Homily: Feast of St. Faustina

Feast of St. Faustina (Lk: 10:1-12) “Does the World have the Same Vision?”

We read that Jesus appointed a further 72 to go out and proclaim the Gospel. This would seem to be a wider mission than that undertaken by the 12 earlier in the Gospel. 72 was said to be the number of countries in the world at the time of Jesus. Truly our Lord was undertaking a worldwide mission. This was very ambitious. He did not limit his work to the Jewish people.

A worldwide mission is truly a difficult undertaking. As Catholics we sometimes must be reminded of this. We can have a rather myopic view of the church. We have issues in our parish and in our diocese and in our country. But these may not be the same issues that the Catholic Church has on the other side of the word.

We are seeing all this being played out at the synod being held in Rome. The Western world is concerned about whether women can be ordained and whether the divorced and remarried can receive communion. We are interested in whether gay people can be treated with greater respect.

Catholics in another country can be concerned with how climate change is affecting their life. Or they might be worried about how war is tearing at the fabric of their society. Migration may be the most important challenge facing a church in the southern hemisphere. Poverty and the need to share the world’s resources might be another huge concern.

Solutions to these problems may work in some countries but in other countries they may not. Does the church have different church disciplines in different places. This has never been the tradition of the church. We have always had universal laws.

Yes, trying to carry the good news out to all the world is very hard. But Jesus’ goal was clear. We are to be a missionary church that spreads the gospel to all humanity.

Reflection Questions:

1.    Are the controversies in the American Church the same as the worldwide church? What is the difference?

2.   Should the church have different teachings in different countries? What is the solution?

 Dear Parishioners,

           The synod on synodality has started. The opening Mass was held on the Feast of St. Francis. I think this is significant in that the Pope that has called this synod is named Francis and St. Francis was one of the most important reformers in the history of the church.

          When the present Pope was elected, he was challenged by the electors to be a reformer. It was felt that the Vatican bureaucracy needed to be restructured. Our Pope wanted to go further than this. He wants to rebuild the whole church.

          We will see what transpires. This may be a moment of tremendous significance, or it might be much ado about nothing. Only time will tell. We all hope that the participants will listen to the promptings of the Spirit.

          May our Lady, Mother of the Church, pray for us,

          Fr. Mark