The Sixth Sunday of Easter Celebration of the
Christian Brothers
May 26, 2014
Listen to this homily! (mp3
file)
As we move closer to the great feast of Pentecost, now only two Sundays away,
there is more and more talk in the readings about the Holy Spirit. And we
should welcome that because sometimes the Holy Spirit gets short shrift!
Today, in the reading from Acts, we got the story of
Philip going to Samaria, that hotbed of heretics (or so the Jews considered
them) - Samaria, that difficult place where Jesus’ apostles hadn’t been welcome.
But it’s different now. When Philip preaches there and works wonders,
driving out unclean spirits and healing paralyzed and crippled people, the
Samaritans listen to him and believe. And when word of this reaches
‘headquarters’ in Jerusalem, the Jerusalem community responds by sending two of
the apostles to Samaria, Peter and John, so that they can do what only the
apostles can do: lay hands on the new believers for an outpouring of the gifts
of the Holy Spirit.
This laying on of hands for the giving of the gifts
of the Spirit -- something the Church continues to do to this day -- was highly
important in the early Church. Luke, the author of Acts, invariably
connects the outpouring of the Spirit’s gifts to this physical laying on of
hands as well as to the presence and the prayer of the apostles. And with
good reason. The apostles were the ones who had witnessed the risen
Christ, ate and drank with him, and so they were in a unique position to connect
new believers to him and to his life-giving Spirit.
But I find it worth observing that in today’s
reading from John’s gospel we got quite a different view about how people
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. In his Last Supper discourse which is
the part of John’s gospel that we are reading from, Jesus says nothing at all
about the role of apostles or about the laying on of hands. He speaks only of
love and says that it is love that brings about the presence of the Holy Spirit.
“If you love me, he says, “you will keep my commandments. And I will ask
the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the
Spirit of truth.” In John’s gospel love is not only the key to receiving
the Holy Spirit, love is the proof, the evidence, that the Spirit indeed lives
within us.
So what are we to make of this? Are Luke and
John at odds? No. They had different purposes in writing and they were
writing at different times for different communities. Luke had his own good
reasons for stressing the need for order and organization in the community, and
John had his own good reasons for stressing love. But order and love are not in
opposition. They just need to be in balance because we need both!
Why make a point of this? Well, I think it’s
timely. Timely because of this moment in which we find ourselves as a Church --
this Pope Francis moment. For a long time, we have tended to stress Luke’s
side of the story: the organizational side of the Church, the hierarchical,
carefully ordered side, if you will. Very often, in speaking of the ways the
Spirit works in the Church, we have tended to start with the hierarchical
structure of the Church, viewing the Church as a pyramid, with the bishops and
priests at the top and everyone else at the bottom. Call it “trickle-down
theology.” It has elements of truth but it has its limits!
Pope Francis starts at a different place. He
starts with the whole Church - lay people, priests, bishops – all of us
together. He wants to awaken us to our call to be missionaries, our common
call to live and preach what he calls the Gospel of Joy. He wants to remind us
that Jesus was speaking to the whole Church when he said “If you love me, you
will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth. You know [this
Spirit] because he remains with you and is in you.”
So, my friends, the point I’m making is not at all
academic. It’s quite practical and has practical implications. It
explains, for instance, why Pope Francis, in preparing for the upcoming Synod on
the Family, has shown himself eager to hear from the people in the pews. What
better place to start? Who knows family life, with all its joys and
sorrows, its chaos and confusion, its challenges and disappointments, better
than people like you who, day after day, are doing your best to bring Christ and
his gospel, his teachings, his values, into the life of your family?
Shouldn’t your experience count? Of course, it’s not the only thing, but
what better place to start than with you, the Spirit-filled People of God?
This emphasis on the Spirit who is alive in the
entire Church, and on the call that each of us – not just the hierarchy - has
received to preach the Gospel, prompts me to say a few words about the Christian
Brothers of O’Dea High School whom we are honoring today. For nearly a
century here in Seattle, the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been alive and
evident in these men, these humble, unassuming, down-to-earth men who would
never regard themselves as part of the hierarchy. Energetically and unselfishly,
they have given themselves to the ministry of educating thousands of young men
at O’Dea. Thanks to them and their lay collaborators, O’Dea is a highly
respected ‘player’ on the local scene and O’Dea’s alumni are a veritable Who’s
Who of faithful Catholics and committed citizens in our community and well
beyond it. I’m proud to say that my own Dad was an O’Dea alumnus, a member of
the class of 1926, the first graduating class, no less!
Ever since our parish founded O’Dea back in 1923,
the Christian Brothers of Ireland have been the heart and soul of the school.
Their leadership and dedication have shaped O’Dea and made it the great school
it is. And even though the Brothers will be leaving O’Dea this summer – a big
loss for O’Dea, and for our parish, and a painful moment for the Brothers – even
though they will leaving, the Christian Brothers leave behind a legacy that will
remain as long as O’Dea exists. And the gentle, courageous spirit of their
founder, Blessed Edmund Rice, who cared so deeply for the poor and
disadvantaged, will continue to be the spirit of O’Dea.
Today, as we honor the Brothers, please join me in
giving thanks for all the ways they have inspired generations of young men -
opening minds to truth and hearts to love - all the ways they have labored to
awaken their students to what is truly important in life, all the ways they have
been channels for them of the Spirit’s gifts of wisdom, understanding,
knowledge, and right judgment. Their gift has been great. May their
reward be even greater than their gift. And may Brothers Greenan, Dornbos, and
McCormack, the last three in a very long line of Brothers to serve here, know
God’s best blessings -- and our prayer and gratitude -- as they take their leave
from us, following God’s call as they always have!
Brothers, “Live Jesus in your hearts forever!”
Father Michael G. Ryan
