July 3, 2016 — Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Is 66: 10-14C; Ps 66: 1-7, 16, 20; Gal 6: 14-18; Lk 10: 1-12, 17-20
If you are over 65 years old, you probably remember Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Venerable Fulton Sheen was an American bishop who became known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio. In fact, in the 1950s into the 1960s, he may have been the most recognizable Catholic in the United States.
Sheen once said, “Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?” In many ways that statement parallels something St. Paul writes in our Second Reading from his letter to the Galatians: “From now on, let no one make troubles for me; for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.” St. Paul is saying the same thing as Archbishop Sheen — that is, “Do our lives reflect the presence of the Lord? Are we living as good stewards, as disciples, such that we, too, bear the marks of Jesus?”
We are not speaking of real scars, but we are talking about how the Lord has called us to follow Him, has asked us to take up the cross and follow Him as a matter of fact. If we strive to give, to serve, and to have faith as Sheen indicates, then we, too can rejoice as the Lord says to us, “Your names are written in heaven.” We are called, and we need to respond to that call.
