There are a few Gospels that I almost shudder at when their turn rolls around in the
lectionary. Sometimes Jesus’ teaching is so nuanced, subtle, and difficult to understand on the surface that I worry that preaching about it will do more harm than good, either due to my inability to convey His wisdom or due to people only half-paying attention to a mediocre homily. So when Jesus tells us explicitly in this week’s Gospel to “make friends with dishonest wealth” and lifts up as an
example a man who is essentially committing financial fraud, I am forced to ask myself how to reconcile this with all the financial controls we have in place to make sure embezzlement is impossible.
 
The best conclusion I can come to, as Jesus describes this man who throws away his master’s fortune for the sake of self-preservation, is that He is not so much promoting selfishness as He is telling us all to sell out completely for the Kingdom of God. After all, everything we have in this life is meant to be used to bring us, our families, friends, and the world closer to salvation. If we are using our excess wealth, resources, and time for activities and pursuits that don’t make us and our loved ones holier, then we are wasting that which God has given us. The pursuit of leisure is a true good that can rejuvenate and refresh us in order to better fulfill our purpose of growing in holiness. But we must orient our entire lives around the central goal of achieving salvation; everything else is peanuts in comparison.
 
One virtue that is helpful in reordering our lives in accord with these values is holy boldness. In a society that values being non-confrontational and not bothering others, it can be hard to cultivate a willingness to preach the Gospel at all times,
regardless of the opinion of others. Even mentioning the name of Jesus or talking about Church teaching in public is sometimes enough to be branded as a zealot. But human respect is the killer of saints, and we would do well to remember the words of St. Thomas More who once said “I do not care very much what men say of me, provided that God approves of me.” We have to seize on opportunities to be scorned or shamed for the sake of the Gospel, because our boldness in doing so just might be what is needed to bring someone back to the faith.

On September 30, OLR is hosting a talk by a friend of mine that I taught with before I went into seminary. His name is Dan Egan, and I have long described him as “the New Evangelization on wheels.” He teaches full time and raises his seven children with his wife, Arica, but still makes time to learn more and more about the faith, the scriptures, and church teaching. He compiles scripture commentaries, has hosted
debates in his own home to talk about the bible with members of other denominations, and has on many occasions approached people who were talking
about religion in coffee shops and other places so that he could listen to them and give his own witness. To be perfectly honest, when I first met him I was shocked at how forward he was in sharing the faith with others. Now, as a pastor, I would give anything to have more people with the same boldness as Dan so that we as a region could communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people in our area.
 
Regardless of how comfortable we are with sharing the faith, we could all use a boost. I ask that you please consider attending, and please continue to be bold in sharing the greatest gift we have, the Good News of Jesus Christ, with our brothers and sisters who are searching.
 
Prayers always,
Fr. McC
 

Daniel (Dan) Egan received his BS in Geography from Northern Kentucky University, but his true love for 18 years has been teaching the Bible to high school and grade school children at St. Edmund Campion Academy in Fairfax (where he met Fr. McCullough). For a few years, he had a segment on EWTN's Sunrise Morning Show on their Bible Tidbit segment.  Currently, he is trying slowly to educate people about the glory of the history of the Catholic Church through a timeline that he sells. Dan loves to study the Bible/the Catechism/ the Saints/ Church History and to evangelize. He is happily married to Arica Egan and they have 7 children so far.
 
Monday, September 30, Dan Egan will be our guest speaker on the topic of Catholics and Evangelism at 7:00 pm at Our Lady of the Rosary.  The presentation will review what the scriptures teach us about evangelization.  Dan will discuss methods to better prepare yourself to evangelize, and some helpful techniques on how to evangelize to others.