Father Skeehan’s

                                 Homily for

                  Resurrection’s 40^th Anniversary

 

Forty days,

   forty nights,

       and 40 years

           for our Resurrection Community.

 

The Word through John

   spells out

      four of its constituent elements…

           in creating community:

                             -  the Apostles instruction

                             -  the community life

                             -  the breaking of the bread

                             -  and the prayers.

 

The first, the third,

    and the fourth elements

        can be found in our

            Eucharistic celebration today….

…but the second,

        “the community life”

             is too often missing.

 

Its’ absence makes the other three

   more difficult,

        if not impossible;

              for what else is the Eucharist,

               if not for the building

               of the body of Christ through

               the coming of the Holy Spirit…

                                                 …Pentecost.

 

And how can

   The Body of Christ

       become the Body of Christ

          without community?

 

                In the past the church has been,

                 in a sense, like a bunch of bananas,  

                       -- pious bananas

                       -- quite a few holy bananas

                          but remained bananas

                            hanging together

                              from the same stalk

                               which was Christ,

                                 the same source of life

                                  which was Christ…

            …even touching each other inadvertently

                 at times when the pews were full.

                   but rarely, truly conscious

                     of our relationship…

                           …to one another, in Christ

                              and the responsibilities

                                that relationship demands.

 

About the only time, probably, in our recent

 history,

          community happened was at “Bingo”.

 

In the Gospel account

     Jesus forgives his disciples,

           and in turn, demands

             that they forgive one another,

                even to forgiving Thomas,

 

“We’re not ashamed

      of your lack of faith, Thomas,

you were just a shade stupider

      than the rest of us.”

 

forgiveness leading to community…

  …all of them admitting

    their limitations and shortcomings.

 

 

 

Just what makes a group,

        a group of bananas,

               become a Community

                          like Resurrection?

 

         From time to time

      we experience Community

          at special moments

              only to have it

                  conceal itself again

                   beyond the busy-ness

                                    of every day.

 

 We experience Community

                         when we reach out

              to the poor --

                  touch them,

                     lift them up.

 

  This property

        that attracts us

             and makes us feel “at home”

                    is at the same time

                        what we find frightening

                                 about community.

 

We are dealing with

        those special moments

             in which we experience community,

                   clearly revealed,

                      and down deep

                                         we know it is true...

…that real community is not based

        on the things we prize

            most about ourselves.

 

Authentic community

is not based on our talents,

    our competence

       or our strengths;

          not on our goodness

              our virtue or our sinlessness.    

 

Paradox of paradoxes

       Community is based on our weakness –

              --our finitude, our inabilities…

                     …and even our falls from grace.

 

The mystery can be summed up in a statement:

       Our strengths divide us;

              it is in our weaknesses

                     that we are one.

 

 

Why do we join co-dependency groups?

 

It’s not because of our strengths

       but because of our weakness.

 

Why don’t we learn this

       in the Catholic Church?

 

These groups come close

       to the ideals of community,

              but do not reach it.

 

Such groups allow people

    to let go of their need

       to appear to be perfect and seamless,

          and that creates the atmosphere

                 where community

                     is most likely to happen.

 

 

The work that is ours

to do in company with others

    is not, precisely,

       the forming of community,

          but rather what is preliminary to that:

              the necessarily painful work

                        of unmasking ourselves…

 

so that in the presence of others

the power of our shared weakness

    can transform

       not only our little group, Resurrection,

          but hopefully the world around us.

 

We see Jesus in the Word,

this Jesus coming in the midst of us,

and talking about gentleness

and about poverty of Spirit,

about giving first of all

instead of receiving,

about vulnerability

about unconditional openness…

    …to the world around us,

    that may or may not inflict pain.

 

He is not teaching us

       How to arm ourselves,

              But how to “disarm” ourselves.

 

 

He is not understood.

 

 

We thought for sure

that the answer

    was to get this “Christian” thing to work…

        …so we wanted a triumphant religion,

                        a religion that was “right”

           and orthodox,

              that was in control

                      and had power.

 

 

Something else is going on here:

 

And that is,

       that we have to let go

              of our desire to win,

                     to be on top,

                           to be always right

                                  to be in control

                                         to use power.

 

 

What the world celebrates as strength

       is really the most profound

              kind of impotence.

 

 

In our troubled days

and troubled world,

    it is vital that we have

       the opportunities to restore…

          …the second constituent element

                 of the church:

                        “the community life”.

 

 What a wonderful word:

“Resurrection”,

          that says what we should be.

 

Whatever a church is, besides a building,

it is vital to gather

    a life-giving community,

    to be with those we can trust

    and in whose presence

    we can begin to explore

       the latent power

          that lies hidden…

          …in our weaknesses and vulnerability

              the power of the Holy Spirit

                                     which,

 

this Pentecost,

in our weakness

    in our very emptiness,

       we will fill up what is lacking

                           and bring about

-- through community –

          the transformation of the world.

 

 

Forty days;

    forty nights,

       and hopefully,

          another forty years

              for our Resurrection Community.

 

 

Amen!