Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton
HOMILY
Light the Fire Youth Rally, Misericordia Univeristy – June 29, 2011
What an amazing gathering this is! I am so proud of all of you who have been a part of this wonderful day as we “Light the Fire” of the Holy Spirit within us. Do you have any idea of what your presence here today says to our world? Whether you realize it or not, your presence speaks volumes about FAITH – about LIFE – about HOPE for our future – about the GIFT that each of you is to the Church.
In addition to all that this day has been for you, it’s a very important day for the Church as we celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Please pray for him and thank God for him as he leads the Church. Pray for all of our priests – and especially those preparing to become priests. Many of our seminarians are here today. I trust that you’ve had a chance to meet them. We’re proud of them as well. Keep them in your prayers.
I hope that this day has been one filled with meaning for each of you – as you’ve teamed up with old friends and met new ones – as you’ve listened to testimonies of faith – as you’ve been challenged to grow in your understanding and knowledge of the Lord – as you’ve prayed – as you’ve shared your stories with one another – and as we now gather around the table of the Lord to receive the body and blood of Jesus in the gift of the Eucharist.
Our liturgy this evening speaks quite powerfully to what lies at the heart of our lives as Christians and particularly this moment. We celebrate with the universal Church the feast of two of our heroes – Saint Peter and Saint Paul – yet, two unlikely heroes. One was called by the Sea of Galilee and the other on the road to Damascus; one the blue-collar fisherman and the other something of a scholar. Both are founding apostles of the Church. We celebrate them as any country or corporation or organization celebrates the people whose genius gave the original vision and supplied the witness and hard work to make a lasting contribution. We link them together because the two of them singlehandedly cemented the foundation of the Church and literally bet their lives on its future.
To understand the significance of this celebration, we need to get inside of it. Listen again to the words shared in this evening’s gospel. After performing all sorts of signs and wonders – walking on water, healing lives that were broken, feeding thousands of people, it was clear to Jesus that many of those who followed were simply looking for signs and wonders – and missed what was at the heart of his life and ministry. And so Jesus puts everything on the line and says to his disciples – those who are closest to him: “Who do people say that the Son of man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “OK. So the crowds don’t get it. But what about you,” he said to them, “who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” … Peter understood. He knew Jesus.
For all that changes in our world and even in our Church – for all the changes that have taken place during the course of my life and yours, even at your young ages – with schools closing, parishes merging and Catholic values and teaching being challenged everywhere we turn – there is one thing that has been and will always be constant: the Church has always been and will always be a community of disciples of Jesus Christ. That will never change. That’s what we are: disciples of Jesus Christ. Webster’s dictionary calls a disciple “a convinced adherent of a school or individual.” And for Christians, “followers of Jesus Christ who accept and assist in the spreading of his message and doctrine.” … By its very definition then, discipleship always entails responsibility.
So – what’s my responsibility as a disciple of Jesus? What’s yours? First of all, a disciple of Jesus accepts the responsibility of getting to know Jesus. For me, for you to be a disciple, we have a responsibility to get to know the one whom we follow. That’s what Peter and Paul did. That’s what sets them apart so clearly.
Peter, by being part of that small group of disciples that moved around Palestine with Jesus, came to know Jesus in a unique way. Peter saw him laugh, he saw him cry, he saw him get angry, and he saw within him the power and presence of God. Peter knew Jesus deeply as a human friend and he cherished that friendship and he nurtured it. Peter also came to know Jesus as the son of God.
The same thing is true of Paul, isn’t it? Paul had a different way of learning about Jesus. For him, it happened in a flash. You remember the story, I’m sure, where he was on this way to Damascus, a city in Syria, where he was going to go to arrest Christians. But on his way he was thrown to the ground in a flash of light. He heard Jesus speaking, “Paul, Paul, why are you persecuting me?”
Paul suddenly realized that in those followers of Jesus he was going to arrest, he was actually arresting Jesus. Paul came to understand something very fundamental to our faith – that Jesus lives in his people – in us. … From the earliest days of the Church – to the present, we have proclaimed the presence of Christ in the lives of his faithful people. … Paul, then, came to know Jesus first of all in others, those in whom Jesus lived.
