Jubilee Homily/Mass Fall 2005
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�This is my body given
up for you.�
Jubilee Homily 2005
The text of the
Jubilee homily 2005 is printed below.� Fr. Anthony Criscitelli was the
principle celebrant and homilist for the Jubilee Eucharist.� The text is
reprinted for the benefit of those who were unable to attend the Jubilee
as well as for continued reflection by all the friars during this time
of preparation for the Provincial Chapter.
John Shea, a
theologian and storyteller, relates an experience he had when he was on
the faculty of a university.� As many institutions are wont to do, this
particular university was putting together a five-year plan to meet the
needs of its students who had been interviewed, polled, and surveyed
over the course of many months.� The committee charged with this mission
carefully reviewed all the responses they had received, consulted with
various experts, and exercised what they believed to be sound principles
of planning.� In the end, they crafted a comprehensive and impressive
plan.� But their euphoria was short-lived when a few of the very people
who helped design the plan paused to ask, �Who is going to run this
program?�� For what they discovered was that they had created a program
they believed was necessary and responded to the needs voiced by
students, but did not have the human resources to pull it off.
Again, as is often
the response to a situation like that, someone suggested that they could
hire new faculty and administrators.� Like the disciples, their first
thought was to �go and buy� what they believed they were lacking.� But
that wouldn�t work because it would require money that they did not
have.� In the end, their proposal was shelved, the needs went unmet, the
university was left feeling helpless and hopeless, and nothing changed.
This situation is
not so different from what the disciples and Jesus are dealing with in
the gospel.� Faced with a hungry crowd, as they consider what to do so
that they might be fed, the disciples begin with need and beginning with
need is beginning with what� they lack.� Dismissing five loaves and a
few fish as nothing, they suggest to Jesus that he dismiss the crowd so
that they can �go and buy� what they need from those who do have,
namely, the merchants and shopkeepers.� However, for Jesus this is more
than about feeding a crowd on short notice;� it is an opportunity to
teach the disciples about spiritual transformation.� In response to
their suggestion Jesus redirects the disciples� attention to what they
do have�challenging them to recognize not only loaves and fishes, but
what is within them.� �Going and buying� may work in the physical world,
but what is necessary in the spiritual world is standing still and
becoming aware.
Next, Jesus asks
that they bring what they have�however inadequate they believe it to
be�and give thanks for it, moving them from awareness to gratitude and
helping the disciples to see as a gift what they too easily and quickly
perceived as inadequate.� And once they come to see it as a gift and
blessing, they are able to give it away.� In the end, everyone is
satisfied and there are even leftovers!
My brothers, what
this story is trying to tell us is, I think, rather obvious.� We come
together this afternoon to celebrate with those who are marking
milestones of ordination, as well as the 80th
anniversary of the founding of our Province.� On the one hand, we
rejoice to come together and, like the disciples on Mount Tabor, we say,
�It is good for us to be here.�� However, each time we gather like this
we become painfully aware of what we perceive as our inadequacy�what we
are lacking.� It becomes evident to us in many ways�in the fact that
those who were professed 25 or 50 years ago have either died or left the
community somewhere along the line; in the fact that we have buried nine
of our brothers within the past four years; in the fact that, like so
many other communities, candidates are not breaking down our door to
join us, and many of those who do come knocking are better left
outside!� Yes, as we look around, many of us can�t help but see the
glass as half empty.� We despair over our future, we wring our hands
wondering what will become of us and who will take care of us as we age
and grow more dependent, and we wonder how we can continue to do the
things we have done with so few resources.� And to fall into that way of
thinking is to focus, like the disciples, on what is lacking.� In the
face of our pessimism Jesus invites us to spiritual transformation, to
be aware of what we have, to see it as gift and give thanks to God for
it, to allow ourselves to be moved to greater generosity and trust, and
to give what we have and who we are to others.� This spiritual
transformation ultimately produces not only satisfaction, but also
abundance.
In recent
years�perhaps because so many communities are dealing with a reality
like ours�a quote attributed to Saint Francis has been used with more
and more frequency:� �Start by doing what is necessary; next, do what is
possible.� Before you know it, you will be doing the impossible.�� These
words mirror the lesson Jesus taught the disciples and tries to teach
us:� look around and see what you have rather than lamenting what you do
not have; foster a spirit of gratitude even for what you perceive as too
little; become generous� and before you know it we will together be
doing what we thought was impossible!
�
Jubilee Eucharist� �Thy
kingdom come�
�

Fr. Ilija takes a few
minutes to offer a rebuttal to the good-natured ribbing he received from
his toast-master,�Bonaventure Midili.
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