Good News People!

Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 25, 2013

Readings: Isaiah 66:18-21; Psalm 117:1,2(Go out to all the world and tell the good news); Hebrews 12:5-7,11-13; Luke 13:22-30

(NOTE: This homily was prepared to introduce a new parish program called "Good News People" published by JustFaith Ministries. The "infomercial" at the end of the homily reflects that.)

            Who doesn’t love getting good news?

            Think of all the instances of good news in our lives: “We’re getting married!” “I found a job”! “We’re having a baby!” “I got into college!” “I got a promotion!”

            And even some of the less obvious things that we share: “I made a new friend”; “I made up with my sister”; “I’m feeling much better now”.

            And now think about the ultimate Good News that we heard in today’s readings – that God has come to gather people from all languages to proclaim God’s glory – that people will come from the north and south and east and west to recline at the table in God’s kingdom. God has given us salvation and redemption in Jesus Christ – what better news could there be than that?

            And, for those of us who do believe that God has redeemed us in Christ Jesus, we have a mission – as our Psalm says: “Go out to all the world and tell the Good News”. Good news has to be shared!

            It is our obligation as baptized Christians to go out and spread the Good News. But – how do we do that? Certainly, we have opportunities to spread the Good News in our conversations within our family or others that we pray with or are friends with. We have opportunities to do that in the way that we live and how behave at work, and with our friends and family. But we have to do it – being a disciple means having a deep relationship with Jesus, not just a casual one. Jesus warns us in today’s Gospel that those of us who rely on just “eating and drinking” with him, or just “listening” to his teaching may find ourselves on the outside of the gates. It takes action – it takes growth – it takes what Pope Francis has said, “going outside of ourselves”.

            But here is the catch: The truth is that, as the old Latin saying goes, “Nemo dat quod non habet” – “You can’t give what you don’t have”. And so, we have to continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord in order to share the Good News with others.

            Our parish is beginning a program to help you make that kind of growth in your relationship with Jesus even deeper. It is called the Good News People program. It is a combination of Scripture reflection, small group sharing, study of Church teaching, and individual prayer and action. We are inviting you to be a part of it. You will meet for seven sessions in the fall, and seven sessions in the spring – a total of 14 times between now and next summer. We will also have a little get-together before we begin and something at the end as well.

            We will be forming groups of about 10 people to meet together for these sessions. You are welcome to form your own group with folks that you already have something going with – perhaps you are on a committee like the decorating committee or the social committee, or you are part of a group like the Knights or Holy Name, or the choir. Or, you can just choose the day and time that is most convenient for you and we will put you together in groups with similar available times! We will be having sessions in the evenings as well as during the day for those who are retired or don’t like to go out in the evening or who work another shift.

            Each group will be led by a facilitator who will be trained to lead the discussion for the group, and everyone will get a binder that will have materials for reading, journaling, and reflection.

            You can take one of the RSVP cards that we will be handing out this weekend – and you can indicate your interest without making a firm commitment. Please give us your name, phone and email and either indicate that you are ready to sign up, or maybe want to be a facilitator, or maybe you are interested but not sure. Just write that on the RSVP – or write your question on the back.

            We want to help our parish grow into a community of disciples that are Good News People. Please join us on the journey by signing up to be a part of the process and together we will go out to all the world to tell the Good News.