Homily Second Saturday of Easter (Acts 6:1-7) “The Spirit can Heal Divisions”
Homily Second Saturday of Easter (Acts 6:1-7) “The Spirit can Heal Divisions”
The divisions within our society and our church are very discouraging. The divisions are described in various ways. We say that there are liberal and conservative camps. We might say that we have splits between those who are progressive and those who are reactionary.
We might look back nostalgically saying that these sorts of divisions were not there at the church’s beginnings. But that would be a naïve assessment. When we read the Acts of the Apostles, we find that even at the start the church had divisions. As modern Catholics we might not understand these divisions.
We read about the Hellenists in The Acts of the Apostles whose widows were begin neglected. Widows represented the poor. The church was ignoring the poor who were Hellenists, and this made this faction in the church unhappy.
Who were the Hellenists? Hellenists were the Jews who had lived abroad and now had come back to Palestine to live. Hellenistic Jews had been influenced by the Greek culture they had lived in. There were elements of it that they valued. The Jews who had always lived in Israel looked upon them with suspicion, we might even say bigotry.
What did the church do about the distrust between these two groups? The church prayed to the Holy Spirit and discerned a course of action. The leaders decided that they needed another set of ministers to dispense charity so that no one would feel ignored. This was the beginning of the order of deacons in the church.
How might this story guide us as we seek to bring different camps together in the church today. We could say we can learn two things. One lesson is that we must trust that the Holy Spirit can bring healing if the church entrusts itself to the inspiration of the Spirit. Secondly, we learn that the church should never be afraid of innovations that can advance the ministry of the church. If we stifle the Spirit to play it safe the church will suffer.
Reflection Questions:
- When have divisions arisen in the church in the past? Has the church always mended quarrels affectively?
- Has the Spirit ever inspired me to do something I might not normally do? What was it?
Dear Parishioners,
The reading today reminds us of when the ministry of deacons started in the church. The diaconal ministry we reconstituted in the late 1970’s. The practice of having permanent deacons was revived. We have had several permanent deacons who have served our parish over the last 50 years. Some of them have died others have moved away. We can offer a prayer of thanksgiving for all the good they have done in our parish.
We also pray today for Matt Martell and for Mike Maynard who will be ordained to serve our parish community in late 2022. They will be a great asset to our Parish and I look forward to serving with them.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark