Christian Service

Homily for 5^th Sunday of Easter Year A 2014

Acts 6:1-7 • 1 Pet 2:4-9 • John 14:1-12

Introduction

In the First Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 12, Paul teaches about the unity of the Body of Christ.  To make his point, he uses the image of the human body, whose various limbs and parts all contribute to the welfare of the body.  The foot, the hand, the ear and the eye all have a role to play.  There are many parts, but one body.  And no one part can claim to be the whole body or even the only important part.  All contribute, in their own unique way to the whole body.

Scripture and Theology

This is also the lesson that we learn from today’s first reading.  It is a lesson about the various ministries in the Church.

As the Christian community expanded beyond Jerusalem, it attracted not just Hebrew-speaking people, but also Greek-speaking people.  Naturally it became increasingly hard to organize such a large number of people, especially because they spoke different languages and were from different cultures.  It seems that the new-comers, the Greek-speaking people were not being treated as well.  Their widows were not being looked after as well as the others.

This situation occurs even in our parishes today.  Unlike a century ago when the Irish, Italians, Germans and French had a church on one block, today our parishes have a great diversity.  But the difficulty, like that faced by the apostles, is, “how do you meet the needs of all these diverse people: the Caucasians, Africans, Hispanic and Asians?

As we heard in the reading the apostles turned to a tried and tested method.  They delegated those duties to others.  Is that not what God told Moses to do?  In the Book of Numbers Chapter 11, when the people are grumbling about the lack of meat - they are tired of eating the manna – we hear Moses crying out to the Lord, saying: “I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me.”  Then the LORD said to Moses:

Assemble for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the tent of meeting. When they are in place beside you, I will come down and speak with you there. I will also take some of the spirit that is on you and will confer it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you. You will then not have to bear it by yourself (Num. 11:16-17).

And indeed the Lord did as he promised and anointed these 70 helpers of Moses and peace was restored in the camp.

And so, the Apostles also anoint these seven men chosen by the community with the Holy Spirit, so that they can lift some of the burden from them.  The apostles do two things that have remained constant throughout the history of the Church, in ordaining its ministers.  They lay hands on the men and pray for them.  And then from then on, these seven men go out and take care of the widows.  Actually they do even more than that; Stephen and Philip go out to preach the Good News and baptizing, all because of the Spirit that has been passed to them by the laying on of hands.  In the Catholic tradition these seven men are known as the first deacons of the Church.  Although the passage never refers to them as deacons, the kind of work they do is service, the ministry of deacons. 

Christian Life

Deacons are the third group in that trio of ordained ministers in the Church: bishops, priests and bishops.  In harmony these three ministries serve the Church in different ways and build it up.  The bishop is the shepherd of a diocese which consists of several parishes.  He is assisted by priests who act as the bishop’s advisers and take his place in the parishes.  The deacons, without taking over the work of the bishop or the priest, assist both of them especially in the ministry of service: service at the altar and service of the Christian community especially in administration and charity.

In this week’s Clarion Herald there are several stories about deacons.  There is particularly one about three young men who are going to be ordained deacons on Saturday at St. Louis Cathedral.  Now these are called transitional deacons, because a year from now, they will be ordained priests.  For them, the diaconate is stepping stone to another ministry, the priesthood.  Perhaps the reason for passing through this stage is that before they take on the responsibility of being pastors of souls as priests, they should learn what true service means.

But in the same Clarion Herald is a story about another kind of deacon; the permanent deacon.  There is one deacon who has been a deacon for 40 years.  Our own Deacon Dean has been a deacon for 15 years.  Those who are older perhaps do not remember having deacons before the 60s.  The reason the Church restored this important ministry is because diaconal service from the very beginning has been an essential aspect of the Church’s ministry.

Like the seven men we read about in the first reading today’s deacons serve the needy in the ministry of charity.  Like the deacons Stephen and Philip, today’s deacons also preach the Word of God.  Deacons assist the priest and bishop at Mass, they visit the sick and conduct communion services.  Deacons help in the administration of parishes and even the Diocese.  They do all these things, like the first deacons to build up the Body of Christ, and they do this usually as married men, living their lives out there in the world, but serving God with the grace of ordination.

Let me suggest two things to take from this reading for our personal lives.

The first message concerns permanent deacons.  Have you personally thought about serving God and the Church as a deacon like those seven men we just read about?  Or do you know someone who has the qualities of a deacon, but perhaps needs a little nudge?

The second message concerns our own life of service.  Yes, we have permanent deacons, priests and bishops – these are professional servants if you like.  But they do not let us off the hook.  Did you hear what St. Peter wrote in today’s second reading?  He said to you:

You are “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.

Yes we are all a kind of priest and deacon because of our baptism.  Especially as live our lives in the family, at work and in the public square, we have to serve others and God.  Our diaconal service is out there, as we live our every day lives.  Of course we also serve at Church, especially at the liturgy.  In fact, all the ministries at Mass, readers, servers, ushers, musicians were at one time carried out by deacons.  As we carry them out today, let us remember that we are carrying out a diaconal duty; we are servants of the Lord.

Conclusion

And so, my brothers and sisters, service is the hallmark of what it means to be Christian.  In fact in the Early Church one of the reasons that Christianity caught on was because Christians served everybody, not just their members, but others as well.  Other religions, especially the Roman religions did not do this.

We continue this honourable tradition of service, not just in our bishops, priests and permanent deacons; not just in our ministry at Mass or the Parish Council or teaching religion, but especially in our every day lives – doing for everybody what those seven men did for the widows of their time and Christians throughout history have done for the world.  Let the ministry of our deacons set the standards by which our own service is carried out.