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Fr. Gerry Creedon's homily delivered at St. Charles on May 19, 2002
Pentecost proclaims the spirit of God in the variety of cultures and in the variety of ministries in the Church.
Let's begin with the variety of cultures. They all heard the Word of the Lord in their own language. It's a contrast from the Tower of Babel where they were given different languages and were confused. Pentecost, the Spirit, brought all nations and languages together. They could be understood and understand each other speaking their own tongue. The church at one time thought it could bring the world together by teaching Latin. Then with Vatican II we went back to the vernacular and the glorious diversity of the Lord's people was again revealed.
Welcoming: Essential to the Life of the Church
Take a simple word that's so essential to the life of the church, "Welcome". The US bishops have just written a document called "Welcoming the Stranger" about immigrants and refugees and a multicultural church. What are the various words for welcome that our grandparents used? "Failte" is the Gaelic word.
PARISHONERS offered:
Spanish - bienvenido
French - bienvenue
German - wilkommen
Arabic - salaam alekum
as well as expressions from Guam, Japan, Burundi, the Philippines, and in Swahili.St. Charles is multicultural. A variety of countries are represented here. How important is it for us to have an attitude of welcome to all of the diversity of God's people! All of those traditions bring us the message of Christ and the Spirit of God in our own idiom.
The variety of ministries also calls for celebration.
Celebrating Fr. Durkin and His 99 Years
Fr Joseph Durkin celebrates with us today. He has just marked his 99th birthday. In his own person he exemplifies the various ways we are all called to serve. A graduate student found himself in Arlington Detention Center. Fr Durkin came to visit and ended up joining the Jail Ministry of St Charles parish, celebrating Mass and offering pastoral outreach on Monday evenings. I have heard from inmates what a transforming effect this ministry produces. One of the volunteers also works at an assisted living facility. Now Fr Durkin also reaches out to the Jefferson.
Fr. Durkin has been around forever. He was born on May 17, 1903. His grandparents came from Mayo. He has stories about the Irish famine, the hedge schools and the civil war through oral family tradition. The oldest surviving one of 8 children brought up in Philadelphia, he joined the Jesuits in 1920. In 1938 he first came to Georgetown but he wasn't educated enough, so he got a doctorate in American history at Fordham and returned to Georgetown in 1940. He has been working at the university since, teaching American history. An amazing person who has written 20 books, he represents a characteristic quality of the Jesuits: he is that renaissance man who is at home in academia, at home with the intellectuals in our society, at home with the historians, and yet integrates all with his spiritual values.
Doing the Work of St. Ignatius of Loyola
I was driving him back to Georgetown one night when he pondered: "You know, this pastoral work that I'm doing at St Charles is what St. Ignatius Loyola wanted to start with. The original mission of the Jesuits is not education but pastoral work!"
I'm glad the people of St. Charles have allowed Fr. Durkin to get back to his original mission, pastoral outreach to the vulnerable in our parish and our society. He has been, to me, a great witness.
In his story you have the whole variety of the ways the spirit works among us. With him we are called to renew our own response to the variety of calls we receive in our baptismal, confirmation, and ordained commitment. The Spirit summons us to celebrate the variety of cultures and ministries that open up constantly before us. We find new horizons at whatever age. With Fr. Joseph Durkin let us keep growing. Let us not just live, let us be alive in the spirit.
Appendix
Arrested for Loving Jesus?In his spontaneous remarks after Communion, Fr Durkin tells a story.
"One winter's day the parking lot was a sheet of ice between the residence and the chapel at Georgetown. My superiors had warned me not to walk unattended. A security guard took me by the arm and led me through the ice. Some girls were on the lawn. One remarked to the other: 'Look, the priest is under arrest!' There was truth in her comment beyond what she probably understood. I was recently interviewed for TV. I was asked, 'Why did you enter the Jesuits?' I answered that at the age of 17 I fell in love with Jesus and have been passionately in love with him ever since. In a way, I have been arrested!"
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or 2002
Homilies
Revised/reviewed June 4, 2002