Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A 2023 and the World Youth Day Commissioning Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta
Readings: Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 64(65):10-14; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23
16 July 2023
Dear friends,
It is a great joy for me to celebrate this Commissioning Mass for World Youth Day pilgrims. Your presence, commitment and enthusiasm are a sign of hope for the future of our young diocese. The Church is much richer, much more alive and dynamic with your involvement. Pope Francis says that he wants young people to make a mess, to shake adults out of their set ways and even to challenge the status quo, especially when that status quo is less than what God wants for us as individuals and as a community.
The Church needs a bit of shaking up so that it may be more alert and responsive to the presence, the voice and the movement of the Spirit in history and in the lived realities of human experience. Otherwise, it will fail to be a living Church for people, especially those who struggle for acceptance, recognition, equality and a place at the table. We are guided by a radical vision of inclusivity, fullness of life, love and human flourishing. The Church needs to hold itself up to the person, the message and the example of Christ. We need to be challenged and shaken up in order that we may be faithful, authentic and committed to our mission of being the sacrament of God’s love and the visible face of Christ in the world.
RELATED: WYD pilgrims commissioned to be ambassadors for Christ
Scriptures on this 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time summon us to a way of living and witnessing in the world that requires a radical orientation. The God of our ancestors in faith does not shield us from the ebbs and flows of history. But neither does He remain unmoved by our changing fortunes. He leads us and empowers us to move beyond our fears to live a life of faith, hope, love and service. In Jesus, He calls us and forms us into a living embodiment of the God who cares for his people.
In the first reading, Isaiah calls his people to an authentic living of the Covenant in the unsettling and demoralising period of the exile. They were confused and lost as they struggled to cope with the loss of their collective identity, which was rooted in such concrete symbols as the land, the monarchy, the temple and the rituals. It was in this context that Isaiah attempted to reformulate their faith. He speaks today about the importance of God’s word. It is the living of the Covenant that defines their unique identity and not those physical symbols that they were yearning for.
God’s word that Isaiah exhorts the people to live was not yet codified in the Bible as we know it today. It would have been transmitted to them through the teachings of Moses such as the Decalogue and the Shema which is the daily prayer calling them to worship and love God. It is a basis of an alternative way of life and a model society as they gave witness to the God of love, justice and compassion.
In the Gospel, Jesus taught His disciples a new way of living through the parable of the sower. It warns us against a kind of superficial living that seeks short-term gains and successes. This is what the parable of the sower refers to when it uses the image of the seeds falling on patches of rock or those smothered by thorn bushes. Superficial living happens when our concerns are no more than skin deep; or when our goals and commitments are short-lived.
The Gospel points us to a whole new way of living and relating to others. It is a paradigm of love and service as opposed to the way of individualism and self-interest. When we operate out of Jesus’ new paradigm, faith transforms us into humble servants of the kingdom. When the Word finds a generous response in our hearts, there is no limit to the riches of God’s love and grace that can be channelled to the world around us.
Ultimately, what Jesus teaches today is that despite all things to the contrary, God’s plan will not fail. When we fail, we are still children of God. When our world fails, it is still God’s beloved creation that is being redeemed. Our hope is not attached to results and successes. It is rooted in the life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. This paschal pattern challenges us to embrace vulnerability, not invincibility, communion, not dominion and downward mobility and not upward mobility.
Dear sisters and brothers,
The Word of God this Sunday calls us to be a different people in the world. Our Jewish ancestors were challenged to interiorise the Covenant and to live by its power. Isaiah’s call to his people to live by the living word as opposed to the imperial system requires courage and commitment. Paul in the second reading reminds us of God’s redemptive plan at work in all creation. The parable of the sower is a summons to live a fruitful life by way of responding to the generosity of God.
Dear young friends,
I am tremendously encouraged by your youthful enthusiasm. We commission you to go to the WYD23 and enrich yourselves with that unique experience. Deepen your faith, invigorate your hope and widen your love! Come back with a renewed sense of purpose and mission! The Church needs you to be the ambassadors for Christ or in the words of the Gospel tonight, growers of the harvest. By your manner of life, by the values you demonstrate and especially by the quality of your relationships, you can be the builders of the kingdom. You can help bring about the tender mothering Church that embraces and encourages her children. May you be filled with joy, love and hope as you go forth living, witnessing and sharing the Good News of Christ.
