Homily originally presented May 12, 2019

Spread the Good News of Jesus so His Name is remembered forever!

How many of you are avid Michael Jackson fans?  a singer in the 80’s

How many of you are avid Elton John fans?           a singer/ piano player in the 70’s

How many of you are avid Beatles fans?                  a 4-member band in the 60’s

How many of you are avid Elvis Presley fans?         a singer in the 50’s

Those were some of the biggest names in music in the 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s,1980’s.

Many people were crazy about them!

They dressed like them, they went to their concerts, bought their records,

requested their songs on the radio, danced to their songs in nightclubs,

sang their songs in the shower, and hung their pictures in their bedrooms!

Those guys were world- famous Musicians,

     and many people followed them for years …

          but no more …, hardly anyone follows them today …

and the great majority of people don’t even know who they were.

Do you?                Are you an Elvis Presley fan?          Really?

Who was Elvis Presley?           He was called “The King of Rock”!

• Is that all he sang? Was that his favorite music?
• Elvis sang everything. He sang Rock & Roll, for sure ... but he also sang
  • Gospel (his favorite) ... Country ... Christmas ... Tender Love songs
• How many songs did he sing? over 700!
• What were three of his biggest hit songs?        Do you remember?
  • “Hound Dog” “Jailhouse Rock”       “Love me Tender”
• When was he born? 8, 1935
• When did he die? 16, 1977.      How?        Of a heart attack at age 42.

How about the Beatles? What were their names?     John, Paul, Ringo and George

Where were they from?            Liverpool, England

What were some of their most popular Albums ?  

A Hard Days Night     Help     Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

          Yellow Submarine          Abbey Road

Why can’t you remember them?

Did you forget ... or did you never hear of them in the first place?

What a loss.  They produced all this good music ... and we no longer listen to it ...

we can’t tell you the names of their songs ...

we can’t even tell you their names or anything about them!

Why?          so many people enjoyed their work back then.

What happened?           Why did the world’s appreciation of them go away?

Those guys were very talented creatures of God.

And they had many followers.

But eventually, those guys got old ... some are now dead ...

and as they went away ....so did their followers.

This happens all the time ... in many arenas in addition to music ...

creatures come along with great talent ...

in Sports or Politics  or Business ... and gain many followers ...

but eventually ... awareness of them and interest in them fades away!

Either the skill they had was superceded by someone else, or ...

the message of their greatness was not passed on.

But let me ask you about another name from the Past ...

and tell me what you know of Him.

The man, Jesus Christ.

He was a carpenter’s son from Nazareth.

Ever heard of Him?        You did?

That’s amazing ... because He lived not 40 or 50 years ago, but 2000 years ago!

And you know of Him ... that’s really special.    

How is that possible?

Was it His Message?

Was it His Miracles?

Both were mighty indeed ...

Both touched and transformed people back then ...

And both continue to touch and transform people to this day!

Yes,  the inner Peace and Happiness that people experienced 2000 years ago ...

is still present to people today!

How is that possible?     Who is this Jesus?

We heard Him tell us about Himself today in the Gospel Acclamation Jn. 10 saying:

“I am the Good Shepherd ... I know my sheep and mine know me.”

Who was Jesus?

He’s a Shepherd ... not of sheep ...

  but of souls ... human souls.

And where is He leading these souls?

To Himself ... and to union with His Father in Heaven!

This will not provide a temporary happiness ... but rather ... an eternal happiness

... nothing less than eternal happiness in Heaven.

Which is why today ... some 2000 years after He died ...

He still has followers ... many followers ... actually 2.3 Billion followers.

Are you a follower of His?

It’s not necessarily easy to do this.

Why?

Because the world is against it.

Recall how St. Paul struggled against the world in our First Reading from Acts.

While preaching the Good News of the Risen Lord, we hear that “the Jews ...

were filled with jealousy and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said.”

And in short order, “the leading men of the city stirred up a persecution of Paul...

and expelled (him) from their territory.”

With those kind of actions,

it’s a wonder that 1/3 of the world still follows Jesus Christ.

How has that been accomplished?        With great courage, conviction and zeal.

What fills His followers with courage, conviction and zeal?

What’s the motivation?          What’s at stake?            Souls!

The salvation of souls is at stake .

Listen again to what St. Paul said to the Jews

in our First Reading from Acts of the Apostles:

“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first,

but since you reject it (you) condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life.”

Paul is saying,without hearing and following the word of God in this life, people will unwittingly condemn themselves to eternal separation from God in the next life!

How awful!    Eternal separation from God instead of eternal life with God!

That tells us there’s a lot at stake!

Eternal Life is way longer than earthly life.

God has designed us for Himself ... and God is eternal.

God is Life ... God is Eternal Life.

We achieve this by putting our faith in Him.

Paul says today, “All who were destined for eternal life came to believe (in Jesus)”

Eternal life is life with God!

We gain it by having faith in Him

and in the one whom He sent to redeem us, His only Son, Jesus!

It’s Jesus, and He alone, who has the power to give us eternal life with God.

In John’s Gospel today, Jesus declares,

“My sheep hear my voice … and they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

Wow!   What a promise!    What a huge gift!    Eternal Life ... Eternal happiness!

This is Good News ... this is The Good News ... that everyone needs to know!

This is the News that we need to constantly remind ourselves of ...

it’s the News that must never  fade from our memory!

which is why it’s so important to come to Mass ... week after week ...

and be reminded of God’s marvelous Plan and Promise for us!

This is the News that

we need to pass on to our children and our children’s children

and to anyone who will listen.

Last night we celebrated the Graduation of 36 of our Seniors from Holy Spirit Catholic High School

I told them that my Notre Dame Catholic High School Graduation class was 312

          and I had many good friends among them.

I also told them that now 50 years later the number of classmates

that I have contact with... is zero!

They’ve gone away ... just like John, Paul, Ringo and George.

The happiness of the association we once had is no longer there. it’s faded away.

But ... I still have association with Jesus Christ ...

an association in fact that continues to grow stronger every year ...

because He lives forever and He promises Eternal Happiness.

Very Soon, we’ll offer a 3-session series on Bishop Baker’s Pastoral Letter ...

Called ... Formed ... Sent

so that we can all be effective Missionary Disciples in our circle of influence.

Let’s focus on knowing Jesus and following Him every day ...

so that we find our way to our Heavenly Home

taking as many others with us as we can!