My life would be very different if I had never met you.

Transcription

1 Jubilee Celebration September 26, 2015 A sister-friend described a wonderful day with her five year old nephew. The day was a beauty, clear, sunny. It was a delight to be out. They went to one of his favorite places, the zoo. On the way home in the car, there was a pleasant quiet between the two of them, aunt and nephew, savoring the day they had spent together. Then her nephew spoke, from out of the blue, You know, Margie, my life would be very different if I had never met you. My life would be very different if I had never met you. But Sisters, you did meet Jesus, the Christ! And that has made all the difference. Over the years you Sisters have stirred into flame the gift of God, the spirit of love! Our lives, Sister Jubilarians, would be very different if we had never met you. Our lives would have been very different if we had never met Mary, James Annette, Mary Jacqueline, Anne Maureen, Richard Maureen. Josephine, Loyola, Eileen, Mary Raymond, Miriam Christine, Joanna, Patricia Maris. If I had never met Mary McKenna, Sister Philothea, as a High School sophomore, I wouldn t be here today, I wouldn t be a Sister of St. Joseph and I wouldn t be preaching to you. Mary, how very different my life would be if I had never met you. 1

2 Each one of you here could think or say much the same thing, as you think of the Jubilarian you ve come to honor. You would say: My life would be very different if I had never met you. That five year old child captured what is at the heart of our Christian faith, relationships, the triune love relationship of the Father, Son and Spirit. This relationship is captured in the gospel when Jesus says, I am the vine; you are the branches bear abundant fruit. Many of you know that the North Fork of Long Island, and, even, now the South Fork, are home to numerous vineyards producing wonderful grapes and delicious wines. Well, here, today, in Sacred Heart Chapel, we are in the midst of a vineyard carved in the amber windows of varying colors from yellow to light brown that surround us on both sides in the body of the Chapel. Italian master artisans in the 1920 s engraved the windows with multiple designs reflecting Jesus words. A frequent design in many of the windows is of a strong central vine, sometimes with branches and sometimes with bunches of grapes hanging from the vine. I am the vine; you are the branches bear abundant fruit. In a vineyard there are rosebushes at the end of each row of vines. They offer us beauty but they also are the vineyard keeper s early warning system. You see rosebushes are more susceptible to disease than the vines. The vineyard keeper keeps careful watch for any sign of disease on the 2

3 rosebushes. If there is a sign of disease she has time to protect the branches from that disease so they can bear abundant fruit. Like the vine and the branches, we are connected to Jesus and through his love we grow strong. He supports us through the challenging task of producing abundant fruit. Pope Francis, at the vesper service with religious on Thursday evening, spoke of two pillars of the spiritual life: a spirit of gratitude and a spirit of hard work. Quote A grateful heart is spontaneously impelled to serve the Lord and to find expression in a life of commitment to our work. Once we come to realize how much God has given us, a life of self-sacrifice, of working for him and for others, becomes a privileged way of responding to his great love. End quote. Sisters, your commitment to the hard work of the gospel is evident in the abundant fruit you bore. Here we are - your family, your friends, your students, your co-workers, a small portion of your abundant fruit. Your example moves us to become branches connected to that same vine, Jesus. All of us are called by love to the hard work of the gospel to keep the commandment Jesus gave us: Love one another as I have loved you. What does that commandment look like? Micah says simply: do justice, love tenderly, walk humbly. Simply do it! We are all called to this hard work which changes as our lived realities change. 3

4 Again in the words of Pope Francis, Many of these (works) are known only to God, but they bear rich fruit for the life of the Church. And I would add, for the life of our world. As God has loved me, so I have loved you. Live on in my love. Fidelity to relationships and fidelity to the responsibilities that stem from these relationships are at the root of Biblical justice. Fidelity to God, to love God above all else Fidelity to people, to love them like another self, as if we were standing in their shoes, especially the paper-thin shoes of the crucified Fidelity to the earth, to treat each thing, each creature, with reverence as a trace or vestige of the creator The centrality of relationships shapes the Sister of St. Joseph, impels her to love of God and love of neighbor without distinction. Each of our Jubilarians is doing the hard work of embodying Jesus love in their love of others, their love of the neighbor without distinction. How very different the lives of those neighbors would be if they had never met these Sisters. Today is a day of remembrance and celebration. The grace of remembrance calls each of us to remembrance of being called, remembrance of our journey to this day, remembrance of graces received and, above all, remembrance of our encounter with Jesus Christ so often along the way. 4

5 Mary Oliver captures this moment in time when she writes: Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed. Sisters and brothers, Sometimes we need Only to stand (or sit) Wherever we are To be blessed. We are blessed today because each one of us can say: My life would be very different if I had never met you! 5