SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

21 MAY 2017

          Jesus continues to speak to his closest disciples at the Last Supper.  He asks if they love him.  If they do, they are to keep his commandments.  He is not talking about warm feeling.  He is speaking of the two great commandments – love of God and love of neighbor.  He had just washed their feet to demonstrate the humble service expected of those who love him.  He is preparing himself to become the Lamb of God sacrificed for their salvation.  Knowing how difficult this love will become, he promises to send them another Advocate.  For three years, he has been their Advocate – standing beside them and urging them on.  After his death, resurrection, and ascension, this second Advocate will do the same.  The Holy Spirit will stand by them so that they will continue to share his self-gift to the world.

            We see that dynamic in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles.  Philip and other Greek speaking disciples have been driven out of Jerusalem after Stephen had been killed.  Instead of hiding in fear to protect his own life, Philip goes to Samaria, which is directly north of Judea.  Jews and Samaritans hated one another.  But Philip breaks through all those divisions, just as Jesus had reached out to the Samaritan woman at the well.  The Samaritans respond positively to the Gospel he proclaimed and the signs he worked.  Philip baptizes many Samaritans into the Body of Christ.  Then the Apostles Peter and John, come down to give them the Holy Spirit, enabling these newest members to love as Jesus had commanded them.

            Jesus speaks to us at this Memorial of the Last Supper.  He commands us to love, as he has loved us, and as Philip had loved the Samaritans.  We express our love best by being humble servants.  He invites us to trust that our acts of humble service will be powerful signs in the Granger area drawing people to Christ, just as Philip’s works drew people to Christ in Samaria.  Please take a step in faith and make a commitment to some kind of service in our parish.  We ask for a one-year commitment, which can be renewed or changed every year.  Please read the information in the bulletin and the materials that you will receive in the mail next week.  Pray over your decision, and invite the Holy Spirit to help you to avoid hiding your talents out of fear.

            Since we have moved into the new church, the large size of our parish has become more apparent.  We see more parishioners at a given Mass, because our new church holds twice as many people.  Some of you worry about getting lost in such a large parish.  However, you will find that getting involved and giving yourself in humble service not only helps the parish.  It also connects you more closely with the others who serve in that ministry.  In giving, you will receive much more in return.  If you don’t believe me, please listen to Tim Golichowski, as he speaks of his experience of giving his time and talent in humble service of the parish.

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

14 MAY 2017

            Jesus speaks these words to his closest disciples at the Last Supper.  For three years, they had been walking the way to Jerusalem, listening to him teaching them how to be good disciples.  He had taught them that the last would be first.  He had spoken openly of his own death on the cross and their need to carry their crosses.  He had just washed their feet to teach them how to be humble servants.  Even though he had been deeply troubled at the tomb of Lazarus, he tells them not to allow their hearts to be troubled.  He reminds them that they know the way.

            Thomas objects that he does not know the way.  But he will soon find out what Jesus had been talking about all along.  He and the other apostles will find that the way to the Father is through death.  In his encounter with Christ after the resurrection, he would know the joy of being forgiven for running away.  All of them would understand what Jesus was talking about when he says that there are many dwelling places in his Father’s house.  He is not talking about rooms or buildings.  He is talking about an intimate eternal experience of God’s presence.  He used the same image when he spoke about destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days.  He had been talking about the temple of his body and his presence to them after the resurrection.

            Then he tells them that they will do greater works than his works.  We can see how this promise is kept in the Acts of the Apostles.  Those who had been baptized became living stones rooted in the cornerstone of Jesus Christ.  They were living stones coming from many different backgrounds, languages, and cultures.  That diversity brought conflict.  The Greek speaking Christians complained that their widows were being neglected.  So the Twelve Aramaic speaking leaders came up with a decision under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  They laid hands on seven Greek speaking men and put them in charge of serving the poor.  As the first deacons, they performed new works of service and helped the Church adapt to changing circumstances.

            We see a similar dynamic happening in our sister parish of Saint Adalbert.  People of Polish descent founded the parish in the early part of the twentieth century.  Today, most of the parishioners have Hispanic origins.  That is why the image of the bishop Saint Adalbert on our Triumphal Arch is flanked by the image of the Mexican peasant, Saint Juan Diego kneeling next to him.  It has not been an easy transition, much as the situation depicted in the Acts of the Apostles was not easy.  The two communities have different languages, different cultures, and different ways of behaving in Church.  But, fed by the Body and Blood of the Lord at every Mass, they have worked things out and are creating a new work in the name of Jesus Christ.

