One of my favorite movie musicals is “The Sound of Music.” It is the perfect combination of a great story, great characters and great music. Ever since I first saw it as a kid, I couldn’t help but get wrapped up in the story of the Von Trapp children as they came to know and love Maria, their new governess, and how the love blossomed between Maria and Captain Von Trapp. It is just a beautiful story.
What makes this story of love, music and family timeless is that it portrays so well the compatibility between people who are truly made for each other. After a little bit of a rocky start, the Von Trapp children begin to see how loving and caring Maria is. This happens as they all gather with her one evening during a thunderstorm. Scared by the thunder, Gretyl – the youngest of the Von Trapps – runs into Maria’s room, followed by the rest of the children. Maria snuggles up with them and proceeds to sing them the song, “My Favorite Things,” to help them find the right mindset for dealing with hard things. It is a beautiful moment marking the beginning of their blossoming relationship.
The movie is so enjoyable because we see how Maria has the love and warmth that the children and Captain Von Trapp desperately need. Also, Von Trapp and his children help Maria come out of her shell and become a more confident, more outgoing person. They each bring something to the relationship, and together they bring the best out of each other. It is no surprise that one of the culminating scenes in the movie is when the Captain and Maria are married. It is co clear that God brought them together and gave them the complementarity to make a beautiful family. Their different gifts would help them to mutually serve each other and continue to grow together!
I see the beauty of this complementarity in today’s readings, which show how the early Church developed different vocations to serve each other from the very beginning. In the Acts of the Apostles, we see the tension of the growing number of people in the church and the strain it put on the Apostles. They were happy to be serving at the table of God, but realized that this was taking away from their preaching of the Gospel, so they prayerfully selected men to be the first Deacons of the church, men who would help by serving at the table of the Lord. Deacons, although being ordained through prayer and the laying on of hands, were chosen for a complementary role to the Apostles. They helped serve those in need and served at the table of the Eucharist as the early church gathered together.
In a beautiful way, we can see the different vocations in the church already working harmoniously together. We see the Apostles remaining close to the risen Jesus through prayer and the preaching of the Gospel. Then in God’s providence, Deacons arise to help the Apostles in the liturgy that was growing in the early church and to help serve those most in need in the growing church family. We also see lay people in the early church playing an active role. The Apostles relied on their prayer and wisdom to help select men who were reputable and filled with the Holy Spirit. So here we see the whole Church exercising their gifts in harmony. They work together to help the Church grow and expand. Their complementary gifts, based on the power of the Holy Spirit at work in them, help the early Church to flourish, as we hear in the first reading: “The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.” How exciting it must have been for the early church to see some of the Jewish priests beginning to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and dedicate themselves to being part of the Body of Christ, the Church!
The first reading shows a perfect example of what we hear St. Paul describe in the second reading, the fact that the Church is a spiritual house built of living stones. This describes so well how each of us hold a unique place in the Body of the Church, a spot where we fit together with others. This is all because of the work of the Holy Spirit, who calls us to different, complementary vocations, which, when working in concert, help the whole house to function and grow to include more and more people!
“Beloved:
Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings
but chosen and precious in the sight of God,
and, like living stones,
let yourselves be built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
These spiritual sacrifices we are called to offer are different, but each important. As an ordained priest, I offer the Eucharist Sunday after Sunday and day after day. This Sacrifice is none other than a participation in the self-giving of Jesus on the Cross. I offer it in the name of Jesus, aided by Deacon Doug at the altar, who has dedicated his life to assist at the Sacrifice of the Eucharist. And all of you lift up your own sacrifice as well, at Mass. Remember the dialogue at the beginning of the Consecration? I say, “Lift up your hearts,” and you say, “We lift them up to the Lord.” All of you participate in your own way, offering up your heart, your life, in union with the sacrifice which I lift up. I mention this reality when I say at Mass: “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.” Here at Mass, we see our vocations working together–me offering Jesus’ sacrifice which He commanded us to offer in memory of Him, and all of you joining your own self-giving to His perfect self-giving. Together, our sacrifices are joined and build up the Church. It is a beautiful thing!
And from this experience at Mass, we go forth fed by the Eucharist to work together, our self-giving working together in complementary ways as we live out our Christian vocations together. Like the beautiful complementarity we see between Maria and the Von Trapp family to which she is sent, all of us are brought together in the church because there is a place for each of us in our different vocations. My heart is happy watching the Von Trapp family come together and serve each other, and it glows that much more brightly when I see this happening in the spiritual family of the Church. It is like the satisfaction of finding that correct puzzle piece and putting it into its place in the puzzle. God knows how He has called each of us, and when we each answer His call in our own ways, things come together!
When we answer Jesus’ call to our different vocations, it helps set us on the path to Heaven, as Jesus speaks about in the Gospel. He talks about taking us to Himself so that we can join Him in Heaven’s eternal embrace of love. The apostles are still learning, so they ask how this will be possible. Jesus says that the way to get where He is going is Himself–He IS the way. When Jesus calls each of us in the Church, He does so to help us work together to be joined to Him. He allows each of us to form an indispensable part of His Body, which then is drawn up in love toward that Perfect Union with God in Heaven. Each of us is called to that humble self-service which is fed by the ultimate self-giving between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The perfect cooperation of the Trinity allows each of us to have that spirit of cooperation which helps us live in complement to other members of Christ’s body. Let us pray that as we recognize the humble, self-serving love flowing from Jesus’ relationship to His Father, each of us would embrace the same spirit of self-outpouring service that will help us fit into the Body of the Church in the unique way God has prepared for each of us!
First Communion Homily
I want to talk in a special way to you students making your First Communion today. Have you ever been so hungry that your stomach starts making noises? Those noises are your stomach’s way of saying, “Feed me!” Your stomach is made for food, so when it isn’t getting fed, it lets you know! And just like your stomach has hunger, your soul has hunger, too! Each of you has a soul that hungers for love, for God. Can I give you a Psalm to remember today? It is Psalm 63. When you get home, I encourage you to look up that Psalm in your Bible. Psalm 63 reminds you: “O God, you are my God—it is you I seek! For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts.” Your soul, the spiritual part of you, thirsts for God. Just like your stomach is made for food, your soul is made for God. So when you receive God, your soul is happy, just like your stomach is happy when it receives food! Today, when you receive the Eucharist for the first time, you are going to be receiving Jesus! On the outside, the Eucharist looks, smells and tastes like bread and wine, but on the inside, Jesus is fully there! And through this Sacrament, He wants to satisfy your soul. So when you receive Jesus today, can you say, in your heart, “Jesus, my soul thirsts for you!” Today He wants to make your soul go, “Ahhh,” like your stomach after a good meal. Parents, help your children to continue coming to Mass to satisfy that deepest thirst. This is a thirst that we never outgrow. Each of us longs for that deep communion, that deep oneness with God that the Eucharist brings. Let’s all come to Communion today and every Sunday with the attitude of Psalm 63: “O God, you are my God—it is you I seek! For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts.”
+ Heavenly Father, we thank you for calling us to be part of the Body of Christ, your son. Jesus, give us the humility to embrace our complementary roles in the church as we work together as laity and ordained ministers. May our sharing in your sacrifice at this altar encourage our self-giving in our personal lives. Holy Spirit, help those receiving their First Communion today to recognize that longing for Jesus in their hearts. Rekindle all of our hearts to thirst more deeply for Jesus in the Eucharist. We ask this through Christ, our Risen Lord. Amen. +