There was a man who decided, after studying world religions, that he wanted to visit a Catholic church during Mass. He wanted to see for himself a community at prayer who honestly believed that Christ was in their midst. He said, of all the religions, Catholicism offered the most amazing thing: the Body of Christ.
So he asked his Catholic friend if they could go to Mass together, and his friend was delighted to be able to share his faith. So one Sunday morning they went to church. On the way the friend explained about the different parts of the Mass: how we stand to pray and show respect, how we sit to listen, how we bow or genuflect before the Tabernacle, and how we kneel to worship. Sometimes the priest blesses the congregation with holy water. Sometimes the priest uses incense to remind us we are in the very presence of God.
The man understood only baptized Catholics in a state of grace could receive Communion. He couldn't wait to see how this effected the people who actually received the Body of Christ. That day, the men were in luck! The choir sang beautifully, and the priest gave a homily filled with Baeisms.
After Mass, over coffee and bagels, the friend eagerly waited to hear the man's reaction to attending his first ever Catholic Mass.
"So how was it?" he asked.
"Meh. OK," the man replied.
"OK? Just OK?" The friend had thought everything had been perfect. "What was wrong?"
So the man explained, "The problem wasn't what the church teaches; the problem wasn't how the truths of Catholicism were presented; the problem was the people."
The product may be perfect. The packaging may be beautiful. But if the purpose is lost, why bother?
What's the use of saying the Mass is the center and most important thing in a Catholic's life, what's the point in proclaiming Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament if the people don't believe it?
The friend was crushed, but asked, "How do you know we don't believe it?"
The man answered, "In church today I just looked around at how people act and how they dress. Looks like some are going to the beach or a ball game and others to a night club. Hardly anybody sang, except the choir. So that made what should be musical prayer into simply a performance. Some people were talking with their friends all during Mass and even in the Communion line. I saw a few texting. And one lady even answered her cell phone. But the worst part was after Mass, they didn't look to me like people who just were fed and changed by the Word of God.
"If you guys don't believe you have received the Body of Christ, why should I?"
Although these two men remained friends, the man never went back to a Catholic church again.
Does that story make you as uncomfortable as it makes me? Hits a little bit too close to home. Now we feel how the Jews must have felt in today's gospel reading when Jesus told them the parable of the vineyard.
"The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruits."
It's not enough just to belong. It's not even enough just to believe. We must also be active.
Do you know what the Mass is? Do you believe what the Mass is? Do your actions during Mass show you are focusing all your attention on God? Do any of those things that man saw at Mass apply to you?
But here's the kicker. You can dress to the nines, you can sing your heart out, you can kneel and stand and shout "Amen!" and you can believe from the very bottom of your soul that you are receiving the Body of Christ, but if you go out those doors, if your life and words and actions don't reflect your belief, your wasting your time.
And worse. You're wasting God's time. If God did not hesitate to take his vineyard away from the Jews, God's Chosen People, and give it to us, what's to stop him from taking it away from us and giving it to another people who will produce the fruits of the kingdom? People of peace whose lives have changed for the better, who forgive their enemies, who help the poor, who refuse to gossip, who defend the oppressed, who do not deceive or exploit or cheat one another?
Jesus doesn't want fans, he wants followers.
Christianity is not a spectator sport; it's full contact participation.
God doesn't want you to practice reading the Gospel, but to put the Gospel you read into practice.
Now I will be honest with you. You here are about the most inspiring community of Catholics I know. In here. Of course you can improve. We all can. Now, if you could only take what you believe in here, out into the world out there, we might succeed not only in helping God save our Church, but helping God save our world.
