Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Homily)
July 17, 2022 5:30 pm · Sergio Muñoz Fita
This weekend I would like to make myself accessible before or after each Mass for those who wish to say goodbye to me before my final departure, which will take place in about a week on the feast of our patroness, St. Anne.
Since it will be impossible for me to greet everyone personally, and since this is the last time I will address you at the weekend celebrations, I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank you all for the messages, letters, emails, gifts, prayers and gestures of affection that you have given me, especially in the last few weeks. For some time now it has been impossible for me to respond to the outpouring of communications and I hope that my words today will reach all of you, like those bottles in stories that are thrown into the ocean by those who live on deserted islands, in the hope that they will reach, through the storms, across the sea, the people who are meant to receive them.
I am taking your letters with me to read them slowly when I am in Spain. The most important thing, however, is to preserve the union that exists among all in the mystery of the Communion of Saints. United to Christ by sanctifying grace, we are all united to one another as branches of the same vine, and that is a union which neither physical distance nor death itself can undo.
This Sunday's readings, in both the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Eucharistic celebration, help us to understand both the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the fundamental mission of the priest. In the ordinary form we have heard two very special stories in my opinion, because among other reasons on my pilgrimage on foot in the Holy Land four years ago, I had the grace to visit both the Oak of Mamre in the city of Hebron, where Abraham received and served God in those three mysterious characters that represent the Holy Trinity, and Bethany, where Jesus was received by Martha and Mary, and where the Gospel scene that we have all just heard takes place. The Gospel of the Mass takes us to the shore of Lake Tiberias, where the Lord performs the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and thus feeds the hungry multitude.
The first part of the Holy Mass, which we call the Liturgy of the Word, focuses on listening to the Word of God. In this first part in which we now find ourselves, we should all be like Mary of Bethany and place ourselves at the feet of our Master to learn from him who speaks to us. Listening, obviously, does not mean simply hearing with our ears the readings that are proclaimed, but welcoming into our souls the Word that gives eternal life. It is to model our heart and our behavior, our life and our inner world, according to the message of Christ that is actualized for us by the Church. That is the mission of the priest or the deacon when we preach: we are not here to give our opinions, but to bring you the teaching of Jesus, as if we were the echo of his voice in today's world. Today I want to thank you for having always listened attentively to my word, which so often has been a fragile word, and sometimes mispronounced.
In the fragility of my word, I hope that you have been able to hear the very Word of God and the Wisdom of the Cross, which is in reality the living Person of Christ. As St. Paul says in today's second reading: "It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.”
Secondly, after the Liturgy of the Word, and after listening to Jesus as Mary did, with all our attention and all our love, the Lord feeds us with the Bread of Life, which is Holy Communion. The text of the Gospel of St. Mark heard this Sunday in the Tridentine Mass underlines the words of Jesus before working the miracle of multiplication of the loaves: "I have compassion on these people". The Lord, still today, takes pity on our poverty, on our helplessness, on our extreme weakness without him. And so, he works the Eucharistic miracle: The Bread truly becomes the Body of the Lord. The wine becomes his very Blood, and thus becomes the nourishment and strength of those who receive him in a state of grace. For this to happen, the priest must cooperate with the God who desires to satiate the heart of man. We are first asked to give what little we have and are: our seven loaves which are nothing, but which, in the hands of Jesus, multiply to satisfy the hunger of the world. Then he asks us to distribute this bread, to serve him as the apostles did or as Abraham did by the Oak of Mamre.
This continues to be the case today. If we listen to the Word of Jesus, if we place our poverty in God's hands, he can continue to save the world. The ministry of preaching and sacramental ministry are part of the essence of the priestly vocation: in these ten years, with countless shortcomings, this is what I have done for you.
The new pastor, Father Keith, will continue to carry out this service for you: his word will not be his own, but Jesus'; the food that he will put in your mouth will be the same that I have been distributing to you for the past ten years: Jesus. Although the accessory, which is us, may change, what is substantial and important, which is Jesus, remains. So it is and will always be in the history of the Church until the end.
Thank you all for your affection, your trust, your patience and your understanding during these years. I invite you to always seek the only important thing (Lk 10: 42), to live for God in Christ Jesus (Rm 6:11), and to dwell always in the Church seeking together the Will of our Father. Let us be like Abraham, and serve God by being hospitable to our brothers and sisters. Let us be like Mary of Bethany, and let none of Jesus' words be lost. Let us be like the disciples, and share freely with our brothers and sisters what we have received freely. And in this way, may we work together in the Church for the salvation of the world and deserve one day to rest together in the joys of heaven.