Bishop Martin visits St. Michael Church to offer special feast day Mass
GASTONIA — The “spiritual aerobics” of Mass – standing, kneeling, bowing and sitting – illustrate the real-world effort necessary to build up the kingdom of God, especially in our families and with others, Bishop Michael Martin preached Saturday at St. Michael Church.
More than 700 people came to the Mass to meet the new bishop, on his first visit to the Gastonia parish as he travels around the diocese. The bilingual liturgy – concelebrated by pastor Father Lucas Rossi and priest in residence Father José Juya – was an early celebration of the parish’s patron saint, St. Michael, and the other archangels, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael, who share a feast day on Sept. 29.
At the start of Mass, Bishop Martin drew chuckles from the congregation when he called St. Michael the “greatest” of the three archangels, not “just because it’s my name, but because it’s our name,” gesturing broadly to the congregation.
Continuing on a serious note in his homily, Bishop Martin called St. Michael an example of the “divine activity” that happens with God, as described in the special Mass readings from Daniel (7:9-10, 13-14), Revelation (12:7-12ab) and the Gospel of John (1:47-51).
“When we engage with God, there will always be activity – ‘ascending and descending,’” the bishop said, quoting from John’s Gospel.
“Many non-Catholics have poked fun with our liturgical celebrations … referring to them as some form of spiritual aerobics: ‘They're up and down and up and down. What is all this activity about? Why can't we just sit and listen? Let me just sit in the back pew and listen.’”
“No!” the bishop exclaimed.
“The work of engaging with God is not a sleepy, quiet resting place, but rather a place of bustling activity,” he said. “That activity is purposeful: its purpose is to transform … the world into a kingdom of praise” by rejecting sin and sharing the hopeful message of the Gospel.
“To do God's work, we have to (remove) from our lives the sin, the brokenness, the temptation that is there for all of us,” he said.
That work is tough – in fact, “it’s truly a battle,” he continued. Yet it’s a battle that “with God's help and St. Michael's intercession, we are promised to win.”
“I've seen that victory in my own life. Have you seen it in yours?” he asked the congregation.
“We have to … preach that we have seen the death of sin in our own life, we have to see that progress, and we have to be willing to share that with others,” he said, letting others know “there is hope to overcome sin and death.”
HOW DO WE BUILD UP THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
“Practically speaking,” Bishop Martin said, the spiritual activity of building up God’s kingdom means doing three things: reaching out to the poor and marginalized, living the faith in our family life, and building up unity in Christ.
“First and foremost, we need to address the evil of poverty and loneliness that is isolating so many people in our community,” he said.
That doesn’t mean only “the destitute poor,” he explained. It includes “all those who have been marginalized, all those who feel left out for whatever reason.”
“We cannot hope to grow as a community of faith unless we have the people on the margins as our first priority – not necessarily the people seated here today,” Bishop Martin said.
“Our parish mission cannot simply be for all of us already here. That's self-serving. That's not the mission of the Gospel,” he said. “We're not here for ourselves. We are here for the world. We need to be inviting the world, as Jesus does, to be with us.”
Building up God’s kingdom also means living our faith at home, Bishop Martin said.
“We’re not Catholics to be in church,” he said. “Your homes are the epicenter” of spiritual work.
“It’s no big surprise why fewer and fewer people come to church,” he said. “It’s because church has become an isolated moment for them that doesn't connect to the rest of their family lives.”
The parish’s school is a vital part of that family-based spiritual work, Bishop Martin noted.
St. Michael School, he said, is “a wonderful resource for all of us … where the life of Christ is celebrated in learning, where the life of Christ is celebrated in serving, where the life of Christ is celebrated in loving.”
Everyone at the parish, whether or not they have children enrolled at the school, should support, invest in and expand that resource, he said.
Bishop Martin also called St. Michael’s diverse congregation of 800-plus registered families to be unified in Christ.
“Regardless of our age, our race, our country of origin, our language, or any other of the identifiers of life in 21st century America, we are all one body, one community,” he said.
“Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘While there is one poor man, I cannot be rich.’ Think about that,” he said. “I cannot celebrate the fullness of the divine activity, ‘ascending and descending,’ if we're not doing it together.”
“As much as we want to share and celebrate all of our differences … as a beautiful tapestry created by God,” he said, “we cannot let that allow us to devolve into separate groups that never really fully come to know, love, and be with each other in the work of ‘ascending and descending.’”
This last point resonated with St. Michael parishioners Wendy and Marlon Franco.
“That really stood out: one community, one body. I loved that he said that,” Wendy Franco said.
“Yes,” Marlon Franco agreed. “Regardless of our race or language, we are one body in Christ.”
Parishioner Kim Watson liked the fact Bishop Martin delivered his homily in both English and Spanish, commending his Spanish skills and his powerful homily.
“I think his message was exactly what we need for our times,” she said. “We have to exude joy.”
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle