I am currently in Orlando at a Pastoral Leadership conference addressing the changing needs of the Church in America. Please keep me in your prayers.

I hope you get some time to reflect on this homily and see how you can become the living stones in your community.

God Bless

I just got back last night from giving two missions on Stewardship in the Diocese of Calgary in Canada. The second of my missions was in a city south of Calgary called Lethbridge. The parishes are in a middle of a major transition. There are three different parishes in Lethbridge area that are now being combined into one parish because of the decline in the number of priests as well as the changing demographics of that area. As you can image the transition is traumatic for each of these three different communities because eventually each of these three different communities, each in their own way, will have to give up their old worship space. Each of the three will give it up and buy one new location. It is very hard because each of the three is small and they now have a need to have a larger church so that one priest can celebrate Mass in a larger church instead of celebrating eight Masses in three different smaller locations each weekend.

What they did was very touching. The pastor commissioned a miniature-sized ark out of the wood and he chose two carpenters, one from one parish, one from another and they used the wood from a pew from the third. The pastor told the people that the Lord made a covenant with his people that He would always be with them to the end of time, and that his church was the people and not the building that they are in. Also in this ark is a little slot on the top and they are asked to put in it what they feel are their gifts, and what they feel their community holds. It is a way in which they treasure their gifts and take with them as they are a people on a journey, a people in transition but that God is with them; a little from each parish, the wood from one and the work from two others, symbolizing for them this transition from three separate entities into now one new entity. It is a powerful image and it is a reminder to each of them, the people, that they are the church and not the building, and that each of these buildings can come and go but it is the people, themselves, which make up the church.

That is the very message that Peter is trying to get across in his letter today. Except he uses the words that they are living stones and that Christ is the cornerstone and that as they go, wherever they travel, they can always rely on Christ the cornerstone of their life and that they are the ones, who live that out, they are the people, a chosen people, a people set apart, a royal priesthood as the language says today. A reminder they are the people of God.

And for us and we hear in the gospel again that this is reinforced, that Christ is the center of our lives as Christians and any who believe in Christ will have eternal life. That he is the way, the truth and the life and all who come to Him will have life.

For us as a people of faith here today, each of us have our own journey but we as a people recognize that we are a people of God. We are the living stones of our community and this building is, not in itself, what makes us the community; it is us who gather; we could gather anywhere; we could gather in the parking lot; we could gather anywhere we wanted to gather because you and I are the living stones of the community; it is us who make the community what it is. We are the people of this community; we are the people of God.

But just like the three parishes in Lethbridge, sometimes, we go through transitions in our life. Maybe as a child, we are leaving elementary school and going to high school or maybe leaving high school and going to college; or maybe we are finishing college and now maybe we are moving into the working world; or maybe we are between jobs; or maybe we have lost a friend because someone has moved out of town; or maybe our marriage has broken up or maybe we have some other pain that is going on in our life, the loss of a loved one, the loss of health. All these are different transitions and in the midst of it, we are not quite sure how to handle it and we sometimes can just simply get distracted by life and we do not notice that things have declined in our faith.

Just like these three parishes, they did not seem to notice they went from nine priests to two. It happened slowly over the years and then they suddenly realized they had to deal with it. And so too it is with us. There are things that happen suddenly but there are other things that happen slowly over time, and there is a transition that we need to think about. There is a transition that we need to face. But the Lord promises to always be with us until the end of time, that no matter where we go in our own lives, no matter where we go as a community, that the Lord will always be with us and now.

This sounds wonderful and it's good, very good but it has to somehow inform our lives and the only way it will inform our lives is if we sit and we think and we pray about it. It is not enough for us to just come here on Sundays. Somehow we have to do something with this during the week. We have to go home and we have to think about what are some of the transitions that are going on in my life. What are some of the disturbances or the distractions that are taking me away from the Lord? And find out - how can I be more vigilant and how can I be more faithful to the covenant the Lord has made with us. We have to think and pray about what that means in our life. For some of us that will mean recommitting to daily prayer; for others, it will be recommitting to Sunday Eucharist; for still others, it will mean recommitting to being kind, generous and forgiving. For every one of us, it will be different, but the covenant is the same because we promise Christ our life. Christ for us is everything. Christ is the way. Christ is the truth. And in the end, Christ is our life. Today, may we live Christ as the way, the truth and the life.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Reading 1
Acts 6:1- 7

As the number of disciples continued to grow,
the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews
because their widows
were being neglected in the daily distribution.
So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said,
"It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.
Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men,
filled with the Spirit and wisdom,
whom we shall appoint to this task,
whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer
and to the ministry of the word."
The proposal was acceptable to the whole community,
so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit,
also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
They presented these men to the apostles
who prayed and laid hands on them.
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.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19

R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
or:
R. Alleluia.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading II
1 Pt 2:4- 9

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.
For it says in Scripture:
Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone, chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.
Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone, and
A stone that will make people stumble,
and a rock that will make them fall.
They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.

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.

Gospel
Jn 14:1- 12

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way."
Thomas said to him,
"Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, (I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said to him,
"Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
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."