Be Hopeful and preach the Good News to the Hopeless!
Homily originally presented February 7, 2021
by Monsignor Deering

Forty years ago, there was a marvelous Personal Effectiveness Training Program offered in ten major cities of America that helped people learn to operate at their full potential in the way they lived their lives.

The program was offered by a company called Lifespring based in San Francisco, California. There were 3 parts to the Program:

a 4-Day Training called Basic followed by a 4-Day Training called Advanced, followed by a 60-Day Experience called Leadership. 

This third level ... the Leadership experience involved having those who had completed the first 2 levels of Basic and Advanced, now carry the wisdom and happiness they had obtained from the Lifespring Training out to the world, in whatever their Profession or Vocation was ... and share some of that wisdom and happiness they had obtained and encourage others to sign up and experience it too!

The company Lifespring didn’t do any advertising themselves .. rather they relied on the enthusiasm and the efforts of past participants to go out and recruit others

to fill the seats of future Training Programs with new participants.

This made Lifespring a self-perpetuating organization.

I took the Lifespring Training while living in San Francisco in 1989. Considering it an especially powerful training program, I made a point day after day, for 60 days, to speak about the Lifespring Training Program to the people I would meet. This included family, friends, neighbors, customers and strangers.

Many people were not interested ... some people were.    During that 60-day period, I had the pleasure of sponsoring 10 people through the Program and delighted to see their growth and satisfaction.

I remember wondering back then ... and continue to hold the thought to this day: That if this is the kind of success that’s possible in passing on the news of a powerful Training Program, can you imagine the success that’s possible if we were to excitedly pass on the News of the power of Jesus Christ? 

We wouldn’t be filling Hotel Meeting Rooms ... we’d be filling Church Pews!

Isn’t it true that when you find a good restaurant or see a good movie or read a good article, you can’t wait to go and tell others about it? You see, once we’re sold on something, we usually find great delight in passing on that information to others.

That’s exactly what Jesus wants us to do with the Good News about Eternal Life. He wants us to go and pass it on ... to everyone we meet!   

St. Paul certainly did as we just heard from his writing to the Corinthians.

And St. Paul is a model for all of us ... because you see ...

all of us … everyone of us … needs to be about spreading the Good News.

It’s the most important work in the world. 

Our Catechism puts it this way,

“Those who with God’s help have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world.”

Yes, those of us who know Jesus ... should be moved ... out of His love for us  ...

to proclaim the Good News.     Where?       Everywhere in the world!

Jesus models this in our Gospel today.

He no sooner spends time in one town ... healing all who came to Him ...

that He says, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also.”

What was Jesus’ attitude?      I must continue to preach!

And what was Jesus preaching?     He was preaching the Good News.

And, what’s the Good News? We spoke of it last Sunday ... and many Sundays.

Can you verbalize what it is?

Can you explain and articulate to another person the Good News of Jesus Christ?

Well, let’s see ...

Could you share the message that God loves us? That’s good news!

Could you share the message that God forgives us our sins? That’s great news!

Could you share the message that God will never leave us and that His desire

is for us to live with Him forever in Heaven if we but accept His invitation?

                                                                                      That’s the best news ever!

If you understand these truths,

then you know much of the Good News of Jesus Christ. It’s also called the Gospel.

Now, what’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word Gospel?

You might say ... well, one of the books written by Matt, Mark, Luke & John.

And you may have been thinking of those books during our Second Reading today from 1^st Corinthians, when Paul speaks of proclaiming the Gospel.

You probably figure he was referring to one of the 4 written Gospels, right?

No, he wasn’t!

Because Paul never saw the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John …

for they hadn’t been written yet!

The first Gospel wasn’t written until the year 65 … the year that Paul died!

And the other 3 Gospels were written much later ...  in the years 85, 87 and 100!

Yet Paul speaks today of proclaiming the Gospel!

In just 6 verses, Paul uses the word Gospel  ... 4 times!

But Paul didn’t have the written Gospels!     So what’s he referring to?

He’s referring to the message of the Gospels ... that while not written down yet …

was being communicated verbally from person to person!

Paul’s letters substantiate the important role of oral transmission of the Gospel, that while not written down yet was being spread orally all over the land.

Paul writes today, “I offer the gospel free of charge.”

Which meant, Paul was going about ...

verbally spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ

And why was he doing this?

Paul writes, “so as to win over as many as possible.”

What’s Paul trying to do?        Save souls!

He’s spreading the Gospel to win souls for the Kingdom of God.

Paul goes on, “I have become all things to all people, to save at least some.

All this I do for the sake of the Gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.”

What was Paul’s mission and purpose?    To save souls!    His own and others!

It’s as if Jesus had dispatched him with the plea,

“Paul, bring them into my Training Class.”

So, what is our purpose and mission in life?

The Catechism states, “All Christ’s faithful are called to hand on the Good News

from generation to generation, by professing the faith,

by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayers.”

There you have it! That’s our purpose and mission as Christians … we’re to share the good news of Jesus Christ in order to save souls … our own and many others.

Yes, our purpose in life is to live the Gospel and to spread the Gospel ...

so that we and many others can live forever with God in Heaven.

Are we obligated to do this?

Listen to what Paul said today, “Woe to me if I do not preach it!”

God is counting on us to play a part in salvation, and woe to us if we don’t do it.

Knowing that the Gates of Heaven open …

and the Holy Spirit is dwelling in our souls since the day of our Baptism,

  you could say that everyone’s been formally invited to enter into God’s home.

