Father Chas Canoy
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Father Chas reflects on our calling to be spiritual watchmen who faithfully share God’s truth and lovingly accompany others toward Christ. Who has God placed on your heart to invite, encourage, and help discover the sacramental life of the Church?
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So, what’s a watchman? It’s not a guy with a collection, nice collection of nice watches. So back in the day when cities were fortified by these high walls for protection from invading armies or bands of barbarians, there were watchmen on duty whose charge was to be on the lookout for impending dangers. They had the responsibility that could mean life or death for the people if they failed, if the watchmen failed to sound the alarm on time.
And so, in that first reading that we heard, God tells the prophet Ezekiel, you, son of man, I have appointed you watchmen for the house of Israel. When you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. So, in the Old Testament, God sent prophets as figurative watchmen, spiritual sentinels, if you will, who were tasked to warn the people of God of the impending doom for those who fall away from God and turn to the wicked ways of the world.
So God sent them in hopes that they might repent from their ways and come back to him. But they were often, these prophets, were often not popular figures with the leaders of Israel who wanted to do their own thing instead of being faithful to the covenant they had with God. But God calls such prophets not to be popular with everyone, but to faithfully deliver God’s message.
And God would hold his prophets accountable to do so, as we heard the Lord tell the prophet Ezekiel in that first reading. If I tell the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.
Now under the new covenant, that prophetic role or office was given to the apostles, as we heard in the gospel when they were given the authority to bind and to loose. The apostles were given the charge to be those spiritual sentinels who would teach to all the nations all that Jesus had commanded them, and to warn the people of God of any impending dangers. Now do you remember who the successors of the apostles are? The bishops, thank you! The bishops, people should know this, right? The bishops are the successors to the apostles, and so by their apostolic office, they inherit that authority to bind and to loose.
Bishop Boyer is our successor of the apostles, who at his ordination had hands laid upon his head by the bishops before him, and those bishops had hands laid upon them by bishops before them, and that laying on of hands goes all the way back to the apostles themselves. Moreover the bishops ordain priests and deacons to be extensions of their apostolic ministry, and to be likewise watchmen for the people of God, and God will hold us accountable for it as well, right? And so that’s why sometimes you’ll hear Father Randy, Deacon Dave, and I preach that challenging or difficult word from this ambo. It’s not because I want to be the bearer of bad news, it’s because the Lord wants to save you and me from the death those impending spiritual dangers of the world can cause our souls.
We and all the clergy are called to faithfully preach the fullness of the gospel, not just the easy and pleasant messages, because if we don’t speak out about those spiritual dangers of the world, and you fall prey to them, God will hold me responsible for your death, and I definitely don’t want that on my conscience, alright? So despite the disgruntled look on a parishioner who wants to do it their way instead of God’s way, I’m still going to faithfully deliver that difficult message from the Lord, and hope it takes with that person later down the line. And by doing so, I end up saving my behind, even if you don’t want to save yours, right? So kidding aside, you all call me Father, which is a sign of the spiritual fatherhood to which I’m called. Well what good father of a family doesn’t warn their kids of danger, physical or spiritual, that would imperil their soul, their body, or their eternal soul? That message may not be very fun for the kids to hear, but as you parents know, good parenthood ain’t a popularity contest, alright? You parents know that full well.
I had a recent example of this with my role as chaplain for Legatus, which many of you know is an organization of Catholic business leaders. And you remember the Filipino priest, Father Nestor, who was here for a weekend last month to do our summer mission appeal? While that Filipino priest was here, this Filipino priest was on pilgrimage with over a hundred of those Legatus members. Well the gospel passage for one of those days was from Matthew 19, when Jesus said, Amen I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. End of quote. And I’m thinking, oh great, right? The members of Legatus are either the owner or president of their company in the C-suite or a division head, so they are all pretty blessed when it comes to material resources.