            The same is true of our parish as try to do the works of Jesus Christ.  We may not walk on water.  We cannot take five loaves and two fish and feed five thousand people.  We are certainly not perfect, and we are working to make adjustments in settling into our new church.  But our very acts of service, both within the parish and to those in need outside the parish, make a huge difference.  That is especially true of those of you who are living the vocation of being mothers.  We honor them today, rightly, because they have learned from their own experience that the way to the Father is through Jesus Christ and sharing in his dying and rising.  Mothers wash more than feet on a regular basis.  They deny themselves many times each day and manifest the works of Jesus Christ.  Inspired by the example of mothers in our midst, we continue our journey in faith to the New and Eternal Jerusalem with untroubled hearts.  We continue to walk the way that leads to the Father’s house, where there are many dwelling places.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

7 MAY 2017

            One of the great features of our new church is that there are lots of images.  Those images can help us to visualize the spoken Word.  That is true of today’s readings.  The triumphal arch is dominated by the Good Shepherd, seated on his throne and drawing his flock from Bethlehem and Jerusalem to himself.  In other words, through the mysteries of the Incarnation (Bethlehem) and his death and resurrection (Jerusalem), he wants to draw all people to himself in the heavenly kingdom.  The sheep clearly recognize his voice and come to him.

            That is what shepherds in the ancient world would do.  They spent their entire time with their flock, guiding them to safe places for grazing and water.  At night, shepherds would lead their flocks into sheepfolds to protect them from robbers or wild animals.  Because there were no gates in these sheepfolds, the shepherds would take turns lying across the entrance.  They were the gate, and shepherds sometimes gave their lives to violent robbers or ravenous wolves.

            Our Good Shepherd knows each of us by our name and calls us to himself.  As Saint Peter says in the first reading, our Good Shepherd became the gate and laid down his life for us.  That action of laying down his life for us is dramatically portrayed in the cross hanging above the Altar.  Having laid down his life, he has become the Lamb of God, as pictured in the mosaic on the front of the Altar.  At this Mass, we welcome the final group of our second graders to be fed by the Lamb of God in Holy Communion for the first time.  Fed by the Body and Blood of Christ, they will be strengthened to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd and to trust in his loving care for them as they walk with us on our pilgrimage to the new and eternal Jerusalem.

            Saint Peter is very bold in his homily.  He calls Jesus both Lord and Christ.  Roman citizens referred to Caesar as “lord,” and Peter’s bold proclamation that Jesus is Lord would eventually cost him his life.  Calling Jesus the Christ got in trouble with his fellow Jewish brothers and sisters, who denied that he was the Messiah.  Peter also tells his listeners that they had been part of crucifying Jesus Christ.  Cut to the heart by his words, they ask what they should do.  He tells them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.  His words are so direct and strong that 3,000 people are baptized that day. 

Having listened to this homily of Saint Peter with us at this Mass, our first communicants will renew the promises made for them when they were baptized as infants.  Their white garments connect them to their baptisms, when they were clothed with a white garment to indicate that they had put on Christ.  With them, we renew the promises made at our baptism.  We confess that we have not always put the Lordship of Jesus Christ above everything else.  Too often, we have put our trust in those things that do not last.  We may not have been part of his actual crucifixion, but we have denied knowing Christ when we have not lived those promises, just as Peter had denied knowing Christ on Holy Thursday.  Just as Peter learned from his sin and accepted forgiveness from Jesus, we too can learn from our sins to turn again to the Good Shepherd, who forgives us and protects us in the sheepfold that is the Church. 

            As we continue to celebrate these fifty days of Easter, we open our ears to the voice of the Good Shepherd calling us to put our faith in his risen presence.  It is not always easy to live our baptismal promises.  It is not always easy to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Christ.  There are many other voices competing for our attention.  His risen presence is most clearly revealed at the Eucharist, when the Good Shepherd speaks to each of us by name and feeds us with his Body and Blood.  Our first communicants can help us deepen our Easter faith.