Nothing is more powerful than God’s love for us. But do we experience it deeply enough to be a light to the nations as missionary disciples? Readings for Today.
A Light to the Nations
“I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.” This weekend is often dedicated to vocations. There is often a focus on vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. But I wish today to help each of us focus on the vocation we all received from God at our baptism.
When we consider any vocation, it is first important to focus upon the love of God. With the election of Pope Leo XIV this week, he has spoken clearly about the power of the love of the Risen Christ to each one of us.
In the first words of the new pope, the Urbi et Orbi blessing, meaning to the city and to the world, Pope Leo XIV said this. “God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands.”
At the heart of any call from the Lord is the firm conviction that we are all, each one of us, loved by God more than we can ever know or imagine. And this love that God has for us assures each of us that Jesus has won the victory over sin and death. So we can say with confidence, “Evil will not prevail.”
But recognizing this profound and unconditional love Jesus has for each of us is not the end for us. Resting in the Lord is powerful, but it is not sufficient. Jesus tells us that truly living out of the love for God means that we must love God more, and we must love our neighbor more.
Jesus reminds us that the love of God is certain and secure for us. “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.” This means we never have to doubt the love of God for us. And we never need to doubt the love of God for every person.
God’s powerful love in the world for each person represents a profound challenge for each one of us. We cannot sit idly by if we truly believe in the love God has for us. And this love is not because we have earned it or deserve it.
No. As Saint Paul tells us in the his Letter to the Romans, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
How many in our world desperately need to hear this? God’s love is so powerful that he loves us even when we sin. He hates the sin but not the sinner. How many in our world need to know that they are loved by God beyond all imagining?
We are told in the gospel that “My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.” And hearing the voice of the shepherd means that we are deeply and infinitely loved. But what else does hearing the voice of the shepherd mean?
When Jesus drives out a demon from a man in Gentile territory, he says, “Return home and recount what God has done for you.” The result of experiencing the divine love of God means we cannot keep it a secret.
We must share our faith. We cannot sit in silence not wanting to get involved. Not wanting to court potential persecution. Not wanting to be controversial. No, we must be willing to tell others what God in his goodness has done for each one of us.
Picking up on the mission of Pope Francis that means leaders should smell like the sheep, that we have a special gospel mandate to be very concerned with those on the margins and the peripheries of society, Pope Leo wants to continue this by encouraging all of us, in his words, to first be missionaries.
To the cardinals, and to each of us, Pope Leo says he wants to “walk together with you, as a united Church always seeking peace, justice, always trying to work as men and women faithful to Jesus Christ, without fear, to proclaim the Gospel, to be missionaries.”
The fundamental question then, is, “Will we?” Will you, will I, see that the fundamental attitude of being a Catholic is to be a missionary? And can both you and me see that to proclaim the gospel requires words and deeds?
What actions do we need to do in proclaiming the message of the gospel? Again, Pope Leo said this to the Church of Rome, and indeed to each of us. “We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive like this square with open arms. Everyone, everyone who needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love.”
But let us not be naïve. While I try to avoid direct political observations, following rather the sage advice of speaking out on moral issues that relate to the gospel, I feel compelled to comment on this from Steve Bannon.
Bannon said that while Pope Leo may be an American, he is not America First. Of course not. To be a follower of Jesus does not mean we are America First. There was a lot of prejudice directed at Catholics, especially in the 19th century that we would not have primary allegiance to our country, but to another political leader, the pope.
And on some level, this concern was not without some truth. While I am proud to be an American, and I consider myself quite blessed by God to be an American, my primary allegiance must be to Jesus and his Church. I would not be a Catholic if this were not true.
But on both the left and the right I fear that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been replaced by a “gospel” of politics. That the gospel is coopted by all politicians to prove that true gospel principles are only reflected by our political parties, our team.
It cannot be that way with us. In faithful citizenship we are reminded that as priests we are not to be partisan. This is because that if we are, it could compromise our preaching of the gospel. And regardless of what we do, as priests, as Catholics, as followers of Jesus, we can never, ever allow anything to distract from the gospel of Jesus.
This is because, as the first reading tells us, we are to become “a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvationto the ends of the earth.” And this is precisely the message that Pope Leo heard from the cardinals when, in laying out his priorities, he reflected what he heard from the General congregations of cardinals.
He listed as the first priority this: “The return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation.” And so, let each one of us be a faithful son and daughter of Christ. Let each one of us live out our baptismal call to be disciples of Christ and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
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