Next Thursday we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord into heaven. Saint Luke pictures the scene for us in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. Soon after the event the disciples....
Next Thursday we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord into heaven. Saint Luke pictures the scene for us in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. Soon after the event the disciples are confronted by two angels who ask them "Why are you standing around?" We know that soon after on Pentecost the Holy Spirit will come upon them and they are inert no longer. Peter goes out and proclaims what he once denied: that Jesus is Lord. Thousands are converted to the new way as they hear him and the other apostles tell the good news of salvation. When faced with a social crisis in the faith community the Twelve do not hesitate to act and they ordain the first deacons to minister to the widows and orphans. The once fearful band now tends to a Church which witnesses to an unfriendly society that she fears not those who can "kill the body." In fact, thousands will be willing to commend their lives to God beginning with Stephen, Linus, Cletus, Clement, Agnes, Lucy, Felicity, and many companions. The martyrs' blood nourished the churches of Antioch, Laodocia, Smyrna, Jerusalem, and Rome. The centuries that followed saw the decline of Imperial Power and the rise of Christian culture.
It is important to recognize the divinity of the Church's origins can be compromised by its all too weak and human proponents. In every era, however, the church's call to holiness is heralded and heeded. When the faith community became part of "the establishment" the evangelical counsels became marginalized. St. Anthony departed from the city and formed a fellowship of hermits in the desert. The seeds that he planted gave life to the monastic movement. St. Benedict founded his religious community on the principals of work and prayer. Not only did he establish a rule which deepened the spirituality of those who subscribed to his ideals but he developed a system of education for society's leaders which encouraged their utilizing gospel values in their professions and trades. When reformation proved necessary for converts and monasteries the Church was not left to its own devices or forced to endure deterioration. The Holy Spirit moved St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross to challenge the Carmelite community to recover its charism.
The Reformation caused the Church of Christ the greatest agony. Families became divided. Whole countries were lost through the actions of kings and princes as they saw great advantage in suppressing the teaching authority of the Church. But the truth would not be silenced. Both clergy and lay rose to the faith's defense. St. Thomas More loved his king and his country. But he loved God more. As a father he had taught his children the wonder of God's creation, the message of Christ's salvation, and the Christians way of life. His words were made flesh as he refused to renounce the Magisterium of the Holy Father. Time and time again friends sought him to yield to Henry VIII's demands so that he might leave his Tower prison cell and his life preserved. Unlike Cardinal Woolsey he served God better. St. Charles Borromeo responded to the theses of Luther, Calvin, and the other leaders of Protestantism by organizing the counter-reformation around the Catechism of the Council of Trent.
The explorations of Columbus, Cortez, Balboa, Pizarro, Cabot and others demanded a response from the Church which had been mandated by its Lord: "Go out and teach all nations." Juniper Serra, a humble Franciscan Friar, established missions with and for the Native Americans. Isaac Jogues and his Jesuit companions, proclaimed the freedom of the cross, sometimes giving their very lives in its service. Thousands of enthusiastic men and women came to love and serve their God by placing their lives at His disposal and serving His people. And still more came to our nation to ensure that our land will hear the Greatest story Ever Told. Young John Neumann left his native Bohemia to come to an uncertain existence as a priest preaching, teaching, and sanctifying the people of God from New York City to Buffalo. Pierre Toussaint though he came to New York as a slave in service to a Haitian family he remained in freedom to serve others in the closing days of the colonial period. Using his funds to feed the poor and build up the church in the growing metropolis he embodied the faithful disciple. At the same time a native of Staten Island from a respected family now widowed become enamored into this communion though she knew it would cause her to be ostracized by those with whom she once socialized. Her profession of faith became the impetus for her to open educational opportunities to those who would be denied them otherwise. The cause of social justice was championed by Cardinal Gibbons, Father Francis Duffy, Father John LaFarge, as well as Father Michael McGivney and his lay associates in the Knights of Columbus.
We are the inheritors of those disciples who did not stand by idly as they perceived the needs of the church and her people.
They were troubled by the societal conditions of their day as well as the lack of impact of faith on them. But they did not lose heart or become paralyzed. They stepped out in divine confidence. This is our time. We must embrace the challenges of modern life by fulfilling our baptismal promises: feeding, clothing, and sheltering the poor; instructing our leaders and neighbors in the reality that we stewards of God's creation; and gathering in the Lord's house offering worship for ourselves and the world we share with those who might not yet know Him.
Let us listen to God's word and act upon it as we pray for one another.
Vivat Jesus
Fr. Brian