Mary Reynolds, OP
Assembly 2008
Reflections, Closing Liturgy
Peter and Paul, our ancestors in faith! Giants/pillars upon which the church of Christ was founded and its growth nurtured. Peter, an improbable leader of a budding community! Peter, who would ever have thought Jesus would ask so much of his generous heart?
Paul, the zealous missionary who wanted all to know this person Jesus and to change their lives and become other witnesses. Paul, who founded churches and continued to explain the faith through his letters.
God’s grace transformed Peter’s denials of Jesus and Paul’s persecution of the church, into a mighty witness. Just as Peter’s confession of faith was only the beginning of his life’s work, Paul’s conversion compelled him to bold preaching,
Guided by the Spirit, the Church was founded, not for itself, but to give away its treasure, its message of love, reconciliation, and peace.
The seeds planted by Peter and Paul and the women and men with whom they traveled blossomed and in the 13th century a new foundation of preachers appeared as Dominic was moved to tears at the way people were burdened with false teachings. He addressed the heresies of his day in a new way – itinerancy – preachers two by two traveling from town to town, mostly on foot, to announce the truth, depending only on the grace of God and the generosity of others.
Through the years, communities of women religious began to spread the Word outside of their enclosures and in the latter part of the 19th Century, Alice Thorpe’s and Margaret Dowling’s hearts were moved by the needs of the struggling poor in New York City, many of whom were immigrants. Beginning and carrying on a new venture, Alice’s and Margaret’s preaching took the form of direct care of women and children.
And we, in the 20th and 21st centuries, find ourselves in that long line of holy people proclaiming publicly to our world that Jesus has come so that all might have life and have it in abundance. Since 1973, we have named what we do a ministry for justice.We preach the gospel with a focus on injustice to people and the earth. We realize that justice means right relationships and that the issues with which we are concerned – some of which are global warming, the death penalty, immigration, and human trafficking - are interrelated.
There is so much to do. We can be overwhelmed. Adrienne Rich, in her poem Natural Resources, says:
My heart is moved by all I cannot save. So much has been destroyed.
I cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, and with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.
So perversely, stubbornly, we pray, we write, we advocate, we challenge, we strategize, we support, we commit, we erect a peace pole, we light candles of integration, friendship, truth and freedom.
This commitment has not been without cost! We can relate to Paul’s being poured out like a libation, the cup of our energies is becoming depleted. Doubts and fears arise when we look ahead and don’t see the human and financial resources we need.
Paul cast his lot with the Lord who stood by him and gave him strength to proclaim the word fully. The lives of Peter, Dominic, Alice and Margaret tell us the same thing. And one hundred and thirty two years later, our passion must still be about the holy preaching in whatever ways we can.
These gatherings are opportunities to ask one another “In whom have you met Jesus lately?” “Who do you say that this Jesus is?” “What has moved your heart?” It’s a time to rekindle the fire, to sharpen the focus, to ask where we should plant new seeds of truth, and how can we put a face on this truth?
Our only certainty about the future/eternal present is that God will provide the grace and, if we do what we have to, we will not be alone on the journey. Knowing us, we will stay in the race for as long as we are given and when we are called to join our ancestors in faith it will be a celebration of the marvels God has worked through us and for us.
This is the good Word! GO AND PREACH IT.
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