All for the gospel: Homily for Thursday, May 21, 2026

Jesus shows us in today’s gospel, which by the way is before the passion, that we have all we need. And it’s not just that we have all we need, we have so much more than we need because our God is unbelievably generous and in many ways is a God of extremes.

All for the gospel

Among my, among rather the passages in the New Testament, this passage from St. Paul is among my favorite. And this section, this whole trial is really almost kind of a tongue-in-cheek description of trials. Today he notices that there are Sadducees and Pharisees. At another time they all pounce on this poor guy Sosthenes, and at yet another time the judge says, “I don’t even want to hear this case.”

But there’s a common element in everything that Paul does after his conversion. He will do whatever it takes to preach the gospel. He tells us he’s become all things to all people. To the poor he becomes poor, to the wealthy he becomes wealthy, to those who are Gentiles he preaches to them like Gentiles, to those who are Jewish he uses his Jewish cachet when it helps him to be a Roman citizen. He makes that apparent.

He will do whatever it takes. He will go many nights without comfort. He will be imprisoned, he will be beaten, he takes his show on the road and making tents so that he’s not a burden to anybody. He will do whatever it takes to preach the gospel. How can he do this? Because he deeply is aware of all that Jesus has done for him.

He often will make the statement, I don’t think false humility but real humility, that says I am the least of the Apostles because I persecuted the church. He wasn’t perfect. He had his faults. There’s a part of me that thinks that Paul was sometimes like a reformed smoker, not always easy to get along with.

But he can do this because of what Jesus has done for him. And what we celebrate this week as we await the celebration of Pentecost is that what Jesus has done for Paul, Jesus does for us. But there is a question that we each have to ask ourselves. Do we do everything it takes to preach the gospel? Do we place ourselves at the service of the gospel because we are so convinced that the depths of our beliefs are what lead to fulfillment for everyone, happiness and goodness?

Because Jesus shows us in today’s gospel, which by the way is before the passion, that we have all we need. And it’s not just that we have all we need, we have so much more than we need because our God is unbelievably generous and in many ways is a God of extremes.

Not only does Jesus have glory because of his faithfulness to the Father, so do we. Not only does Jesus have unity with the Father, so do we. Not only is it that Jesus is a member of the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, he makes God available to people. They can know God, we can know God because Jesus knows the Father and he shares that revelation with us. He wants us to be with him and he wants us to share with those even today that it’s possible to live forever with God.

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