By Bishop Mark Freeman
Ezekiel 18:25-28; Psalm 24:4-9, Philippians 2:1-5, Matthew 21:28-32
During this past week the well-known and revered American Catholic Evangelizer, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was formally numbered among the blessed. The Beatification Mass was celebrated in the city of St Louis, Missouri mainly to accommodate the 75,000 people who gathered. His earthly remains are now in the Cathedral at Peoria, Illinois, where he had been ordained to the Priesthood in 1919.
Cardinal Tagle, in his homily for the Mass, was at pains to point out why Fulton Sheen is “Blessed.” “Communion with Jesus is Blessedness,” he said. All of us are called to blessedness. All of us are called to be missionary disciples. All of us are called to be evangelizers. All of us are called to communion with Jesus.
At some point in his journey through the seminary, Blessed Fulton J. Sheen would have stood before a bishop, just like our friends Channa and Simon, and would have been admitted as a candidate for Ordination. In his day, it would have been called Tonsure, a symbolic cutting of his hair indicating his admission to the clerical state. Now there will be no cutting of hair this evening. But as the Church in Ballarat, we will be affirming our belief that both Channa and Simon have been formed, and have responded to that formation, to the point that the Church wants to say publicly that they are considered ready to move toward Ordained ministry.
Just as Fulton Sheen’s beatification was about his ‘communion with Jesus’ or, we could say, his ‘discipleship’ so too being admitted as candidates for Ordination is about how both Simon and Channa have lived their discipleship and how they are called to grow in that discipleship all their days. They are not going to be more important than anyone else because of their being admitted as candidates, but they are being asked to be disciples of Jesus, in communion with Jesus, in a particular way. And, hopefully, that expression of their discipleship will be ordained ministry for the life of the Church.
When it’s not a Sunday, 27th September is the feast of St Vincent de Paul. Again, this fellow disciple is not a canonised saint because he was special or more important than others. No, he is canonised because of how he lived out his discipleship, his communion with Jesus! So, too, Channa and Simon will not ever be numbered among the blessed simply because they are ordained priests. No, they will be blessed by the faith, hope and love with which they live their discipleship, their own communion with the Lord.
The Word of God today asks all of us to reflect upon the way we live and how, who we are expresses our discipleship. The word proclaimed just now challenges us to be honest about who we are and to ever keep our focus on the Lord. Who we are, and how we live, is much more important than what we say and even what we do. And, Simon and Channa, who you are as disciples in communion with Jesus is much more important than whether you are a deacon or a priest or even a bishop.
The few verses of St Paul’s letter to the Philippians that form our second reading today begin with Paul pleading with us, his fellow disciples: If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness and sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind (Philippians 2:1-2). Channa and Simon, your life in Christ means a great deal to all of us. Your journey in Christ and with Christ that brings you to this day inspires us and challenges us to respond wholeheartedly to the Lord.
Happily, the Church in Ballarat wants to admit you both as candidates for Ordination. And we ask you to keep growing as disciples, growing more deeply in love with the Lord. Know yourselves as loved by Christ and love Christ with all your hearts. And love us, the People of God in this place. You may not ever be officially named as ‘blessed’ like Fulton Sheen was this week, but you are blessed simply because have been called and chosen by Jesus to proclaim the Good News.
