📖 Homily This Sunday

The Living Stones on the Way of Christ

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We hear a gentle but profoundly powerful command from the Lord today. Jesus looks at His disciples and says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." He speaks these words in the upper room, on the very night before He is to suffer and die.

The disciples have every reason to be anxious. Jesus has just told them that He is leaving them. Their world is about to be turned completely upside down. Yet, in the face of impending darkness, Jesus offers them an anchor of unshakeable peace.

My friends, we also live in a world that easily troubles our hearts. We face personal worries regarding our health, family struggles, and financial anxieties. We live in a society filled with cultural division, noise, and constant uncertainty. We frequently wonder what the future holds for us and our loved ones.

The remedy Jesus offers is not a detailed blueprint of the future. He does not give them a step-by-step itinerary of how everything will be resolved. Instead, He offers Himself. He says, "You have faith in God; have faith also in me."

In our Gospel reading from Saint John, Jesus tells us that He is going to prepare a place for us. He assures us that in His Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. He is promising that our final destination is a place of permanent belonging and perfect love.

The apostle Thomas, who is practical and perhaps a bit confused, asks the question we all secretly want to ask. He says, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"

Jesus gives a response that continues to echo through the centuries. He says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Notice carefully that Jesus does not simply give us a map. He does not point to a distant road. He tells us that He Himself is the path we must walk.

Saint Thomas Aquinas taught beautifully on this exact passage in his commentary on the Gospel of John. He explained that Christ is the way according to His humanity, and He is the truth and the life according to His divinity. Therefore, by holding fast to the humanity of Christ, we safely and surely reach the eternal truth and life of God.

Then, Philip makes another profound request. He says, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Philip is longing for the ultimate vision of God.

Jesus replies, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." Pope Benedict the Sixteenth often emphasized this beautiful truth in his writings. He reminded us that Jesus is the human face of God. When we desire to know how God loves, how God forgives, or how God weeps with us, we only need to look at Jesus.

Dear friends in Christ, when we walk along this Way, something miraculous happens to us. We do not just follow Jesus from a safe distance. We are actively transformed to become like Him.

Saint Peter explains this mystery perfectly in our second reading today. He calls Jesus the "living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God."

Then, Peter tells us what our new identity is. He says, "like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood."

In the ancient world, stones used for building a temple were carefully cut and chiseled by stonemasons. They were deliberately shaped to fit perfectly together in order to build a strong, enduring foundation.

Saint Augustine taught that we are similarly shaped and polished by the trials and the grace of this earthly life. God is the Master Builder, and He fits us together through the bond of charity. We cannot be a spiritual house if we choose to remain isolated, solitary pebbles.

Peter goes on to say that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that through our Baptism, we all share in the priesthood of Christ.

What is the primary duty of a priest? A priest offers sacrifice to God. While only ordained priests offer the ministerial sacrifice of the Mass, every baptized Christian is called to offer the spiritual sacrifices of their daily lives.

This brings us to a very practical question. What does it look like to be these living stones in the real world? How does this holy priesthood actually operate in our daily routines?

Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives us a wonderful and concrete example. The early Church was growing quickly, but it was not without its internal struggles. A serious problem arose because the Greek-speaking widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.

There was cultural tension and division within the community. But the Apostles did not ignore the problem, nor did they allow their hearts to become troubled by the conflict. They trusted the Holy Spirit to guide them toward a solution.

They called the community together and selected seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, to handle this vital work of charity. This historic moment was the birth of the diaconate, the first deacons of the early Church.

My brothers and sisters, this is exactly what a spiritual house looks like in action. Every living stone has a specific place and a specific function in the architecture of the Church.

Not everyone is called to preach the Gospel from a pulpit like the Apostles. Some are called to serve the tables, to care for the poor, and to bring order and love to the daily, practical lives of the faithful. Every task becomes holy when it is done in union with Christ.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel that whoever believes in Him will do the works that He does, and will do even greater ones. The early Church serving those vulnerable widows is a direct fulfillment of this amazing promise.

God is calling each and every one of you to a specific role in building up His Kingdom on earth. You are a chosen race and a people of His own. That is your true, foundational identity.

When you patiently care for an aging parent, you are functioning as a living stone. When you deal honestly and justly in your workplace, you are a living stone. When you teach your children to pray and to forgive, you are doing the works of Christ.

We must stop looking at our daily duties as mere secular burdens or meaningless chores. Everything we do in authentic love is part of the spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Dear friends, if we truly grasp this profound reality, our hearts will no longer be paralyzed by the troubles of this world. We will realize that God is actively using our ordinary lives to build a sanctuary of love in a broken society.

Today, as we prepare to transition from the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, let us bring our troubled hearts directly to this altar.

Here, Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, gives Himself entirely to us under the humble appearance of bread and wine. He nourishes us intimately so that we can have the spiritual strength to be His living stones.

The Eucharist is the ultimate spiritual food for our journey toward the Father's house. It binds us together in that divine charity Saint Augustine spoke of, cementing us to the true cornerstone who is Christ.

As you come forward to receive Holy Communion today, listen once again to the quiet whisper of the Lord speaking to your soul. "Do not let your hearts be troubled."

Trust in Him completely. Let go of the anxieties that weigh you down. Step boldly into the specific, holy role God has given you this week. Let us go forth to be the living stones He has called us to be, bringing His truth and His life to absolutely everyone we meet. Amen.

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