Homily for 5 Easter A, May 22, 2011

My brothers and sisters, being a bystander is not ok! We must all role up our sleeves and take our place in the Family of God!

In our first reading today, we heard a short clip about the works of our patron St. Stephen. As he is pursued by the murderous crowd, has a vision of heaven. From this he draws the grace he needs to die in full imitation of Jesus; by willing giving his soul to God and praying for those who kill him. He is definitely a holier man than I am . . .

I am sure we have all heard the story: As the Christian Community grew, the need for leaders besides the apostles became obvious. So, seven were chosen to attend to social-service and administrative functions (“daily distribution of food”), of whom Stephen is one. Later in the story we are introduced to Saul (A.K.A. Paul). We see him in his pre-conversion role of supporting the killing of Christians.

In our second reading we hear the classic image of believers being transformed into living building blocks for the house of God. All centered on Jesus the corner stone. Though some rejected Jesus, he is God’s chosen and will be the foundation of the people God is amassing. The author goes on to describe Christians as a “priesthood” dedicated to God (that is: holy) who are to present lives of faith and love.

In today’s gospel story, Jesus explicitly proclaims himself as the way into the house hold (family) of God. We are all called to become part of this spiritual family. Farther, Jesus makes the point that the one who believes will do the works of Jesus, and even greater.

My sisters and brothers, Do not be sitting on your hands! As Peter said, we are being built into the “house, church, family of God.” We are expected (rightly) to participate by helping the project along . . . Jesus’ example and teaching is our road map (or blue prints) for this project. Saint Stephen gives us yet another powerful example. He steps up to the calling that God gave him and gets to work for the growth and good of God’s people. We, in our day and age, each have our own calling for God. Do not be a bystander, an accidental/incidental Christian. To be the real thing, we must get involved in doing the work of the Family of God! We are not all the same. We cannot all do exactly the same. However, we can all do something, and to be authentic, we must do that something. We all have that natural human desire to “test the water” before “taking the plunge!” It is normal. The problem comes in when we make sitting on the fringe into a permanent perch. We must not let our selves get stuck.

Or, to put it another way: Will we let ourselves fall in love with God, or will we keep a safe distance? Will we love our brothers and sisters in the family of God, or will we keep a safe distance? To be authentic, we must eventually cross the line or doom ourselves to a lukewarm existence. Is that the way any of us really want to live? I really do not think so . . .