Snup's View From the Back Pew: St. Theodore

Sunday, September 4, 2011

St. Theodore - Flint Hill

Good Evening!

I was flipping through the Calendar of Saints and noticed that on 9/4, it was St. Theodore's Feast Day. I remembered there was a St. Theodore in the Archdiocese, so I headed out to Flint Hill to attend the 10 am Mass.

Music was accompanied by a guitar. Because the Church isn't large enough, people sat in the choir loft with the guitarist in a little alcove off the nave.
Opening: We Gather Together
Offertory: Age to Age
Communion: We Remember
Recessional: God Bless America.

Father had a mini homily at the Penitential Rite. The Eucharistic Prayer was the EP for Various Needs except we didn't do the responses and there was some adlibbing. At the end of Mass, Father included an extra Labor Day Blessing. I've never heard an "official" blessing quite like it. One line talked about having jobs we hate.

Father's homily connected the Reading and Gospel with Labor Day. We celebrate our work. Eventhe lowliest work has value and builds up the Kingdom of God. At Baptism, we are given a job, we are given a mission. We need to remind ourselves of our mission as Church. Ezekial had a job, he was a watchman. A watchman warns of coming danger. Our job as Church is to be watchmen; to speak out about danger. We are to speak out about danger. We need to speak out about the dangers of corporate greed as we suffered from the effects of corporate greed, in fact the whole world suffered. The modern day watchman is the whistleblower. How do we overcome the dangers? Jesus explains in the Gospel. The all about me attitude hurts Church. This is the role of Reconciliation and evangelization. Jesus paid the debt of our sin. The Church offers unconditional love and mercy. We invite the world to change. To welcome them to the kingdom of love and hope that will satisfy all desire. Our work is to spread the Good News to all. Everyone is included. Jesus associates with sinners to bring them back. We approach sinners with love. It's our work - bringing people into the Kingdom. We are the watchmen of our world. How are we doing at this work? How many times did Jesus invite Matthew before he said yes?

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