Three Things You Gotta Have

Acts 14:21-27

Psalm 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13

Revelation 21:1-5a

John 13:31-33a, 34-35

At first glance, our readings for today’s Mass of Thanksgiving don't seem to say much about the ministry of priesthood that we are celebrating with Fr. Laurence today. In fact, they don’t seem to have much in common at all. Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles seems little more than a travelogue of Paul and Barnabas on their way home to Antioch on their what is called Paul’s first missionary journey. The responsorial psalm is beautiful, but it doesn’t seem to connect with the previous reading. The second reading is from the end of the Book of Revelation and gives us a glimpse of the new world of which the Risen Lord is the first fruits. And the gospel, finally, ends with the “new commandment” that the Risen Lord gives the disciples—and us: “As I have loved you, so you should love one another.” Looks like not much here for a First Mass celebration.

However, I think if we read and hear them with the lens and amplifier of our celebration today, these seemingly disparate readings might tell us about three things you will have to have, Laurence, as you begin and continue your ministry as a missionary priest in the Society of the Divine Word. These readings tell us—and tell you especially this morning—that you gotta have ZEAL, you gotta have A MESSAGE, and you gotta have LOVE. Not only that. They build on one another. You will only be able to sustain your zeal if you have a message. And your message will only be credible if you have love.

Just reading the first reading from Acts leaves me exhausted! Even given the fact that the Roman Empire had an excellent system of roads, traveling in Paul’s and Barnabas’ day was strenuous to say the least, since they probably walked a lot of the way, and hotel accommodations were a far cry from what they are today. The passage names seven cities that they visited before setting sail back home to Antioch, and describes them as being involved in all sorts of pastoral work. Paul and Barnabas were men of tremendous zeal. They had a real passion for spreading the gospel. And this is what you need to have, Laurence, if you are to be worthy of the SVD missionary priesthood into which you were ordained yesterday. Without this zeal, this passion, when the luster of being a priest begins to fade—and it will!—you will soon experience emptiness and boredom and burnout. Heed the words of Pope Francis: You are a pastor, not a functionary. You need to be a person of zeal.

But you can only keep up your enthusiasm and zeal for your work if you have a message, if you continue to be amazed by the gospel you serve and preach. You gotta have a message. This is where our second reading from the Book of Revelation can help. The gospel is about the renewal of the entire earth. Mission, I have discovered, is not so much about saving souls and expanding the church as it is about joining in with God’s Spirit—as Jesus did from the day of his baptism—and work for the completion of creation. Your work as a priest is to make that gospel come alive by your preaching, by the way you celebrate the sacraments, by the way you empower and inspire the people with whom you work. To do this you have to continue to study. To do this you have to immerse yourself in the culture of the people among whom you live. To do this you have to continue to cultivate a deeper relationship with Jesus, so as to continue his work and inspire others to continue it as well. The risen Jesus says at the end of the second reading “Behold I make all things new!” This is what preaching and serving the gospel is about—inspiring people to a new way of imagining how to live, a new way of treating others, a new way of acting. It is an invitation to stop living “clenched lives” and living “unclenched lives.” It is based on the good news that God is a God who empties Godself, who shows us that the way to life is through dying to ourselves and sharing ourselves with others and all creatures. Only then will we really know how to live, will we really find life. If you are convinced about this message, you will have the zeal you need to be the missionary priest that God has called you to be.

People will only be convinced about your message, though, if you pay heed to Jesus’ message in today’s gospel. You gotta have love. St. Joseph Freinadametz, our first SVD missionary to China, has a famous line. He says that “the language of love is the language that all people understand.” That’s exactly what Jesus means when he says that people will know we are his disciples if we love one another. Cardinal Thomas Tien, the SVD archbishop of Beijing before the Communist takeover in 1949, was once asked what is the secret of being a good missionary. His response was: “Be kind. Be kind. Be kind.” A statement of the World Council of Churches says that when we preach the gospel, “people will always believe their eyes first.” As an SVD missionary priest you have to work at loving others as Jesus has loved you, and has he has loved all peoples. No amount of zeal, no amount of conviction about your message will ultimately convince people. You gotta have love.

So you gotta have zeal. You gotta have a message. You gotta have love. My prayer for you today, Laurence,--and I’m sure the prayer of everyone here as well—is that you will flourish with the zeal of the apostles Paul and Barnabas, that you will inspire God’s people with the newness that only Jesus can give, and that you will be a model of love and form communities in love, so that all will know that you and they are the Lord’s disciples.