Homily: Liturgy Conference 2003

March 8 , 2003

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Auxiliary Bishop of Denver

Cardinal Arinze, Archbishop Chaput, brother Priests, Deacons, brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today's passage of the Gospel, St. Matthew's vocation fits well with the Liturgy Conference theme: We have seen the Lord!, and hopefully we will be inspired to be renewed these days and continue our commitment to our Christian life with new enthusiasm.

"Jesus saw a tax collector name Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me". And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him".     

  St. Matthew’s response to God’s call may seem easy, but God’s call requires commitment and abandonment of one’s self. The above passage holds a number of practical lessons that might be of use for us. First, the fact that Matthew was called as he 'was sitting at the customs post'. Jesus called him where he was, at work! Doing what he was supposed to be doing. Matthew’s job did not exactly endear himself to the community for this was not the type of profession that  people held in high regard or considered to be a "good job". He was not the most appreciated person in town.

Is it not the same for us? Jesus is calling us where we are – just as we are. Independent of our personal conditions, smart, or not, great personality, or not, very religious, or not. God is calling us to follow him! Today, once again, Jesus is passing by and saying to you, to me, to each one of us: Follow me!           Matthew's response was immediate. "Leaving behind everything, he got up and followed him! What an example for us!

Matthew responded with absolute confidence in Jesus' words and was not afraid to commit himself totally to God. What about us? Are we able to say unequivocally:  Yes Lord, I commit myself totally to you! Or do we have excuses and “reasons” for not seeking him in our prayer life or for not going out of our way to practice charity towards others!

For Matthew, everything changed after that personal encounter with Jesus. Just as this time together for us should be an opportunity to change. We have seen the Lord! As the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II said in Ecclesia in America, 7: "A fresh encounter with Jesus Christ will make all the members of the Church in America aware that they are called to continue the Redeemer's mission in their lands".

Matthew was so exuberant that he organized a "great banquet" and invited all his friends to meet Jesus, --  a "large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them". Now, Matthew did not have the most reputable friends in town. However, this did not bother Matthew -- they were his friends!

This “great banquet” provided Jesus the opportunity to make clear to all of us that he didn't come "to call the righteous to repentance but sinners".

From this occurrence we can come away with two practical points  First, that Jesus is calling us to follow him, not because we are brilliant people, but because he loves us. We follow him knowing that we are weak, that we are sinners and in need of the healing love of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Then, we, like St. Matthew, need to go out and invite our friends to meet Jesus! That's our evangelizing mission., We need to go out and talk to our families and friends about the greatness of our faith. We can share with them what we learned and experienced here at this two-day Liturgy Conference -- listening to the word of God, learning about the Sacraments, the Liturgy, witnessing and sharing ideas with each another and so forth and so on.

As the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, said, one of the places where we can find Jesus is the Sacred Liturgy. “Christ is present in the celebrant who renews at the altar the one and only sacrifice of the cross; he is present in the sacraments through which he exercises his efficacious power. When his word is proclaimed, it is he himself who speaks to us. He is also present in the community, by virtue of his promise that ‘where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Mt. 18,20). He is present ‘especially under the Eucharistic species’” Ecclesia in America, 12.

It is our mission to educate others about the richness of the Liturgy by our example and by our instructions to them. Our words should encourage others to embrace and love the Liturgy and make it a part of their prayer life.

We should also think of the consequences of our Christian vocation regarding society as the Prophet Isaiah reminds us in the 1st reading of today's Mass: "If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the Lord will guide you always…"

This is our mission in life, to follow Jesus Christ and to share with others the joy of getting to know him. But it should be known by our example. Our commitment to our personal prayer life and to preach the Gospel with our own lives.

Today we can make our own this prayer of St. Ambrose: "Like him (Matthew), I too want to leave behind my old life, and follow no-one but you, O Lord, who cures my wounds. Who will ever separate me from the love of God which I find in you…? I am bound to the Faith, nailed to the Faith; I am bound by the holy bonds of love " (Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, 5,27).

As always, we need to make concrete and practical resolutions. Think about making new or additional resolutions in your life, perhaps we can try to attend daily Mass or pray the Rosary every day, if possible, as a family. Maybe God is asking us to go to Confession or be more patient with the members of our family and/or co-workers. Whatever you feel you are being called to do, let's respond like St. Matthew, with great generosity.

The full expression of our Lenten penitential practices prepares us to become the very holiness of God, and, in that way, as St. Paul says, we are "ambassadors for Christ". We should have our own specific goals for this Lenten season.

It is up to us to find the means to achieve these goals. The means will be different for each one of us, but what we all have in common is the intensity and enthusiasm that we should have as we begin this special time in the life of the Church.

Let us ask Mary, our Blessed Mother, for her intercession during this special season of Lent that we are starting these days. "May the Blessed Virgin obtain for us the grace of entrusting ourselves to Christ, to continue joyfully on our Lenten journey and to review our life sincerely in the light of the Gospel"  (JP II, 2/16/97).