But as with any invitation, there’s the possibility that some people will either

misplace it    or forget about it    or consciously choose to ignore it.

So, while all are invited to experience the redemption won by Jesus for all ...,

          it still remains for souls to accept the gift that’s been offered ...

 by seeking God and following His ways.

That’s where we come in ... helping others to accept the Gift.

Sadly, there are many who buy into the call of the secular world that says

that life is all about the here and now,

 and they wind up scattered and confused and disappointed.

For those who have lived and worked in this world for a while, I think you’ll agree that what we see around us is enough to fill you with frustration and even despair.

 Nothing stays the same, things get old, they wear out & break, people suffer & die.

So what’s the point … it can seem so hopeless.

That’s the very feeling expressed by Job in our First Reading today.

You may remember the story of Job,

who was living a rich and satisfying life until he lost everything.

Job had it all and lost it all!

In no time at all, Job lost his herds of 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 oxen to raiders.

He lost his 7 sons and 3 daughters when their house collapsed.

And he broke out in boils from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet.

For the next 35 chapters the Book of Job documents how Job wrestled with this awful situation. Today in Chapter 7 he says: “is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?

I’ve been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me.”

Can any of you can relate to this? Those of you in unfulfilling jobs.

Those of you, who are struggling to make ends meet and can never seem to get ahead, there always seems to be another expense for the home or the car or a sick child.

Those of you who are battling some sickness, those who are on long term journeys of wellness, who are going back to the doctor again and again for care or treatment.

To you, life doesn’t seem so great.

No, as Job says, life can seem to be a drudgery.

Where the nights are “filled with restlessness” and

“the days … come to an end without hope.”

If this describes your situation, then I ask you to read the end of the Book of Job.

Read the last 5 chapters beginning with Chapter 38.

It’s there that you will be reminded that there’s way more than the eye can see.

At the end of the book, God speaks to Job and informs him about Eternity, about which he knows absolutely nothing.

And Job comes to appreciate the vast power and loving plan of God.

Job is healed, he regains all his herds, he is blessed with several more children.

How appropriate our Responsorial Psalm today.

“Praise the Lord for he is good,

He heals the broken-hearted & binds up their wounds

Great is our Lord and mighty in power.”

God’s power is for good. And God’s power is available in this world.

We saw this clearly in our Gospel today where Peter’s Mother-in-law is laying sick with a fever, but the touch of Jesus makes the fever leave her immediately!

Jesus went on to cure all the people that came to his door.

The Gospel, written and oral, gives testimony to God’s power

to keep us from getting frustrated and despondent.

Life is difficult … but there’s way more to life than we see.

First of all there is His divine power that we have access to.

And there is Eternal Life … that is our destiny.

You know, from the day of our Baptism, we’ve been infused with the virtue of Hope.

And we should let this gift empower us through the high and low spots in our life.

Because no matter how tough things may get here … this is not the end of the story.

There’s more!   God’s desire is to bring us home to Him in Heaven.

Our Home isn’t here on this earth. Our Home is in Heaven.

So, let’s not let the coming difficulties drive us to despair.

It’s not just about what we see with our eyes.    There’s way more involved!

We can stand to lose many material things as Job did.

But there’s one thing we should never lose ... and that’s hope …

hope in the power and plan of God.

Remember, God’s plan is simple … that we come to know Him and love Him and serve Him in this life, so we can take our place with Him forever in Eternal life!

What’s our destiny?

It’s Heaven ... and God has the power and the plan to take us there!

We all can play a part in salvation … for ourselves and for others.

That’s how the Church continues ... it is self-perpetuating  ... with the members earnestly sharing the happiness they’ve found in the knowledge and love of God.

That’s how the Training Company “Lifespring” perpetuated itself  ...

   the participants of that training went out and shared their happiness with others.

But you know what? Lifespring isn’t around any more! As good as it once was,     

  once the number of people sharing their enthusiasm for the training declined, they were no longer getting a sufficient number of attendees ..and they had to close!

And that same thing is happening ... to God’s Church.

As fewer and fewer people choose to attend Mass ... that means that ...

fewer and fewer people are being fed spiritually with God’s wisdom and grace ...

which means that fewer and fewer people are able to share their delight with God’s direction and care ...

which means that the number of new people attending Church declines ...

often to the point of having to close the church.

Many Churches in Europe ... are closed.

Many churches in the Northeast and Northwest United States ... have closed.

Why?    Because the Faith there ... has grown cold.

It all goes back to the teaching of Pope St. John Paul the Great:

“The Church exists to evangelize!”

And now you see why! Without people in every generation living and sharing

the happy union they now have with God and the permanent happy union they will one day have with God in Heaven, the faith in God grows cold ... and dies.

Please ... love your faith ... it’s a huge gift from God.

Please ... live your faith ... it’s the way you get home to Heaven.

Please ... share your faith ... it’s the way you perpetuate the Church.

You know, the Training I took in California had a providential name: Life-spring.

That’s exactly what God’s Holy Spirit is. It’s the spring of life that wells up within our hearts and souls and guides us to Everlasting Life ...our Eternal Lifespring.

So, let’s use the joy and enthusiasm of the Holy Spirit to be like Jesus & Paul

actively sharing the Good News of our Catholic Faith

with as many people as we can.

Remember our ultimate goal ... it’s to get to Heaven ...

and take as many people with us as we can!