Homily: August 29, 2023, Tuesday of the twenty first week in Ordinary time (Growing church)

St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “…we were determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our very selves as well…”

Conversion, conviction, commitment.

Alan Redpath said, “The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.”

Many people are converted to Christianity, but how many live with conviction and are truly committed to the faith?

We know there is a great shortfall, we know many have lapsed. So, it is not enough to just be converted. As St. Paul says, the apostles do not just share the Gospel, they share themselves, they give their lives totally and fully to the communities they built.

Howard Henricks said, “A belief is something you will argue about. A conviction is something you will die for.”

Without conviction, there will be no martyrs, no saints, no church. Like Jesus who gave his life completely, to the last drop of blood on the cross for his Church, the apostles too with the same spirit, attitude, love, and courage, gave themselves fully to the spread of the gospel. They embodied the message they preached.

And the church grew.

We cannot preach from our comfort zone, we have to go out to the ends of the earth. Pope Francis, from the first days of his pontificate, has urged us to proclaim the gospel everywhere, even to the peripheries.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.”

If we want the church to grow, we really must put our words into action. All the promises we made at our baptism, then at our confirmation, must become reality. Otherwise, we would be lying. Our commitment to our mission will transform lives.

The church belongs to us. We belong to the church. If we are not growing, we are dying.

Let us go out and share not just the Gospel of God, but our very selves, so that the church will grow. Amen.