Homily Notes 2nd Sunday of Easter 2019 “Christianity Means Church Community”
2nd Sunday of Easter/ “Christianity Means Church Community”
Every day of the Easter Season we read from the Acts of the Apostles. When a scripture is in the liturgies of the church that much it the church is trying to emphasize something. We say, that the Easter Season is all about the Resurrection of Jesus. We could also make a strong case that the Easter season is about what it means to be church. The Acts of the apostles is about the organization of the early Christian Church.
Christians seem to have forgotten how important it is to belong to a church community. A new Gallup poll came out this past week concerning religion in America. In that poll 50% of Americans say that they do not belong to a church. That is down from about 70% at the turn of century. We have no indication that this is going to bottom out soon.
What is said about this is that younger people are not joiners any more. We could also say that the scandals that plague religious congregations have not helped the situation. Our church, of course, has been one of the hardest hit by scandal. But can one really call oneself a Christian if you are not part of a church community?
The general conscientious in our society would be to say that yes one can. We all have probably been around people before who say something like the following, “I believe that I am a Christian, but that I am not part of any church. I am a good person. I pray on my own. I believe that I try to be moral.”
Like everything else in our world, there seems to be feeling that it is best to isolate oneself. If you isolate yourself, you cannot get hurt. But then people suffer from the worst of all diseases which is loneliness. Loneliness, we could argue, is the number one killer in our society.
We seem to have a disconnect from the New Testament if we believe that we can be Christian and not affiliate with a Christian Community. Look at what Jesus did? He was part of his local synagogue. He went to the temple to worship. He recruited twelve apostles to accompany him on his journeys. Other men and women also asked to be his disciples and he lived with all these people in community. As we observed during holy week, sometimes Jesus’ community was a great support to him. Other times they were a great disappointment to him. Jesus was at odds with many of the leaders of the Jewish faith while he was on earth. But Jesus never said I am not a Jew any more.
We can also observe what St. Paul did. Whenever he went into a new town to preach, he organized a church community. He found leaders to train. He worked at finding places for the church to gather. He did not leave until the community was functioning. He knew that for Christianity to survive and grow he had to get people to commit to living in community. Were their fights in the churches he founded? We need only to read through the Acts of the Apostles to see that there were divisions that arose all the time. Even Peter and Paul had their arguments. Were there people who left the church in disgust. You can bet there were.
But the community of the church is still present throughout the world. And the church community exists in small units like the parish of Sacred Heart. We try to support each other. Some of us have been here since we are born. Others of us might be here for the first time today. Human dynamics tell us that it is easier to worship, do charity, evangelize when we do that with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I say all this as a prelude to introducing the Annual Diocesan Appeal. Once again, we will be gathering funds for the Diocese of Peoria. This year the goal at Sacred Heart is $142,000. This is $5,000 less than last year. We were 30K short of goal last year. We will be paying off that shortfall in the year ahead. We on the finance committee would like to cut down that deficient. We ask you to help us. The appeal funds things like marriage preparation, the Diocesan Tribunal, the Schools office and the diaconate program. Our parish participates in these programs and others.
You will receive a pledge card in the mail this week. Please pray about what you might contribute. Bring the card next week when we have in pew solicitation. Thank you in advance for your generosity. We need your help if our parish community is to remain strong and vibrant. We are all part of the family of Christ. Being a part of the church is difficult at times. Jesus did not intend that it be that way. Jesus would want church membership to be one of the biggest blessings of our lives. Hopefully, it will be that way for everyone here today.