Father Gervan Menezes - Aug 16

St. Philip Catholic Church: Today the Word of God gives us a beautiful promise. No one who comes to God in faith is a stranger in God's house. Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord declares that his house will be a house of prayer for all, for all peoples. Saint Paul reminded us that the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. And in the gospel the woman who seems to be an outsider comes to Jesus with such persistence faith that Jesus prays her and grants her prayer. These readings could not be more fitting for what we celebrate today. Iliana, Andrew will be baptized. Wesley will be received into full communion of the Catholic Church. So today is like Super Bowl with double over time. And if you leave beforehand I know who you are. This morning we did a little bit of parking police. I learned that you all don't know how to park. And you are a bunch of you are late for mess. It was awesome. Helping people to park and like run you late. Don't need to write a letter to the bishop, he knows. Okay, today the scriptures are not simply words that we hear. They are becoming visible among us. In the gospel, the Canaanite woman begins as an outsider. She does not belong to the people of Israel. She does not have a place of honor or claim on Jesus. Even the disciples would her sent away. Yet she refused to leave. She cries out, Have pity on me, O Lord. When Jesus is silent, she continues. When she encounters resistance, she comes closer. She kneels beforehand, offer one of the simplest and most honest prayer in all the scriptures. Lord, help me. Perhaps that is where every genuine journey of faith begins, not with Perfect understanding, not with having all the answers, but with a humble prayer. Lord help me. The woman does not pretend to deserve anything. She trusts in the goodness of Jesus. She believes that even a crumb in the in of his mercy will be enough. And she is right. One crumb from the table of God contains more grace than the whole world can hold. Jesus tells her, Woman, great is your faith. The person regarded as the an outsider becomes an example of faith for everyone. The disciples who want to send her away must now watch Jesus welcome her, praise her, and answer her prayer. This gospel reveals the wisdom the wideness of God's mercy. God's grace is not a possession that we guard for ourselves. The church is not a private club for people who have already proven that they belong. The church is a household of God, a house of prayer, a house for all peoples, a house into which Christ continually calls new sons and daughters. And that promise is fulfilled for us today. To those who are baptized today, God claims you as his own. In the waters of baptism, they'll be united with Jesus Christ in the death, in his death and resurrection. Sin will be washed away and they will receive new life. They will become members of Christ's body and members of this family of faith. Maybe one day I will write a book with all the emails that I receive from you people. One of them was like, Father, it's too much baptism. Stop that. No. Come to the seven AM Mass. We'll never have a baptism on that mass. It's getting fuller and fuller. But anyway, the baptism water may touch them for only just a moment. But the grace given through it will shape their whole life. They will leave the fountain with a new identity. Before anything the word may call them, they will be able to say, I am a beloved child of God. I belong to Christ. I belong to the church. They are called to remember that identity, especially when lives become difficulty. When they feel lost, remember their baptism. When they wonder whether God still loves them, remember their baptism. When they are tempted to believe that their sins or failures have the final word, they must remember their baptism. God's covenant is stronger than our weaknesses. Saint Paul teach us today God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Wesley, you who are coming to full communion with the Catholic Church, today is not a denial of the Christian faith that was that has already brought you this far. It is the fulfillment of a journey guided by grace. The Lord begins his work in you and has led you to a deeper communion with his church, and to profess the Catholic faith and to share full. Fully in the church sacramental life. Your presence reminds all of us that faith is a journey. Christ never stopped inviting us to come closer. None of us has finished growing. None of us can say, I have arrived. God has nothing more to teach me. The Lord continue to call every baptized person to fuller communion with Him. with his church and with one another. Yet today it's not only about them who are receiving the sacraments. It is about all about each one of us. Isaiah says that the God's that Isaiah says God's house is for all peoples. If this is God's house then we must ask ourselves do people experience it As their homes. Do those who enter our doors encounter patience, mercy and welcome? Or do they sometimes meet an attitude of the disciples? Send them away, this is my pill, you are late. It is possible to be physically inside of the church while our hearts remain closed. We can become so comfortable at the Lord's table that we forget we are were invited here by mercy. None of us earned a place in God's family. Every one of us lives of us lives from the grace of Christ. And we all are beggars. Who have been given not merely crumbs, but a place at the table. Therefore, our task is not simply to watch these new members enter the church. We must receive them. We must pray for them, encourage them, and walk beside them. Christian initiation is not the end of the journey, it is the beginning of a new stage. They will need the witness of of this community. Just as this community will need the gifts of God has placed within them. To our new members, we welcome you with joy. Your faith is strengthened our faith. Your decision challenged those of us who may sometimes take our own baptism or maybe the Catholic faith for granted. Your presence reminds us that Christ is your calling. Grace is still working and the church is still growing. And to everyone gathered here, perhaps you recognize something in yourself in the Canaanite woman. Perhaps you have been praying for a child, a spouse, a parent, or a friend. Perhaps God has seen silent. Perhaps you have felt like an outsider, even in the church. Perhaps your prayer has been reduced. to these words, Lord, help me. Don't give up. Just this morning at the 8 30 Mass, somebody was came to Mass because she wanted to receive communion for the last time. She was about to kill herself. Pray for her. Don't give up. The silence of God does not mean the absence of God. Continue to approach Christ. Continue to trust in His mercy. The Canaanite woman teach us that faith does not always receive an immediate answer, but it continues to believe in the goodness of the one to whom it prays. Soon we will approach the Lord's table. Here, Christ give us far more than crumbs. He give us Himself, His body, blood, His life, and mercy. At this table, people from different families, backgrounds, and histories are made one in Christ. Today the waters of baptism will welcome new children to God. Today the bounds of communion will be deepened. Today's Isaiah's promise will be fulfilled again. God is gathering people into his holy house and filling them with joy. May those entering the church today always know that they have a home here. We may be faithfully companions to them. We may every one of us renew the grace of our own baptism, so God's house may truly be what he intended to be a house of prayer, mercy and welcome for all peoples.