Nolan Catholic High School
August 17, 2017
Ezekiel 36:24-28
Ephesians l:3a, 4a, 13-19a
John 14: 23b-26
Christ has called us by name at the start of this academic year to celebrate the Eucharist, as instituted by Him at the Last Supper. Our Gospel reading, proclaimed in this celebration of the Eucharist, is taken from the Gospel of John, where the action represented occurs in the context of Christ’s Last Supper discourse whereby Jesus is teaching and instructing His disciples to remain in the way He has taught them to remain in Him.
In the Gospel, Jesus is speaking these words to His disciples as He is instituting the Mass; He speaks them once more to us as we encounter Him again at the celebration of the Mass.
Christ promises an Advocate who will remain with them, with us, while Christ departs. The Advocate is the one who will remind them, intercede for them, and plead their case. It is a legal term; it means “lawyer” or “defender.” Christ gives the disciples this Defender — the Holy Spirit — so they will not be lost when Jesus departs. Yet, what is this needed defense that requires such an advocate?
We hear an answer to this question in the first and second readings of our Mass today. The first reading from Ezekiel follows the promise of God to regenerate the land in preparation for the return of His people from exile. It’s important to note that this act of mercy on the part of God is not precipitated by the people themselves but because of God’s very being. God’s very being is Love. In fact, the people don’t deserve this act of mercy by God, but God acts on their behalf anyway in honor of His name. The point is that God’s saving action on behalf of His people is not their own doing. There is not any action of their own initiative that brings about God’s entrance into their lives. It is only His free gift.
The second reading from Ephesians utilizes heart and Spirit language to emphasize that the calling of those in Christ also is something not earned nor deserved. This call is a free gift offered to them by God out of His love for them. In the classical thanksgiving section of the letter, Paul is reminding the Ephesian community of what God has done for them through the Grace of the Holy Spirit. God is giving the Ephesians “a spirit of wisdom and revelation.”
The gift of the Spirit defends the Ephesian community from a selfish sense of entitlement. It is the Spirit of gratitude. This gift of the ability to be grateful for what God has done for them in Christ is the starting point of all that they are to do. The Spirit brings to the disciples a calling to a life of gratitude and service. Their hearts are exhorted to continue to live in this calling from Christ through which they have been enlightened to turn away from sinfulness and selfishness.
The calling of gratitude is the place where you begin your school year as Nolan Catholic High School. It is Jesus’ calling to you. You each have been given many gifts in the opportunity to be part of the educational mission of Nolan Catholic High School. Do not squander these gifts but begin by asking God for gratitude that you might not be selfish with these gifts, and instead place them at the authentic service of God and your neighbor. The Holy Spirit offers to protect you from the selfish sense of entitlement and chaos, from being deceived that you are emotionally and passionately entitled to what God offers you in His mercy.
Christ never speaks to us through chaos and emotional frenzy; He speaks to us and calms chaos and disorder through the authentic gift of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit of Wisdom and Docility. To be docile does not mean to be timid, to be docile means to be teachable, and docility comes to us with the Spirit’s gift of fortitude to be disciplined and to live obediently your current calling as both students and educators.
The cause that the Advocate pleads is the mission of Communion of the Church. That which the Advocate defends us from is the return of rebellion, chaos, and selfish entitlement that is the bitter fruit of sin. The Holy Spirit is the advocate that will not allow this chaos to return to human beings through their belonging to the Church’s mission. You who belong to Nolan Catholic High School have an important part in this mission. Decide to accept the calling to share in this mission by rejecting chaos and living fully your participation in the school’s life. Discern in the light of the Holy Spirit what it is that Christ is calling you to do with your lives; how is He calling you to serve; who is He calling you to become.
This mission is not something that belongs to an exclusive group or circle of friends; it does not belong to a nationality or language group; it is not contingent upon a special experience — spiritual or otherwise. It is the mission that belongs to the Church to gather into one all the children of God through the forgiveness of sins and conversion of heart to turn away from sin and selfishness.
We are gathered here in this Eucharistic assembly to ask the Advocate again that we might remain a stronger part of the Church’s mission through our life as part of the mission of Nolan Catholic High School. We ask the Advocate to protect us from mistreating the Church’s mission as our own selfish initiative. May the Holy Spirit enable us to encounter Christ and His Truth in the fields of each of our educational endeavors including: spirituality, language, theology, mathematics, science, culture, literature, athletics, music, theater, and others.
Let’s pray that we be a part of Christ’s plan, not that we try to subvert Him to be a part of our own plans. We are confident in making this prayer because we have the guarantee of the defense of the Holy Spirit as our Advocate. It is this Advocate who is given to us again in the same situation in which He was first promised us by Christ at the Last Supper — the celebration of the Eucharist by which we share in Christ’s eternal sacrifice of redemption — the Eucharist — that frees us from sin and is the only gift that can make all of us to be truly one in love and truth.
