5th Sunday in Easter
May 18, 2014
12 Noon Liturgy
J.A. Loftus, S.J.
There is an old Chinese Proverb that says: “The eyes are wide
but the stomach is narrow.” Its American equivalent, which I
heard on occasion from my mother, is “Your eyes are bigger than
your belly.” If you are looking for an image to concretize the
proverb, and if you know a bit about Cape Cod, think of a buffet
room (or rooms) at the Chatham Bars Inn on Christmas (it was a
gift several years ago). I have never seen so much food displayed
so beautifully in one spot. (You can fill in your own equivalent if
you don’t know Chatham, or think Babette’s Feast, which many in
the parish shared recently.)
Sometimes our readings at liturgy are hard to understand.
Sometimes they don’t seem to have anything to do with each other
except for an occasional one-word reference. But today is a
veritable smorgasbord of tasty nuggets. So let me first layout the
buffet for you and then let your heart take you where it will.
The reading from Acts describes the first election of
successors for the apostolic ministry. Seven men are called by
name and, with the consent of the whole community, are—to use a
word from later history that we are more familiar with—are
“ordained” to the ministry of deacon. There is an enormous and
growing literature about this episode. There are many questions:
were they “ordained” deacons in the modern sense of that word?
Or were they “ordained” presbyters, leaders of local communities?
Two of them, Stephen and Philip show up in other New Testament
texts as leaders and preachers and servants of the Word and Table.
But there are even more questions. Evidence suggests that
there were women who were quickly added to that first group.
What exactly was their role—in the early church, in the middleages church, in the more contemporary churches? Phyllis Zagano,
a research professor at Hofstra University in New York was
recently on campus here discussing the growing literature on
women in ministry as deacons—then and perhaps in the future. A
lot there to feast on!
Let’s leave the appetizer table and wander further. The First
letter of Peter, using copious references from the Old Testament,
describes the rejected stone of Zion that becomes the cornerstone
of the church. But that stone is surely a paradoxical one. That
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stone is rejected and murdered before being recognized. But as
cornerstone, the rejected one calls us—each one of us by name—a
“royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people all his own.”
We are all priests—not just me! We are priests by our
baptism; that makes us all fundamentally given the same call: to
announce the praises of the God who calls us out of darkness into
his own wonderful light.
Are your eyes getting full yet at the buffet? And we have not
even approached the main course. That, of course, would be John’s
extraordinary gospel text. The context is that Jesus has just
predicted his rejection and death. The disciples are not amused;
they are confused and resistant. So Jesus now starts to console
them with his little speech: “Do not let your hearts be troubled….”
If you have been to a funeral lately you have heard this gospel
before.”
But John has Jesus take us further. Jesus says to them, you
know where I am going. And the questions begin. Where are you
going? How can we know the way to follow? Show us the father?
Then Jesus asks his own question: “Have I been with you this long
and still you do not know me?” “Whoever has seen me has seen the
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father.” And you will not only do the works I do but you will do
greater works than I have done.
Whew, I’m feeling stuffed already. “Unpacking” all this could
take hours, no, days, no, a lifetime perhaps. So let’s amble over the
one of the dessert tables for a final sample. And let’s, in the words
of T.S. Eliot, “end where we began,” at home with the deacons.
There is a prayer that consecrates all deacons at their
ordination. It is one of the most succinct and beautiful prayers we
have. And it applies to us all. We are all called to the ministry to
announce God’s praises. This prayer belongs to us all. It says:
“Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you are: Believe what
you read; preach what you believe; put into practice what you
preach.”
That is our universal call. Bon Appetit!
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