HOMILY EASTER SEASON WEEK 04 02 – Year I
A Positive Faith:
Memorial of St. Athanasius
(Acts 11.19-26; Ps 87; Jn 10.22-30)
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Fr. Bryan Massingdale, a black priest who in 2017 received an honorary doctorate from the Oblate School of Theology for his ministry in theology and social justice, delivered a passionate and inspiring talk at the commencement exercises that year.
He shared his analysis of the American election that revealed three key elements: they are a fearful nation; they are a nation divided and polarized, and the truth is now being manipulated. To help the graduates minister in this social context, he gave them three suggestions: Be a pastoral presence; be a prophetic voice, and be a joyful witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He ended his talk with the ringing declaration that goodness will have the last word, and that God is always drawing good out of evil, positive out of the negative.
The readings during this Easter Season illustrate that last point very clearly. The very persecutions that were intended to stamp out the early Christian church actually helped to spread it. It was almost as if the persecutions were necessary for the Good News to reach beyond the comfortable boundaries of the Jewish people.
Often in these readings, one reads of the apostles and disciples “speaking the word” to their listeners. It might be helpful to explore just what that “word” was, to better understand the dynamic spread of this “new way.”
Taking a hint from the question of the Jews addressed to Jesus in the portico of Solomon, we could summarize the Good News this way: Jesus is truly the Messiah who was to come into the world, and who fulfilled all the prophecies of the Old Testament, especially the suffering servant passages of Isaiah, and Psalm 22.
As Messiah, he fulfilled all the roles that the Messiah was to fill: he gathered all the nations to himself; he restored the temple in his own body; he overcame the real enemies of Israel (not the Romans but sin, sinfulness, sickness, suffering and above all, death through his resurrection), and he now reigns as Lord and King over all of creation.
He also shares with us his own life with the Father, eternal life that we could summarize as peace, joy, justice and an intimate relationship of prayer with the Father. Our relationship with Jesus is also our relationship with the Father, for as he says, “The Father and I are one.”
St Athanasius
Someone who lived these readings, whom we honour today, was St. Athanasius. Born at Alexandria in Egypt about 297, Athanasius is one of the Greek Fathers and a Doctor of the Church. He was present at the Council of Nicea (325), convened to oppose the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. Bishop of Alexandria and spiritual head of the desert hermits and of Ethiopia, Athanasius was a brilliant and formidable defender of orthodoxy, incurring the wrath of a succession of non-Christian emperors who repeatedly forced him into exile. Athanasius wrote several outstanding treatises on Catholic doctrine, especially on the Incarnation, and introduced monasticism to the West. He died in 373. Through his example, his learning and his writings, he remains one of our greatest teachers.
The Eucharist is what sustained the early evangelists in the fledgling church, and what sustained St. Athanasius throughout his life and ministry.
May our celebration today help us find the positive in what often seems negative, and share our faith with the world that we find ourselves in.