So for the homily, for such a challenging passage, the temptation for me might be, hey, don’t ruffle any feathers, money’s a sensitive topic, we don’t want anyone to feel guilty or offended. But guess what? Being the Lord’s watchman is not a popularity contest. It’s faithfully delivering God’s message or warning.
And so I told these materially blessed folks straight up the exact words Jesus said. It is hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. But why is that so? It’s because to whom much is given, much is required.
To whom much is given, much is required. You who have been blessed with much have that much more to be detached from and have that much more to steward rightly for the building up of the kingdom of God. And so I challenged them with that message.
Are you doing that? Are you being a good steward? First of all, how do you view your wealth? Do you see it as yours for the building up of your own personal kingdom, the kingdom of Chaz or the kingdom of John or the kingdom of Susie? Or do you see your wealth as part of the blessings God has given you in order for you to build up the kingdom of God, to love your neighbor as yourself, as St. Paul mentioned in that second reading, to do corporal and spiritual works of mercy, to have a preferential option for the poor? Are you giving in a way that’s truly sacrificial, that gets you out of your comfort zone, that reflects that you trust in God and not in yourself? So I did the whole homily on that and what that might look like, right? And I give credit to those 100 plus Legatus members as wealth can be a real temptation to the vice of pride or the vice of entitlement or have an inflated ego, want special treatment, whatever, right? Yet, not one of them gave me a disgruntled look in the whole rest of the pilgrimage together. In fact, so many of them went out of their way to express how they really needed to hear that message, how the Lord spoke to their hearts through it, how it convicted them and prompted them to take stock on how they were using their wealth, even though many of these folks were already giving way beyond their 10% tithe and are among the biggest supporters in their parishes, right? You don’t always get such a humble and open response to a challenging message like that, but God will hold me accountable for faithful proclaiming the fullness of that message. And so how does this relate to you? Well, under the new covenant that Jesus established, that calling to be a watchman, yes, it is a calling for the clergy, but not only for the clergy, right? As clergy, I’m the watchman primarily for those who are already a part of the kingdom of God, right? But as Vatican II emphasized, the lay faithful, by virtue of your baptism and your confirmation, are to be watchmen in the world.
Notice that Jesus didn’t choose perfect people to be his disciples. In fact, they were very imperfect. He didn’t even choose the theologically educated people of his time.
He chose ordinary people, sinners like you and me, to be his messengers, right? And so you, too, are to be that prophetic voice for the people in your lives that do not recognize the mortal dangers of the soul present in a godless way of life and who have yet to follow Jesus and enjoy the protection and the riches he bestows in the sacramental life of the church, right? We’ve seen the manifestation of that godless way of life. I mean, it results in moral chaos and the division of the human family, and God wants to bring that human family back into real unity, not a superficial one, but a true, that as the Father and I are one, so should they be one, Father, right? So how are you doing in that role as a watchman? With summer wrapping up, this is the perfect time to make contact with whomever you are walking with one. Remember that? All right? We should be accompanying even just one person closer to the heart of Jesus.
And if you’ve forgotten, is there anyone in your life who is a non-Catholic or a fallen away Catholic with whom you’ve had a faith conversation or you’d like to have one or that the Holy Spirit is placing upon your heart, make it a point to contact them this today, or maybe because it’s the extended weekend, to contact them by tomorrow, because we’re having that new inquiry meeting this Wednesday for anyone who wants to find out more about Catholicism 101, which also serves as our OCIA for those who aren’t confirmed Catholics yet, right? There are no commitments or pressure. Just come and learn at 6.30 p.m. in the parish center this Wednesday. Subsequent classes will be held on Wednesday evenings, and the same class will be held on Sunday mornings at 8.30 a.m. because that’s sometimes more convenient for people’s schedules.
And those Wednesday slash Sunday classes will run, that Sunday class will run until 10 a.m. Mass, and anyone who chooses to go on in a few months from now will be ready to be baptized and or confirmed at Easter Vigil. So who is God putting on your heart to invite and to accompany?