EPS Graduation

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the HERALD
(From the issue of 5/30/02)

The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde at St. Mary of Sorrows Church for the graduates of the Education for Parish Service program on Tuesday, May 7.

The scene depicted in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles provides so aptly the setting for the commissioning of our graduates and describes so correctly their future service to the Church as she finds her most immediate expression within each parish. Paul and Silas were commissioned to proclaim the good news that is Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, to those who had not yet heard of God’s saving love. Despite rejection and imprisonment, they remained faithful and in the scene from the Acts of the Apostles, they are pictured as praying and singing to God as their fellow prisoners listened. Nothing would deter them from their mission.

Following the severe earthquake and convinced by Paul that no one had escaped, the jailer asked a question intrinsic to every person’s search for truth: "What must I do to be saved?" Paul and Silas replied: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved." Then, "they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house….he and all his family were baptized at once….[the jailer] with his whole household rejoiced at having come to faith in God."

Dear graduates, through your formation in the Education for Parish Service program, you have been equipped to proclaim the message of the Gospel in its integral fullness to all those to whom you will be sent. Rooted in prayer and educated in the teachings of the Church, you will now go to your sisters and brothers, some of whom have never heard of the Lord Jesus and many others of whom are thirsting for a deeper understanding and a more intimate union with Him, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Each, in his or her own way, is asking, "What must I do to be saved?" You will be responding in many ways: by your witness of life, in your particular form of service within the parish, through your presentation of the Church’s teachings in their integral fullness! Ultimately, your response translates into: "Believe in the Lord Jesus…."

In a real way, therefore, the teachings of Christ and of the Second Vatican Council must become incarnate in each of you as graduates of Education for Parish Service. One of the defining documents of that Ecumenical Council was Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. Within the chapter on the laity, we read: "The apostolate of the laity is a sharing in the salvific mission of the Church….Christ is the great prophet who proclaimed the kingdom of the Father both by the testimony of his life and by the power of his word. Until the full manifestation of his glory, he fulfills this prophetic office, not only by the hierarchy who teach in his name and by his power, but also by the laity" (33, 34). Our second reading tonight clearly teaches us: "For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one Body in Christ, and individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them…".

Yes, in the Church there are a variety of gifts and ministries. Christ in His wisdom desired a diversity of ministries and ministers, and calls each to create and build that unity in the one body — His Church. Each of you graduates have spent the last several years studying the Church’s teachings so that you could work along side her ordained ministers in forming and teaching the People of God.

By virtue of your baptism, each of you is called to be a credible witness of Jesus Christ to others. By taking this step to become a teacher in your parishes, you are now a model for others to imitate and, therefore, you must be very determined to make sure your lives are living examples of Jesus Christ. I echo the words of St. Paul in our second reading: "Let [your] love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in tribulation, persevere in prayer." As parish leaders, you must embody these characteristics because your mission is to advance the mission of the Church. Indeed, you are being called to bring people to the faith for the first time, and to bring those who have faith to a deeper relationship with God.

In your roles of service within the parish, you must rely heavily on the guidance and direction of God the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who moves the human heart. Jesus tells His first disciples and us something extraordinary in our gospel reading: "It is better for you that I go." How can that be? At least if Jesus were still walking the earth we could make an appointment to see Him and listen to Him. But He is revealing to us a deep reality: "For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation." The mission of the Holy Spirit is to teach, to prove, to instruct, to admonish, and to encourage. Is this not the role of a teacher? Is this not the role that many of you have already taken on as parents, and now will take on as instructors of the faith in your parishes? In your work, you must cultivate an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit so that He can work in and through you, forming you and those you serve in the teachings of Jesus Christ: the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Today is a joyful day! You have worked hard, you have assimilated the teachings of Christ and His Church and, in a short while, you will be commissioned to go forth to teach and minister to the People of God. You are called to be the evangelists of the third Christian millennium. Be not afraid to be the saints of this new millennium! The Church and society need you! Your parish and the Diocese of Arlington need you! May Mary, the Star of the New Evangelization, be your patroness on your new mission in the Church, and may she always guide your footsteps on the path to holiness here and to eternal life hereafter. Amen.

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