Frontier Faith

Sharing the faith with all those we meet

03/17/2024

Jn 12:20-33 Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.

This weekend is St. Patrick’s Day on Sunday, March 17, and it is especially meaningful for our parish since our founding fathers and mothers were Irish immigrants. You may know this parish was originally named St. Patrick’s and later changed to Immaculate Conception in the 1860’s. So, it seems fitting I should share some Irish jokes in honor of St. Patrick and the Fighting Irish. Someone sent these several one-liners recently.

One read a little on the serious side: “It doesn’t matter how big your house is, how much money you have, or that you wear expensive clothes. Our graves will be the same size. Stay humble.” Another one read: “The human brain is the most amazing organ. It works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from birth until you fall in love.” Yet another humorous one observed: “I always found it a bit confusing when the teacher would say: ‘Don’t get smart with me’.” Okay, here’s the last one: Every Irish woman’s dream. Her ideal man takes her in his arms, throws her on the bed…and cleans the whole house while she sleeps.” And now you know what all women really want, guys.

Back in 1999 our parish celebrated our 150th anniversary by publishing a book called “From the Foundation Up – the Story of a Frontier Parish.” The pastor then, Msgr. John O’Donnell (an Irishman!), noted in the Foreword: “In this our 150th year as a parish, and the 100th year of our magnificent church, we stand on the shoulders of giants! Those gallant and intrepid clergy, religious and laity who cut a wide path through this region and tamed the manners and morals of a people newly arrived on the frontier.”

Msgr. O’Donnell sure had a flair for the dramatic. What made the Irish truly giants were that they not only lived on the frontier of Europe – surrounded by ocean – but were also fearless in charging forward to the next frontier and sow the seed of faith there. That is, Irish Catholic immigrants planted the tree of faith here in Fort Smith 175 years ago and we have all eaten our fill from its fruits.

If we look closely at the gospel today we will also see a sort of frontier faith in action. How so? Well, at first sight looks what rather mundane, Jesus sees are remarkably momentous. Some Greeks ask Philip and Andrew to introduce them to Jesus. And Jesus flips out by exclaiming: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!” Jesus seems to be making a mountain out of a mole hill, but he is actually noticing an entirely new stage of the spread of the gospel. What do I mean?

Well, the fact that Greeks want to see Jesus means his message is spreading beyond the borders of Israel to the whole world. In other words, Jesus’ sharing the gospel with the Greeks was like how the “intrepid Irish cut a wide path and tamed the manners and morals of a people on the frontier.” If there is one quality Jesus wants his apostles to adopt from him, it is a frontier faith, unafraid to carry the Good News to the four corners of the world.

My friends, what are some of the frontiers of faith we find today? Sometimes we find the frontier not in some distant land but in our own home. We may have a spouse who doesn’t come to church, or children who are fallen away from their faith, or attend another church. Or, perhaps the frontier of faith is so close it is staring back at us in the mirror every morning, as we may have doubts or disagree with Catholic teaching. That is, sometimes we need to plant the flag of faith right in our living room at home, or in our own hearts.

And by the way, we learn the faith by doing the faith, practice makes perfect. Because sharing the faith on the frontier is always messy and imperfect. Fr. Daniel who used to coach me in tennis that I should play against people who are better and beat me. Why? Because only by losing do you really get better and learn. Although when I got home he asked me, “Why did you lose?” And I’m like, “What did you expect??” So, too, in sharing the faith Jesus sends us out beyond the borders of our abilities and certainly out of our comfort zone. We learn by doing, and we really learn by falling flat on our face.

Another frontier of faith is the culture we live in which is not just non-Christian but gradually growing anti-Christian. Have you noticed this? Now, don’t get me wrong. My family came here from India as immigrants: “America is great! We love America!” But does America love us Roman Catholics, especially when we take an uncompromising stand against abortion, against same sex marriages, in favor of welcoming the stranger at the border, and in caring for the environment?

Msgr. O’Donnell’s words about our Irish ancestors do not just point to the past, but are also prophetic about the future when he said: “With awesome courage, perseverance and sacrifice they built a veritable fortress of Faith and Catholicity in a time when the faithful were less than welcome and looked upon with disdain.” In other words, for 125 years this historic church has been standing at the head of Garrison Avenue, as if to say to everyone driving by, whether in a horse-and-buggy, or in a Lamborghini, “The Catholic Faith is here. And we are not going anywhere.” The fighting Irish built this marvelous church on this main street. Why? Because their hearts beat with a frontier faith.

Praised be Jesus Christ!