“A Kingdom of Priests”
At the foot of Mount Sinai, God gathers His people and gives them an extraordinary identity:
“You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”
God is not simply giving Israel new information.
He is telling them who they are.
That same identity reaches its fulfillment in Christ and continues in the Church.
Through Baptism, all Christians share in what the Church calls the common priesthood of the faithful.
That does not mean everyone is an ordained priest. Holy Orders gives priests a particular ministry in the Church, especially to act in the person of Christ the Head and to celebrate the sacraments.
But both the ordained priesthood and the common priesthood belong to the one priesthood of Jesus Christ.
Every baptized person has been given a part in His mission.
We are not spectators.
The Harvest Is Abundant
Jesus looks at the crowds in the Gospel and His heart is moved with compassion.
They are “troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Then He tells His disciples:
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.”
And He sends them.
That same harvest is still around us.
People are searching.
People are asking questions about faith.
Adults are entering the Church.
Others are returning after years away.
Some may walk through the doors unsure why they came at all, except that something has begun stirring in their hearts.
The Holy Spirit is working.
The question is whether the rest of the Church recognizes that this is our work too.
Not Just a Program
OCIA can easily be thought of as a class.
A program the parish runs for people who want to become Catholic.
But conversion rarely happens because someone completed a curriculum.
People encounter Christ through the life of His Church.
They notice whether parishioners welcome them.
Whether people pray.
Whether there is joy.
Whether Catholics actually seem to believe what they profess.
Whether charity is practiced when it is inconvenient.
Whether faith has changed the way people live.
OCIA is not simply someone else's ministry.
It is the Church welcoming people into the life of Christ.
And when people are coming through our doors searching for Him, the whole parish has a part to play.
What the Priesthood of the Baptized Looks Like
Our baptismal priesthood is lived in surprisingly ordinary ways.
Prayer.
Thanksgiving.
A holy life.
Self-denial.
Charity.
Witness.
Offering our daily lives to God.
Sometimes it looks like teaching.
Sometimes it looks like answering someone's question.
Sometimes it looks like sitting beside a person who is nervous about coming to Mass.
Sometimes it is bringing food, helping with hospitality, praying for someone preparing for the sacraments, or simply remembering a person's name.
None of those things may seem dramatic.
But they can become part of another person's path toward Christ.
One Life Can Reach Another
The homily shared the story of a woman named Jane who came to the parish after years of spiritual searching.
She had faced cancer and had already been baptized, but eventually found herself drawn toward the Catholic Church and entered OCIA.
As she prepared to make her profession of faith and receive the sacraments, her cancer returned.
During a short period of time, she received the grace of several sacraments as she prepared for the end of her life.
Her husband had his own complicated relationship with the Church.
But as Jane was nearing death, something changed.
Surrounded by family and prayer, he expressed his desire to return to the Church and for their marriage to be recognized within it.
Jane lived only a few more days.
But her faith had reached beyond her.
Her conversion became part of his return.
Her life had become a witness.
That is how the harvest often works.
One person says yes to Christ.
And that yes begins touching someone else.
“Without Cost You Have Received”
Jesus sends the Twelve with remarkable authority.
Proclaim the Kingdom.
Heal.
Cleanse.
Drive out demons.
And then He tells them:
“Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
Everything begins with something we ourselves have received.
Faith.
Baptism.
Forgiveness.
The Eucharist.
The Holy Spirit.
The love of Christ, who, as St. Paul reminds us today, died for us while we were still sinners.
None of it was earned.
It was given.
And gifts received from God are meant to become gifts offered to others.
For Moms
Moms may hear a call like this and immediately think:
I do not have time for one more thing.
And sometimes that is true.
But participation in the Church's mission does not always require taking on another major commitment.
Your children are already watching how you welcome people.
They notice whether you introduce yourself to someone new.
They hear the way you speak about people who are entering the Church.
They see whether faith is something your family receives only for itself or something that naturally moves outward.
There may also be seasons when God does ask for something more concrete.
An hour of hospitality.
Praying regularly for someone in OCIA.
Helping with a meal.
Answering a question.
Walking beside another mom who is new to the Church.
The question is not whether we can do everything.
It is whether we are willing to ask:
Lord, what part of the harvest have You given me?
Questions to Sit With
- Do I think of myself as someone with a real role in the Church’s mission, or mostly as someone who attends and receives?
- Who in my life may be searching for God more than I realize?
- Is there one practical way I could help someone feel welcomed, accompanied, or drawn closer to Christ?
Family Practice
At Mass this week, encourage your family to notice someone you do not already know.
After Mass, simply say hello.
No program. No pressure.
Just practice becoming the kind of parish where someone who is searching for Christ can walk through the doors and know there is room for them.