FROM “THEY” TO “WE”

Homily for Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter, 18 May 2020 Jn 15:26-16:4a

Let me start by calling your attention to just one little detail in the first reading that you probably did not even notice. The narrator, who is St. Luke himself, has just shifted from “THEY” to “WE”, from the 3rd person plural, to the 1st person plural. Take note, we read from Chapter 16. In all the 15 previous chapters, the author has been talking about the apostles and their works in the third person. What could this sudden shift from THEY to WE mean? It means Luke is already a PARTICIPANT in the mission!

In the earlier parts, he could have been telling his stories as told to him by someone else. When he changes from THEY to WE, it means he is now talking as a firsthand witness; and that what he is narrating carries extra weight because it is not hearsay. You know, when a witness in court says to the Judge, “Your honor, I heard them say he was the killer”, the defense lawyer would object and say, “Objection, your honor. Hearsay evidence.” Meaning, it is worthless.

I have seen many Christians who have undergone a similar transition in their lives, the way Luke did—from a detached spectator, to a personal witness; from the “THEY perspective” to the “WE perspective”. From my experience, it is always a joy to witness such transitions.

I hate to say this but, let’s accept it, for many Catholics, the Church is still a “THEY” and not yet a “WE”. For example, I often get questions from Catholics that start with, “What is the Church stand on…? Why is the Church silent about this issue? How should the Church deal with the prohibition of worship during quarantine? etc, etc.” In most of these situations the one asking the question often forgets he or she is a member of the Church. Usually people who have not yet matured in Christian life remain as fencesitters or onlookers, or spectators. For them the Church is just the hierarchy—the bishops, the clergy, the religious. They go to Church regularly, but they remain uninvolved. You cannot expect uninvolved people to take part in Christ’s mission of evangelizing or bringing Good News to the world. They are in no position yet to do witnessing because the Church for them is still a “THEY” rather than “WE”.

How does this transition become possible? The Gospel explains how—through the Holy Spirit. Jesus says, “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And YOU ALSO WILL TESTIFY, BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN WITH ME…” (If you cannot testify, it means you have not been with Jesus. That is the case with people who are noncommittal about issues of social justice, truth, respect for life and human dignity.)

I have said many times in my previous Masses that our call is not just to be Christians but to be Christ in the world. If we are part of Christ then we represent Christ to the world. For this to happen, we have to grow from disciples to fellow apostles, from mere followers to witnesses, fellow participants in the mission of Christ.”

I started with a little trivia about Luke, the narrator who becomes present in the story. There is another character in the same story who is also experiencing a transition; her name is Lydia. Things would not be the same again after joining a group of women outside the gate by the river, who came to listen to Paul and his companions. Luke tells us, as Lydia listened, “the Lord opened her heart to pay close attention to what Paul was saying.”

That is often how the Lord begins to get you involved. First, he opens your heart to encounter Jesus in his representatives. You may have attended Mass many times before, you just went through the motions of it and never really paid attention. Often, you were probably easily distracted. Suddenly, and it’s just through a livestreamed Mass online, you find yourself listening more attentively, feeling like the captive audience that you’ve never been before. It means the Lord has opened your heart.

You find yourself getting more interested in a faith which you have taken for granted for a long time. It could only mean the Holy Spirit is at work. So, from a mere listener or spectator, Lydia asked Paul and companions that she and her whole household be baptized. From a synagogue outsider she grew into a Church insider. And things would never be the same again for the rest of her life.