Homily for Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Northern Pines Bible Camp – Park Rapids, MN
John Paul II Camp – Day 1

Welcome – camp is a time set apart. Pulled out of the normalcy of everyday life. An opportunity.

Jesus and the Apostles. He pulled them aside, apart from the normalcy of everyday life. Their first task was to be with Jesus. Second Task: they were sent out. This camp is your time apart…your time apart with Jesus.  Make the most of it.

Why are you here?

• Parents made me
• Heard it was fun
• God called you to be here

Why did God call you to be here?

1. To heal a wound
2. To open your heart
3. To call you to himself so that he could send you out (Gospel)
4. To call you to change or set the course for your life
   • To repent, to turn away from sin
   • To remind you, or to teach you for the first time, that you are a beloved Son or Daughter of the Father.
5. To show you that you are loved
6. To set you on the path to becoming who you were meant to be
7. To become what you were meant to be. Holy. A Saint.

God has chosen you to be a saint!

1. Second reading: “God chose you in him, from the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him” God chose you from the beginning. From before you were born. From the foundation of the world.
2. For the glory of God
3. The glory of God is man fully alive! – St. Irenaeus.
4. Staff and Service Team – models of holiness. See their joy and zeal. They are on their way.

Amos was called and chosen. The Twelve were called and chosen. You are called and chosen. You have to choose Him. Your yes must meet God’s yes. You must add your choice of God to His choice of you.

• What is your life about? To become a saint.
• Why are you here? To become a saint.
  • To see what it looks like. That’s what this week is all about. It is a week to encounter Jesus, to have a time apart with him, to share life with him, in the Body of Christ (the Eucharist) and in the Body of Christ (the Church community gathered here).

At the end of the week, you will be sent out.

• Sent to tell others what he’s done for you.
• Sent back changed – a different person for having known Christ.
• Sent to show others the way to him.
• Sent to proclaim what he has done for you here.