Roc Homily #1 for the Fourteenth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016

Jesus sent forth 72 disciples – “Here’s a thought…”

1. The Gospel:  Jesus sent the disciples to preach and heal by revealing reliance on God by manifesting vulnerability.  Perhaps this says something about the New Evangelization to adults.
2. An Observation about the USofA: I apply the insights of Sharon Parks (The Critical Years) about young adult faith development to our current situation.

a. Adolescent faith runs the gamut from compliance to rebellion. In either case, there is little growth in personal faith while remaining tethered to the faith of others.  b. With growth in seeking personal faith, young adults (I’d say, between 25 & 55) discover the need for ideologically compatible groups to protect their fragile vision from being crushed by others who think differently.  c. We seem to be in the throes of the battle between ideologically compatible groups now, each claiming Truth and each seeking to conquer or at least overcome the other.  d. Adult faith begins by seeing the limitations of the ideologically compatible group to which one has sworn allegiance and then seeking to engage the other.

The USofA may survive the pitched battle we are in now.  It’s really about resistance to growing up.  If we do make it through, we just might mature as human beings.

3. An Approach to a New Evangelization: “Lead from your weakness” is what A.A. says.  It’s the one tried and true way to connect.  So, what if… what if, instead of taking a two-by-four to “others,” we began by saying something like, “I do believe in God and in the Trinity. I want to do God’s will but I struggle with that in so many ways. How about you?”  What if, instead of pretending we each have all the answers and aiming to win arguments, we young adults set about connecting with others in their weakness first, then, turn together to theology to inquire into it.