Hic Est Filius Dei
Homily for the 2nd Sunday of
Ordinary Time
19th of January 2014, 2014
Saint Kateri
Tekakwitha Parish (Union Street)
Saint Joseph’s (Troy,
NY)[1]
Rev. Michael Taylor
Now I have seen him, and have borne my witness that this is the Son of God.[2]
So, for the
second week in a row, we have the baptism narrative, this week from the Gospel
of John as compared with the account from the Gospel of Matthew last week. The
question should be for us, why? Why do we come back to the narrative so quickly?
The key to this is the last verse in today’s Gospel; And I saw, and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God.[3]
In the past couple of weeks, we have seen the Word made flesh brought forth
into this world, accompanied by choirs of angels, praised by the shepherds, and
adored by the Magi. We have seen Son of Man lowered into the waters of the
River Jordan, and upon surfacing, seen the skies of heaven opened, the Holy
Ghost descending, and the Father declaring, this
is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.[4]
And today we are affirmed that Jesus is truly the Son of God. Now, having
celebrated these great feasts, we must turn ourselves to the question, “so
what?” What are we going to do with this information? What does that
information have to do with me and my life? What difference does it make in my
life that God now walks with us?
The answer
to that question, in part at least, is found in Pope Francis’ Apostolic
Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, “The
Joy of the Gospel” which I’ve conveniently just read! And now, let us begin our
journey through this remarkable document. First, as I’ve said before, go and
read what the Pope actually says rather than what people think they heard
someone say about what he said. It makes for a much better understanding of the
faith. Pope Francis, like Popes Benedict XVI,[5]
Blessed John Paul II,[6]
Paul VI,[7]
and Blessed John XXIII[8]
want us to rediscover the joy of evangelization. Pope Francis opens up his
exhortation with the following; “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and
lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are
set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is
constantly born anew. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian
faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy,
while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.” [9]
Times change but the Gospel stays the same,
for Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. [Heb. 13.8]
So why do we
need to evangelize? Well, here is the objective truth. We need faith in Christ Jesus
for salvation. Apart from Christ, we find no hope of salvation. I realize this
is not always immediately taken for truth, so let’s spend some time with it.
First, our Lord Himself says numerous times. In Matthew, Jesus says, No one knows the Father, but the Son, and
those to whom is shall please the Son to reveal the Father.[10]
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus says, He
that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall
be condemned.[11]
When speaking with Nicodemus, Jesus tells him, For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that
whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but may have life everlasting.
For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world
may be saved by him. He that believeth in him is not judged. But he that doth
not believe, is already judged; because he believeth not in the name of the
only begotten Son of God.[12]
And again, in the same gospel, Jesus
says, I am the way, the truth, and the
life, no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.[13]
 |
| I think he, our founder, meant it |
In the Acts of the Apostles we read the
Apostles’ preaching, Neither is their
salvation in any other [than Christ Jesus of Nazareth]. For there is no other
name under heaven given to men, whereby we may be saved.[14]
Paul, in his letter to the Romans, writes; if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved; for man believes
with his heart and is so justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is
saved.[15]
The Beloved Apostle writes, Who is a
liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, the one
who denieth the Father, and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath
not the Father. He that confesseth the Son, hath the Father also.[16]
 |
| They, like our founder, meant it too |
And let us not think that we can earn our
way into heaven, or that people, simply by doing good, can earn salvation. In
Hebrews it is written, without faith it
is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God, must believe that he
exists, and rewards those that seek him.[17]
In Ephesians we read For by grace you are saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves, for it is a gift of God; not of works, lest any man
should boast in himself.[18]
In Galatians, we read, knowing that
man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
Now that’s not to say that simply saying “I believe” is sufficient for
salvation, for as it also written, faith
without works is dead.[19]
Now, lest any of you think that this is just old teaching, the II Vatican
council teaches; “By this revelation then, the deepest truth of God and the
salvation of man shines forth in Christ, who is at the same time the mediator
and the fullness of all revelation” [20]
and that “This Sacred Council wishes to turn its attention firstly to the
Catholic faithful. Basing itself upon Sacred Scripture and Tradition, it
teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for
salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one
Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed
the necessity of faith and baptism…”[21]
 |
| They, like the Apostles, and our founder, meant it too |
Furthermore, we cannot be silent and choose
not to preach the Gospel, for Christ himself hath commanded us to do so; Go therefore, teach ye all nations;
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.[22]
Saint Paul exclaims, if I preach the
gospel, it is no glory to me, for a necessity is laid upon me; for woe unto me
if I preach not the gospel! [23]
Pope Francis, in his exhortation, notes “when the Church summons Christians to
take up the task of evangelization, she is simply pointing to the source of
authentic personal fulfillment. For here we discover a profound law of reality;
‘that life is attained and matures in the measure that it is offered up in
order to give life to others. This is certainly what mission means’.” [24]
Now, all of these things being said, that’s
not the message we take out into the world. I tell you these things so that you
might understand the seriousness of the situation. The salvation of souls is at
stake and the only means of salvation we know of is faith in Christ Jesus. That
being said, I don’t want you go out there telling people that unless they
believe in Jesus they’re going to hell. That’s proselytism and that turns
people off more often than not. What it sounds like is “unless you belong to my
club you’re going to hell…oh….and since I belong to this club and you don’t,
I’m a better person than you.” That turns people away and it’s not
evangelization. Evangelization is about being a witness of the person of Jesus
Christ. Pope Francis, writes; “I never tire of repeating those words of
Benedict XVI which take us to the very heart of the Gospel: ‘Being a Christian
is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with
an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction’.” [25]
The joy of evangelizing is the joy of the
one who has been redeemed. St. Paul never tired of saying how he was the worst
of sinners, of how Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. But for this cause have
obtained mercy; that in me first Christ Jesus might shew forth all patience,
for the information of them that shall believe in him unto life everlasting.[26]
Pope Francis, in his interview this past summer, was asked by his interviewer,
Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J. “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” After a pause, Pope
Francis answers, “I do not know what might be the most fitting description…I am
a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a
literary genre. I am a sinner.” [27]
So let me say, I am a sinner. I, James
Michael Taylor, am a sinner. I do not say this as a pious thought or a false
sentimentality. I am a sinner. I have done horrible things, and in some of
those sins, I have harmed others most grievously. I have broken every
commandment, in some way, to some degree. I do not deserve God’s love. I deserve
the wages of sin. I deserve eternal death.[28]
But thanks be to God, who hath given us
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.[29]
Praised be to God that he did not agree with my situation, and, in order to
save me, sent his only begotten Son into the world, who loved me so much that
he would rather die for me than live without me. That truth is the same for you
as it is for me. It is the same for everyone as it is for you. I am so happy
about what God has done for me that I can hardly keep my soul from singing. How
could I not want to tell people about what
great things he hath done for my soul? [30]
| What wondrous love is this? |
We are a people who have forgotten the joy
of what it means to be redeemed. We have forgotten what great price was
ransomed for our salvation. Remember that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver…but with the
precious blood of Christ, as a lamb unspotted and undefiled.[31]
We must always be ready to extend the invitation of that message, the message
of redemption. People need to know that the sins of our past do not have to be
the sins of the future. They desire to hear that as sinners, they have a future
as a saint. Again as Pope Francis writes, “No one should think that this
invitation is not meant for him or her, since ‘no one is excluded from the joy
brought by the Lord’.[32]
The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step
towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with
open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus; ‘Lord, I have let myself be
deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more,
to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me
once more in your redeeming embrace’.” [33]
Let us go out into the world, so that those now separated from Christ might
come to know the joy of life with Christ.
[1] If you attended the Extraordinary Form of the Mass,
the Gospel was the miracle at Cana. While a different gospel, it is often included
in the Epiphenomenal revelations of Christ’s identity along with the adoration
of the Magi and the baptism of the Lord. It still challenges us to confront the
reality of the Word made flesh and its meaning.
[2] John 1.34
[3] John 1.34
[4] Matthew 3.17
[5] Pope Benedict XVI. Deus Caritas Est §19: “The entire activity of the Church is an
expression of a love that seeks the integral good of man: it seeks his
evangelization through Word and Sacrament, an undertaking that is often heroic
in the way it is acted out in history; and it seeks to promote man in the
various arenas of life and human activity.”
