Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

This gospel is always about God’s actions, God’s love, God’s challenge to us, and not to those people “out there.”  The challenge of the parable is for us.   The parable asks us: Are we a people producing the fruits of the kingdom?  It is about our responsibility for God’s vineyard.  It is about the harvest that is due to God.

Here today to speak to us about the harvest of goodness, love, and care for all our sisters and brothers is Crystal Lin.  Crystal is head of our Outreach Commission, a big reason why so many of us are involved in the Stewardship of Talent at Christ Our Hope Church.  Welcome, Crystal.

Paul A. Magnano, Pastor

In today’s second reading, Saint Paul encourages us to ‘keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you”. As Paul writes to the Phillipians, he wholeheartedly believes that the Lord is near. And it is through experiences, through learning, seeing, doing, volunteering our time and talent, that we also can know God’s peace and presence in our lives.

I came to know God towards the end of my high school years. I was searching, asking questions, attending mass, and in my freshman year of college at UCLA, I was baptized after going through the RCIA program. I was a young naive Catholic, eager to learn more. My journey of deepening my faith was not how I first imagined it would be, though. As an adult convert, I didn’t have “CCD” classes as I so often had heard about through my cradle Catholic friends. And I found that many college friends were on the same journey as me, even though they grew up Catholic. They too wanted to know “who is this Jesus, and why should I follow Him?” As I continued to learn more about scripture, Catholic traditions and history, these new experiences drew me closer and closer to God.

How many of you have never stepped behind the altar here? I remember the first time I took a step behind the altar at UCLA. It was after my baptism and confirmation - the staff asked the newly baptized to prepare the altar. As we stepped behind and laid everything out, I took a quick second to look up, and was suddenly struck with awe. I saw very clearly this focus in the room on the table before me. I immediately understood in a much deeper sense why Catholic churches are laid out the way they are, with the alter as the focal point, and I felt the spirit flow over me, and I knew that the Lord was near. I grew a desire to be close to the altar, to grow a connection with communion unlike what I had known before. Brothers and sisters, sign up and get trained to be an altar server or a Eucharistic Minister, and you will experience God in a new way, here behind the alter, much like getting on stage for the first time.

At UCLA, it was during a weeklong intensive study of the Gospel of Mark that I came to know the weight that simple words could have in the Bible. In Bible study, I circled words that were repeated over and over again, and imagined Jesus getting more passionate with each repeated phrase. Do not fear. Do NOT fear! Scripture jumped out at me in a way that brought peace to my soul. Three simple words now had full stories behind them. There was emotion and life that I never experienced before. When have you been moved by the Word. Was it something you had heard many times before, but something about the circumstance, or the way it was said, that struck you? As a lector, you have the opportunity to deliver a story, to convey emotions, to make words jump out and remind others that God is near. And don’t worry, you don’t have to be an expert in all scripture. When you sign up, lectors get a training book that helps walk you through each passage; what words to emphasize, and what emotion to convey.

A quote that has encouraged me to give back to the church is “Life is God’s gift to you, How you live it is your gift to God.” Take a look at your life outside of these walls. Do you like to speak to crowds? Be an announcer at mass. Do you like to decorate for the holidays? Help dress the church for all the different seasons by joining the Arts and Environment Committee. Love hosting friends and family at your house? Sign up for hospitality after mass, or to be a greeter or usher. If you are a programmer or a blogger, join our Communications committee and help update the website or write a few posts. If none of those apply to you but you say, “Hey Crystal, I can help you climb a ladder and hang some cloth from that hook up there!” or “Yeah definitely, I can move that heavy plant!” then sign up for Facilities.

As a good Steward of your talents, we of course also ask that you give and serve outside of these walls. Our Outreach Commission is deeply tied to many partner agencies, or non-profits who serve those in need. Every organization that we are connected to helps us live our mission to be a beacon of light in downtown Seattle. Whether it is serving soup at a local kitchen, organizing donations at a nearby shelter, or serving at the Women’s wellness center downstairs. Our parishioners have long standing relationships with organizations you may have heard of, such as Operation Nightwatch, Recovery Cafe, New Horizons, SVdP, Mary’s Place, Matt Talbot, and many more. Sign up on the Talent Card to serve with one of our partner agencies, and we will connect you with the opportunities you feel most drawn to.

My brothers and sisters, our church is run on volunteers, and that in itself is SO special. We of course have a wonderful, strong, and amazing staff here at COH, but I’m sure they would agree with me when I say that it is YOU, the parishioners, who help live out its mission every day. And trust me when I say, with every new experience you sign up for, no matter how big or small, inside the church building or outside its walls, you will find a gentle reminder that the Lord is near. May the God of peace be with you. Thank you.

Crystal Lin, Outreach Commission Chair