Live the Word! Live Jesus!
By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 10/19/06)
The following homily was given by Bishop
Paul S. Loverde on Sunday, Oct. 15, for the Youth Rally at Bishop O’Connell
High School.
The event just described in the Gospel account is taking
place here, now! Is not each one of us like that young man, running to
catch up with Jesus? Is not this why we came to today’s Youth Rally:
to meet Jesus, to ask Him how to inherit life without end, to ask how
to live life well here so we can live life forever hereafter? Yes, we
are here, asking Jesus the important questions. And in doing that, we
are being truly wise as today’s first reading is pointing out. “I
pleaded and the spirit of wisdom came to me.”
How does Jesus answer our questions? How does He reply to us? First, by
looking at you and me with love. Then, He asks us, “Will you give
Me your heart?” His words in the Gospel: “ … sell what
you have” really invite us to give up whatever is controlling us.
“Come, follow me,” He says, which means, as I said moments
ago, “give Me your heart!”
So, what shall we do? The young man would not let go of the things which
controlled him — “his many possessions.” So, “
… his face fell, and he went away sad … .” We do not
want to imitate him; instead, we want to imitate Peter and the other disciples.
We want to stay with Jesus, to give Him our hearts, to follow Him.
You are aware of the theme for this year’s Youth Rally: “Live
the Word.” What is the Word? Surely, it is the Word of God, which,
St. Paul reminds us in today’s second reading, “is living
and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword.” In the end, is
not the Word the Living Incarnate Word of God, Jesus, Who is God’s
Final and Best Word to us, becoming like us in all things except sin,
Our Lord and Saviour? Yes, “Live the Word” means “Live
Jesus!”
Jesus must become more and more united with each one of us, so we must
more and more invite Him into our beings and ask Him to make us more like
Him. His thoughts must become ours, His lips must become ours, His desires
must become ours, His will must become ours!
Yes, a transformation must be taking place within us. This does not mean
that we lose our unique and individual personalities, but it does mean
that we allow Him to shine through us, so that people see, not us, but
Jesus within us.
Whenever we turn our attention to the proclamation of the Gospel during
Mass, we sign ourselves on the forehead, the lips and the heart. By that
outward gesture, we are saying to the Lord, “Let me think the way
You do, let me speak the way You do, let me love the way You do.”
Becoming more like Jesus in our minds, words and hearts, we can influence
for the better our surroundings, our worlds. What we hear God saying to
us in His Word and what we see Jesus, God’s Word made flesh, doing,
we then speak and do in these worlds where we live: our family, our school,
our parish, our neighborhood, our community. We bring the Spirit of Christ
everywhere! As Pope John Paul II observed, “True holiness does not
mean a flight from the world; rather, it lies in the effort to incarnate
the Gospel in everyday life, in the family, at school, and at work, and
in social and political involvement.”
Will you — will we — give Jesus our minds, our lips and our
hearts and thereby allow Him to transform the world through us? Will we
live Jesus? Will we live the Word? Let us do more than what the young
man did. Let us say “yes” to Jesus and follow Him! If we do,
our faces will be joyful, not sad; our hearts will be free, not burdened;
and our lives will have real purpose and meaning until we inherit eternal
life — with Jesus! Amen! Alleluia!
Copyright (c) 2006 Arlington Catholic
Herald
