24 May 2025 – homily for 6th Sunday of Easter CYCLE C – Acts 15:1-2, 22-29, John 14:23-29

We usually hear from readings from the Old Testament in our Sunday Masses, but during the Easter season, we hear the story of the Early Church in our first readings from Acts of the Apostles. We hear about the missionary journeys of Paul, Barnabas, and their companions, of the miracles they performed in the proclamation of God’s kingdom, of the way they were criticized by the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, and even thrown out of certain towns. In the midst of their challenges and obstacles, the disciples of Christ and the leaders of the Early Church encouraged the faithful and called for unity. Today, we hear about the Council of Jerusalem, the first council of the early Church, addressing what it means to be a disciple of Christ, addressing whether Gentiles needed to first obey the Jewish laws and customs prior to their conversion to Christ. This reading from Acts speaks about how with one accord under the guidance of the Holy Spirit they made their decisions and chose representatives. 

The first week I was in Spain, our new pope was chosen. I was amazed to see an American chose pope, especially one who grew up in Chicago and served as a missionary in Peru with the Augustinians. As our reading from Acts speaks about unity, that seems to be a main theme under Pope Leo XIV, as he stated this in the homily at his installation: “I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God's love, for he wants us all to be united in one family. Love and unity: these are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus.

Back when he was chosen as Cardinal in 2023, he talks about unity in the context of the teachings of St Augustine and in his life as a member of the Augustinians: “When I think of Saint Augustine, his vision and understanding of what it means to belong to the church, one of the first things that springs to mind is what he says about how you cannot say you are a follower of Christ without being part of the church. Christ is part of the church. He is the head. So people who think they can follow Christ ‘in their own way’ without being part of the body, are, unfortunately, living a distortion of what is really an authentic experience. Saint Augustine’s teachings touch every part of life, and help us to live in communion. Unity and communion are essential charisms of the life of the Order and a fundamental part of understanding what the church is and what it means to be in it.”

I look forward to learning more from Pope Leo XIV. In a world where there is so much division and discord, where people feel emboldened to attack and destroy rather than work with others in the midst of differences and diversity, some of the things we are hearing from Pope Leo XIV gives me a lot of hope. 

One of the things I love about the Camino in Spain is how it brings people together from all around the world. Many faithful Catholics and Christians from all different denominations, but also those who are not Christian as well. They are all drawn to a Catholic pilgrimage that started more than 1200 years ago, centered on the remains of St James, the apostle, which were rediscovered in northern Spain in the early 9th century in the midst of the Moors from northern African occupying that area. 

The cathedral square in Santiago de Compostela is filled with hundreds arriving pilgrims filled with so much joy and hope. All of us pilgrims have our physical struggles on the Camino. But we also have many ways that the Camino feeds our souls and our faith. I think of the pilgrimage trail I hiked these past three weeks. Some of the trail has large ascents and descents. Some of it goes through mountains and remote areas down rocky paths, while some of the trail goes through paved roads through large cities or busy highways. Some of it does not even look like a trail. Some of it goes down roads built by the Romans when Spain was a part of the Roman Empire. As I hiked along the trail, I thought about the feet of the millions of pilgrims that journeyed on that trail many centuries before me. It is humbling to be a part of the pilgrimage of the Way of St James. I am always grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of it. When I hug the statue of St James in the cathedral, I feel the unity of the Church embracing me. 

I want to end with a pilgrim’s prayer that is applicable to all of us on our pilgrim’s journey through life: 

May the light and love of God bless and direct your steps. May the paths open to your encounter. May you welcome silence into your heart and keep with gratitude the beautiful memory of good things. May God take you by the and to the arms of St James, the Apostle. May you return home full of light and joy. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

22 May 2022 – Sixth Sunday of Easter – Acts 15:1-2; 22-29, John 14:23-29

       We usually hear readings from the Old Testaments in our Sunday masses, but during the Easter season, we hear the story of the Early Church in our first readings from Acts of the Apostles. We hear about the missionary journeys of Paul, Barnabas, and their companions, of the miracles they performed in the proclamation of God’s kingdom, of the way they were criticized by the Pharisees and even thrown out of certain towns and targeted for death, of the way they encouraged the coverts to the Way of Jesus that they brought into the faith. Today, we hear about the Council of Jerusalem, the first council of the Early Church, addressing what it meant to be a disciple of Christ, addressing whether Gentiles needed to first obey the Jewish laws and customs prior to their conversion.  Just as conflict and tension arose in the Early Church when they were confronted with a new problem or new reality, we see this mirrored in some of the realities we face in the Catholic Church in our current day as well.  Indeed, being a disciple of Christ is never an easy task, no matter where and what time in history. 

     As you can see, I’m wearing a colorful stole today that was hand woven by the indigenous people of the rain forest where I served as a missionary in Ecuador.  I wear this stole today, remembering that in this last week in May in 1996, I started my three year assignment as a Comboni lay missionary in Ecuador.  Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and those early disciples went on an external, physical journey to the far regions of the ancient world to bring them the Good News of Christ. However, besides their physical journey, they also went on a spiritual journey.  Being a missionary means stepping out into the unknown. When I arrived in Ecuador, I did not know how to speak Spanish. I had never been to Latin America before.  Yet, I brought along a lot of hopes and dreams for my missionary work.  After studying Spanish for several months in the capital city of Quito, high in the Andes mountains, I went to the village of Borbón in the jungle province of Esmeraldas, very close to the border of Columbia, an area where there was a lot drug trafficking and gang and cartel activity.  Just as the communities that Paul visited had their own culture and traditions, where I served as a missionary had its own unique flavor and culture.  It was populated with descendants of escaped slaves from nearby Columbia who found freedom and refuge in this isolated jungle in the 18th century.  These escaped slaves and their descendants practiced their African tribal religions and traditions in virtual isolation from the rest of the country until after World War II, when the Comboni Missionaries were invited by the government of Ecuador to help integrate this area with the rest of the country.  I worked with a team of priests, nuns, a brother, and another lay missionary.  We were from different countries throughout the world – Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uganda, Spain, and the US.  We came together as missionaries, united by the Gospel, despite our different cultures and personalities.

