6th Sunday of the Year (C)

You may recall that 2020 was a rather difficult year. Of course you do. We could all tell our stories about how the beginning of the pandemic impacted us, as our world and our lives were turned upside down. I’d like to share with you something that happened to me in that time––and I apologize that I’m about to talk a lot about myself, but I ask you to trust me that it’s for good reason. 

As the world shutdown in March, I was quickly brought home from Rome to finish my semester virtually. At the same time, I was also assigned to live at my home parish, which at that time had neither the capacity for livestreaming Mass nor the leadership of a pastor, since ours had died suddenly in the previous fall. On top of all that, there were three other seminarians assigned to live with me in the rectory, two of whom had just started learning English. So, amidst all of this, I found myself to be part-time: grad student, parish administrator, video editor, seminary formator, housekeeper, and language tutor. 

 

By the time June rolled around, there was light at the end of the tunnel. My semester was over, a new pastor had been named, I had a contract in with an A/V company to install a permanent camera in the church, and the seminarians had gone on to other assignments. But the previous three months had taken their toll on me. I was exhausted, and not only that, but I was also mad. The pandemic caused the Archdiocese to move my ordination from June to August, and the plans for the celebration that had been over a year in the making were quickly disintegrating. All that happened over the course of those three months caused, ever so gradually, bitterness and resentment to spread like weeds within my heart. 

 

As things began to gradually open back up in June, I could finally get around to making my retreat that is required before ordination. Yet, retreat houses were still not taking guests. So, I had to compromise, and a friend graciously offered me a week to stay at his condo. 

 

Whereas I had planned to make my retreat at a monastery in Ireland, solemnly praying the Divine Office each day while deeply contemplating my vocation, circumstances made me trade all that in for the sights and sounds of Ocean City, Maryland. Instead of monks chanting and incense, I would have to settle for a retreat environment saturated by the sound of arcade games and the smell of Thrasher’s French Fries. As this really was my only option, it would have to do, although it only added to my anger and frustration. 

 

In any case, I got settled in the condo, turned off my phone, and attempted to start to pray. Nothing. No peace. No relief. I didn’t even have the desire to pray for even 5 minutes, and I still had 5 days ahead of me. I tried again after dinner. Still nothing. 

 

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, I had the thought to try watching an episode of a series I had heard some people back in the seminary talk about called “The Chosen.” All I knew about it was that it’s a show about Jesus and, although previous experience with such things would have otherwise caused me to be skeptical about its quality and value, I didn’t exactly have much to lose, so I decided to give it a go. 

 

I turned my phone back on and pulled up the first episode and, by the end of it, much to my surprise, I found myself absolutely weeping. All of the stress, anger, bitterness, and resentment that had been building up in me, everything that I had been carrying with me for the past three months all in an instant came to the surface, and Jesus’ words put it all into perspective, as he said directly to me: “You are mine.” With that, my heart of stone was shattered, and everything changed. For the rest of my retreat, I watched an episode each day, and it continued to speak so personally to me that it was as if I was hearing the Gospel for the very first time. 

 

Beginning this Thursday, I’m inviting all of you to join me each week to experience The Chosen for yourself. We’ll gather at 7pm in the Parish Center (behind the church) each Thursday to watch and discuss one episode each week. I’m not a sentimental person, and I rarely speak in extremes, but I have every confidence that this series will change your life. There’s no RSVP. Just show up. Come to one or come to them all. You won’t regret it. 

 

Perhaps you’re aware that your life needs a change, or perhaps you’re not. The message of today’s Gospel is that we all need to constantly be in a state of change, of conversion. Notice that the Gospel passage begins with describing the “large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,” yet before Jesus begins to speak, we’re told he raised “his eyes toward his disciples,” not toward the crowds, but toward those who were already following him. They, too, needed to change, to be converted, and the same is true for you and me. 

 

And in these 8 statements, sometimes called the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us what this change of life will look like. Those who are poor will inherit the kingdom. Those who are hungry will be filled. Those who are weeping will laugh. Those who are despised and hated will be rewarded and loved. On the other hand, those who are rich will become poor. Those who are filled will become hungry. Those who laugh will grieve. And those who are praised will be rejected. 

 

The Chosen puts skin on these words, as we see Simon, Andrew, Mary Magdalene, Matthew, Thomas, and all the rest of the disciples and people mentioned in Scripture have their life turned upside down because of their being chosen by Jesus to be his disciple. And we see ourselves in them, in their problems, in their fears and anxieties, and in their joys and hopes. We recognize, in these disciples, that we too have needs, needs which will only be met in and through a relationship with Jesus Christ in his Church.

 

We probably don’t even realize what those needs are. If you had asked me how I was feeling in June 2020, before leaving for my retreat, I probably would have said “fine”. But I wasn’t, and I didn’t know that I wasn’t. What I needed was for Christ to break into my life, to make me aware of my own heart, and call me once again to follow him so that I could live as he has created me to be. 

 

There are moments in life, big and small, that make us aware of our need. For me it happened, as it has for millions around the world, through The Chosen. I offer you the opportunity to experience the same. Whether you are a lifelong Catholic or whether this is your first time at Mass in years, I invite all of you to come and see. Let the Lord who made you speak to your heart and call you to follow him. 

 

In the second episode, Mary Magdalene explains what happened to her to Nicodemus in these words: “I don’t know why I’m sharing this with you. I don’t understand it myself, but here is what I can tell you. I was one way and now I’m totally different. And the thing that happened in the middle was Him, so yes, I will know Him for the rest of my life.” Brothers and sisters, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that we could say the same.