Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Homily for 18 May 2017

18 May 2017
(School Mass)

One of my favorite fruits to eat is apples.  And there’s a whole bunch of different kinds.  There’s Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Macintosh, Granny Smith, Gala, Honeycrisp, and a whole lot more.  If somebody asked you to go to the store and get them an apple, you’d have to ask: “What kind?” because there are just so many.

And that’s kind of like Christians, too.  There are a lot of different kinds of believers in Jesus.  Way back in the beginning, Peter, Paul and all the Apostles had a lot of discussions about what it means to be a Christian.  And what they realized is that, even though people spoke different languages and had different backgrounds, they could all be Christians.  There wasn’t just one way to be a Christian.  Just like there isn’t only one way to describe an apple.

And that’s important to remember because when Jesus calls us to be his disciple, and to stay close to him, he’s asking us to do that in our own way.  You know, we have lots of saints in the Catholic Church: Saint Benedict, Saint Francis, Saint Theresa of Avila, Saint Clare, Saint Paul, and thousands of others.  But to be a good Catholic doesn’t mean we have to try to copy exactly what they did. 

And that’s because God made only one Saint Francis.  He made only one Saint Clare.  He made only one Saint Peter.  And God made only one of you.  Jesus asks us to be a saint, to be a faithful friend and follower of his—but each in our own way. 

There are a lot of different kinds of Christians.  The important thing is to thank God that you are one, and to be the best follower of Jesus you can be—each in your own way. 

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