Homily: Fourteenth Thursday of Ordinary Time
Homily: Fourteenth Thursday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 10:7-15) “Tempus Fugit”
We have only a finite amount of time to spend in this world and we must make the most of it. Jesus expresses this sentiment to his disciples as he sends them out to spread the Gospel. His mission was to be a top priority in lives of his followers.
Someone once said that we can play the game of life like a football game. We can act like we are in the first half and believe that we have a lot of time to score. Or believe that we are in the third quarter. We may be behind, but we have time to come back. Or we might play the game of life like we are in our two-minute offence. We need to score, and we need to score now. Jesus says, when it comes to proclaiming the Kingdom, we are to act like we only have two minutes left to go. We want to win as many souls for Christ as we can.
We cannot afford to pass up opportunities to serve Jesus. There are things that we cannot retrieve once we use them. One of these things is the spoken word. Words go out from our mouth for good or ill, and we can never wipe their effects away. Another thing that we cannot usually retrieve is the spent arrow. Lastly, we cannot get back a lost opportunity.
I was talking to a priest who had an opportunity to be superior of his religious community. He turned it down despite the encouragement of his confreres because he felt like he did not have the skills for the leadership position. A wise older member of the community said in that moment, “Father, remember, if you say no, you will never get this opportunity again.” As the old expression goes, “we must strike while the iron is hot”.
As we reflect on all these examples, we get a sense of urgency. That is what Jesus was trying to emphasize with his disciples. Win as many people to the Gospel message as you can, as soon as you can. We never know when our time in this world will be up. And we want to be able to say that we have given our all for Christ.
Reflection Questions:
- Have I ever let an important opportunity pass me by? What regrets did I have?
- Do I bring up my faith with others? Why do I hesitate?
Dear Parishioners,
Yesterday I was talking to some friends and catching up. At the end of the call, they told me that their son-in-law had just lost his job due to downsizing. They asked for my prayers. I received a call from another friend today whose husband is having severe health issues. He is going into intensive care. People believe that as a priest I am a person of prayer. I hope I am. But many in our parish are far more fervent than I am.
One of the ministries that we have here at Sacred Heart is a ministry of prayer. We will be putting a logbook for prayers back in our church vestibule soon so that people can record prayer requests. This activity had been suspended during the pandemic. Now it is safe to engage in this once again.
Another prayer ministry we have at Sacred Heart is our prayer tree. Martina Werner coordinates this ministry. If you have an intention that you would like for others to pray for, you can call Martina, or our parish office, and we will send out the word that prayers are needed. We try to keep things as anonymous as possible.
May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark