May 14, 2017

5^th Sunday of Easter  

“We're All on the 'Way'” 

Deacon Dennis Slavin

The HBO channel is currently running a series called The Leftovers. It begins with a global event called the "Sudden Departure": On October 14, 2011, 140 million people, (2% of the world’s population), simultaneously disappear. The rest of the story shows how various people deal with the “Sudden Departure”. In the current season the focus is on the end of the world, and how the characters deal with it. I’m pretty sure that, one way or the other, the world will end for The Leftovers, because this is their final season.
 
It would be nice if we could jump into the story and invite all the characters to come to Church with us today, because today our Scripture tells us what is going to happen, and how we can prepare for it.
 
In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about the end times. He promises to prepare a place for us and come back to take us there, to one of the many dwelling places in His Father’s house. (When I was a boy, my pastor at OLS, Father Grieco, used to promise me that I would live next door to him!)
 
And then Jesus insists that we know the way to where He’s going. Of course, Thomas calls Him out and insists that we don’t know the Way.  Jesus sets Thomas straight with His reply: “I am the way”. The Way is not a GPS app over a highway; the Way is a lifestyle. Jesus is reminding us that his lifestyle of caring for others is what His Father expects of us. And when He tells Phillip, “Whoever sees me has seen the Father”, he is confirming that his Father approves that lifestyle.
 
The Way, the lifestyle Jesus lived, comes to us through our Jewish ancestors. St. Peter’s tells us so in his first letter. Using terms that once described the people of Israel, he calls us “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own.” Peter is telling us that we, as followers of Jesus, are now responsible for letting the world know who God is and how He wants us to live.
 
How do we let the world know? By imitating Jesus’ lifestyle of caring for others.
 
Our reading from Acts then shows us a sample of caring for others. The community recognizes that certain members were being neglected, and appoints seven men to take responsibility for meeting those needs. (Their work, by the way, has been described by Luke as diakonia or service, a term from which our word “deacon” was later derived.)
 
But the responsibility of living the life, or “walking the walk” is not limited to deacons, or priests, or religious. Jesus also tells us in the Gospel passage: “whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do greater ones than these…”
 
Saint John Paul II reinforced that for us when he wrote:
 
“You who are the laypersons in the church and who possess faith, the greatest of all resources, you have a unique opportunity and crucial responsibility. Through your lives in the midst of your daily activities in the world, you show the power that faith has to transform the world and to renew the human family. Even if it be hidden or unnoticed, like the leaven or the salt of the earth...your role is indispensable for the church in the fulfillment of her mission from Christ” (John Paul II, “Servant of the Servants of God”).
 
We’re all on “The Way”. Perhaps it would be helpful for us to take some time with the Lord at Communion to check the map on our own path on the Way. Here is some food for thought:
 
Can my spouse look into my eyes and see the face of God?”
Can I look outside myself and continue to serve others?
Have I accepted that everyone around me is a “child of God”, worthy of love and nurture?
Am I using my own time, talent, and treasure, to make things better for those around us who have the greatest need?
Am I using my voting right to encourage politicians to correct those conditions that contribute to poverty and need?
Does the world see God’s love in my behavior?
Does the rest of our community see me at Eucharistic celebrations?
Do I see myself belonging to a parish organization?
 
And all the while, His words ring in our ears:
 
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do”
 

5^th Sunday of Easter

Mother’s Day

Deacon Kevin O'Boyle

Today we celebrate the 5^th Sunday of Easter – our ongoing celebration of the great gift of our Savior. But as I reviewed the readings today, and thought about what has been going on this week, the word that kept coming back to me was MISSION. For four days, our cohort hosted Fr. Larry Richards for a parish mission which stressed our need to embrace the realities of our faith—to believe what we have been taught—and to act on it.  Yesterday was the 100^th anniversary of the start of the appearances of Mary at Fatima—and the canonization of 2 of the three visionaries of Fatima—children given a mission by our Blessed Mother—who saw it out over their brief lives.
 
Turning to our readings today we see mission throughout them. In our first reading from Acts, we see the appointment of the first Deacons. The story opens with the Twelve realizing that they cannot jeopardize their mission, so they call on others to begin a new ministry of service—a ministry that is still carried out today in a variety of ways through the diaconate. It is interesting to note that this past week was the ordination anniversary week for many of our deacons, including most if not all the deacons in our parish.
 
In our second reading, Peter reminds us first that Jesus was the stone rejected by human beings—but that each of us are called to be living stones—the structure of the spiritual house that is the Body of Christ. This is the ministry of every Christian—to live out their lives, contributing their talents to the Church.
 
Finally, we come to the Gospel. This Gospel is a favorite one for use at times of funerals. It reminds us that this world is not our destination. We are pilgrims in this world, and will be more at home in the next, where Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for us. Jesus has conquered death and opened heaven to us. We are challenged to believe in this and to continue the works of Jesus in this world. He gives us this mission and promises us that whatever we ask in His name He will do.
 
So what is the message to us on this 5^th Sunday of Easter? It seems, the message is that we each have a mission, that Jesus challenges us to do that work, and has gone ahead to prepare our reward for doing so. It is a call to faith in Him and His promise to be with us and prepare a place for us.
 
There is one more group, I must mention today when we talk about mission and doing God’s work—on this Mother’s Day, we must remember that group of women who take on that mission from God to be a special source and example of His Love in the world. To all those mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers, mothers to be, and all those who act as mothers for us, we give thanks today, and pray for them as they do the special form of God’s work that they are called to every day.  
 
So today’s word is mission. We are called to use our gifts as living stones to do Christ’s work in the world. Our challenge is to identify what work we are called to. The deacons were and still are called to service. Each of us are living stones called to do our job in the Church. Jesus calls us to do His work. Identifying and doing that work is the call of the Christian. On this Mother’s Day, we thank and pray for those who have identified and done that special calling. Every day, we are called to seek our own calling—and to do the work it demands. Something to think about on this busy week.
 
God Bless.