"Preparing for Judgment" - 33rd Sunday Homily

Pretty impressive turnout today from us, given that the commanders are playing at this moment in Madrid.

Many of us remember the Super Bowl years when the city shut down during a Redskins game, including church.

I grew up a skins fan.

And the opposing player I feared the most was Tony Dorsett of the Cowboys.

Forgive me for talking well about a cowboy in church, but he was a running back, he was fast, he was smooth, he kind of seemed to glide along the field.

He had a cool number, 33.

This is the 33rd Sunday in ordinary time, just saying.

Dorsett, just a smooth name.

And the guy just scared me to death as a fan.

I mean, I was scared of, afraid of coaches and teams in the 80s, the Giants and the 49ers.

But I would just fear his name called out during the game and as he would tear apart our defense.

There are different types of fear.

But God himself says, I fear my name.

All the fear I had for Tony Dorsett was based out of respect.

He was that good.

With God, it's even greater, like to the nth degree.

To fear his name means to respect him to be in awe of him.

He is great.

He is supremely good.

And he's not our opponent.

He's not going to defeat us or embarrass us.

Some of those games, I just couldn't even watch as Tony Dorsette when running through our defense.

But as church has us look at the end times coming to the end of the liturgical year, and judgment, God Himself says to the prophet Malachi, you who fear my name, again this is a

judgment, all this talk of stubble and fire and all kinds of horrific stuff, you who fear my name, there will arise a son of justice with its healing rays.

To fear God's name, to fear Him, is to respect Him, to worship Him, to revere, to love Him.

That's proper fear, based in goodness.

And we know His name.

We know the name of our judge, Christ Jesus.

He is not against us, He is for us, He is with us, He gave His life for us, His body and blood, so that we would share in this awesome reality.

At judgment, for those who fear His name, the Son of Justice arising with its healing rays.

That sounds like Him, like in the Eucharist.

And I often talk about adoration as

son tanning, S-O-N, the sun of justice with its healing rays.

We are to fear Christ the Judge as we fear Him now.

The Bible gives us references.

Old Testament, New Testament, Ezekiel 34, Matthew 25.

The judge is the shepherd.

The good shepherd.

We know Him.

He knows us.

As the Good Shepherd says, I know mine and mine know me.

He knows your name.

Wesley Lucas, as of today, he knows your name.

We fear his name.

He knows you intimately.

Every hair on your head is to be referenced before he says will not be destroyed.

He knows you and me better than we know ourselves.

And cynically that may be what some of us joke about, that's why we're afraid of judgment, because he knows us.

But he will present, I think, a main question.

to you and to me.

Did you live for yourself or for Christ?

Three ways to prepare for judgment, three ways to fear His name.

First is to the poor.

Matthew 25, Christ says, you serve the poor, you serve me.

Two, confession, to die to self, selfishness, sin.

And three, the Eucharist.

where we gaze not down at the Eucharist in adoration, or the head down, or covering our eyes, that kind of fear, that's not the right kind of fear.

But the proper fear to gaze while eyes wide open, to gaze at the son with its healing rays.