Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton
HOMILY
Mass of the Holy Spirit for Chancery Staff – September 12, 2011
For the past several days, most of us have experienced an unsettled feeling in our hearts. Yesterday, our nation commemorated the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks in New York, Washington, DC and western Pennsylvania. Every one of us, no doubt, stopped to reflect upon those events – where we were when they occurred – and how they have changed our lives forever.
For those of us who live in northeastern and north central Pennsylvania, the unsettled feeling in our hearts preceded and now follow yesterday’s anniversary of 9/11. These unsettled feelings are the direct result of the devastating floods that affected so many of our brothers and sisters in many places, but more particularly right here, within the Diocese of Scranton. These feelings are all the more palpable when we connect them to the faces of some diocesan employees whose homes were destroyed or damaged. They are all the more palpable when we see images of a church where we’ve worshipped or a school that we attended badly damaged. These feelings are all the more palpable when we look at damaged homes in neighborhoods that are familiar parts of parishes within our eleven counties.
The gospel proclaimed for this Mass of the Holy Spirit is simple and direct. Jesus says to his disciples, “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.” In this section of Saint John’s gospel, the disciples are facing the harsh reality of Jesus’ impending departure. They are challenged to continue his mission and they’re encouraged by the promise of the Holy Spirit.
It’s very apparent that Jesus’ going away will not produce a situation in which the disciples are lost, but it will inaugurate a new era gifted with the presence of the Holy Spirit – an era marked by love, the keeping of the commandments of Jesus, and the promise of a future time when the Father and the Son will abide forever with the disciples.
The notion of love holds this brief passage together. The disciple who loves Jesus shows that union of love by holding fast to Jesus’ commandments. As he goes to his death, Jesus exhorts his disciples to love as he loved by holding fast to his commandments. He then assures them that he will ask the Father to gift their love and fidelity with “another Paraclete” – the Holy Spirit – who will be with them forever.
As we gather in prayer this afternoon – particularly with all of you, our chancery staff – my closest collaborators – I can’t help but link these words of the gospel to other words that I’ve shared with many of you over the past several weeks in particular. Earlier this year on Pentecost, the great feast of the Holy Spirit, I offered a pastoral letter for your consideration. The letter is entitled Wounded and Loved, Regathering the Scattered. It is amazing how significant the title of the letter has become in light of the events of this past week. So many are wounded for so many reasons. Yet in the midst of pain, God’s amazing love abounds through lives that are open to the Spirit.
At the heart of this letter is the notion of servant leadership in the Church. Servant leadership itself is rooted in our relationship with God and the recognition and experience of God’s love, which prompts an authentic response on our part to love in return – to serve as we have been served. The foundational passage in the scriptures for servant leadership comes from also from Saint John’s gospel, just before Jesus shares the words of today’s gospel. The passage that I’m referring to finds Jesus getting up from the table and then bending down to wash the feet of his disciples – assuming a role reserved for a servant or slave. Having washed his disciples’ feet, Jesus then offers these compelling words, “As I have done, so you must do.” … “As I have served you in your need, so you must serve your brothers and sisters.”
All of the baptized are called to servant leadership. All of us fulfill the mandate of today’s gospel and keep Jesus’ commands when we “do as he did” and love generously and serve in a selfless manner. … And those of us who lead this local Church of Scranton – each of you collaborating with me – will only do so authentically if our leadership is rooted in a desire to serve because we have been touched by the loving hand of God.
I thank those of you who have captured and lived the spirit of servant leadership these past few days. Your loving service has impacted lives far more than you will ever know. One of our principals whose school was badly damaged this week amazingly shared these words with me yesterday morning. She was reflecting on two of you who visited her at the school. She said, “Bishop – you have an incredible leadership team working with you. They understand what you’re trying to convey in servant leadership.” … So does that principal.
My friends, may our love be generous. May we fulfill the command of the Lord Jesus to “do as he did” – to serve our brothers and sisters. And may we come to know, in return, the abiding presence and peace of the Spirit in our lives.
