Our Lady of Lourdes Church and School

Together in Mission is one of those opportunities which, as most of you are aware, I have no reservations about and endorsing. It provides us with an opportunity as a people of faith to stand up and declare who we are with and for one another before God. It is an opportunity to participate in a work that is so much greater than any one of us alone could undertake. It is an opportunity to be part of something bigger than myself and which calls me to a generosity of heart of which I can be proud. Together in mission is not something that I can conceive of simply as a “collection” or as a “financial appeal”. That misses the point. In a very real way, the annual Together in Mission Appeal is as spiritual as it is practical, giving witness to our very Catholic belief that we are responsible for one another as the parables of Jesus so often remind us, and that our own souls are deepened and enlarged through our living into our responsibilities.

In our first reading from Isaiah today, it is clear that the author is reminding us that we don’t just notice the needs of others because we’re decent people, but that we notice such needs and we respond to those needs because God commands it. The prophet reminds us of the importance of lifting our gaze from our own struggles and challenges and to look beyond. Isaiah invites us to see the needs of others as well as our own. How often in life we find ourselves struggling and hurting, but our own very human compassion also allows to recognize the often deeper struggles and incredible challenges which others are experiencing. The darkness of our own lives somehow seems less dark when we see the courage and witness of others who struggle with so much more than we ourselves experience. In truth, it’s not that our struggles are less, but the example of others in the face of their greater struggles emboldens us and gives us courage to face our own. “There, but for the grace of God, go I…” is the turn of phrase we might use. When we see the hungry and the naked of our world, when we see the homeless and the bedraggled of our communities, we are moved to compassion and goodness and we become the hands of the living God in our world. When we do this, when we overlook our own struggles in order to more clearly perceive and assist others in their struggles, we are raised out of our own darkness and become light for “other nations to see.”

According to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (2:1-5) this is a gift of God, it is wisdom. True wisdom is not human, but rather the seeming contradiction of Christ crucified and raised. We share what we have with others not because it will help our bank accounts or retirement plans, but because our true hope rests ultimately on Jesus. God’s wisdom often contradicts human wisdom. We know and we understand - because of the example of Jesus - that sacrifice leads to blessing, and when we go above and beyond for something greater than ourselves, for someone other than ourselves, we encounter grace as none other. .

This Sunday’s gospel also highlights for us Jesus’ call to be salt and light for the world. As followers of Jesus, we know that we are followers of the “way” of Jesus. It is never good enough for Christians to speak only, but they also must act. Participating in the good works of Together in Mission is one way that every Catholic in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles becomes light for the world to see. How much brighter the light when we all shine together and participate in Together in Mission!