Catholics and the Catholic Church are not immune from criticism.  Even though our Church was founded by Jesus Christ, that Jesus is real and present in all of the Sacraments, especially in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist that we receive, and that we have an unbroken chain of successors from St. Peter to the Pope, none of those things mean we’re perfect.  They are all the ways our perfect Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit pours out His gifts on us.  It highlights how we, as broken, sinful Catholics, desperately need them, desperately need Him.  When scandals arise, whether through Bishops, priests, religious, or lay leaders, it’s important to reflect and, in one way, to be grateful that people are aware of our beliefs and are rightly outraged that they aren’t being lived out authentically to call us out on that.  I know that the sex abuse scandals over the last decades have caused me to not only want greater transparency and accountability in the Church, justice, and healing for those hurt but also see it as a call for deeper conversion in my own life.

Thanks so much for stopping by to read this homily for the 25th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, September 22, 2024.  I appreciate your sharing this on your social media posts and your feedback and comments…  I’m also grateful for all those who’ve asked for the audio version and share them as well at SOUNDCLOUD click HERE or from ITUNES as a podcast HERE.  May the Lord be glorified in your reading and sharing- Father Jim

All that being said about warranted criticism, a few years ago, I found myself first shocked and then infuriated by the attacks on one figure in the Church: Mother Teresa.

Just mentioning her name evokes universal recognition and admiration.  In late 1999, when the Gallup Polling Company asked millions of Americans to name the person they admired most from the past century, which included military leaders, politicians, inventors and scientists who have all left their marks on this world for sure, she emerged as the number one answer by a wide margin.  There is a good reason for this.  Throughout her life, she dedicated herself to serving the poorest of the poor all over the world with love, selflessness, generosity, and humility.  Despite her small stature, her giant, warm smile disarmed even the most powerful and prestigious individuals, often inspiring them to make significant changes in their areas of influence as well as in their own personal lives.  Her example also called upon those in the Church to deepen their prayers, devotion to Christ, and to be challenged by the Gospel in how they live their lives outside the church walls, and how they cooperate with the Lord in expanding His Kingdom here on earth.  It’s hard to imagine, in our current era of polarization and division, a figure who was admired by both ends of the political spectrum.  When she passed away in September 1997, there were immediate calls from people all over the world, both Catholics and non-Catholics, for the Church to bypass the usual lengthy waiting period and declare her a saint right then and there.  Although the process was expedited, it still took about 19 years for her to be declared a saint.  That’s when all of a sudden, some very negative articles started attacking Mother Teresa.  In the summer of 2016, as the coverage of her canonization increased, news sites ran headlines saying things like this one: “Troubled individual” – Mother Teresa was no saint to her critics.  Some of these articles were mean, nasty, and quite frankly, diabolical, probably just trying to be shocking to get more attention.  Others listed complaints, and one podcaster summarized their arguments, saying: Her clinics weren’t clean, Calcutta wasn’t really that poor, she didn’t offer mental health support to those she ministered to, she was a racist colonizer, she pushed her religion on others, she acted as if suffering were a good thing, she took money from really bad people, and she cozied up to politicians.

I wanted to go all “scorched earth” at the time and go after these articles.  Even reading that list right now there’s that impulse to argue back at each of those ridiculous charges.  Chalk that up to my Italian heritage – I can get emotional.  However, considering the nature of the situation, I didn’t think that Saint Mother Teresa would approve of that approach, and I doubted that it would glorify God if I engaged in a heated exchange with them (even though I know I could have presented strong arguments).  I realized that I would be falling into the trap set by the devil to distract me from her canonization with these baseless criticisms.

More significantly, there was a profound lesson, or rather a reminder, in all of this.  The world, its powers, and those who align themselves with worldly things, harbor hatred towards God, and also towards those who strive to love and serve Him.  It’s important to remember this fact.  The sacred author emphasizes this uncomfortable reality in the first reading from the book of Wisdom.  Reflect on the opening words of that scripture passage: “The wicked say, let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training…” The writer of Wisdom is highlighting the stark contrast between good and evil – there is no middle ground.  When one reveres and tries to obey the Lord’s commandments, it makes those who don’t uneasy, not because they can’t, but because they don’t want to.

