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My Last Seminary Homily
By Fr. Dennis | May 8, 2008
Preached my final homily in the seminary today. Mine was the last homily the community will hear from this year’s deacon class, so I wanted it to address the transitions that people will be facing, and I wanted to bring in the refrain that the seminary rector repeats every year, all year long: stay on board.
The readings for today are here, and more specifically, the gospel was from John 17:20-26. Here is my homily:
As I begin, I just want to acknowledge the fact that this is the last homily here in the chapel from a member of this year’s deacon class. So the deacon class, in its special role as leaders in the community, has asked me to remind everyone else to stay on board.
And we want you to know that we’re with you on this. Really.
You know, as school is winding up, and we all begin to transition mentally to the next thing, whether it’s CPE or a parish assignment or language immersion or ordination or special summer programs here on the Hill, unity becomes more and more difficult.
So today, when we hear Jesus pray for unity, that can be reassuring. Yet the way Jesus prays for unity can also be a little confusing. He prays “that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us.” Very strange. You in me and I in you and they in us, and we are all together. Try making a genogram of THAT the next time you have a class with Dr. LaMothe. I mean, just what is Jesus really thinking about here?
Well, in this season, the Church gives us this reading to help prepare us to celebrate the great Feast of the Pentecost. But in the context of Scripture itself, this pericope comes from the Last Supper discourse, and Jesus is preparing his disciples for what he’s about to do. He is about to offer himself to his disciples in the communion of his crucifixion.
And not just to his disciples, because just a few lines earlier Jesus says, “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” Those who believe in him through their word. Who are those who believe in him through their word? That’s us, sisters and brothers. That’s you and me. Jesus was thinking of us.
And he wasn’t just thinking of us collectively, he was thinking of us individually as well. He was thinking of you, Alan. And you, Fr. Mark. And you, Tom and Sue Wind. As he was preparing to carry the cross to Calvary, he was thinking about you, Deacon Matt.
And he wasn’t just thinking about our sins, your sins, my sins, many and great as they may be, or about how heavy a burden we had placed upon him. No, not just our sins, but also the great love he has for us. He wasn’t just thinking of his cross, though he certainly was thinking of it, but he was thinking also about OUR crosses and OUR burdens. He was thinking about the term paper you still have to turn in. He was thinking about the take-home exam you still have to wrap up. He was thinking about the stack of deacon class essays you still have to read and evaluate, and the thousand other things we all have to do to get ready for the next transition.
And he was praying that we would be one. That you and I and all of us would be united with him through the communion of his cross. So even though we’re all trying to wrap things up and get ready for whatever transitions face each of us, we can still aim for that unity that Christ prayed for. We can still join our hearts and our minds together in prayer for one other, that in the days and weeks to come, we will be one as the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one. We can pray for each other as Jesus did on that night, as he was preparing to climb Calvary and mount the wood of the cross. He was staying on board all the way to his last breath, and offering his life for us so that we could stay on board too.
Topics: Homilies, Seminary Life |
May 8th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
good stuff - personal
May 10th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Very good — only a few more weeks. I am soooo excited for you.