Two Essential Elements for the Proclamation of the Gospel, 25th Wednesday (II), September 25, 2024

Fr. Roger J. Landry
Columbia Catholic Ministry, Notre Dame Church, Manhattan
Wednesday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II
Votive Mass for the Evangelization of Peoples
September 25, 2024
Prov 30:5-9, Ps 119, Lk 9:1-6

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below: 

The following points were attempted in the homily: 

• Today in the Gospel Jesus sends out the Apostles to “proclaim the Kingdom of God” by word and deed. In the first reading from the Book of Proverbs we see two essential elements for that proclamation in every age. The credibility of the messenger depend on them.
• In the first reading today, the third and last time we will hear from the Book of Proverbs at daily Mass in the entire two-year daily Mass lectionary, the sage who prays turns to God and begs, “Two things I ask of you, deny them not to me.” The first is truthfulness: “Put falsehood and lying far from me.” This is echoed in the Psalm when we pray, “Remove from me the way of falsehood, and favor me with your law” and “Falsehood I hate and abhor.” Earlier in the passage we have an allusion to Eve, when Proverbs says, “Add nothing to his words, lest he reprove you and you will be exposed as a deceiver.” That was at the root of Eve’s sin. She added to the word of God, who had instructed her and Adam not to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good or Evil, but as we see in Genesis, when she told the Serpent what God had commanded, she added, “and neither shall you touch it.” That happened because either she wasn’t paying close attention or was an embellisher. In either case she failed to appreciate the importance of each word God had said and didn’t say. She failed to recognize that “every word of God is tested.” When Christ sends us out he sends us out to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand, he sends us as disciples of the One who “came to give witness to the Truth,” of Him who ultimately is the Truth. His Kingdom is a kingdom of truth, of light, of saying “yes” when we mean “yes” and “no” when we mean “no.” Jesus praised Nathanael for being “an Israelite without guile,” and he wants us all to be without guile. The devil is the “father of lies,” who always wants to get us to add or subtract to God’s word, to do anything except live off of every word that comes from the Father’s mouth. The credibility of the proclamation of the Gospel is shot when people doubt the truthfulness of the messenger. Those who announce the Kingdom of God must demonstrate total transparency and verifiable truthfulness. They must be icons of Christ the Truth incarnate. Otherwise no one may believe anything they say, including the Gospel. This is one of the reasons why the whole Church must pray, “Put falsehood and lying far from me.”
• The second thing that the sage asks is, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only the food I need, lest, being full, I deny you, saying, ‘Who is the Lord?,’ or, being in want, I steal and profane the name of my God.” The request is for a total trust in God’s providence, for we cannot serve both God and mammon. If we have more than we need, the trust we need to have in God’s care can disappear as we place our faith, hope and love in mammon and what mammon can obtain. But he’s also not asking for destitution, for nothing whatsoever. He’s asking us for what Jesus taught us to pray: “Give us today our daily bread.” Jesus is describing that trust in God’s providence necessary in those who proclaim God’s kingdom when he instructs the apostles in today’s Gospel, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.” They needed to proclaim by how they dressed, walked, ate and slept that they trusted in God who promised to care for them more than for the lilies and sparrows. Jesus himself didn’t even have a pillow to lay his head. Together with the apostles, they often didn’t have even meager supplies for meals before Jesus’ miracles. Over the course of time, however, one of the corruptions that can enter the Church is too much dependence on money. We focus more on all that’s needed to maintain what we have rather than relying on God’s riches and then going out to preach. We know that the Church requires some money, for we can’t be Good Samaritans if we can’t pay innkeepers. But sometimes, as Pope Francis says more generally about the economy, money can begin to rule. Similarly the wealth of the Church can sometimes scandalize people. It’s hard to proclaim the Gospel to the poor, as the aphorism says, when one arrives in a Rolls Royce. That’s why the Church as a whole, and each of us, must never ease to pray, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only the food I need.”
• Today as we celebrate this Mass, we turn to God the Father who gives us neither poverty nor riches but the food we need, Who announces to us his tested word so that we can abide in truth far from falsehood and lying. And then he sends us out, fed by Christ his Son, to continue to announce proclaim his kingdom with fidelity.

The readings for today’s Mass were: 

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