Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Mass for Legatus
Basilica of the Assumption
May 23, 2024
Tonight, I am happy to welcome all of you who associated or perhaps soon to be associated with Legatus back to the Basilica of the Assumption for this annual gathering. This is always a lively and enjoyable evening, a time to be together, and an opportunity for you to renew yourselves in the mission you have embraced, serving as ambassadors for Christ in the midst of the world.
Belonging to Legatus means living out your discipleship in a missionary way, not only something reserved to some private sphere, but something that impacts the whole of who you are and what you do, privately and publicly, personally, and professionally. Discipleship which is not lived in every aspect of our life is not truly discipleship. Jesus is Lord of all and so if we are to follow him his reign must extend to every aspect of our lives.
This is shown, quite dramatically in the readings for today’s Mass. At first these readings may seem to be merely words of woe, harsh rebukes of the materially prosperous. I’ll admit that at this point there is often a temptation on the part of the preacher to “contextualize” the readings, dulling the sharp edges or adding some sugar to make the medicine go down. When we do this, however, the Word of God and the call to conversion contained therein is, in effect, emptied of its meaning and power. Mindful of this then let us look at the readings the liturgy offers us tonight.
First, we hear the warning of the Epistle of James, “Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.” This passage decries those who have profited through unethical practices or fraudulent dealings, and it warns of the punishment in store for those who live in luxury through ill-gotten gains. Such people have stored up their treasure for the last days, but they have done so in passing things. As such, all that they have gained will come to nothing: their clothes will be moth eaten, their gold and silver will corrode.
While I am far from a Marxist, I think it is safe to say, that looking around in our world today, we can think of those for whom this warning is apt. Do we not see in some corners a tendency to take all you can whatever the cost, living by Gordon Gecko’s declaration, “greed is good”. This is, of course, a shortsighted way of doing business, aimed at the quick profit rather than the hard work of building something to last, something which produces profit to be sure, but also something that builds up society.
As disciples of the Lord in the world of business and public life, you are witnesses to a different way to live and different way to work. Rooted in the Church’s Tradition, her social teaching, and her belief about the nature of the human person and the dignity of work – you are witness to better way of living and working that comes with having feet firmly rooted in the truth and eyes set on the world to come.
This is not just good living; it is also good business! Experience teaches those who engage in their professional life with honesty and integrity are likely to be more successful in the long term. The Epistle of James reminds us that the things of this world will pass away. As such, wise persons do not invest all they have in those passing things, but rather use those things for the glory of God and the good of their neighbor. As Catholics in business and public life, you are ambassadors to the world of this better way. You are those disciples in the midst of the world, witnesses to a different way to live and to work.
As ambassadors, as disciples in the midst of the world, you are, safe to say, held to a higher standard. To be a follower of the Lord means to follow him in all we do. How much easier some might think life would be if we could float through life caring not about the impact of our actions nor worried not about the witness we give or fail to give through those actions. But for the disciple it cannot be so. As Fr. Giussani once put it, “the only challenging part of being a Christian is that everything matters.”
We see this in the Gospel today, which warns us of the danger of scandal. Scandal is not just doing something shocking but doing something which leads another into sin. The Gospel is clear: If there is something in our lives that leads us or those around us to sin, cut it out. Our words and actions have power, our witness matters. Just as lives lived in the light of Christ lead others to see him and to follow him, Christians who are petty, quarrelsome, self-interested, unfaithful, proud—or anything of the sort – are a roadblock to evangelization, leading people away from Christ. Our actions matter; people see what we do both good and bad. Let us never forget the power we have to witness to Christ or the barrier we can be to the light of his goodness and truth.
As ambassadors of Christ, disciples in the midst of the world, you have a very challenging vocation: witnessing to a better way to live and work, avoiding anything that leads people away from Christ, but rather being a sign that points to Christ.
Mindful of this challenge the Lord says to each of us: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” To follow the Lord, to be his faithful witness, is not something accomplished by our own power. We are weak; we fall short; we often seem not to have what it takes. In this we realize that there is within our heart a poverty, a lack – but as the psalm response reminds us tonight “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. Our fullest wealth comes from our poverty, that the provision of God might be poured out in abundance. Our greatest strength is found in that weakness, that the power of Christ might be seen in us.
Tonight we come to seek the strength that comes from God, poured out in the Eucharist, given to us as food for the journey. We come to this altar together, that in the communion of the Church, and in the lived experience of this community – we might find fellow pilgrims who help us along the way. The call before you is challenging: to be ambassadors of Christ, to live as disciples in the midst of the world – but you do not go it alone. In this perhaps is the greatest witness to a world that puts its hope in passing things and plants its feet on the shifting sands of self-reliance: By our lives may we say to the world: Jesus is lord of all, and I can do all things in him who strengthens me but apart from him I can do nothing.