Preaching to Other Cities - Weekday Homily Video

The first time I visited the Holy Land of Israel, we had our first Mass as a pilgrimage group in the town of Capernaum. The all-round glass Church is built above the place where tradition holds was Simon Peter’s mother-in-law’s house. The pastor of the place was a Ghanian Franciscan Friar, who knew our Congregation of Holy Cross very well and the good work it does in Ghana, especially in the schools.

It is in Capernaum, where this Church is currently built, where the miracle we hear about in Luke's Gospel happened. Jesus had just come from his hometown of Nazareth where he went to preach, but the people of the town rejected him. The people wouldn’t listen to him; they thought he was a mere impostor. They knew his parents and his cousins, and there he was in Nazareth claiming he was some new preacher, with a direct telephone line to God. The people of Nazareth almost killed Jesus for his claims.

After Nazareth, Jesus moved to Capernaum with his disciples, where he preached to crowds and performed many miracles including the healing of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus was so popular in Capernaum, a busy trading town, that the people there wanted him to stay in their town, and not to leave. It was the kind of location where his ministry would grow and thrive since he was well-liked. It would be an ideal, easy, and comfortable location for his ministry where he could accomplish a lot.

Openness to the Spirit

However, the Lord told the people of Capernaum who wanted him to stay in their town that, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other cities also.” The Holy Spirit prompted Jesus that it was time for him to move on.

Have you ever been in a place, a job, a community, or a club where you felt needed, wanted, liked, and appreciated so much that you just didn’t feel like leaving? Have you ever been in a setting where everything felt so right that you did not even bother to ask God whether He wanted you to stay there or not?

I worked in a parish many years ago where I felt that way. Parish life is all I wanted to do for the rest of my priesthood. Well, the Holy Spirit spoke through my religious superiors, and they transferred me to other ministries. It was uncomfortable at the beginning, but I have never regretted being open to the Spirit.

Listening for God's Invitation

There are times when God invites us to something new, something unfamiliar—stretching us away from what we are used to, from what we are comfortable with, from what makes sense to us, from those who know us and appreciate us—to totally new and unknown territory. Our gospel invites us to be careful not to listen to our egos, but rather to listen to the voice of God speaking to us deep inside our hearts. That is how Jesus left Capernaum where he was popular to go preach to other cities also.

May we ask the Lord to give us His Spirit to guide us in our discernment of where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do. May the Lord open our hearts and minds to see Him and to hear Him as He speaks to us through sacred Scripture, other people, and in the stillness of our hearts.

• Today’s Readings

• Father Fred's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. Please view the video on our Facebook page. (You don't need a Facebook account to view.) 

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