Sunday, July 3rd, 2022 – Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C Readings: Isaiah 66:10-14c, Psalm 66 “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy”, Galatians 6:14-18, Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

    The Joyful Christian Wars and violence and many parts of the world, increased poverty, a world polarized politically and spiritually, pandemics and diseases, conspiracy theories, not to mention inflation … the world seems to be spiraling out of control … In the face of this, how can we say that we Christians ought to be filled with Joy?! We say that we come to celebrate Mass, but sometimes it feels more like a wake. Of course, there is a sense that the Mass IS a wake, for it encompasses all of the Mystery of Christ: His incarnation, suffering, DEATH, and resurrection… but for some reason we seem to focus on the suffering and death, and we forget both the joys of our own incarnation and of our own resurrection. For in celebrating all of HIM, we celebrate all of US. Some of you may be aware that Pope Francis wrote an Apostolic Letter (released this past week) on the Liturgy entitled: DESIDERIO DESIDERAVI. The title refers to the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke Ch. 22:15. “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,” words He spoke moments before the words of Institution.
    Pope Francis exhorts us to take a good look once again at the meaning of the Liturgy and its importance. In it, he emphasize the importance of the Liturgy in forming us as a “joyful” people. But, how, when come Monday I must go back to the difficulties of life, when problems seem to accumulate…How can we be joyful?! How can we be joyful when God seems to ignore many of our problems? For some of you your crosses are heavier.
    In Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s search for meaning,” we find a very descriptive account of his experiences as a Jewish prisoner at different concentration camps during WWII. He noticed that amidst the great difficulties and horror of the camps, some like him could motivate themselves to continue on, weak and exhausted, by imagining in a future without war, without suffering. He also, imagined himself reuniting with his wife and helping others after the war … he was a psychologist. So, what does this have to do with being a Joyful Christian? I think a lot. We believe in THE God of the Living. We believe in Christ!!
    We believe in the promise of the resurrection, of the kingdom, of heaven! We come to Mass to celebrate, not only his suffering and death… but His Incarnation AND His Resurrection as well!
    We OBSERVE his suffering and death BECAUSE they indicate to us that LIVING HERE and LIVING ETERNALLY in the KINGDOM are SO Valuable that experiencing them is worthy part of the process. We come to celebrate first and foremost HIS incarnation, HIS suffering, HIS death, and His resurrection. But this celebration includes us, and we are also invited to celebrate Our incarnation, Our suffering, Our death, and Our resurrection!
    And not just a resurrection to the fallen world… a resurrection to the KINGDOM! To God’s Kingdom, to the Kingdom of bliss, to the kingdom of Peace, Goodness, Beauty, and Love. To the Mystery of the Eternal Agape! We REJOICE today, now, because if we allow the celebration of what we are doing right now, this Liturgy, it will permeate every aspect of our lives in the coming week, no matter how difficult life might be. And we repeat it next Sunday in order to recharge our batteries so that we can do it again and again, until the Lord calls us. For in the Liturgy, we do not have mere imaginary conversations with Jesus, we have absolutely real conversations with Him… and we can carry on those conversations and encounters as we leave the Church… we don’t have to imagine helping others “when this is over” … no, we go on MISSION (“Ite Missa est”) to help those in needs, not as psychologists, no, … as evangelists as missionary disciples, because we KNOW our DESTINY. And when we go, we don’t go alone… like the disciples in today’s Gospel. We go accompanied by a host of others, friends, family members, fellow parishioners, angels and saints, and Jesus Himself. We too can heal and cast out demons … we too can dine with sinners and tax collectors, we too can preach the Kingdom, we too can do amazing things “in His Name.”
    But we do not boast in what we can say or do, or even see in this earth … with St. Paul we “boast in the cross of Christ.” For like Christ, we know that part of our experience includes suffering, and includes death … The true rejoicing comes in the knowledge that, IN HIM, our names are written in heaven. This is why we should always rejoice!
Deacon Santiago Molina