Join Up!

A GregBlog Note: I was privileged to join Celebrant, Fr. Jerry Sherbourne and the community of St. John Paul II Catholic High School for Mass on Thursday, April 23, 2015.  The school celebrated Vocations, and began with this video featuring newly Ordained Priest of the Holy Cross, Fr. Stephen Chase Pepper, son of faculty member Lorrie Pepper.  Take a look at the video below, and then reflect on this online style format of the Homily I offered... 

The Fun: "We have fun, but also an underlying current of faith, and of a desire to serve God!" (from the video)

• THIS IS YOUR LIFE - What a great, overarching statement that the newly ordained Priest of the Holy Cross, Fr. Matt Fase offers on what life could and should be for us all: Having fun, while all the while an underlying current of faith and a desire to serve God flows through us! 
• THIS IS YOUR VOCATION - Your vocation, whatever it may be, should be just as fun with the same underlying current of faith and desire. Fr. Tim Mouton (Moo-Tahn) adds, and I believe it too applies to all of us, that his vows, and your vocation is "God's gift to the world, [working] through you!" 
• THIS IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP - Fr. Stephen Chase Pepper adds to the nature of our desire noting that, "One of the things that people are most hungry for are authentic relationships. [His vows and your commitment in this life] will free [you] to have the sorts of relationships that people are looking for!" 
• THIS IS YOUR EXPRESSION - Finally, Fr. Matt encourages us to embrace the challenge or what I like to call LIVING YOUR FAITH OUT LOUD, or as he puts it, "[His ordination and your vocation] are a great expression, when joyfully lived, that we're really hungering for God." 

The Reading (Acts 8: 26-40): The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.

• YOU DESIRE - The Teacher’s desire to teach, and the Student’s desire to learn! 
• YOU LEARN - The Master shares the Good News, and the Disciple learn and lives! 
• YOU SHARE - Your desire to help someone in need leads to the recognition of others, who begin to see that you are awesome at what you do! 

The Psalm (Ps. 66:20): Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness!

• GOD WANTS! When someone has a desire to achieve, succeed or want to make life better for themselves and those around them, why would anyone refuse? 
• GOD HEARS! God never refuses to love His people, and therefore never refuses to hear your prayers or support your desire and your ability to make things better for the world around you! 
• GOD SAYS YES! You’ve heard the phrase that, “God always answers your prayers, and sometimes that answer is no!” Well, I’m a “Glass Half Full” type, so I’ll say this… God does indeed answer our prayers, and that answer is ALWAYS YES!
• GOD’S LOVE - Our relationship with God is rooted in LOVE! 
• YOUR MISSION POSSIBLE - With God, all things are possible! 
• SO PRAY - Therefore, because we are loved, the answer (even though it feels like a NO) is always aimed at making all things possible! SO PRAY, and be open to the ANSWER! 

The Gospel (John 6: 44-51): Jesus said to the crowds: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.

• JESUS IS RISEN! The Easter proclamation continues, and it does so because we all need the Lord, we all need the life, we all need the love! 
• WE RESPOND! Our response is more than just an AMEN with our lips, it’s a “So Be It” with our hope and our actions! 
• HE SENDS HIS GIFTS! The Bishop is in town this week, and has Confirmed or will be Confirming some of you. So whether it’s this week, last year, 10 years ago, or a couple of years in the future… The coming of the Holy Spirit is God’s way of “drawing you in”, “teaching you”, and “raising you on the last day”! 
• KNOWLEDGE - The Existence of God and “Salvation” 
• UNDERSTANDING - The Church and the Living Tradition 
• WONDER & AWE - The Scriptures and the Sacraments 
• REVERENCE & WISDOM - The Mass and Personal Prayer 
• JUDGEMENT & COURAGE - Living a Moral Life 

Your Vocation! You are called to consider and receive all of these Gifts of the Spirit and allow them to work together! 

• REMEMBER, WE ARE NOT ROBOTS, AND YOU ARE NOT USED! God did not create us to dominate us! He gave us a brain, a heart, and hands to know, love and serve Him… Not as a supreme dictator, but as you would a loving parent. God doesn't USE us like pawns, He gives us opportunities to discover ways to better know and love Him, so we can serve others and help them feel loved; and they in turn can discover new ways and opportunities to love God as well! 
• GOD WANTS YOUR LOVE! Remember, like a teacher, disciple or friend, God waits for our desire to want more, grow more and learn more! 
• WE WANT TO BE LOVED! As you grow in that desire, it’s LOVE and how we love to be loved that drives us to respond and act! That GUT feeling that you have to follow your dream is rooted in your wanting to serve… 
• FIND YOUR CAREER - We all want to be something when we grow up, and there is a journey that lies ahead that will help guide you towards exactly what that will be! Your VOCATION is the career that you will choose to establish your place, and your contribution to the greater good of us all! You Seniors are about to step outta here, and your desires are great. Remember, Jesus never said, “Now follow this exact recipe, and go and succeed!” No, he simply arrived at Easter saying, “Peace be with you,” and sent us forth with a Mission saying, “Be not afraid!” 
• BE A PART OF FAMILY - Never forget those who LOVE YOU, and never lose sight that you are part of a bigger picture, a community that gives a darn… the One Body in Christ that continues to grow! Your VOCATION is the love you will find in another person, and the completeness that comes with loving them in return. 
• MARRIAGE - Some of you will be around here in the not so distant future, deciding with your spouse on who does the dropping picking up, or letting your kids have the car, and trusting and allowing JP2 to be a part of the raising of your family! 
• PRIESTHOOD & RELIGIOUS LIFE - Others of you will consider a similar, but much larger family to join, and help raise. Christ calls us all to be students, teachers, and disciples. And like those who are called to serve the needs of our society in the military, as business owners, sanitation workers, lawn-care specialists, doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. The Church needs you to consider the consecrated life as a priest, or religious sister or brother. Just like you’ll promise to do your job to the best of your ability as a sailor, an athlete, an engineer, research scientist, or a musician, the Church wants you to consider making the same promise to serve God’s people in a way that calls them to a greater opportunity to learn how to love God and one another! 
• LOVE GOD - No matter your Career or the Family that God brings your way, your vocation must include bettering yourself to love God in loving and serving His people! The video we watched before Mass ends with this: "God loves [you] more than [you] could ever know, or that [you] could ever express, [and the vows of Fr. Pepper and his newly ordained brother priests, and your future vocation] is a response to that love!" 

Learn, Teach & Serve! Like today’s first reading, there are teachers asking, “Do you understand what you are reading?” There are students desiring and responding, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” But the Good News today is that all of you will be invited to live life to the fullest, “to get in and sit with” those whom you will serve. The Holy Spirit is saying to you today, “Go and join up!”