Thursday 14th Week Year 1
St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore
Quo Vadis
July 11, 2024
Introduction
I am very happy to be with all of you for this closing Mass and even happier that so many of you participated in Quo Vadis. Everyone has told me it’s been an awesome experience.
Years ago, when Quo Vadis began in Baltimore, we may have had 25 participants. Over the years, the number has grown steadily – and this year 77 of you came to these days of reflection, prayer, and fun – giving you the opportunity to listen the Lord who is speaking to your heart.
The Lord Loves Us
The Lord is calling you. Make no mistake. St. John Henry Newman once said, “God has created me for some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission . . . . I shall do good. I shall do his work.”
God is calling you to some definite service. He has in mind a specific vocation for you, and within that vocation, some specific work he wants you — and nobody else – to do. You might not be able to see this right away; sometimes you have to be a little older or maybe a lot older to see how God’s hand is guiding you through life. But make no mistake: God is calling you.
But how does God call you? Does he summon you into his office and give you orders? Does he tell you that you’re shipping out in 24 hours? No, the Lord calls gently but persistently, and always with love. The prophet Hosea says as much in our first reading when he tells us how God called Israel. “I drew them with human cords, with bands of love, I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks . . . .” The Lord calls you in the same way.
Way back, when I was in the 4th grade, the Lord spoke to my heart. For the first time, he put into my heart the thought that I should be a priest. I don’t think I would have paid much attention to his call had I not been convinced that God loves me and wants what’s best for me. Be convinced that God loves you with an everlasting love. Be convinced that God made you in his image and likeness. Be convinced that God is speaking to your heart right now. The Lord doesn’t wait until your old enough to drive or vote or have a job. The Lord is speaking to you now.
The Sending of the Apostles
In yesterday’s Gospel, we read how Jesus called his Apostles by name. Today, the Gospel tells us how Jesus sent his Apostles on mission. Their message was simple but beautiful: “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” And they were go out on mission without props or comforts. They main thing they brought with them was belief and trust in Jesus. They put their confidence in the One who sent them out on mission.
Accepting the mission, the definite service, God has in mind for each of us requires that we put our trust, our confidence in Jesus. And the only way to do that is to spend time with him in prayer. The Apostles were Jesus’ closest companions. He taught them. He brought them on his missionary journeys. He ate and drank with them. He prayed with them. If we are to discover and accept our vocation, we too must be the companions of Jesus. That doesn’t mean we walk with him all over Galilee. We become Jesus’ companions when we pray, go to Mass, confess our sins, and do our best to walk with Jesus in our hearts every day, whether at home or school, whether studying or playing sports. As our trust and confidence in Jesus grows, not only will we hear him speaking to our hearts. We’ll be more likely to say, “Here I am, send me!”
And what an exciting mission Jesus entrusted to his Apostles! The message was simple but the impact was profound: “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” The Kingdom of God is not some magical, mythical place but rather the presence of Jesus in our midst, the One who loves us like no other, the One who gave his life to save us. This is the truth and love people are yearning for deep down. To bring Jesus into other people’s lives – that is the adventure of a lifetime, and in a very few words, that is what a priest is ordained to do.
Conclusion
This past May, I celebrated the 47th anniversary of my ordination as a priest. There were no parties, no balloons, really not much of anything, except this: I knelt in the little chapel in my house and I gave thanks to God for calling me, unworthy as I am, to be a priest. To preach the mysteries of the Kingdom. To celebrate the Mass & Sacraments. To work closely with His people. To build up the Church. To advance his mission. Then I asked the Lord to give me continued strength and joy, so that every morning I could say to him, “Here I am, send me!”
“Here I am, send me!” If you are free enough and trusting enough to say that every morning, then, come what may, your life will be blessed beyond measure, for it will be the Lord who guides your steps, it will be the Lord who shows you the way you should go.