11th Sunday in Ordinary Time
St Mary's Cathedral
Ex 19:2-6; Rom 5:6-11; Mt 9:36-10:8
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
16 Jun 2002
In Matthews' gospel of today we have the list of the twelve apostles appointed by the Lord himself.
While Christ is the cornerstone, the centrepiece, the apostles constitute the foundation of the church, and their successors today, i.e. the Pope and bishops, constitute the framework of the worldwide Catholic community. The teachings of Christ are enshrined in the "apostolic" tradition, which we have received and we must protect and hand on, and comprise, for example, the central essential teachings in the Creed. We justify the position of the bishops by the apostolic succession; and unbroken list of consecrations back to the apostles themselves. Many bishops have such a succession list of consecrators. Mine goes back to 1566 and then fades into the mists.
It is important to remember that there is only one Catholic Church, around the Pope the successor of St. Peter, and the local bishops. We are united as followers of Christ the only Son of God. Although we do not hear as much about it as some years ago, some people still speak of the "official church", often disparagingly and contrast it with "being church", or the "local real church".
There is only one church of saints and sinners. There are officials and leaders in the church and often the true saints are elsewhere, but even that is not always true. We should discourage this "official church" type language. We Catholics are all in the church together.
The twelve apostles chosen by the living Jesus reflect the twelve tribes of Israel, but there are other apostles in the New Testament, principally St Paul who was chosen by the risen Christ himself.
Just before I again say a few words about Paul and his teaching it is useful to recall that Jesus' words about a shortage of labourers in the harvest were uttered nearly 2000 years ago. Today we need vocations to the priesthood, although the situation is starting to improve and I ask you to pray during this Mass for such vocations to the priesthood and religious life, to the new communities and for the many positions of Catholic lay leadership in the wider community and in the Church. Good fruits can come out of lean times. Periods of intense scrutiny and hostile comment should provoke not only an examination of conduct and conscience but can produce unexpected fruit as people examine their faith, their moral commitment, and why they continue to belong.
Now we return to Paul and again to the second reading is from his letter to the Romans, a theological masterpiece by any standards.
Ever since he wrote his letters, Paul's teaching has been controversial and it remains so today. Commentators argue over whether Paul was most influenced by his Jewish religious background or more by Greek pagan thought. They dispute over what is his central message. And most importantly, some even claim that Paul took over and changed Our Lord's teaching so radically that he should be called the founder of Christianity. Not many make this claim - which is wrong of course, but some do!
We should always remember that in the first years of the Christian era Christians, and even the more numerous Jews were small minorities in a pagan world. And Paul was the apostle to the pagans, just as Peter addressed himself first to the Jews. In our Western world the neo-pagan minority is extremely powerful, with its mixture of rampant materialism, leavened with a small dose of sentimentalism and New Age religion. Paul has much to say to us also, because he was addressing a similar audience!
Paul believed that the Jews were God's chosen people and that the one true God, the God of Israel, had acted in history through Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah or promised leader that the Jews were expecting. In some mysterious way Christ's followers are bound up with Him, incorporated into Him in the Body of Christ.
The age to come, the final age, had begun with Christ, especially through his suffering and death, which made us righteous, enabled our sins to be forgiven. We call this redemption.
Paul is here explaining what is happening under the surface, he is explaining the significance and spiritual consequences of Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection. Some have called this "Christ mysticism", understanding in faith how the mystery of God worked through Jesus in a way in which it worked nowhere else!
As in Paul's time our task is to present to the world around us our central conviction that we are no longer enemies of God, God is no longer angry with us, and therefore we are filled with joyful trust. God has shown his love for all the people, certainly the lowly but even the high and mighty, by allowing his only Son to die for sinful men and women.
People with faith can understand that their sins are forgiven through Christ's redeeming death, and people in trouble, suffering, are consoled by the memory of Christ's suffering too.
We must keep Christ, the memory of his person and life at the forefront of all our Catholic life. We must remain faithful to all his teachings, battle through the hard times and strive mightily to practise what we preach.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and oft the Holy Spirit. Amen.
