A little girl needed 100 dollars to get a thing she was dreaming about. A few weeks before Christmas she was praying every day to get the money. When Christmas came she counted the money but she had only 5 dollars. He brother started laughing at her saying: “Looks like your Jesus didn’t listen to your prayers.” The little girls answered: “He has listened but he said No.”
Sisters and Brothers! What happened to the girls happens to us too. We ask and sometimes we don’t get from God what we asks for, because God like a good parent gives us what we need not what we want to. However this Sunday which in the Catholic Church is called Mission Sunday we a can find a cue what Jesus for sure will grant us in response to our prayer. Toda’s Gospel reveals to us what is important to Jesus, what makes him happy. The last sentence of the Gospel this Sunday, which is a question, is this: “When the Son on Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” We know that one day Jesus will return and thinking of the day Our Lord asks: “Will I find faith on earth when I come?” Look, this question tells us what is important to Jesus – finding faith in
people. Well, you may answer this question today saying: “In our town Jesus will find faith. We believe in him, we love him, we follow him. Our presence at this Eucharist is prove of that.”
My dear Catholics! Let me ask you another question then: “Can you rest on your laurels?” To make your life easier I will give you and answer: “You cannot do that!” Jesus wants to find faith not only in your town but in every city, town, village, settlement or dwelling, in the bush, on tiny islands, in the desert. Everywhere where people live Jesus desires to find faith. This Mission Sunday challenges us to move beyond the boundaries of towns in order to makes Jesus’ dream come true.
The Church has been always sending missionaries to preach Jesus but their work isn’t limited to what they do, it is rather team work. What do I mean? To understand that let’s look at the first reading of this Mass. People of Israel are in trouble. They need to fight their enemies. It is more than a battle for life or death but it is a battle for faith. Losing the battle they paganism will be forced upon them. So the people go to fight but Moses goes on the top of a hill, puts his arms up toward the heaven and prays. Now we can see a mysterious thing happens. We see that when Moses’ arms are up, the people of Israel are winning but when his arms goes down the enemies starts winning. It shows a mysterious connection between Moses praying on the mountain and the people down there battling the enemy army. That’s team work. On this Mission Sunday we are reminded that our missionaries aren’t lone battlers but there is a mysterious connection between those men and woman who went to foreign lands to spread the Good News and you from this town. By your prayers and sacrifices you do contribute to spreading of the true faith. Ever since I left Poland I have had no doubts how much strength I got, how many graces went through my ministry because of those who pray for me. Some years ago I was touched by people from my hometown who said to me: “We’ve got a prayer system for you. When we watch TV and there is weather forecast for Australia it is a reminder for us to pray for you.” I am not surprised seeing so many miracles in my Oblate-priestly ministry because of the prayers of those people. As I said at the beginning it is a prayer that Jesus will always grant because he wants to find faith in the people.
To finish this homily I would like to tell you about a sacred place that is not far from your town. You know the big convent of the nuns. When I was leaving for Australia a sister who worked in the same parish where I was an assistant priest said to me: “Father Daniel I promise I will always pray for you and for the people you will serve in Australia.” A couple years later she died of cancer. She was 50. In the convent there is a cemetery where she is buried. It is my sacred place. It draws me like a magnet because I know that she kept praying for me and I believe that she still prays for me from heaven. Because of people such as those I always say that missions are team work. Today I would like to challenge you to get involved. Even if you never go to foreign countries to preach the Gospel, right from here, from your town you can establish a connection with our missionaries by praying for them. This town of yours can be like the mountain from the first reading where Moses prayed. Please, I beg you, pray for the missionaries and for the people whom they minister.
Sisters and Brothers! What happened to the girls happens to us too. We ask and sometimes we don’t get from God what we asks for, because God like a good parent gives us what we need not what we want to. However this Sunday which in the Catholic Church is called Mission Sunday we a can find a cue what Jesus for sure will grant us in response to our prayer. Toda’s Gospel reveals to us what is important to Jesus, what makes him happy. The last sentence of the Gospel this Sunday, which is a question, is this: “When the Son on Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” We know that one day Jesus will return and thinking of the day Our Lord asks: “Will I find faith on earth when I come?” Look, this question tells us what is important to Jesus – finding faith in
people. Well, you may answer this question today saying: “In our town Jesus will find faith. We believe in him, we love him, we follow him. Our presence at this Eucharist is prove of that.”
My dear Catholics! Let me ask you another question then: “Can you rest on your laurels?” To make your life easier I will give you and answer: “You cannot do that!” Jesus wants to find faith not only in your town but in every city, town, village, settlement or dwelling, in the bush, on tiny islands, in the desert. Everywhere where people live Jesus desires to find faith. This Mission Sunday challenges us to move beyond the boundaries of towns in order to makes Jesus’ dream come true.
The Church has been always sending missionaries to preach Jesus but their work isn’t limited to what they do, it is rather team work. What do I mean? To understand that let’s look at the first reading of this Mass. People of Israel are in trouble. They need to fight their enemies. It is more than a battle for life or death but it is a battle for faith. Losing the battle they paganism will be forced upon them. So the people go to fight but Moses goes on the top of a hill, puts his arms up toward the heaven and prays. Now we can see a mysterious thing happens. We see that when Moses’ arms are up, the people of Israel are winning but when his arms goes down the enemies starts winning. It shows a mysterious connection between Moses praying on the mountain and the people down there battling the enemy army. That’s team work. On this Mission Sunday we are reminded that our missionaries aren’t lone battlers but there is a mysterious connection between those men and woman who went to foreign lands to spread the Good News and you from this town. By your prayers and sacrifices you do contribute to spreading of the true faith. Ever since I left Poland I have had no doubts how much strength I got, how many graces went through my ministry because of those who pray for me. Some years ago I was touched by people from my hometown who said to me: “We’ve got a prayer system for you. When we watch TV and there is weather forecast for Australia it is a reminder for us to pray for you.” I am not surprised seeing so many miracles in my Oblate-priestly ministry because of the prayers of those people. As I said at the beginning it is a prayer that Jesus will always grant because he wants to find faith in the people.
To finish this homily I would like to tell you about a sacred place that is not far from your town. You know the big convent of the nuns. When I was leaving for Australia a sister who worked in the same parish where I was an assistant priest said to me: “Father Daniel I promise I will always pray for you and for the people you will serve in Australia.” A couple years later she died of cancer. She was 50. In the convent there is a cemetery where she is buried. It is my sacred place. It draws me like a magnet because I know that she kept praying for me and I believe that she still prays for me from heaven. Because of people such as those I always say that missions are team work. Today I would like to challenge you to get involved. Even if you never go to foreign countries to preach the Gospel, right from here, from your town you can establish a connection with our missionaries by praying for them. This town of yours can be like the mountain from the first reading where Moses prayed. Please, I beg you, pray for the missionaries and for the people whom they minister.
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