(The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde during the Mass for Expectant Parents, at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Clifton, on Sunday, April 24.)
My dear Brothers and Sisters in the Risen Lord Jesus,
One word will summarize our reflection " “Faith.” Why do I say that? In today's Gospel from St. John's account, Jesus tells us: “Do not let your heart be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. " I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " Amen, Amen I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do even greater ones than these because I am going to the Father.”
In today's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we are reminded that “the word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly " .” The increase in disciples resulted from their acceptance by faith of Christ, who is their Lord and Savior. “Even a large number of the [Jewish] priests were becoming obedient to the faith.”
In today's second reading from the First Letter of St. Peter, we are urged to come to Jesus, the center of our faith, the very One in whom we put our faith. After all, He is ” " a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God " .”
Faith lies at the core and center of our lives as disciples, faith which is our total surrender to God revealing Himself in Christ. Faith is not only the submission of our intellect, but also the surrender of all we are and have. Faith implies trust for how could we trust someone in whom we did not believe. Faith and trust lead to love, which is the expression of this surrender.
Faith is tangibly expressed, first, by our prayer and reception of the sacraments. Prayer is more than words, more than the perfunctory expression of our needs. Prayer is entering into a divine dialogue, whereby first, we listen to the Lord, Who is speaking to us, and then we respond with praise, with thanksgiving, with sorrow, with petition. Those four are indeed the four ends of prayer. Receiving the sacraments means receiving within us the very life of Christ, divine grace, and we receive His life as we encounter Him through the outward sign of each sacrament, especially the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. For in Penance, that sacrament of divine mercy, His life is restored to us or deepened within us. And in the Eucharist, where we are present again at His dying and rising, He feeds us with His very self. Indeed, as the late Pope John Paul II reminded us in the opening words of his encyclical letter, the Eucharist is the very life of the Church. Yes, faith is expressed in prayer and through the reception of the sacraments.
But faith is also expressed by our obedient acceptance of Church teachings, all of them, not just the ones we like, since Church teachings are rooted in the Scripture and in the living tradition of the Church and are expressed by the Magesterium. Faith-filled disciples are not cafeteria-style disciples who happen to pick and choose what they like. No, faith is expressed by our accepting all the teachings of the Church.
Faith too is expressed by authentic Christ-like outreach to the poor and the needy. Christian love is faith in action. We are strengthened by Christ in this eucharistic Sacrifice so that we may serve Christ out there in our brothers and sisters. Recall what Christ told us in St. Matthews's Gospel, “What you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me.” Yes, faith lies at the center and core of who we are and what we do as disciples of the Risen Christ Jesus.
It is the role of St. Peter and of his successors, the popes, to keep us united in faith and in love by pointing to Christ the Way, the Truth and the Life; by pointing us to Christ and inviting us to come to Him, the living cornerstone; and by teaching us the faith in its integrity and fullness. As we recall our beloved Pope John Paul II, who assuredly taught us the faith and led us to Christ, so today and in the days to come, we pray for our new pope, Benedict XVI, who will likewise be the center and source of our faith and love and who will lead us to Jesus the Lord.
In his first homily after being elected the 264th successor to St. Peter on April 19th, on that next morning, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about faith and I quote, “Being an 'adult' means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties. A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives the knowledge to judge true from false and deceit from truth. We must become mature in this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith. And it is this faith " only faith " which creates unity and takes form in love.” Yes our new Holy Father calls us to be faith-filled disciples.
Permit me to address myself in a particular way to the expectant parents among us, including those awaiting the adoption of a child. Dear parents, it is a privilege and a joy to be gathered with you during the celebration of this Eucharistic Sacrifice. God's people gathered here with me are a sign of our entire diocesan family, who are praying for you, mothers and fathers awaiting the birth of their child and mothers and fathers awaiting the adoption of a child. The sacrifices you make and will make for the sake of these children are a tangible expression of your love for them. The best gift you can give them is the opportunity to grow and to develop in our Catholic Faith. When your children live in faith, they, like you, will be able to cope with life's uncertainties and difficulties, they will be able to interpret reality wisely and lovingly, they will live in friendship with Jesus Christ and journey toward faith's goal: eternal life in the presence of our Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yes dear parents, you are the first teachers of faith to your children; may you be the best of teachers, by your own witness of life and by clear explanations and teachings. Be faith-filled parents.
Sisters and brothers all, “Faith” so well summarizes today's homily. So with St. Peter, we too come to Jesus, Who is the Way the Truth and the Life, and proclaim “Lord, to whom else shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life!” Amen.
