With everything going on, we all have questions. Each of us has missed an event in our lives, or in someone else’s lives, that makes us long for the time when we could gather freely. Graduations, weddings, college tours… all things we were expecting to be at or around. Mass. I long for it. Confession. I desire it. Need it. I wonder about the Diaconate. Will we be ordained at the same time? How will that look? Will there even be a need for us in the post-Covid-19 world? Amidst all of these uncertainties, the Church continues to guide us through the Scriptures. I think today’s first reading reminds us of our universal calling to serve and the primary purpose of the Deacon. He is supposed to be serving those who are in need, not just spiritually but physically. We aren’t souls trapped in a body trying to get free. The human body is part of what makes us human. When those needs are neglected, we are neglecting the dignity of the person involved. All Christians are called to serve the poor, but the Deacon is also configured to Christ the servant.
That means he is supposed to be a guiding light in the world. Someone who brings Christ the servant present to those in need. He should do it in a way that helps others to both see how people can be served in everyday life and to be inspired to do the same. That’s why a deacon is often a man who is still working, a man who knows what it’s like to be tired and struggling to make it, someone in the world but not of it. People just like us who look out into the community to try and find a way to help physically, while still bringing the word and participating at Mass when possible. That is hard to do in a world where we are trapped at home. A world where our government demands we stay away from our churches.
So what do we do? The key is in the Gospel. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. He prayed for us as well, that we could be one with the Father, just as He was one with Him. So in this world, in this life, in this trying time, unity with the Church is a much-needed symbol of faith. Reaching out to those who do not believe, sharing our faith even in the smallest way, writing our bishops and encouraging them, and praying for them. Unity. One body. One Church.
It is very easy in the American politic to begin to criticize everything anyone else does. Spending just a few minutes in any comment section will give us a glimpse into the cyber-world of the armchair warrior. Even a beautiful and profound message will be ripped apart because the image isn’t what someone else would have chosen or there is a misspelling here or there. What I am feeling these days is summed up pretty easily with a meme about a father speaking to his daughter about someone else getting more to eat than she had. The daughter wanted to know why the other child got more food than her, something I think most kids go through. The father beautifully told her “the only time you should be looking in her bowl is to make sure she has enough.” So many ways to apply that to our own lives.
When we look back into the time of our first reading, only two of those men chosen to serve the widows really are remembered (Philip and Stephen). The rest have just kind of fallen into history. That is kind of the goal, isn’t it? To serve without being noticed. To do our vocations in such a way that it is Jesus they remember, and not us. That is kind of a powerful way to look at the that we may be in the Father, as Jesus is in the Father. That our lives are so in line with God’s will that humanity may not even remember our names, but will look back and say “Wow, he/she really loved God and their neighbor.” Look for ways this week to help those in need. Whether it’s a family with a house fire that needs a donation, dropping off some food at the food hub in town or one of those wonderful blessing boxes that are popping up, or simply calling someone you haven’t heard from and asking how they are doing. It’s all of our calling to look after our friends and family, neighbors and strangers, to make sure their bowl has enough.
Jesus speaks to us today in the Gospel saying clearly “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” It’s a powerful message, one I need, one I long to hear from His lips. It’s not just a message for us to hold on to for our own, but one we are to take out into the world that others may hear it as well. So share it in our thoughts, words, and actions. Let our posts on the internet reflect it, our conversations echo it, and our hearts fill up the bowls of others without looking in to see if they have more than us.
A reflection on the readings for the Fifth Sunday in Easter, May 10th, 2020.