(Sixth Sunday of Easter (A): This homily was given on May
17, 2020 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Psalm 66:1-20; 1
Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Sixth Sunday of Easter 2020]
Religiously speaking, what do Adolph Hitler, Benito
Mussolini and Joseph Stalin have in common with St. John Paul II, St. Francis
of Assisi and St. Pius X?
You may be tempted to say, “Nothing,” but that would be
incorrect.
Believe it or not, religiously speaking the three
scoundrels in the first group share at least one thing in common with the three
holy men in the second group: Baptism! Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were all born
again of water and the Holy Spirit as infants!
They were all set free from original sin; they all received sanctifying
grace into their souls, and they all became members of God’s family, the
Church. Of course, in one way or another
they all repudiated the Faith later in life, but that’s another story. Their later wickedness doesn’t negate their baptisms;
it doesn’t change the fact that they once received the same sacramental graces
that St. John Paul II, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Pius X received on the
days they were baptized.
Which brings up the obvious question: How is it possible
for an Adolph Hitler and a John Paul II to experience God’s grace in the same
way through Baptism, and then become exact opposites in their earthly lives?
The only way to answer that question is to make reference
to a very important distinction of sacramental theology: it’s the distinction between a sacrament
that’s valid, and a sacrament that’s valid and
fruitful.
For a sacrament to be valid, you need the proper minister
(for Baptism—in ordinary circumstances—that means a bishop, priest or deacon);
you need the proper matter and form (in Baptism, that means water, and the
words of the Trinitarian formula: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”); and the one administering the sacrament
must have the right intention (in Baptism, that means the intention to do what
the Church does when she baptizes). If
all those prerequisites are satisfied, then the person in question—be it Adolph
Hitler or Francis of Assisi—truly receives the sacrament.
But obviously that’s not supposed to be the end of the
story! Jesus has given us the seven
sacraments for a specific purpose: so that they will bear fruit—good fruit—in
our earthly lives, and thus assist us on our pilgrim journey to Heaven. But whether or not this happens depends
largely on us: we decide whether the sacrament we receive will be only valid,
or valid and fruitful. We do that by either rejecting the grace
given in the sacrament, or cooperating with it.
This, of course, explains the difference between the three scoundrels and
the three holy men I mentioned a few moments ago: the three holy men nurtured
their baptismal grace and it bore good fruit in their lives; the three
scoundrels did not.
This important truth about the sacraments is illustrated
right in our midst (and in every Catholic church) each and every Sunday. For example, one man receives the Eucharist
at a Sunday Mass, walks right out of church, swears at people in the parking
lot, and yells at his wife and kids when he gets home for no good reason. Another man at the same Mass receives, goes
back to his pew and sincerely prays that he can put into practice the Gospel
message he’s heard that day. Then he
goes out and puts forth his best effort in that regard.
Did both men receive a valid sacrament? You bet.
But only one allowed it to bear good fruit in his life.
I thought of all this in preparation for this homily,
because our three Scripture readings this weekend deal (either explicitly or
implicitly) with the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.
In today’s Gospel text from John 15 Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Advocate [i.e., the Holy Spirit] to be with you always, the Spirit of
truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows
him. But you know him because he remains
with you and will be in you.” The
Spirit is given to us first at Baptism; then another outpouring of the Spirit
is given to us at Confirmation. In
today’s first reading from Acts 8 we’re told that the apostles went to Samaria,
and there they found some new Christians.
Nothing strange about that. But
what was unusual was the fact that
these new Christians had only been baptized!
For some reason, they hadn’t received the second outpouring of the
Spirit which comes at Confirmation. And
so the apostles immediately laid hands on them to confirm them and remedy the
situation.
The second reading from 1 Peter 3 fits into this by giving
us an important insight as to why
this second outpouring is necessary. Ask
most young people why they want to receive the sacrament of Confirmation, and
they’ll usually tell you one of two things.
Either they’ll say, “Because I want to get married someday in the
Church”—which, by the way, is a horrible reason to want to be confirmed. And besides, canon law does not say you must be confirmed to be married in the
Church; it indicates that you should
be confirmed. Let me warn you,
teenagers: if that’s the only reason you’re being confirmed (so that you can be
married in the Church someday), then this sacrament will probably not bear much
fruit in your life. It will be valid,
but that’s about it.
The second reason young people will commonly give for
wanting to be confirmed is this one: “I want to be an adult in the
Church.” To which I always want to
respond, “What does that mean?” If
you’re over 18 and you’re a baptized Catholic, then you’re an adult in the Church!—whether
you are confirmed or not!
The purpose of this second sacramental outpouring of the
Holy Spirit in Confirmation is WITNESS!
That’s what Peter is talking about in today’s second reading. When Jesus told his apostles that he would
send them the Holy Spirit he said, “You
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you, and [then] you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.” Confirmation is given to
make us bold, strong, loving, committed Catholics who aren’t afraid to be
different; who aren’t afraid to stand up for the truth and be counted.”
“But Fr. Ray, that’s hard.”
Yes!!!! And that’s precisely the point! If it weren’t hard we wouldn’t need this
sacrament! Listen now to what Peter says
in that second reading: “Sanctify Christ
as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready
to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but
do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear. . . . for
it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for
doing evil.”
That’s the kind of witness we are called to give through
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Why is this so important?
Well, aside from our own salvation being at stake, if we fail to allow
our baptism to bear good fruit in our life, we will cause harm to others—even to
those we love. Take the three scoundrels
I mentioned at the beginning of my homily.
They clearly squandered the grace that God had graciously given to them
at their baptisms. It bore almost no
good fruit in their lives, and millions—literally millions—of innocent people
suffered because of it.
You know the history.
By the way, the same thing is true today of baptized civil
leaders who reject the grace of their baptisms by supporting evils like
abortion. Think of that fact relative to
the suffering that’s going on in the world and in our country right now. Thankfully our current president is
pro-life—but not all our civil leaders are.
How many people have suffered because of that?
Life, my brothers and sisters, is all about choices. Among the most important choices we make, are
the ones that concern the sacraments we receive. Will I, or will I not, allow my baptism, my
confirmation—and the Holy Eucharist—to bear good fruit in my life? Will these sacraments be only valid for me,
or will they be valid and
fruitful?
Dear Lord, may we always choose the second option in our
lives.