Turn Up The Flame Homily Part 3

by Fr. Michael A. Van Sloun

The Fourth Sunday Of Lent, Year A
1 Sam 16:1,6-7,10-13; Ps 23:1-6; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41

Live As Children Of The Light

Sunday, March 2, 2008, 8:00 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Mass

 

In the second reading St. Paul says, “Live as children of light!” (Eph 5:8).
What a perfect verse for our Turn Up the Flame spiritual campaign.
Today is the Fourth Sunday of Lent and the fourth Sunday of our spiritual campaign.

 

I’ve got good news and bad news, and most of it is good news.

 

In a fund drive capital campaign, you get reports:
  how many pledge cards were returned,
  and how much money was pledged,
  which is very concrete, specific, measurable information.

 

The spiritual life, on the other hand, is not “dollars and cents,”
  it is difficult to gauge an exact amount,
  but you and can still measure progress.

 

Let’s start with what we can measure: pledge sheets returned last week.
The number returned last weekend was 1,717.  Fantastic!
Our previous record for pledges returned over an entire capital campaign was 1,500.
In one week we already have an all-time record by 217,
  and pledges are still steaming in.
To those of you who returned pledge sheets:  Thank you!  Congratulations!
And, we ordered 6500 red-hot Turn Up the Flame wrist bands,
  and their all gone, and people, young and old, are joyfully wearing them!

 

Last week’s pledging was outstanding,
  but it fell short of what I was hoping for.
I was hoping for 3000 which would have been roughly half of those worshipping.

 

This means that many who were in attendance last week did not return a pledge sheet.
Some people feel a bit guilty and have been offering me explanations (excuses):
  “I forgot mine;”
  “The counter is a mess and I can’t find it;”
  “I didn’t get around to doing it, but I plan to do it later.”
These are pretty good reasons, because it means the person still plans to participate.
  If you forgot it, bring it in any time.
  If you lost yours, I hope that you find it,
    and if you don’t, there are extras available here at church.
  If you have been too busy, or just haven’t taken the time,
    please, take a few moments, and simply do it!

 

I’ve heard a number of other reasons for not completing the pledge sheets
    that are a more troubling.
As St. Paul says in the second reading,
  we need to bring these reasons into the light
  and expose them for what they really are (Eph 5:11,12,13).

 

“The pledge sheet is just another thing to do, I’m too busy,”
   except that if we’re too busy to give God the priority that God deserves,
     our life is out of whack.

 

“I’m not returning a pledge form; what I do is my business,
   and I don’t want Big Brother looking over my shoulder.”
Except, no one is going through these forms, one-by-one, to keep track of you.
This kind of reasoning is a product of the false notion
  that religion is a private affair between a person and God ,which is not true!
Christianity is not a private religion.
We have a vertical, personal relationship with God,
  and a horizontal, communal relationship with God.
Jesus founded a community; we’re all members of the Body of Christ.
Returning the pledge sheet is an opportunity to make a public demonstration of our faith,
  and an opportunity for us to help each other be accountable.

 

Another fascinating reason that I’ve head a number of times:
  “I’m suspicious of all this, I’m guessing the parish has a hidden agenda,
     I’d bet this is a ‘set up’ for another fund drive.”
I’ve told you once, and I’ll tell you again, there is no fund drive in the works.
I’m sick of fund drives.  You’re sick of fund drives.  We’ve have five in the last ten years.
You have to take my word for it: this is a spiritual campaign, and nothing else.

And maybe the most troubling excuse of all.
  “More junk from the church, I’m just not interested,”
  and then everything gets tossed in the trash.  How sad!

 

It is very important for me to speak to the objections, not to be negative,
  but to expose them for what they are:  invalid, and then to disarm them.
It is the solemn duty of the prophet, the priest/pastor in this case,
  to name what is happening in the community,
  and to cry out for the people to love God more and to follow God more closely,
  and to inspire disciples to Turn Up the Flame!
Please, I urgently request your participation.