[6] Blessed Pope John Paul II. Encyclical Redemptoris missio. §2: “But what moves
me even more strongly to proclaim the urgency of missionary evangelization is
the fact that it is the primary service which the Church can render to every
individual and to all humanity in the modern world, a world which has
experienced marvelous achievements but which seems to have lost its sense of
ultimate realities and of existence itself. "Christ the Redeemer," I
wrote in my first encyclical, "fully reveals man to himself.... The person
who wishes to understand himself thoroughly...must...draw near to Christ....
[The] Redemption that took place through the cross has definitively restored to
man his dignity and given back meaning to his life in the world."
[7] Pope Paul VI. Apostolic Exhortation. Evangelii Nuntiandi §9: “As the kernel
and center of His Good News, Christ proclaims salvation, this great gift of God
which is liberation from everything that oppresses man but which is above all
liberation from sin and the Evil One, in the joy of knowing God and being known
by Him, of seeing Him, and of being given over to Him. All of this is begun during
the life of Christ and definitively accomplished by His death and resurrection.
But it must be patiently carried on during the course of history, in order to
be realized fully on the day of the final coming of Christ, whose date is known
to no one except the Father.”
[8] Blessed Pope John XXIII. “Opening Speech for the Council
of Vatican II”: The manner in which sacred doctrine is spread, this having been
established, it becomes clear how much is expected from the Council in regard
to doctrine. That is, the Twenty-first Ecumenical Council, which will draw upon
the effective and important wealth of juridical, liturgical, apostolic, and
administrative experiences, wishes to transmit the doctrine, pure and integral,
without any attenuation or distortion, which throughout twenty centuries, notwithstanding
difficulties and contrasts, has become the common patrimony of men. It is a
patrimony not well received by all, but always a rich treasure available to men
of good will.
Our duty is not only to
guard this precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity, but
to dedicate ourselves with an earnest
will and without fear
to that work which our era demands of us, pursuing thus the path which the
Church has followed for twenty centuries.
The salient point of
this Council is not, therefore, a discussion of one article or another of the
fundamental doctrine of the Church which has repeatedly been taught by the
Fathers and by ancient and modern theologians, and which is presumed to be well
known and familiar to all.
For this a Council was not
necessary. But from the renewed, serene, and tranquil adherence to all the
teaching of the Church in its entirety and preciseness, as it still shines
forth in the Acts of the Council of Trent and First Vatican Council, the
Christian, Catholic, and apostolic spirit of the whole world expects a step
forward toward a doctrinal penetration and a formation of consciousness in
faithful and perfect conformity to the authentic doctrine, which, however,
should be studied and expounded through the methods of research and through the
literary forms of modern thought. The substance of the ancient doctrine of the
deposit of faith is one thing, and the way in which it is presented is another.
And it is the latter that must be taken into great consideration with patience
if necessary, everything being measured in the forms and proportions of a
Magisterium which is predominantly pastoral in character.
[9] Pope Francis. Apostolic Exhortation-Evangelii Gaudium. §1
[10] Matthew 11.27
[11] Mark 16.16
[12] John 3.16-18
[13] John 14.6
[14] Acts 4.12
[15] Romans 10.9-10
[16] I John 2.22-23
[17] Hebrews 11.6
[18] Ephesians 2.8-9
[19] James 2.20
[20] II Vatican Council. Dogmatic Constitution- Dei Verbum §2
[21] II Vatican Council. Dogmatic Constitution- Lumen Gentium §14
[22] Matthew 28.19-20
[23] I Corinthians 9.16
[24] Pope Francis. Evangelii
Gaudium. §10; Inside quote from the
Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops. Aparecida Document, 29JUN2007, 360
[25] Pope Francis. Evangelii
Gaudium, §7; Pope Benedict XVI. Encyclical Deus Cariats Est. 25DEC2005, §1
[26] I Timothy 1.15-16
[27] Pope Francis. “A Big Heart Open to God”. America Magazine. 2013.
http://americamagazine.org/pope-interview
[28] cf. Romans 6.23: For
the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ
Jesus our Lord
[29] I Corinthians 15.57
[30] Psalm 66(65).16
[31] I Peter 1.18-19
[32] Pope Paul VI. Apostolic Exhortation- Gaudete in Domino (09MAY1975), §22
[33] Pope Francis. Apostolic Exhortation- Evangelii Gaudium, §3
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