with the energy-source of it all, we need some priests among us. Inevitably, then, our prayer for labourers out there at work in the harvest involves a prayer for enough priests.

Has God fallen down on the job lately? I would suspect not. But, whenever we pray for more priests, we tell God that we want only those whom God calls also to be celibate. That narrows the goal-posts somewhat. In addition, we say we are interested in them, only if they are also prepared to be professionally trained for seven or eight years, full-time, committed for life, financially supported by us, and male.

Perhaps God may be saying: “You’re asking me for more priests. I’m asking you for more commitment to your apostolate as laity.”

What is God up to at the moment? Can we be so busy talking to God and telling God our wants, that we’re not listening to God talking to us and telling us God’s needs?

Personally, I like to leave it open-ended, not pre-empting anything.

As Jesus taught us last week: Say this when you pray: Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test. That, it seems to me, covers the whole lot, and succinctly says it all.