This past Thursday, October
11th, we commemorated the 50th anniversary of the opening
of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. For those not familiar with this event, it is
commonly known as Vatican II and is often primarily recognized for having
introduced the mass in the vernacular or common language, and for having turned
the altars around. Mass in English and
the priest facing the people was only one change that resulted from this
momentous event in the Church’s life. There
were 16 documents produced, ranging from the liturgy to our relations with
other churches.
This past Thursday, in
conjunction with the anniversary of Vatican II, the Church also began the year
of faith which will accompany us until November 23 of next year.
But all this may be perhaps
nothing more than a happy memory or another church thing to do, or at least it
may seem that way. In actuality, the
Year of Faith, is a time for us to enter into a sincere and honest reflection
of not just the faith, this vague and distant idea that the priest have to
worry about, but a moment in which we pause and reflect on who I am as a part
of the Church, and if the Church’s mission is to evangelize, how I participate
in that. It is a moment to reconnect
with our own faith or to help it grow.
So what do Year of Faith and Vatican II have
to do with today’s readings? Well, you
see, we enter this year of faith as a people of faith, but we are also being
called upon to enter as intentional people. People willing to participate, not just in
church events, but in authentic and honest self-reflection. We are called to reflect on who I am and who
God is in my life. What does faith mean
to me and how do I live out the faith every day?
And just in case we’re still
not sure of how to “self-reflect,” we see in the Gospel today this young man
who lived his faith in such a way that at least exteriorly, he could be held in
high regard as a model Jew. But when
asked to go beyond the exterior, when enjoined upon by Jesus to enter a more
profound and spiritual faith, when asked to be more vulnerable, he saddened and
walked away. Even after Jesus looks at
him with love, he is unable to respond, he is unable to take the “leaf of faith,”
unsure about really trusting God who calls.
Going back to the second
Vatican Council, we see the response of John XXIII to this same invitation, to
enter into a place where he, and the Church, where we become open, vulnerable to the movements of the Spirit. In declaring that a council would be convened,
John XXIII, invited the Church to self-reflect, and in effect, to enter into a
more profound relationship with Christ. His response was a yes to the conversion that
we are each constantly in need of, because of sin or other factors, we need to
draw closer to Christ, to look at our riches and to be able to heed the call to
follow HIM. Instead of hearing his
voice, and missing out on the love with which he calls. There was great fear when John XXIII called
the Council, but ultimately, that is our own journey, one in which we are open
to the movements of the Holy Spirit, where we are compelled by that same Spirit
to move and very often to move into the unknown, in faith. And so we must ask ourselves, and perhaps it’s
a good starting point for the Year of Faith, where am I like the young man? Am I too rich to follow Jesus, or am I able
to walk in faith into the unknown, believing and trusting that even there, in
the mystery of tomorrow, God is already at work?
This year of faith is a time
to do just that, to look at ourselves, at our lives and at our relationship with
Christ and to heed God’s call that in doing so, we may not only grow in faith,
but also in God’s life-giving love that can call us beyond even fear and death.
Let us be people of life that unlike the
young man, are able to listen and respond with an interior faith. Let us be people that walk into the heart of
God, where hope enkindles that Spirit that has guided many others, that same
loving Spirit, with which Christ spoke. May we, together, be people walking in Christ,
along the narrow way, and not those who stand to the side as they watch the
camel go through the eye of the needle. May we see the Church, us, rest in Christ, for
he calls with love. And we respond in
faith. As always, know that you are loved. Fr Rick
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