Homilies

Reflections by Rev.Chrys McVey, O.P.

Silver Jubilee of
Anna Bakhshi, Ann Schwartz and Maureen Daly
Sparkill, NY - 30 June 2007

Isaiah 61.10-11; Ephesians 1.3-14; John 17.1-3,20-22

Some years ago Albert Nolan was speaking to sisters in South Africa. He addressed the fact that there were so few new vocations and so many aged religious. I know celebrating 25 years of profession does not make Anna, Maureen or Ann – or any of you here – ‘aged,’ but what Albert had to say was of importance to all of us, young and old.

Looking at old and infirm religious women, who had been very active, had done great things, who were legends in their own communities, but are now bedridden or making their way round the infirmary with walkers and canes, he suggested that now, finally, they are doing just what they entered religious life to do: living only for God. And, as such, they are, perhaps, the most powerful preachers in the Order today.

This may seem a strange way to begin a celebration of silver jubilees, but I suspect this is just what Anna, Maureen and Ann had in mind when they chose the readings for today. The readings speak of ‘rejoicing in the Lord, who has clothed me with the garment of salvation and covered me with righteousness’ (Is 61). They rejoice with Paul in his letter to the Ephesians because God ‘has blessed us, chose us, [he who] has a plan for the fullness of time, has destined and appointed us to live for the praise of his glory.’ 

The focus of a silver jubilee is not on the accomplishments of the jubilarians, but on what God has done in and through them. The poet, Auden, writes: He is the Way. / Follow Him / through the Land of Unlikeness; / You will see rare beasts, / and have unique adventures. We celebrate their three journeys, following Jesus, into the ‘Land of Unlikeness.’ And we celebrate the ‘rare beasts’ they have seen and the ‘unique adventures’ they have had (which – I am sure – they will be glad to tell you about over lunch!).

So this is first of all a celebration of God the doer, the one who does for us. For all of us. The jubilee of a religious is a sacrament reminding all of us here today of the ways God has been mysteriously present in our lives so we can all celebrate together.

It is also a celebration of how these three jubilarians have been faithful to the God who does for them. And it is a celebration of how they have lived, like Jesus, a life for others. A life characterised by compassion and vulnerability.

There is a story about a man who went to heaven. He was met at the gate by the angel, who asked him, ‘Where are your wounds?’ ‘Wounds?’ the man said: ‘I don’t have any wounds.’ And the angel asked  wearily, ‘Was there nothing worth fighting for?’

Auden, again, writes: He is the Truth. / Seek Him / in the Kingdom of Anxiety. / You will come to a great city / that has expected you for years.

A jubilee is a remembering of their seeking Him ‘in the Kingdom of Anxiety,’ and it is a celebration of wounds, the campaign ribbons from that journey. We emerge from that search with a new identità that is the passport to the ‘great city.’ It is, after all, our wounds that make us who we are. As they made Jesus who he was.
 
This compassionate, vulnerable and wounded Jesus is the pattern for any Christian, and what made Jesus so unique was his unqualified acceptance of others – all those others who are different.

He is the Life, says Auden, Love Him / in the World of the Flesh; / And at your marriage / all its occasions shall dance for joy. 

A jubilee is a celebration of difference, of delight in ‘the World of the Flesh’; a celebration of the world of the real and a celebration of the freedom religious women have of entering into that ‘World of the Flesh,’ mourning with those who grieve and dancing with others in their rejoicing.

Jesus’ challenge today to ‘believe in me,’ really means ‘do as I do.’ Be open to others, especially those who are ‘different,’ which is why it so important for Sparkill to have sisters in Pakistan, and for Anna to be here celebrating her jubilee. The sisters there are the flesh of Jesus’ prayer ‘for all who believe [in me] because of their word… that they may all be one.’

Jubilarians, you see, have this wonderful opportunity of entering just a little bit more into God’s plans for the future. In the Spirit, they are ‘destined to live for the praise of God’s glory.’ With them, we who are family, friends, fellow religious and who have been part of their lives, we celebrate their faithfulness to that vision.

With Maureen, Ann and Anna, with them in ‘the Land of Unlikeness,’ in ‘the Kingdom of Anxiety’ and in ‘the World of the Flesh,’ we walk into the future with joy and hope, trusting in the God who does for us, and in the Sprit who helps us to see.