(This homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington on July 4, 2004, the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary time.)
I propose three scenes as the framework for this homily. The first scene is depicted for us in today's gospel passage: Jesus appointing and sending forth His disciples, in pairs, to proclaim the coming of God's Kingdom. “[T]he Lord appointed 72 others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit". [S]ay to them, 'The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.'”
The second scene took place many centuries later, on October 20, 1863. A seminarian, Damien de Veuster, and his companions boarded the train for Bremerhaven, Germany, where a ship which would take them to Hawaii as missionaries of the Lord Jesus. This Damien is known now as Father Damien, the Leper Priest of Molokai, beatified by Pope John Paul II in June, 1994.
The third scene is taking place here, in our cathedral. Father Christopher Murphy, a priest of this diocesan church of Arlington, is being missioned for service as a missionary in the diocesan church of San Juan de la Maguana in the Dominican Republic. Bishop John Keating, my predecessor, began this missionary outreach from our diocese to the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana, and since that beginning priests have been serving God's people in two parishes: one in Banica and the other in Pedro Santana, together with the outlying stations connected to these parishes.
Yes, from His initial sending forth of the 72 disciples, the Lord Jesus continues to choose, to call and to mission men and women " priests, deacons, religious and laity " to go forth to every place and proclaim the Good News of God's reign. Our Holy Father has reminded us often that the Church is by nature missionary. In his 1990 encyclical, “Mission of Christ the Redeemer,” he wrote: “Today, as never before, the Church has the opportunity of bringing the gospel, by witness and word, to all people and nations” (No. 92). Moreover, the missionary mandate is not only being given to priests and religious, but also to every member of the Church, to be exercised in ways which are in keeping with our individual vocations. “No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church, can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples” (Ibid, No. 3).
So, today, we are sending forth one of our own priests to proclaim Christ and His gospel of salvation to the people in the Dominican Republic. He will join Father Daniel Gee in this missionary service, replacing Father Jack O'Hara who will return here; others too will assist. Father Murphy, we give thanks to God and to you for your willingness to serve the Church in this manner, as a missionary. Your second name is Damien, so we do ask the prayerful intercession of Blessed Damien, as you go forth from us to preach the gospel and to serve God's people in Banica and in Pedro Santana. Please know that our prayers and support accompany you each day, as in word and in deed, you too echo the Lord's words: “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.”
Yes, the third scene is taking place here in our midst in this cathedral. Not only is Father Murphy being missioned, but, in a very real sense, so are we " each one in keeping with his or her individual vocation. The Lord Jesus is sending us forth, to our families, to the workplace, to our communities, with the mandate to announce that “the Kingdom of God is at hand for you” also. Moreover, we are to be instruments of the Lord in making His Kingdom present and visible and tangible. This means that we must be unafraid to inject into our American society the gospel virtues and values. We must speak the truth about human life and the dignity of every person, born and unborn; about the meaning and sanctity of marriage understood in the natural law and in the Scriptures as the union of one man with one woman; about pursuing justice and peace in our relationships with one another and in our business dealings. As we go about proclaiming God's Kingdom, we are participating in a process that will please God and return our great country to the vision and ideals proclaimed by the founders of these United States in the Declaration of Independence, signed on this very day, July 4, in 1776.
Yes, Father Christopher Murphy and indeed, each of us, is being missioned this day to announce the coming of God's Kingdom through the saving death and resurrection of the One Savior of the World, the Lord Jesus Christ. Strengthened by God's transforming grace, may we put out into the deep, confidently and perseveringly, because we are rooted in Jesus, who promises: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
