Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

 
Rebuild My Church: Answering God’s Call To Serve

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara

Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, October 4, 2026

This weekend, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the “Little Poor Man,” whose life has inspired people of all faith traditions for more than 800 years. How did Francis become such a pivotal figure? About 800 years ago, he went out to meditate in the fields. As he passed the church of San Damiano, which was on the verge of collapse due to age, Francis felt inspired by the Holy Spirit to enter and pray. Kneeling before the image of the Crucified, he was filled with great fervor and consolation. As he gazed tearfully at the Lord’s cross, he heard a voice speak from it three times: “Francis, go and rebuild my church which, as you can see, is falling into ruin.” Francis initially believed God wanted him to physically rebuild the crumbling church where he was praying, so he began repairing it. It took time for him to understand that God wanted him to rebuild the universal Church through prayer, promoting peace, and embracing poverty (radical detachment from worldly goods). For centuries, this cause has sparked a profound spiritual awakening, transforming him and others from wealth-seeking soldiers into radical followers of poverty and the Gospel. 

What is the first spiritual lesson we can learn from St. Francis of Assisi? He was a man of meditation and prayer. When Jesus called him, he was praying in a church before a cross. I know we live in a busy, noisy world, but do not let these realities keep you from prayer. We are surrounded by so many distractions: news, movies, phone calls, social media, politics, the need to gossip, relatives, and more. Today, our world is different from the one St. Francis lived in. Still, remember to make God your safe refuge, your shelter, and your true consolation. Be uncomfortable until you have communed with God and spoken to Him. 

Second spiritual lesson: When God called Francis, he made no excuses. He responded, moved, and acted. He began by rebuilding the particular church of San Damiano, and later the Universal Church. Two Sundays ago, while preaching, I said, “When God calls, drop everything, for nothing could be more important.” That is the life of St. Francis. Though this event took place many centuries ago, in 1204, the Lord still calls us through the Church's leaders to build up his Church and bring about God’s Kingdom. According to the angelic scholar St. Thomas Aquinas, God delights in working through secondary causes. How does God call? Sometimes He calls a person directly, as He did with St. Francis. But often He calls and invites people through secondary means. Many priests became priests because they heard God's persistent call to the priesthood. That was my experience. Others became priests because God used someone—a priest, a parent, a faith formator, a schoolteacher, or an event—to plant the desire to become a priest. 

Consider the governance of the Church: How does God govern it? He governs his Church through those he has called. As one whom God has called and whom the local ordinary, Archbishop Bernard Hebda, has appointed pastor of St. Bridget Church, I join the Crucified Jesus in summoning you to rebuild the Lord’s Church. I am not asking you to renovate the church building or rebuild the entire Church as St. Francis did. Rather, I ask you to consider serving as liturgical ministers and playing an important role before, during, and after Mass. The ordinary ministers of the Mass are the bishop, priest, and deacon. Extraordinary ministers include the sacristan, lector, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, altar server, cantor, and choir.

Every Catholic church relies on volunteers to accomplish a great deal, and I know many of you generously volunteer at our events. But where do you serve? If all your volunteering takes place outside of Mass, I invite you to consider serving there, too. Mass is the reason we gather. Please don’t misunderstand me: I am profoundly grateful for every volunteer. Without you, we couldn’t hold any events here at St. Bridget. But today, I’m asking you to consider doing more. If your volunteer work is all outside of Mass, please consider signing up as a minister during Mass. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “When the Church comes together in the liturgical assembly to celebrate the Mass, or any other sacrament, her members do not gather simply as a crowd, as an amorphous, undifferentiated group of people. They gather in a variety of ministries and roles.” Through our baptism, we all share in the priesthood of Christ and are called to worship. Some members of the Church, however, are called by God to serve in the ministerial priesthood as bishops and priests. In the liturgy, bishops and priests act in the very person of Christ on behalf of his people. They pray the most sacred prayers of our faith, preside over the celebration of the sacred mysteries, explain God’s Word, and feed God’s people with Christ's body and blood. A bishop bears the additional responsibility of serving as the chief shepherd and principal liturgist of his diocese, and in this role is a successor to the Apostles. Deacons also serve in ministry: at Mass, they proclaim the Gospel and assist the bishop and priest in carrying out their sacred duties. 

But beyond the ordained ministries, lay people also serve in the liturgy, offering their time and talents as altar servers, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, cantors, choir members, instrumentalists, leaders of song, and ushers. Others use their time and talents to plan and organize the liturgy, keep the church and its vestments, vessels, and linens clean and orderly, or provide decorations that reflect the spirit of the liturgical season or feast. As I have said, the celebration of the Mass is the supreme and primary reason we gather as God’s people. For this great, solemn, and sacred act to take place, all hands must be on deck.

Today, I preach on the ministry of lectors. All Christian denominations agree that the Scriptures are the inspired word of God and that Jesus Christ is truly present in that living word. Through the Scriptures, God speaks directly to us, touches us, challenges us, and heals us. The Church declares that when the Scriptures are proclaimed in the assembly, Christ himself speaks. A lector (or reader) proclaims these sacred readings and sometimes the Psalms during Mass. In this important role, you allow the Lord to use your voice to announce his transformative Word. What a great privilege this is.

If you are interested in allowing Jesus to use your voice to announce his Word, see me after Mass. Remember, the Church teaches that the liturgy of the Word is the foundation of the Mass and of our lives. A foundation is the bedrock that supports a house; if a tornado blows a building off its base, the entire structure will collapse. Lectors and would-be lectors, do not see your ministry as simply performing a job. See it as a vocation—a divine call to let your voice announce God's redeeming word.

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 21:33-43), Jesus tells the parable of producing the fruits of the kingdom of God. I tell you, becoming a lector is one way to bear the fruits of the kingdom. 

God bless you!