Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

On Thursday afternoon, I was on a flight to Montana, on my way to attend my friend’s Ordination to the Priesthood.  After learning that I am a newly-ordained priest, Ken, the passenger seated next to me, eventually asked me a question that I hear occasionally – and have heard more frequently in these weeks surrounding my ordination:  What made you decide to become a priest?

This is not an easy question to answer.  It can be difficult to put into words the mystery of any vocation – anyone’s life calling – whether priesthood, marriage, religious life, or single life.  So many things weave together throughout our lives:  the situations we are born into; gifts we are given; decisions we make; decisions others make; God’s intervention, patience, mercy, and love.  When we reflect on our lives, we can see how all these factors could become part of a very long answer to that question:  What made you decide to become a priest? or …marry that person? or …go into that career? or …begin working for that cause?

As I responded to Ken’s question with a somewhat wandering answer about how I became a priest, the underlying answer was contained in a single line from today’s Psalm:  “Zeal for your house consumes me” (Psalm 69:10).

Twelve years ago, when I first began discerning priesthood, something about it started to draw me in.  Even though I did not yet know much about priesthood, zeal or passion for it started to draw me in.  Perhaps you have experienced something similar in your life:  zeal for someone that you wanted to marry; zeal for raising your children; or zeal for a new job or ministry or cause that you took on.  It is that zeal that draws us in and it is that zeal that carries us forward through our life’s vocation.

However, you also might have experienced that zeal can slip away.  After a few years into my time as a seminarian, that happened to me.  Zeal for being a priest slipped away and, instead of being consumed by zeal, I began to be consumed by fears and doubts about what I was getting myself into.  This caused me to turn in on myself and to be consumed by loneliness.  So, I ended up leaving seminary

Today, the Lord is speaking to each one of us, encouraging each of us to allow ourselves to be consumed by His zeal.  The readings this morning point to the reality that having zeal does not mean we do not have hardships.  Both the Prophet Jeremiah and the Psalmist experience hardships, but they make it through hardships because the Spirit of the Lord is with them (Jeremiah 20:11; Psalm 69:14, 34), and they allow that Spirit to consume them, rather than other spirits.  Jesus prepared His Apostles – and He prepares us – for the very same thing.  He tells us that hardships will come in this life.  But He also tells us:  “Do not be afraid!” (Matthew 10:26, 28).

Do not focus on the difficulties – focus on Jesus Christ!  Do not let fear consume you – let Jesus Christ consume you!  Let His Holy Spirit consume you!  Let zeal for God’s house consume all of us, so that this church always remains a house of God.  So that every time we gather here, we are filled with the Zeal of Christ!  So that each one of us becomes a house of God – a Temple of the Holy Spirit in the world, bringing God’s Presence, Love, Hope, and Zeal to all those we meet (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Today, I come home to Christ Our Hope to celebrate this Mass of Thanksgiving with all of you, and to thank you for all the ways that you have shared the Zeal of Christ with me!  As I mentioned, the reason that I left the seminary a few years ago was because zeal for the priesthood had slipped away from me.  It was here, as a parishioner at Christ Our Hope, that zeal for priesthood was given to me again.  The Zeal of Christ that is present in this church – in each one of you – in your commitment to ministry and service; in how you welcome all people; in your zeal for bringing Christ’s Presence to our city – that zeal overflowed to me (Romans 5:15)!

I thank all of you and, in particular, I thank you, Fr. Paul.  Your zeal for being a priest of Jesus Christ helped me rediscover my zeal for becoming a priest.  Your zeal inspired me to return to seminary and to be ordained a priest three weeks ago.

As we gather here at Christ Our Hope this morning, we give thanks to God.  And as we consume the Body and Blood of Christ, we pray that Christ consumes us.  We pray that zeal for Christ consumes us so that we go forth as people who bring Christ’s Presence, Hope, and Love to all those we meet.  So that no one has to fear.  So that our city and our world are consumed by zeal for Jesus Christ!

Fr. Chad S. Green