Let us continue building the Church

XXI “A” Mission appeal Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

I few years ago I was on a pilgrimidge to Israel. One day we took a very long bus ride to the most northern part of Israel in the Golan Heights. It was a long windy road and a few people got sick on the bus. I complained to our tour guide and said, “why did you bring us here?” He replied, “because this is where your Church began. This is where Jesus told Peter that he was the rock.” I said I thought that it was in the upper room in Jerusalem on the Feast of Pentecost. I am not sure if that is where Jesus told Peter that he was the rock, but the guide had one thing right. The moment when Jesus told Peter that he was the rock was an important moment in the beginning of our Church. The Gospel reading is about our Church and Peter’s role as the Pope. But I want to back up a little bit to this all important question that was poised by Jesus. “Who do you say that I am?” For me, that is what makes us a Church, that we know who Jesus is. That is the first qualification for being Pope is to know who Jesus is. Peter was chosen not because he was a good administrator or because he had a big fishing boat, no Peter was chosen because he knew who Jesus was and therefore he could help others to know Jesus is. That is why Jesus gave him the keys to the kingdom. Just like Peter’s sucessor, who just happens to be from Chicago. He was chosen not because of his intelligence or because he is a white sox fan. No, he was chosen first and foremost because he knows who Jesus is. His first job is to help the rest of us come to know Jesus as well. That is what the Church is about. That is the key thing of being a follower of Jesus. To know who Jesus is. To proclaim that he is the Christ the Son of the Living God. So to be a Church our first mission is to help others know Jesus, to help others make a profession of faith. Not a catechetical or by the book understanding of who Jesus is. But coming to know who Jesus is in a personal way, to claim him as a Lord and Savior. I am a Redemptorist Missionary and I have been invited to talk about our Redemptorist Mission. The Redemptorist were founded by St. Alphonsus Ligouri in 1732 to proclaim the Gospel to the poor, to help them to know Jesus so they could make their profession of faith. To continue the mission of the Church. I was a missionary in Brazil, in the Amazon Jungle. I would like to share briefly about our mission along the Amazon River. Where the Redemptorists work in the Amazon Jungle is huge area. We have several large parishes with territory about the size of the state of Connecticut. The parishes have a city or county seat and then hundreds of chapels spread out along the river. My parish Santa Ana was in the city of Coari. I was pastor for 130 church communities spread out along the different rivers that flowed into the Amazon. There are no roads in the Amazon Jungle, the only way to travel is by boat. We have a parish boat, and we would travel up and down the rivers celebrating masses and the other sacraments. I would like to tell you about one of our lay missionaries in Brazil: Dona Vado. Dona Vado is leader of one of chapels. She is catechist and also leads services on Sundays because we are almost never able to come to the chapels on Sundays. One day I was traveling the Upper Copea river and we stopped along the way inviting people to the place where we would be celebrating mass. Often times, the people would get into our boat, tie their canoe behind us and travel upriver to the chapel. We stopped at Dona Vado’s community and announced the mass and asked if anyone was coming to mass. A young boy was at the river’s edge, and he said that everyone was out working in the fields, no one could come to mass. So, we continued on to the chapel. As I was celebrating mass about the time of the offertory two older women entered the chapel, Dona Vado and her sister. When they entered the chapel, my heart sank because I knew they came from a community far down the river. After mass I apologized to Dona Vado and I explained what happened. She said, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault. I already gave my nephew a good calling out.” I then asked, “Dona Vado, how did you get to mass today?” “Paddling,” She replied. She had paddled for five hours up the Amazon River in the bright sun. I said, “Dona Vado, that’s just too dangerous. With the crocodiles, anacondas and piranhas you took too big a risk. You shouldn’t have come today.” “Too big a risk!” she snorted. The risk my sister and I took was nothing like the risk that my Jesus took to be here for me on this altar. My sacrifice was nothing like his sacrifice.” She added, “You only come here once a year and I thought, if I don’t come today, I will have to wait another year before I can receive my Jesus and I can’t be away from my Lord for that long.” Dona Vado like Peter knew who Jesus was. I was supposed to be the minister bringing Jesus to her, but she taught me a great lesson that day. I am currently ministering in Mexico, Torreon Coahuila. The Redemptorist in Mexico are greatly blessed we currently have 54 young men who are in different stages of formation to be Redemptorist Missionaries. Most of our candidates come from poor families and because of your generosity we never have to turn away any of them away. We also have missions along the border with the USA and with indigeous communities in the state of Puebla. I thank Fr. Rivas your pastor for this opportunity to preach on the Redemptorists Missions in Brazil and Mexico. And I thank you for your generosity. Peter began our Church with his profession of faith. With your generosity Dona Vado will be able to continue to minister to people along the Amazon River. Our seminarians will be able to continue their studies. Your generosity today will allow them to share the message of Jesus. The Church was built upon Peter the Rock. We continue to do that building today. God Bless You!