Bishop Glen John Provost
Bishop of Lake Charles
Homily for Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
"Do not let your hearts be troubled." John 14:1
This last week for his first time as Roman Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States. Thousands greeted him in Masses both in Washington and New York. As the 265th successor of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI embraced his office, in his own words, as "a humble worker in the vineyard."
How appropriate that the scripture readings of today's Mass speak of the continuity of service and office passed down by the apostles themselves. We read in the Acts of the Apostles, that the number of disciples grew. In so doing there was need for greater service and ministers. So the community selected deacons to serve. In turn, "They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them" (Acts 6:6). This same gesture is used to this very day in the ordination of deacons, priests, and bishops in the Catholic Church. In just three short weeks, I will ordain two priests and a deacon for service in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. I will do what the apostles did, laying my hands on the heads of these three new servants of the Gospel. Through those hands pass the sacred mission of ordination that links us, and particularly the Bishop of Rome, with the apostles.
Why is the apostolic succession so important to us as Catholics? St. Peter himself answers that in the second reading. "Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (I Peter 2:5). St. Peter sees this unity in structure as a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, "Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame" (Isaiah 28:16). The Church for St. Peter and the Christian Catholic is "'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises' of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (I Peter 2:9).
So today in Rome over the tomb of St. Peter, the "Rock," teaches, sanctifies, and leads, another living stone to build up the Church of God. On the very site where St. Peter was martyred, his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, takes up the office that he so faithfully fulfills by witnessing to Christ.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled" (John 14:1), Jesus says in the Gospel because we belong in God's house. There are many dwelling places. Each of us makes his or her contribution. Each of us has been given a gift. How marvelous it is! Each gift is different, and what an adventure of the Christian life it is to discover it and to use it.
Jesus says something truly remarkable in the Gospel today. "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these" (John 14:12). Could this be true? It is one thing to do great deeds. It is quite another thing to do the works that Jesus does. However, Jesus doesn't stop there. Isn't it unbelievable to do even greater works than Jesus did? This is what Jesus says. How can this be possible? It is only possible because we are united with Him in the "spiritual house" of the Church.
Jesus wants to be visible. He reveals the Father, and He cannot do that unless He is visible. For all this visibility to take place, Jesus wants the Church. For this reason, the Church repeats Jesus' work and does even great works than He did. Through these works the life of God is communicated through the Body of His Son.
Let Benedict XVI speak. "Christ is God being here with us. In him God has time for us; he is God's time for us and thus at the same time the opening of time into eternity. God is no longer the distant indeterminate God to whom no bridge will reach; he is the God at hand: the Body of the Son is the bridge for our souls. Through him, each single person's relationship with God has been blended together in his one relationship with God.... God is no longer merely a God up there, but God surrounds us from above, from below, and from within: he is all in all, therefore all in all belongs to us: 'All that is mine is yours.' God's being 'all in all' began with Christ's renunciation on the Cross of what was properly his. It will be complete when the Son finally hands over to the Father the Kingdom, that is, in gathered humanity and the creation that is carried with them. That is why the purely private existence of the isolated self no longer exists.... Each accepted pain, no matter how obscure, every silent suffering of evil, each act of inwardly overcoming oneself, every outreach of love, each renunciation, and every turning in silence to God-all of that now becomes effective as a whole: Nothing that is good goes for nothing".