We want them to know Jesus

By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami

Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at the opening Mass of the annual Catechetical Day, celebrated Oct. 28, 2023, atArchbishop McCarthy High School in Southwest Ranches. The Mass was celebrated next door at St. Mark Church.

Today we celebrate the feast day of two of Jesus’ Twelve Apostles, Simon, and Jude — and we also celebrate our Archdiocesan Catechetical Day. There is a rich variety of speakers, of sessions that I hope will enrich all of you – and give you some extra tools to take home with you to your parishes.

In the Gospel reading, we see Jesus calling the twelve. Now, Jesus did this only after spending a long night in prayer. He didn’t make his decision “on the fly.”  Nevertheless, we might wonder why Jesus chose these – and not others. They were a motley crew: impetuous Peter, tax collector Matthew, Simon, we are told, was a Zealot. Some today might call him a terrorist. Jude actually has the same name as Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. We just call him Jude so as not to confuse the two.

As St. Paul would later say, God chose the weak to confound the strong, those whom the world considers foolish to confound those who think of themselves as wise.

So don’t allow yourselves to be intimidated by the challenges you may face in your catechetical ministry. Just trust God and say “yes” to Jesus. “Thank you” for saying “Yes.” Thank you for being here this morning – and thank you for your generous gift of your time, your talent, and your example in handing on the faith to others in your parishes.

And as we “officially” inaugurate the new Catechetical year we do so within the context of a Mass, a “Eucharist.”

“Eucharist” means thanksgiving and it is the highest prayer we can offer as Catholics, for our participation in the Eucharist which re-presents for us the saving sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross for the salvation of the world, is the “source and the summit” of our Christian lives. The Sacrifice of the Cross was Jesus’ gift of himself to the Father for us – to save us. And in the Mass that same sacrifice offered on the Cross in a bloody manner is re-presented in an unbloody manner so that in our communion in his Body and Blood we might have the strength to make gifts of ourselves to the Father and to one another.

The Church in the US is undertaking a “Eucharistic Revival” this year that will conclude with a Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July 2024. They expect some 80,000 people to gather where the Indianapolis 500 takes place. I hope some of you will be there – along with me.

The Eucharistic revival is meant to renew, strengthen, and help us better articulate our faith in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in whose Body and Blood we have communion.

In today’s first reading, St. Paul tells the Ephesians that we are “members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him,” he adds, “the whole structure is held together.” Again, the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the “source and summit” of our Christian lives.

God once fed the Hebrews who wandered in the desert in search of the Promised Land with manna. God continues to feed his people with the holy Eucharist, food to strengthen us on our pilgrim journey through this “vale of tears.”

The Eucharist reminds us that our commitment as Catholics to work for peace and justice in the world is not born of some ideology or political platform; rather, it is born of a person, Jesus Christ. And therefore, our “solidarity” with the world of pain (and I like to remind people that here in South Florida, we are surrounded by islands of pain: Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela), our solidarity is a call to a commitment expressed in allegiance not to lofty propositions but to concrete persons in whom we are to see the face of Christ. This solidarity is lived out through the practice of what the Catechism calls the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. God takes the side of the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized — through the works of mercy, we take their side too.

Ita Missa est. In Latin, the Mass ends with these words: The Mass is ended. Ita Missa est. But perhaps a better translation would be, go, it is the sending. Nourished by the Eucharist and instructed by the Word of God, we are sent to heal the broken-hearted, to set captives free, to announce good news to the poor. The Eucharist, Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament commits us to service.

Your ministry as catechists is a particular type of service: for you teach not only by your words, but by your example. What you said in the classroom won’t be remembered as much as how you said it, and how you lived what you said.

Don’t be discouraged if sometimes those you teach can seem to be “hard nuts to crack.” To paraphrase St. John Paul II in speaking of today's youth, people today, whatever their possible ambiguities, still have a profound longing for those genuine values which find their fullness in Christ. “Is not Christ,” John Paul II asks, “the secret of true freedom and profound joy of heart? Is not Christ the supreme friend and the teacher of all genuine friendship? If Christ is presented to young people as he really is, they experience him as an answer that is convincing, and they can accept his message, even when it is demanding and bears the mark of the Cross.”

So, present Christ as he really is and allow those whom you teach to experience him an answer that is convincing. In catechesis, we don’t what people just to know something about Jesus. We want them to know Jesus.