30 September 2008
HOMILY
At the beginning of this homily I would like to greet all of you, the Minnesota patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums. It is a privlege to celebrate this mass. I greet Mr Johan Van Parys in a particular way, and assure him that I would like to offer this mass for the eternal rest of the souls of his parents.
In today’s gospel we read from St Matthew that the Kingdom of God is like a dragnet that picks up all sorts of things… good and bad, desireable and undesireable. The dragnet is cast off the side of the boat and spreads out over a large area, catching whatever it in its path. This way of fishing is very indiscrimant. Far from the skilled fisherman who uses particular bait, a specific leur and drops the line to a certain depth in search of that one trophy fish, dragnet fishing seeks to catch everything. Then the fisherman must pull up the net and separate out what he really wants. Jesus in the gospel compares this moment of separation to the moment of the final judgement.
In just a few hours you will all witness the overwhelming frescoe of “the Final Judgement” by Michelangelo on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. This mural speaks to us in colorful and swirling images of this dramatic moment we read about in the gospel.
But we can ask ourselves, according to what criteria, what standard will this final judgement be made? What will the Angels keep in that moment and what will be cast into the fire? The gospel tells us that “The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous“.The righteous, the ones who do right: who live, think and love rightly.
But what is it to live rightly? To live rightly is to live according to the loving law of God, to conform our hearts to His. The Kingdom of Heaven is about living on earth according to the law of Heaven, the law of love that Jesus has come to reveal. The law is not hidden from us, the path to heaven is not so overgrown with brambles that reguardless of our search, only the privleged or initiated will discover it. No, this law has become beautifully and universally evident in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father, now and in the end of time, except through him.
So to be found righteous on the final day means that we must strive for righteousness today. Each and every one of us, myself included, should strive to conform ourselves to Christ in word and action. And the 1st reading tells us one of the secrets to doing just that. ¨All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.¨ By reading and meditating daily on the word of God, especially the gospels, we are “training ourselves in righteousness” says St Paul. We are filling our heart and mind with what is right. The word of God is living and active, and anyone who reads and prayerfully meditates on it, is most certainly transformed by the grace that flows from it.
As I said before, today we are celebrating the feast of St Jerome. He is best known for translating the Latin Vulgate from the Greek and Hebrew originals. Yet, he was not always a firm believer. What was the turning point in his life? What brought him from a young man skeptical of the faith to a person in love with the Scriptures? His time in Rome.
As a young man of 14 he came to Rome with a friend to pursue rhetorical and philosophical studies. While in Rome he indulged in the superficial lifestyle of university students yet suffered terrible bouts of repentance afterwards.To appease his conscience and find answers to the questions that plagued him, he would visit and pray at the sepulchers of the martyrs and the apostles in the catacombs. These visits to the heart of Christian Rome and coming into direct contact with the faith and example of these “heroes” of the Roman church challenged him to confront the truths of Christianity more seriously. He asked himself how it was possible that this faith could produce such virtue and beauty if it were not true.
Many visit Rome but not everyone is changed by the experience. To really visit Rome, the home of the martyrs one needs to soke in its art and archetechture and reflect on the faith that produced all this beauty and holiness. That is what Jerome did and thanks to this Roman sojourn he began reading the Scriptures and taking instructions for baptism.
In your visit to Rome, members of the Minnesota chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, I invite you to make this same experience as Jerome. As you see, appreciate and commit yourselves to help the Vatican care for this amazing patrimony, let your own heart be transformed by this Roman experience. Let the faith that has produced all this beauty, penetrate more deeply in your heart. Let the Sacred Scriptures which contain this living Word of God which is the foundation of our faith, be a part of your daily nourishment.
Jerome is famous for the saying “Ingorance of the scriptures is ingorance of Christ” As we get to know the scriptures we get to know Christ and he gets to know us. Then on the final judgment, which Michelangelo so masterfully recreated, when that final separation of the righteous happens, he will take us to himself for he will see his reflection in us.