(Listen to this homily here).
First I want to point out how well our first and second
graders read this morning. You had
some hard words to read!
Question
for you—what were the most difficult words you read? Circumcision. Okay—ha! That is a tough one…especially with the silent C it starts with. I’m going to skip this word this
morning. If you have any
questions, ask your parents. Any
others? Presbyters. That is another tough one. Okay, what is a presbyter? Here is a hint—there is one presbyter
at Mass this morning? A priest! Yes—I am a priest, which in the period of Acts was called a presbyter. (That’s Greek, by the way…)
Do you know what is really
cool? The presbyters from our readings are the priests of today.
Let me give you an example. I have asked a few people to come up
for a demonstration this morning.
Let me call up one of our older students in school. [A 3rd grader volunteers to
come up]. Next, I see one of our
youngest parishioners (between the ages of 1 and 2) whose Mother brought him
here. Can you both come up? [They do]. Finally…how about one of our senior parishioners. [Mr. N whom I talked to before Mass
comes up.] By the way, I asked him
Mr. N if it was okay to call him up during the homily and he agreed…and he
still sat in the very last pew!
Alrighty…to our student of St.
Thomas Aquinas Catholic School—were you baptized at St. Thomas Aquinas? Yes. Did I baptize you? No. What year were you baptized? I
don’t remember. Were you
baptized as a baby? Yes. Well, since you are eight years old, I am guessing you were
baptized in 2007. This means I did
not baptize you.
To [a mother with child]: When were
you [addressing Mom] baptized? 1980. And when was your [two year old son] baptized? 2013. And who baptized him? I wasn’t here yet, so which priest
baptized your son N.? Fr. Kris McKuskey.
To [our senior parishioner]: Do you remember when you were baptized
and the priest who baptized you? I
was baptized in 1930 by Fr. Sliewsovich...
This is what is really cool about
our faith. I have had the
privilege of serving here for the past nine months. Before I arrived another priest was here. And before that, another. Our priests could trace a line all the
way to Jesus!
Here is what I want you to remember
today: the presbyters we heard about
from the book of Acts served in the same role as the priests today. This is
amazing! And I’m not preaching in
favor of a particular priest…I am speaking about the priesthood!
For example, I am a priest, right? Yes. But I, as
a priest, have been personally impacted by other priests. Think about
it. Before I was a priest I was
baptized by a priest. My first
Confession was by a priest. I
received first Communion from a priest.
I was actually confirmed by a priest [due to a transition of our
Diocesan Bishop]. Priests to this
day hear my Confessions.
Jesus gave us an amazing gift of
the priesthood. And do you know what? As a priest myself, this is the greatest gift I have received.
For you little guys, who wants to
be a priest today? Have you ever thought
about being a priest?
If God is calling you to be a
priest, you are called to an amazing life. Please say yes!
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