Be a Salesman for Christ!
Homily preached on July 3, 2022
by Monsignor Michael Deering

Have you read the new July / August Issue of the One Voice Magazine?

I’m sure most of you read the May / June Issue that highlighted then Deacon Charles Deering on the Threshold of being ordained a Priest of Jesus Christ!

The theme of that Issue was Vocation ... the theme of this issue is Evangelization.

My Nephew, Father Charles was a good spokesman for being a Priest of Jesus. 

And my Friend, Paul Noto, is a good spokesman for being a Disciple of Jesus.

Please read the article ... it’s just one page long! You’ll love it and the others too.

You see ...  not everyone is called to be a Priest ...     

but everyone is called to be a Disciple!

And Paul is a good one!

You see, he enjoys being a Salesman for a Company.

but he’s most happy being a Salesman for Christ!

You may wonder ... why ... some 2000 years after the Resurrection ...

we need to be ... Salesmen for Christ.

The reason is simple ...

God gives every person the freedom to believe in Him or not.

Just as all children have to use their gift of knowledge ...

to learn their Alphabet and their Numbers ...

so too, all children have to use their gift of faith ...

to learn the truth and guidelines of God.

And it’s in this realm of developing “faith in God” ...

that Parents are the primary teachers of their Children.

Sadly, whole cultures have suppressed any mention of “Faith in God” for so long that whole countries, such as China and Russia are essentially God-less ...

and no longer engage in handing on faith in God ... to children.

And even in places where “belief in God” is permitted ... like America ...

there are still many Parents, who have fallen down on the job ...

and have not handed on their faith in God to their children and

their Grandchildren ... and so ... their faith ... died ... with them.

Just as learning how to read and write and count has to be learned ...

by each new human being ...

so too ... learning the Commandments and promises of our unseen, ever-living

God ... has to be learned ... by each new person too.

This process has gone well at times and then not well at other times in history.

For most of our 246 year history ...

we Americans have been a God-loving, God-fearing people.

And like no other country in the world ... we have been richly blessed by God.

It’s as if Isaiah was speaking of America when he prophesied in the last Chapter of his Book today writing: “Lo, I will spread prosperity over (You) like a river,

and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.”

For America certainly has been a blessed land ... the envy of other nations.

Back then, Isaiah was trying to encourage the Chosen People to reclaim the Blessings they once enjoyed by beginning again to honor and obey the God of Israel.

You see the Chosen people were just then returning to Jerusalem after spending some 50 years in captivity in Babylon and they were getting to see first hand ...

the complete destruction of their city and their Temple.

Jerusalem was the capitol of where “the people of God” lived.

But they walked away from God ... and they became enslaved in a foreign land.

Isaiah is promising that God will once again spread prosperity over his people ...

if they come back to honoring & obeying God, becoming again “a people of God”.

For the most part, America has always been  “a people of God”.

And God has certainly blessed us to be a prosperous people and a wealthy nation.

But for how long?   Can we expect to maintain God’s blessings when we remove Him from our School Rooms ... our Court Rooms ... and our Family Rooms?

History says no!   But the good news is that God never ceases to invite us back.

What does God want? The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 66 that we just prayed,

“Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,

Sing praise to the glory of his name;

Proclaim his glorious praise.”

Who does God want to do this?          Everyone!   Everyone!      The Psalmist says,

“Let all the earth worship and sing praise to you, sing praise to your name.”

Hence the beautiful Psalm response we just sang together 5 times.

“Let all the earth cry out to God with joy!”

Can you imagine what that would be like for all the earth to cry out to God with joy?

The Earth would be another Heaven; for that’s exactly what all are doing in Heaven!

I’ll never forget being up in Chicago when

the Chicago Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup trophy ... 6 years ago.

They had a parade for the team downtown … and 4 Million people attended!

4 million people attended from a city with a population of 8 million people!

4 million people gathered to cry out with joy to acclaim 14 men who had done what?

Well, they won the most victories playing the game of Hockey!

Well, if that accomplishment is worthy of such a large scale celebration of joyful  acclaim ... how much more should we be gathering in joyful celebration of God ...

who won victory over sin & death!

I wonder if those same 4 million people were in Church on Sunday …

“crying out to God with joy.”

St. Paul tells us clearly where his affection is focused. He says today,

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

You know, not only do we give God glory by praising His name …

but when we do ... we experience the great power of his Name.

We heard of this in Luke’s Gospel today where the 72 disciples were sent out on  

     mission and they came back rejoicing saying,

“Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”

Saying God’s name always helps us …

It brings God’s blessing … and it drives away demons!

The blessing of God and the protection of God …

we’ve experienced both of these for 246 years …

Why would we ever want to let them go?

But that’s exactly what we’re doing

as we allow the name of God to be removed from daily life.

More and more people are no longer attending Church.

More and more people are no longer praying.

For so many, God isn’t in their thoughts and their conversations!

How about you and your family?

How are you when it comes to reverencing and praising God?

Do you pray before meals ... even in public?    Paul Noto tells of the power of that.

Does your speech give you away as a disciple of the Lord?

If you spent an hour in conversation with someone ...

would they know you were madly in love with God?

Do you say things like: God willing … God forbid … By the grace of God …

God rest their soul.   God help us.    Thanks be to God?   God bless you! (text)

Is God in your mind … on your lips … and in your heart?

Does that happen only for an hour in Church on Sunday?

The benchmark is Heaven, where the praise of God

is constantly on the lips of all the Angels and Saints.

Can you imagine how life on earth would be if the name of God was always on our lips?    That would mean that we would have ...

holy conversations ... holy families ... holy schools and ... a holy land.

There is a God! Let the Jews call Him, Yahweh. Let the Muslims call Him Allah, and we Christians call Him Trinity ... Father Son and Holy Spirit!

At least we recognize the existence of God and that His ways are above our ways … that his Law … Eternal Law… Divine Law… is above our laws & Constitution.

Let’s strive in every possible way to keep the holy name of God ...

present and revered in our great country.

That’s God’s desire!

It starts here in Churches, Temples, Synagogues & Mosques

...  and is carried out to the world by people of God ... generation after generation.       

It continues with keeping God on our lips and in our hearts.  

Notice how we greet people here in Church, saying:

“The Lord be with you … and with your Spirit!”

That comes from the ending of Paul’s letter to the Galatians today

“The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

Let’s restore God to our thoughts and words and confidently praise His Holy Name.  Paul Noto says ... (page 16)

So, go and be a good Salesman for Christ!

God bless you!

“God bless you!”