Called, Formed, Sent | 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time | Sunday Reflection

By: Fr. Brian Morris, Class of 2017

One of my favorite quotes about the resurrection is by Charles Colson, a former advisor to President Nixon who served time in prison for his role in the Watergate coverup. While in prison he had a major conversion to Christianity after reading C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. He said about his conversion:

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that Truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world, and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 Apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”

Jesus called twelve men to be His primary witnesses to the world. While many other men and women over the next 2,000 years would witness to the Truth of the Resurrection, these 12 men were called to be the first. They would be the first bishops of the Church. From them would flow generations of bishops and priests who would shepherd the people of God, with the graces of the sacraments, into the Heavenly Kingdom for which they had been made.

These twelve men were ordinary men. They were not scholars or men of great authority. They were fishermen and tax collectors, they were laborers and resistance fighters. Although St. Paul, who was an educated Pharisee, would eventually join the ranks, these first twelve were ordinary men. They were ordinary men chosen to take on an extraordinary mission. They were men who, in any other situation, would not be caught dead together, as in the case of Matthew and Simon. They were men who were chosen not because of what they were, but because what Jesus knew they could become.

When I was Vocations Director I got a little book that listed every priest in my diocese and their ordination date. I put it all into a spreadsheet and check it so I can wish a blessed anniversary to my brother priests. Every month has a few anniversaries in it, but for us in Providence, the month of June is packed full. About 60% of the priests in my diocese were ordained in June. And as I look through that list, I see men who have come from many diverse backgrounds. I see men who were accountants and engineers, teachers and lawyers, pilots and pharmacists. One guy was a short order cook, another was a speech therapist before entering the seminary. I myself was a stock broker before I entered. And even the guys who entered right after high school or college had very diverse backgrounds. Some were athletes, others musicians or thespians. Some were great students and others struggled with their studies. And we all come from different areas of our little state. Some from the inner city of Providence, others from the suburbs of south county and yet others from the little hamlets in the north. And yet some have come from places outside the state like Vietnam, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Like the Apostles, none of us were chosen because of who or what we were. We were chosen by Christ to serve as His priests because of what He saw we could become. We have been chosen to become shepherds in the Church, to lead the people entrusted to us by God and our bishop to a life of holiness. To help our people to become saints. We all started off as ordinary men who knelt before our bishop at our ordinations to then rise with the power to do extraordinary things. While I have yet to raise anyone from the dead or cleanse leprosy, I have cleansed souls from the stain of sin. I have turned bread and wine into the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. I have given grace to those suffering illness and even those dying in order to endure their sufferings well. The grace of the priesthood, started when Jesus called those twelve men to be His apostles, is the ultimate microcosm of the Body of Christ as a whole. Ordinary men, through the calling of Christ, doing extraordinary things.

Because it doesn’t stop with those original twelve or just with those few who were called to the sacrament of Holy Orders. It is true for every man or woman who enters the Body of Christ through baptism. No one should think that they do not have anything to offer the Church. No one should think that they cannot be an instrument of God’s love in the world. Every

person has a role to play in the Divine Plan of salvation. Just look to the saints. Just like in the priesthood, the saints have come from a variety of backgrounds. Some have been doctors, lawyers, educators, and workers. Some have been highly educated and others hardly knew how to read. Some have been royalty and others paupers. Being called to be a disciple of Christ has nothing to do with what you’ve done in this world. It has to do with what God has done for you, and how you are called to bear witness to that Truth; to bear witness to the truth that Jesus is risen from the dead, that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and that there is a place for you there.