Great things

5th Sunday of Easter

May 10th 2020

John 14, 1-12

During these days of Easter we have been reading from the Acts of the Apostles. It has been the first reading throughout these fifty days of easter. It is interesting for me to see the contrast between the Apostles in the gospels and the Apostles in Acts. They seem like completely different people. In the Gospels we have Peter drowning because of his lack of faith, Phillip and Andrew getting their mom to ask Jesus for special favors, we have Thomas whose name is synomous with doubters, Judas whose name is synomous with worse and today we have Philip and Thomas who just don’t get it. Whereas in Acts the Apostles they are changed men. They are preaching, healing, baptizing, enduring imprisonment, even being put to death as they boldly proclaim the message of Jesus Christ.

I don’t know about you all, but I find it much easier to identify with the Apostles of the Gospels than the Apostles in Acts. I am like the 12 in today’s gospel. My heart is toubled. I need Jesus’ reassurance. I am like Philip and James, that even though I call myself a Christian at times I fail and when some people look at me they might have a hard time finding that I am a follower of Jesus.

We are called to be like the Apostles of Acts not like the Apostles in the Gospels. In fact the Gospel ends with Jesus saying to the Apostles, saying to each and everyone of us who believes:

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.”

We are called to do great works. Today is Mother’s day and I think that it is good for us to remember our mother’s and the great works that they do.  I know Father’s do great things but today we need to focus on the mom’s. A mother does great things just by carrying the children to term and then going through the pains of child birth. I could name a lot of great things that my mom did but the greatest thing that she did was to love me and my brothers and sisters.

This time of the corona virus is also a time when people are doing great things. The countless stories of nurses and doctors, people who stock the grocery shelves and work in the pharmacies and other essential business. We stay safely at home but they put themselves at risk for the sake of the community. Truly great things.

Our Food bank is another great example. St. Mary’s has had a food bank for a very long time, providing a necessary service but when this pandemic began we put our food bank into high gear. Before the pandemic we served about 30 families a month, yesterday over 500 families were served by 30 volunteers from the parish. That’s 12 tons of food that was given away, food that was donated by other members of the parish. Truly great things.

Yes, we are doing great things, but Jesus expects more. Jesus says that we will do the work that he does, care for the sick, feed the hungry but he says “greater than these.”

So let me get this straight. We are called to do the works that Jesus does. We are called to continue Jesus’ ministry in the world today but we are called to do even greater works. In fact Jesus is even more emphatic, we will do better than Jesus. How can this be? How can we possible exceed what Jesus did? What made the difference between the apostles of the Gospels and the Apostles of Acts? It is the Holy Spirit. Hard to believe it but we are drawing close to the Feast of the Ascension and then Pentecost. The difference is that after Jesus rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven he sent down the Holy Spirit. Because we are a Spirit Filled church we have been empowered to continue the works of Jesus and even greater.

Now the greater works that John is talking about is a theological idea. It doesn’t mean if Jesus was able to bench press 250 pounds I have to do 275, or if Jesus fed 5000 with 5 loaves and two fish we have to fed 10,000 with only 2 loaves and one fish. The greater works that Jesus entrusted to us are the proclamation of the word and the celebration of the sacraments. They are greater because they actually make the Divine present, whereas when Jesus walked the face of the earth his works pointed to or prepared us for the divine presence. What this means is that Jesus really is more present to us today through the Church then when he was in Galilee 2000 years ago. So when we proclaim the word of God, or when we celebrate the sacraments we are making God present in the world today.

As Peter reminds us in today’s second reading,

You are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

We have been chosen, we share a royal priesthood, we are a holy nation, God’s own people. God has called us out darkness so that we might share his wonderful light. Not just in his light, but to share his light.

God’s presence which is the way the truth and the life. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus doesn’t show us the way, he is the way. Jesus doesn’t speak the truth, he is the truth. And Jesus doesn’t just promise us the life, he is eternal life.

The apostles had let their hearts be troubled because they had lost the way, they didn’t know what the truth was and they had forgotten that Jesus’ was the gift of life. This day we are called to refocus on Jesus, and as we focus upon Jesus, Jesus shines through us, we share his light. This is truly a greater work. Jesus’ departure from the earth was to make way for us, to make way for the Church so that together we may proclaim that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.