      All of you have been thrust into this correctional institution on your journey through life, with a lot diversity and differences present.  I know it is a challenge for all of you to navigate those differences each day.  You might think about how you could not find two people much different than Peter and Paul in the stories told in the Acts of the Apostles.  They both had very different visions for the Church. These apostles in the Early Church had to respond to a rapidly changing reality. Through their patience and persistence, God spoke to the apostles in the midst of their challenging missionary work. Yes, the answers that God reveals to us can seem difficult to discern. We look at the discussions and arguments that came out of the Council of Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit led them in the Council of Jerusalem to a plan of action for their complex situation.  Through their discussions and disagreements, they finally found where the Spirit was leading them. The same Spirit that Jesus sent to those first disciples is present to us in the world today as well.  That Spirit helps us respond to the reality of the world. We are going to celebrate the Holy Spirit in a special way in the next couple of weeks in our celebration of the Ascension of the Lord and in our celebration of Pentecost.  

      As the Spirit was sent to the Early Church to lead them and guide them, the same Spirit is present to each one of you individually.  The Spirit is present in your community as well.   I look back sometimes and think if I would have chosen to go out as a missionary had I known the challenges and difficulties that awaited me.  I would have to say “yes."  Indeed, the Spirit speaks to us both as individuals and as a community.  God called me to be a missionary, which included facing a lot of hardships as well.  All of us need to be willing to be open to the Spirit, for the different ways the Lord can come into our lives.  If we spend time with the Lord each day, if we open to his will and not only our own will and desires, then we will hear the voice of God and will be able to discern his will for us. 

26 May 2019 – Sixth Sunday of Easter – Acts 15:1-2, 22-29, John 14:23-29

    We usually hear from readings from the Old Testaments in our Sunday masses, but during the Easter season, we hearing the story of the Early Church in our first readings from Acts of the Apostles. We hear about the missionary journeys of Paul, Barnabas, and their companions, of the miracles they performed in the proclamation of God’s kingdom, of the way they were criticized by the Pharisees and even thrown out of certain towns, of the way they encouraged the coverts to the Way of Jesus that they brought into the faith.  Today, we hear about the Council of Jerusalem, the first council of the early Church, addressing what it meant to be a disciple of Christ, addressing whether Gentiles needed to first obey the Jewish laws and customs prior to their conversion.  Just as conflict and tension arose in the Early Church when they were confronted with a new problem or new reality, we see this mirrored in some of the new realities we face in the Catholic Church in our current day as well.  We know that being a disciple of Christ is never an easy task. 

      As you can see, I’m wearing a colorful stole today that was hand woven by the indigenous people of the rain forest where I served in Ecuador.  I wear this stole today, remembering that 20 years ago this week, I returned from my three year assignment as a Comboni lay missionary in Ecuador.  Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and those early disciples went on an external, physical journey to the far regions of the ancient world to bring them the Good News of Christ. But, besides their physical journey, they also went on a spiritual journey.  Being a missionary means stepping out into the unknown.   When I arrived in Ecuador, I did not know how to speak Spanish. I had never been to Latin America before.  Yet, I brought along a lot of hopes and dreams for my missionary work.   After studying Spanish for several months, I went to the village of Borbón in the jungle province of Esmeraldas, very close to the border of Columbia, an area where there was a lot drug trafficking and gang activity. Just as the communities that Paul visited had their own culture and traditions, where I served as a missionary had its own unique flavor and culture.  It was populated with descendants of escaped slaves from nearby Columbia who found freedom and refuge in this isolated jungle in the 18th century.  These escaped slaves and their descendants practiced their African tribal religions and traditions in virtual isolation from the rest of the country until after World War II, when the Comboni Missionaries were invited by the government of Ecuador to help integrate this area with the rest of the country.  I worked with a team of priests, nuns, a brother, and another lay missionary.  We were from different countries throughout the world – Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uganda, Spain, and the US.  We came together as missionaries, united by the Gospel, despite our different cultures and personalities.

     I think about the diversity we have in our parish here at St Jude with our different age groups, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds, and personalities represented.  As we think about our diversity and our differences, we might think about how we could not find two people much different than Peter and Paul in the stories told in the Acts of the Apostles.  They both had very different visions for the Church.  These apostles in the Early Church had to respond to a rapidly changing reality. Through their patience and persistence, God spoke to the apostles in the midst of their challenging missionary work. Yes, the answers that God reveals to us can seem difficult to discern. We look at the discussions and arguments that came out of the Council of Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit led them in the Council of Jerusalem to a plan of action for their complex situation.  Through their discussions and disagreements, they finally found where the Spirit was leading them. The same Spirit that Jesus sent to those first disciples is present to us in the world today as well.  That Spirit helps us respond to the reality of the world.

      As the Spirit was sent to the Early Church to lead them and guide them, the same Spirit is present in our community as well.  I look back sometimes and think if I would have chosen to go out as a missionary had I known the challenges and difficulties that awaited me.  I would have to say “yes”.  The Spirit speaks to us both as individuals and as a community, through my discernment as the pastor and the community’s discernment, God’s will was for me to be a missionary.  We need to be willing to be open to the Spirit, for the different ways the Lord can come into our lives.  If we spend time with the Lord each day, if we open to his will and not only our own will and desires, then we will hear the voice of God and will be able to discern his will for us.