So that’s how Peter and Paul first became disciples. They committed themselves to know Jesus – and that’s what you and I must do. Chances are that we won’t have the same revelation that Paul had on the road to Damascus. We surely don’t have the opportunity like Peter to be with Jesus in his physical presence. But like both Peter and Paul, we can hear the words of Jesus that are proclaimed to us as we gather for Mass. We can take the time to read the scriptures and listen to Jesus – watch him – see how he acts – and come to know him more deeply. We can be close to him through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. And we have the power to encounter Jesus in exactly the same way that Peter and Paul experienced him in the early days of the Church – in the community of believers in whom Jesus is present. … Remember the words of Jesus to Paul on the road to Damascus: “Paul, Paul, why do you persecute ME?” Notice, Jesus didn’t say to Paul, “When you persecute my people, it’s as if you are persecuting me.” No. Jesus was and is bound to his followers through the Spirit within us.
That’s why this is an amazing gathering tonight – because Jesus is present among us and within us. It doesn’t get better than this. This is where we look to experience the Lord … to get to know him well … in the Eucharist, in the Word of God and in gathering of God’s holy people.
Once we come to know Jesus, that’s not the end of the story. There is another responsibility that is ours as disciples. We have to become like him. We have to make the pattern of his life our own. We have an obligation to live his gospel in every aspect of our lives – by proclaiming his WORD, his message of forgiveness, hope and peace – by singing his praises in WORSHIP – by recognizing and reverencing his presence in the COMMUNITY of his people – and by SERVING him in the lives he entrusts to our care.
A challenge to walk in the footsteps of Jesus? You bet it is. … But we’re in good company. It was a challenge for Peter and Paul as well. Peter was pretty rough on the edges – he didn’t always understand – and he went so far as to deny Jesus as he faced his cross. Paul wasn’t much better. He was a hothead who persecuted the Church. … Yet Peter was summoned to go beyond his weakness and become the rock upon which the Church would rest. Paul was summoned to go beyond his fervor as a persecutor of the new movement to become that apostle to the gentiles – writing most of the New Testament, apart from the gospels.
Peter and Paul were summoned by the Lord Jesus to build his Church – the people created in his image and likeness. And you and I are summoned like Peter and Paul – as we are – with our wounds and weaknesses – with our brokenness and fears – and with our talents and gifts – the fire that the Spirit has planted within us – summoned by the Lord Jesus to build up his Church in this corner of the world.
You are a part of an incredible reality – the Body of Christ – the living presence of God in our midst today. Never think for even a moment that because of your story, your baggage, you might not belong or that you have little to offer. None of us are worthy of Jesus’ presence in our lives – but because of GOD’S great love – because GOD called me and YOU first – we are all an essential part of his people, his body on earth.
There’s a wonderful story told by soldiers who were serving in Europe during the Second World War. They were walking through the ruins of a town in Germany that had been bombed and they happened upon the ruins of a church. Amazingly, in the midst of all of the rubble, they discovered a statue of Jesus – still standing and largely intact, except for the hands. It appeared as though they had been broken off. So the soldiers looked carefully through the rubble to see if they could locate the hands and at least place near the statue. They found nothing. Eventually, an old gentleman from the town walked up to them. He could speak English and they talked about the sad situation in the town, the ruined church and the statue. They told the man that they had been looking for the hands of statue that had apparently been broken off. … The old man smiled and then pointed to an inscription on the base of the statue, translating it for the soldiers from German into English. All that the inscription said was this: “I have no hands but your hands.” The statue never had hands. It was a constant reminder to the townsfolk and visitors that Jesus has chosen to work in our world through us.
Jesus has no hands today but your hands. No feet but yours. No body on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassionately upon the world. Yours are the feet with which he goes about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he heals, feeds, comforts and blesses. Peter and Paul understood how Jesus works in the world … and more than anything else, they allowed him to work through them.
A fire has been ignited in your hearts. Don’t put it out – but allow it to continue to burn. May the fire of the Spirit warm and console you when you try to make sense of things in your lives. May it sear your hearts with a passion to live the values of the Gospel. And may its glow allow you to see clearly God’s plan for you … so that in whatever you do, whatever career you embrace, and where ever you go, you will be the hands and feet and heart of Jesus to every person God brings into your life.