The impact is even more significant when one considers Jesus Christ’s invitation to “come and follow me” and decides to pursue that path.  Jesus challenges the power structures of this world.  In today’s passage, Jesus teaches His disciples that true greatness comes from humility and service, overturning the traditional hierarchy of importance. He advises us to emulate little children to progress in the Kingdom of God, not by being child-ish or immature, but by embodying qualities we so often find in innocent children:  such as openness, trust, willingness to respond, and serving without expectations.

That’s not easy – and again, acting like children doesn’t mean we’re naive about these things.  St. James’ letter in the second reading is direct: “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.” We know that some people are moved and respond to the Holy Spirit’s promptings when they encounter others trying to live faith-filled lives.  But some are threatened by this radical call to love and self sacrifice.  To imagine putting God first rather than themselves.

Where do we find ourselves? It’s great that we’re here for Sunday Mass. But we must be sober and honest about where our minds and hearts are, and the need for ongoing, deeper conversion of our minds and hearts. Father Mike Schmitz, an internationally respected Catholic priest and speaker, shared an interesting observation in one of his recent homilies: Until the mid-20th century, the word “priority” was never pluralized. You only had a priority, not priorities.  But somewhere along the way, more and more things crept in as being essential to people, and we started coming up with priorities for a lot of things. To the point that even the most faithful of Christians began to let the ways and things of the world, pursuing things that the world tells us are essential to our well-being and happiness, enter into our consciousness. To the point that we can find ourselves similarly made uncomfortable when confronted by someone who has a single priority where it should be- on Christ alone.  Which brings me back to Mother Teresa one of the most well known figures in recent history who most certainly was clear in what or rather who her priority was.  I love sharing the story of the time I met Mother Teresa.  I was in my third year of Seminary, and my Pastor, Father Eugene Marcone, after Sunday Mass, told me I needed to accompany him on an afternoon visit to a local convent.  It wasn’t until we were driving that he explained that it was the Missionaries of Charity convent in Plainfield, NJ, and that Mother Teresa was making a private visit to her sisters there – that he had been invited since he was assisting the sisters in teaching them a class in Catholic History every week.  When we got there, we were brought into a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for adoration.  Still, it was hard for me to focus my eyes on the altar (where it should’ve been) and not look back at the small, frail figure, kneeling in the last row in the corner.  After adoration, we were led out to a line of guests waiting to meet Mother Teresa.  It was so dramatic and powerful that I could hear my heart pounding as the line shortened and we got closer.  Father Marcone introduced me as a seminarian from St. Agnes Parish.  She asked where I was in my studies, and I remember saying “I’m in Third Theology for the Archdiocese of Newark at Seton Hall University.” She grabbed my hand with both of her hands looked me in the eyes and said said, “You must come to Calcutta,” and without thinking and without a filter, I immediately said, “You must talk to my Archbishop.”

Thankfully, she laughed—especially since once I got into the car, Father Marcone couldn’t wait to start roasting me.  “WOW—you shot down a future Saint—you didn’t even give it a second thought—I didn’t realize you were such an obedient seminarian…”

I knew that the Lord wasn’t calling me to go to Calcutta to serve in that mission, at least not yet.  If He had, Mother Teresa’s voice and suggestion would have resonated with me.  What did though was her love of Jesus in that Chapel before the Eucharist, as well as her love of Jesus in fulfilling her call and her vocation – that most certainly did and still does. I realize that Jesus has to be my priority in all that I say and do as a priest here in the Archdiocese of Newark, just as He has to be your priority in whatever state of life you find yourself in right now in all that you say and do – as a mother or father, as a husband or wife, as a brother or sister, as a son or daughter.  Jesus has to be the priority at home, at work, at school, even in the car…

We have to do that without any expectations of what the results will be, but simply longing for the Eucharist we receive to transform us into Him who we receive. Trusting that the Lord can and will use our selflessness, our example, and our witness in ways that we may never see or notice. Just as God used Mother Teresa—a flawed, imperfect soul, a sinner who knew her Savior—she became a beacon of hope and healing that changed the world.  Even if our striving to do that is met with unfair, unjust criticism, people questioning our sincerity or outright rejecting us for doing those things – which seem to be happening with greater regularity – that is our mission.

It reminds me of this poem that Mother Teresa had hanging in her bedroom and when was said to have shared often with her sisters called “Do it anyway”:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.