The Kerygma

Seeing the forest of faith amid the trees of trouble

05/16/2019

Acts of the Apostles 13:13-25 From Paphos, Paul and his companions set sail and arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. But John left them and returned to Jerusalem. They continued on from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the sabbath they entered into the synagogue and took their seats. After the reading of the law and the prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, "My brothers, if one of you has a word of exhortation for the people, please speak." So Paul got up, motioned with his hand, and said, "Fellow children of Israel and you others who are God-fearing, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt.”

I love to tell other people that they are “missing the forest for the trees.” Have you heard that expression before? It means people get bogged down in the details of life (the trees) that they take their eyes off the more core values or critical concerns of life (the forest). I was surprised when someone made that same criticism of me many years ago: “Fr. John, you miss the forest for the trees!”

In 2003 I was pastor St. Edward Church in downtown Little Rock. Our parish was hosting the deanery meeting of the priests in Little Rock. About fifteen priests were sitting in the living room enjoying each other’s company and conversation (which means we were gossiping about the bishop). Suddenly the doorbell rang. I opened it and saw two young men, nicely dressed, who asked if they could speak to us for a few minutes. I hesitated to interrupt the meeting (especially the gossip), but since they weren’t asking for money, I thought what harm could it do? We’ll just humor them for a few minutes, give them a blessing and send them on their merry way.

They stood in the living room, surrounded by priests lounging on couches and said: “Do you know that Jesus Christ suffered, died on the cross and rose from the dead in order for you to be saved and have a personal relationship with him forever?” We all thought: “Seriously?” That would be like standing up in a meeting of medical doctors and saying: “Have you heard of something called the Hippocratic Oath? It says the first thing a doctor does is ‘do not harm’.” We smiled politely, rolled our eyes inwardly, gave them some food to take with them, and sent them on their way. But I have never forgotten that little visit.

Those two men belonged to a new Catholic movement called the Neocatechumenal Way. They literally imitate the early apostles and travel two-by-two proclaiming the core of the gospel message. In other words, they were saying to us professional priests: “Don’t miss the forest for the trees.” Pope St. John Paul II summed up this great forest of faith with one word, namely, the “kerygma.” He explained the kerygma was “the initial ardent proclamation by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith” (Catechesi tradendae, 25). That is, when we remember the forest of faith, we jump out of bed to be Christians, and the trees of trials and troubles don’t weigh us down.

In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas are on their missionary journeys and preaching the kerygma to the world. They enter a synagogue on the Sabbath (Saturday), and say: “Fellow children of Israel and you others who are God-fearing. Listen.” Then they proceed to tell them exactly what those two young men preached to us priests in 2003, the “kerygma.” In other words, they were telling the Jews don’t miss the forest for the trees, put differently, don’t miss the Messiah, Jesus Christ, for all the trees of your traditions. But they did. Many of the Jews probably smiled politely, rolled their eyes inwardly, and gave Paul and Barnabas some food and sent them on their merry way. But some Jews that day may also have remembered that visit, like I did, and it slowly changed their lives.

My friends, do you ever wonder why so many Catholics are leaving the Church to join evangelical, non-denominational Protestant churches? If you’re like me, you might brush that choice off as seeking entertainment. Those churches have stadium seating with cup-holders, they have high tech audio-visual equipment, they have powerful preaching, and music to match, and most importantly, they have baby-sitting and child care at every service. And all that may be true. But they may also have something else, namely, they “don’t miss the forest for the trees.” There is not one Christian in those churches who doesn’t know what the kerygma is, and equally important, that the kerygma changes their life. They are always reminded of the forest of faith – a personal adherence to Jesus by faith – that they feel able to overcome the trees of trials and tribulations of life. That’s not entertainment; it’s evangelization.

Folks, have you missed the forest for the trees in your personal life, in your professional life, in your faith life? If you have, don’t worry, we priests miss it all the time, too. In every four-year presidential election cycle, we know how Americans pick their president. We say, “It’s the economy, stupid.” So, too, we Catholics should remember how Christians pick their churches: “It’s the kerygma, stupid.”

Praised Jesus Christ!