 

One of my pledges to you is to give you regular feedback on results,
  and I’m already in a position to give you a preliminary report
  on some of the simply fabulous spiritual things that are happening
  with the Turn Up the Flame campaign already, just one week after pledging.

 

On this Laetare Sunday, “joy Sunday,” these are reasons for great joy.

I had a visit with a kindergarten-age boy on Friday at the Fish Fry.
  His teacher sent a note home for his disruptive behavior.
  His mom and dad are little irritated because his room has been a mess.
So this six-year old reported to me that he made two big pledges:
  “No more notes home,” and, “I’m going to keep my room neater.”
Right on!  This is precisely how Turn Up the Flame is supposed to work.
  Age-appropriate spiritual progress.
  This is reason for great joy!

 

So I was in the drug store,
  and a young lady in her twenties came up to me and admitted, a little embarrassed,
“Father, I usually go to Mass about one Sunday a month.
   My pledge, I’m going to go twice a month.”
No argument from me. 
Turn Up the Flame is about spiritual improvement.
I actually debated a category, “Increase in Sunday Mass attendance”
  with check offs like:  “Zero to one,” “Zero to two,” or “Two to four,”
  except it probably wouldn’t be right to give an option
    that doesn’t fit the Third Commandment (Ex 20:8).
But this young lady has the right idea, she’s moving ahead.
  This is reason for great joy!

 

So another gentleman, a middle-age fellow, a regular church goer, told me:
  “My pledge is to read one chapter of the Bible every day.
    I’ve gone to Mass all my life, but I’ve spent very little time reading the Bible.
    And so far, so good.”
An excellent pledge.  His flame is going up, up, up!
  This is reason for great joy!

Another man, a happily married fellow, told me:
  “Every day since the pledge sheet came out,
      I have kissed my wife good-bye every morning before I leave for work,
      and I have gone out of my way to tell her that I love her, every day, without fail,
      and it has already given our marriage a boost.”
Marriage is the main adult vocation of our parish,
  and for those of you who are married,
  the more you love your spouse, the more you love God,
  and the brighter is your flame.
This business about “kissing your wife or husband each morning,”
  I got this idea from some research done by the University of Chicago sociology department.
The sociologists were studying predictive factors for success in marriage.
The single, highest-ranked predictive factor for longevity in marriage
  was not similar upbringing, not similar interests, not even praying together.
According to this University of Chicago study,
  the single-highest predictive factor for marriages that stay together
    is couples who kiss each other every morning.
And Church is about helping people to set the right priorities,
  and to be faithful to their most important spiritual commitments.
This is reason for great joy!

 

Fr. John Floeder offered his first session on prayer this week,
  “Prayer 101,” the fundamentals of how to pray, and 90 attended.
This is reason for great joy!

 

You can feel it, it’s in the air.
Person after person is Turning Up the Flame!
We have so much to celebrate!

 

This week we have something new again.
Spiritual reading is critical to growing in one’s faith.
After Mass, out in the Gathering Space,
  tables are set up with a nice selection of spiritual books:
    Bibles;
    a number of books by Pope Benedict;
    books on the teachings of the Church, like the Catechism, and encyclicals;
    and a variety of books on prayer;
    and many different children’s books.
If you haven’t done much spiritual reading recently,
  this is a tremendous way to infuse light into your spiritual life,
  a great way to Turn Up the Flame.
I would like to invite you to stop at these tables after Mass,
  and check out these books, and maybe select one,
  because spiritual reading is a great help to making spiritual progress.

This is a historic moment for our parish.
Who else is offering a spiritual revival like we have?

The blind man grew in his faith (Jn 9:7,17,33,38).
Jesus wants us to grow in our faith (Mt 6:30; 8:26; 14:31).
Jesus, who comes to us in the Eucharist at this Mass,
  will help us.

Let us, you and me, seize the moment!
If you have not made a pledge, please, do so.
If you have made a pledge, please, do your best to be faithful to it.
Jesus is the Light of the World (Jn 9:5).
May we receive his light,
  and like clean mirrors,
  Turn Up our Flames and reflect his light more and more brightly.