1 Pt 2:4-5; 9-10 John 15:1-11
We continue to celebrate the year of priests. Pope Benedict has said that this year is primarily to encourage priests to strive for spiritual perfection, which the effectiveness of our ministry depends.” He also said that this year of priests is to encourage people to appreciate ever more deeply the priest that brings to them the Eucharistic Christ. It is good for us to recall that the sacramental priesthood only has meaning in relation to God’s people. The priest is to bring Christ, His truth, his love, his life, into the lives of you God’s people so that you in turn may live and exercise the universal priesthood which you received on the day of your baptism, so that through you the world may hear the proclamation of the Word of god in and through your lives.
Every baptized Christian is brought into the Body of Christ, forming, as St. Peter tells us in the first reading: “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people he claims for his own to proclaim the glorious works of the One who called you from darkness into his marvelous light.” We are all called priest and people alike to proclaim God’s Word, to witness to God’s love, to lead others to the knowledge of God’s love in Christ, which leads to eternal life. The sacramental priest is to support you in that task, to nourish you in that task, to fill you with the truth and love of Christ, especially in the Eucharist, so that you can bring Christ to the world.
But we must always remember that the Word we proclaim is not simply the message of Jesus Christ, but Jesus Himself. The Word of God that we receive is not simply the message of the Gospel or words spoken by the Lord Jesus, but it is Jesus Himself who comes to us, and calls us to bring His truth, His love and life to everyone in our lives. By giving our lives over to the Lord, we in turn become the message of the Gospel. The Word takes flesh within us, in whom His spirit dwells. We become one with Jesus, the Word of God. Our lives are meant to be a sign of Christ in this world. We are not simply meant to proclaim the Word of God through our words, but to live the Word of God each and everyday of our lives, so that Jesus may use us to touch the hearts of those around us.
Each and everyone of us here know our faults, our sinfulness, our weakness, yet the Lord loves us, as the Father has loved him, and is always there with Hi merciful, forgiving love. He comes to us to give us his divine life and divine power to strive always to love Christ, to live Christ, to proclaim Christ, to witness to Christ.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing.” We are totally dependent on the power of Jesus in our lives, which comes to us through his Word, through prayer, through one another, and above all in the Eucharist we are now celebrating and the Eucharistic Christ that we shall soon receive.
Let us give thanks and praise to God for this time that we share today. We gather to praise God and to come together to learn—to develop a deeper knowledge of our faith and to grow in the skills that enable us all the more to proclaim the Word in our lives and in our ministries.
I do want to thank each and everyone of you for all you do for God’s people, to bring to them the knowledge and love of the Lord, in whatever ministry you are involved. We are the Body of Christ, proclaiming Christ and glorifying Christ. United with the Bishop, we Priests, Religious Deacons, and Laity we proclaim the Word, “the glorious works of our Lord and Savior,” and in Him come to know the joy that alone can come from His love.
I do want to thank all our presenters, our sponsors, Patricia Jimenez, our Diocesan Director of Ministries, her staff and the many volunteers, young and old, who have made this day possible. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and proclaim the Word and bring the love of Christ to all. And let us give thanks to our many good and faithful priests who nourish us in Christ by Word and Sacrament.