25th Sunday of Ordinary Time
9/19/21
Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,
This Tuesday we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew, one of the Apostles and the author of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. His Gospel is famous for ending with the Great Commission:
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshipped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Mt 28:16-20)
Jesus gave His Church this great commission just before His Ascension into heaven. It is His last command to His disciples and is why our parish exists. The Apostles went out to all the world, preaching Christ and building communities founded on the way of life Christ has given us, based on the grace Christ makes available to us. The Church of St. Joseph exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ within our city. We are all called to be disciples – to grow in holiness and to invite others to share in what God has given us.
Today this Gospel message is especially important. People are longing for meaning. When everything has been deconstructed, only raw power remains. Everything solid has melted around us. Nothing seems to have meaning anymore, there is no fixed reference point for living life, finding fulfilment, seeking our hearts’ deepest desires. Instead, everything boils down to coercion, manipulation, spin, sales, profit, popularity, pride, etc.
Who are we? Why are we here? How do we make any sense of this noisy world we inhabit? What should I do with my life? How should I face each day? There is an absence of meaningful answers to these questions in our postmodern world. But there is an answer. The same answer that has been eternally true: God. God who from all eternity has created us and calls us back to Himself. God whose only begotten Son became one of us to open the way back to His Father. The answers to the deepest questions of life have been entrusted to us– handed down to us from Christ to St. Matthew and the other apostles, to us today. Christ gives us the glorious job of being witnesses to that answer – to Jesus Christ. Let us live out Christ’s great commission, bringing others to the living and true God, for whom all hearts long and in whom all find joy and peace.
In Christ,
Fr. Boniface