Homily for Holy Mass – Friday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, 10th of September, Church of St James, Medjugorje
It is a great joy and privilege to celebrate Holy Mass here in the Church of St James in Medjugorje, a place where so many pilgrims have come seeking peace, healing, reconciliation and a deeper relationship with God.
Athletic Image
And today St Paul gives us a very appropriate image for our pilgrimage of faith. He says: “We go into strict training, like fighters at the games.” St Paul is using the language of the athlete. He is speaking about discipline, perseverance and keeping one’s eyes fixed on the goal.
Speaking personally for a moment, I love to run. Not very fast. More of a jog. But I love it. If ever you need refreshment, inspiration for fresh ideas and respite from the worries of the world; faster heartbeat, fresh air and more oxygen in the blood is your only man! Every year, 60 hardy souls from the Cathedral town of Ennis, where I live prepare for the Dublin Marathon in October to raise funds for a local special needs charity clinic, the Clare Crusaders. Last night on the walk home from the Blue Cross, myself and my companion, Holy Ghost Father, Fr. Lockie had the good fortune to bump into a gentleman from the midlands, now based in Galway, Seán by name. On our walk home with a little bravado I was boasting, ever so subtly, about my running exploits. That was fine until pride came before the fall. I realised I was in the presence of a national champion for the 1,500 metres. My meagre boasting took a severe dint in the presence of greatness. Often one of the great lessons in life!
Anyone who has ever trained seriously for a race or a sporting event knows that you cannot simply decide one morning that you would like to be fit and expect it to happen. Training requires commitment. It requires saying “no” to certain things and “yes” to others. It requires perseverance when we are tired, and beginning again when we have failed.
And St Paul says: that is something of what the Christian life is like. We too are in training. But what are we training for? We are training for holiness. We are training to become more like Christ. We are training our hearts to love more generously, to forgive more readily, to serve more humbly and to trust God more completely.
And there is something very important about this image.
Christian discipline is not about earning God’s love. God already loves us.
We do not pray so that God might begin to love us.
We pray because God loves us.
We do not come to Confession to persuade God to forgive us.
We come because Christ has already opened for us the door of mercy.
We do not make sacrifices because God enjoys seeing us suffer.
We make sacrifices because we are trying to free our hearts from whatever prevents us from loving God and loving one another.
That is what spiritual training is about.
Training here in Medjugorje
And perhaps there is no better place to reflect on this than here in Medjugorje. Many people come here carrying burdens. Some come with worries about their families. Some carry illness or grief. Some are searching for direction. Some come because their faith has grown cold. Some come simply because, somewhere deep within, they know that they need God.
And perhaps the message we hear today is very simple: Keep going. Don’t give up.
Perseverance
The Christian life is not a sprint. It is a pilgrimage. There are days when prayer is easy and days when prayer is difficult.
There are moments when we feel God’s presence very clearly, and other times when He seems strangely silent. There are times when we are strong in faith, and times when we stumble.
But the answer is not to abandon the journey. The answer is to get up and continue. That is what an athlete does. A good athlete does not expect perfection from the first day of training. He or she accepts that there will be setbacks, tiredness and disappointment. But the athlete gets up the next morning and trains again.
And so it is with us. Perhaps today we need to ask ourselves:
What is God asking me to train in?
- Perhaps it is patience.
- Perhaps forgiveness.
- Perhaps controlling our tongue.
- Perhaps learning to pray.
- Perhaps spending less time worrying and more time trusting.
- Perhaps putting down something that has become too important in our lives.
- Perhaps making more time for our family.
- Perhaps returning to Confession.
- Perhaps simply learning again to kneel before the Lord and say: “Jesus, I trust in you.”
One step at a time
These things may seem small, but holiness is often built out of small acts faithfully repeated.
Towards the Goal!
And there is another beautiful aspect to St Paul’s image. The athlete needs to know where he or she is going. There has to be a goal. For us, the goal is not simply to become better people. The goal is Christ Himself. We are not simply training to become more disciplined Christians. We are allowing Christ to transform us so that, little by little, we may become more like Him. And that is where today’s Gospel is so challenging.
Jesus asks: “Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit.” Before we try to correct everybody else, Jesus invites us to look honestly at ourselves. The temptation is always to see the faults of others much more clearly than our own. We can become experts in noticing what is wrong with everybody else!
But Jesus says: “Take the log out of your own eye first.”
In other words, begin with yourself. Begin with your own heart. Begin with your own relationship with God. That too is part of our spiritual training.
And perhaps Mary, whose presence is so central to the prayer of this place, is the great teacher of this kind of training.
Mary’s life was not easy. She knew uncertainty. She knew suffering. She knew what it meant to trust without having all the answers.
But she kept saying yes to God.
- At Nazareth: yes.
- At Bethlehem: yes.
- At Calvary: yes.
- And in the silence of prayer: yes.
Mary teaches us that holiness is not about doing spectacular things. It is about being faithful in the ordinary things, day after day, with love.
So, as we celebrate this Holy Mass here in the Church of St James, perhaps we might bring before the Lord the particular area of our lives in which we need His grace. Let us ask Him for the strength to persevere. For the grace to forgive. For the courage to begin again. For the humility to recognise our own faults. And for the generosity to become, in whatever way we can, a source of encouragement and peace to others.
St Paul says: “We go into strict training.”
But we do not train alone.
- Christ walks with us.
- Mary accompanies us.
- The Holy Spirit strengthens us.
- And the Christian community supports us.
And so, let us continue the journey.
- Let us keep our eyes fixed on Christ.
- Let us not be discouraged by our failures.
- Let us get up when we fall.
- Let us pray when we are tired.
- Let us trust when we cannot see clearly.
- And let us never forget that the prize for which we strive is not a medal, a trophy or human recognition.
The prize is Christ.
And when our pilgrimage on earth is complete, may we hear those beautiful words: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
May Our Lady, Queen of Peace, accompany every pilgrim here today, and may she lead us always closer to her Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.