My Brand

Bringing people closer to Christ

06/24/2019

Isaish 49:1-6 Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The LORD called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God. For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Shortly after I arrived here at I.C. in Fort Smith, I felt the need to create a short, pithy statement of my personal purpose as a priest. I also wanted it to apply to the whole church staff and every ministry we conduct. In modern day marketing, that is called “creating a brand.” So, here is my brand: “Bringing people closer to Christ.” Everything we do as a pastoral staff should bring people closer to Christ in the Catholic Church. That brand is the metric that measures our success as a parish. I told our staff: “When you get in your car to return home each day, ask yourself, ‘Did I bring someone closer to Christ today?’ And remember that ‘someone’ may be you.” May I share with you five amazing ways we brought people closer to Christ this past weekend?

First, on Saturday morning I celebrated the baptism of eleven Hispanic babies. Does that give you a hint which demographic in our parish is growing faster than all the rest? I always use my “super soaker” at Hispanic baptisms or they would take call day. In my homily for Hispanic baptisms, I mention how we have to go through the water of baptism to get to the Promised land of heaven, just like many of them (as immigrants) had to get wet wading through water to get to the United States. Do you think that analogy was too controversial? But they get the point, and so should we, who are all immigrants trying to get to the Promised Land of Paradise, and we must wade through the water of baptism to be saved.

Secondly, I celebrated the wedding of a lovely Hispanic couple Saturday afternoon. On their own volition, they came early – shocking for our Hispanics – and asked to go to confession before their wedding. Their sincere faith brought tears to my eyes. At the wedding were many who had not been to Mass in years (I would tell because they didn’t know any of the Mass responses). At that wedding that couple brought people closer to Christ, including this priest.

Thirdly, Saturday evening four priests – Msgr. Francis Malone, Fr. Jerome Kodell, Fr. Chandra and I – celebrated the Mass of Bill and Donna Curry’s 50th wedding anniversary. In his homily, Msgr. Malone humbly mentioned how the Curry’s had inspired him to be a better priest. I found myself nodding in agreement as I thought of many other Catholic couples whose life, love and laughter have brought me closer to Christ.

Fourthly, Sunday morning I celebrated the Mass of Corpus Christi at our mission church of Our Lady of the Ozarks in Winslow. Dc. Mike Henry, the administrator, said he was surprised to see so many people at Mass, especially our five altar servers. He explained that due to the torrential rains, some people could not cross roads submerged in water. But many still came, soaking wet. It is not just our Hispanic immigrants, therefore, who have to cross dangerous rivers and get wet to get to the Promised Land, that symbolic gesture is the very essence of the sacrament of baptism. You cannot get closer to Christ without getting wet.

And fifthly, we celebrated Corpus Christi by walking in procession with the Blessed Sacrament through the city. Several people were wondering if we might cancel due to the downpour of rain. At the 12 noon Spanish Mass, I said: “Do our Hispanic men cancel soccer games if it is raining? Do young couples stay at home and cancel their date night if it is raining? Obviously not, and nor will we, who are doing something to show our love, not for soccer or a spouse, but for our Savior.” As we wound our way through the soaked streets of our great city, people came out of their homes to stare at this strange sight: people dancing and singing before the Blessed Sacrament. All I could think of was 2 Samuel 6:14, which reads: “Then David came dancing before the Lord with abandon, girt with a linen ephod” (meaning he was dressed as a priest in a white robe). To be honest, I wasn’t expecting many people because of the rain, but there must have been over 200 who walked. In ways we will never know on this side of eternity, perhaps we brought people closer to Christ because of that Corpus Christi procession.

Today is the feast of one of my patron saints, John the Baptist. John could have claimed that brand that I love long before me. I am really borrowing it from him. Why? In Isaiah the prophet, we read: “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” That brand, I believe, could just as easily be borrowed by every Christian as the metric and measure of the authenticity of our faith. In other words, before you go to bed at night, ask yourself: “Did I bring anyone closer to Christ by my words or actions, my prayers or penances?” And remember, that someone might be you. By the way, don’t let a little water keep you out of heaven, because that is the only way to get in.

Praised be Jesus Christ!