Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: This is Sundays with Bishop Ken.
Thanks for sharing some quiet time with the Lord today. We welcome guest reader Deacon Eric Bissette.
Deacon Eric is a beloved spiritual leader in his home parishes of the Diocese of Rochester, New York.
Little Book's listeners will recognize Deacon Eric as a regular narrator for our daily reflections.
And now, here is today's gospel and homily,
[00:00:46] Speaker B: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.
Jesus said to his disciples, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.
If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen. I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, Amen. I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my Heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
The Gospel of the Lord.
This particular section in Matthew's Gospel gives a wonderful, mysterious picture of the church.
It pictures a church in which the risen Christ is active and present.
Sometimes we might think of the church as simply an organization started because you have to organize, which we do, but we also pray together.
And when we pray, of course God is present.
But this describes a church in which the risen Christ, who said, I am with you all days until the end of the world, promises to be there and says he is there, helping to guide and direct what is taking place.
It's a high vision of the church, and it particularly characterizes the Roman Catholic picture of the church.
But I think we Roman Catholics need to develop what is talked about in this particular gospel, which talks not only about church order.
Whatever you bind and whatever you loose, I'm there with you doing it.
But it's also about people who very personally come together to pray for something.
And there's the beautiful line we all know well where two or three are gathered in my name.
There I am in their midst.
I have a dream.
And I dreamed that there would come a day when parishioners would get together in small groups and have a good time over a cup of coffee or a glass of beer and share their faith.
It would be something that wouldn't be part of a special program.
It wouldn't be special parishioners.
It wouldn't be a special organization.
It would be just one thing we do. If we're part of a Catholic parish, there's a big difference, a distinction between the faith we hold in common, the faith of the whole church, which we celebrate when we come together like this, and your personal faith with the faith of the church.
We believe everything we're celebrating today, a lot of it we believe because we don't deny it.
But there are things we believe deep down, and we have our own way of putting it, and we have our own way of questioning it.
And when we share our personal faith, it's a story to hear.
I remember a good friend of mine talking about the last month of her mother's life.
Her mother was a wonderful Catholic and a good person who happened to be dying of cancer.
My friend went to her mother, who lived out of town and spent that last month with her.
At one time, her mother said from her deathbed, you know, faith has always been my problem.
And my friend replied to her, mom, I've always admired your strong faith.
Well, yes, said her mom, but it's always been a struggle.
And so her daughter said, let's examine that.
For example, do you believe in God?
And their mom, taking a moment before she answered, said she thought that was an easy question to start with, but, yes, I believe in God, but only if it's a God for everybody, because I've always had some troubles with the way God was sometimes presented.
Then the daughter asked, do you believe Jesus was God?
To which her mom replied, well, yes, but he was one of us, and somehow he was special.
Yes, I believe it.
Now, I don't remember the rest of the conversation, but I thought to myself that mother's faith was strong because she was speaking from her heart on her deathbed about what she really believed.
She didn't deny anything.
She was talking about what she really believed.
And so I come this morning to issue a challenge.
Think about whether my dream is possible, whether it would be possible for people to come together and relax and have a good time, all while supporting each other by sharing their personal faith and their own deep, beautiful stories that have never been heard.
That's the kind of special support we rarely get to experience.
And so I issue this challenge.
I would ask you in the months to come, if you would help my dream come true and if you can do what Jesus said in this gospel passage, when two or three of you come together in my name.
I, the Risen Christ, am there in your midst.
[00:07:07] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us today.
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Sa.
