HOMILY MONDAY OCTAVE OF EASTER – Year II
On Being Spirit-Filled Witnesses
(Acts 2:14-23; Ps 6; Mt 28:8-15)
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“People of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem … listen to what I say!” (Acts 2:14)
These words of St. Peter, and indeed the whole book of Acts, are an invitation to us to also be spirit-filled witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
According to The Word Among Us, the Book of Acts – which we will be reading throughout this Easter season – is so much more than a history of the early Church. It’s a book about the power of the Holy Spirit. Throughout its pages, we read how the Spirit of the Risen Lord worked through regular people to make them into bold apostles and witnesses to Christ.
Because it speaks about so many lives being powerfully transformed, Acts also gives us hope and encouragement for our lives. What happened to the apostles can happen to us as well.
Today’s reading describes the first of many scenes in Acts in which the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles to build up the Church on earth. This passage also describes the first fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy before he ascended into heaven: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Here in Jerusalem, Peter, a poor, uneducated fisherman, had the courage to preach, and thousands came to believe.
As Acts progresses, we will read how Peter and other disciples, like Stephen, preached the gospel in Jerusalem and the surrounding area of Judea. Then, the focus will shift to Philip, who spread the gospel even farther when he proclaimed Christ in Samaria. Finally, we will witness Paul bringing the message and the power of salvation through Asia Minor, then into Greece, and lastly to Rome and “to the ends of the earth.” And in every scene, we can see the Holy Spirit working powerfully through these humble, anointed messengers of God.
Stories like the ones recorded in Acts continue to happen today through the preaching and witness of Jesus’ disciples – and that means us. Like Peter, Philip, Stephen, Paul and all the others, we also have received the Holy Spirit. She is with us to help us witness to Jesus and build his kingdom here on earth.
CLC graduation in Kenya, Oblate pre-novitiate 2003
I believe the Christopher Leadership Course, which began in Beauval in northern Saskatchewan in 1975 and ran for forty years, was a Spirit-filled program and in its own way realized a new Pentecost in the north. Over those years, we discovered it was more than just another course on effective speaking that formed leaders through speaking skills. It also imparted a sense of dignity on the participants, and gave them greater courage and enthusiasm, gifts of the Holy Spirit. For those who were already involved in the church, it honed their leadership skills. For those not involved with faith or the church, it was a gentle evangelization tool in which they met Jesus, and for some, were led into the church. I remember one woman telling me she found God through that course, and not only came back to church, but got involved in ministry.
Certainly, we as instructors had the sense we were privileged to be instruments of the Holy Spirit witnessing to the resurrection. If the Book of Acts contains within it many stories of transformation, we witnessed many participants being transformed from shy, nervous persons who could barely introduce themselves during the first class, into confident speakers who could give a talk at their graduation banquet, or in church the Sunday the course finished.
Another joyful experience of being witnesses to the Risen Lord happened during a Parish Renewal we were conducting in a northern Manitoba community. We had adapted Jesuit priest Chuck Gallagher’s program into a five-evening process including singing, fellowship, scripture, a talk, reflection questions, time to meditate, small group and large group sharing that often went late into the night. We would end each evening in a large circle and hugs, and close the last session with a Eucharist, dramatized gospel and sharing of commitments. In this particular community, an evangelical pastor had flown into the community for some ministry, only to find most of the adults and many teenagers joyfully and eagerly involved in this process, so we invited him to join us, and he did, so contagious was the joy everyone felt in gathering as the Body of Christ.
I took a community addictions training course many years ago, with a group of about twenty-two other persons, mostly Indigenous. During the more relaxed evening conversations, I discovered I and one other class member were the only ones who believed in the resurrection of Jesus. Everyone else was taking the idea of reincarnation for granted, and found the fact that we were different rather odd. This was another opportunity to summon up some courage, answer their questions, be a witness and share why we believed as we did – how the resurrection of Jesus changed everything, and opened up the possibility of living in the Kingdom of God here and now, which ended up being my motto as a bishop – Regnum Dei Intra Vos – “the Kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:21).
The Eucharist itself is a Sprit-filled event, as we listen to the Word of God, and witness humble gifts of bread and wine transformed by the power of the Spirit into the body and blood of Jesus. While we may not be able to physically share in communion, may our pondering God’s Word today fill us with that peace and joy only Jesus can give, and empower us to be witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus in our own lives. So as the Easter season unfolds, let us ask Jesus to fill us with his Spirit and make us into his witnesses. Jesus desires it and will surely help us to fulfill our call.
