Summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily from April 27, 2008
"And he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the spirit of truth." John 14:16
I remember the discussion at a Priests' Council two years ago on, "Whether girls should be allowed to be altar servers in the Arlington Diocese?" I was surprised by the vehement arguments of some of our younger priests. "If we allow girls to serve, we will have no vocations to the priesthood. Next thing they will want to be ordained. It is venerable tradition to exclude girls. It is not a right, it is a privilege." etc etc. I was hoping that someone else would speak up from another perspective, since I had already expressed my self on the topic many times. But the silence got to me. In fact I was burning up. So I found my voice; if it is good enough for the Vatican, surely it is permissible in Arlington. A change would support the equal dignity of all God's children.
From time to time we all feel the fire burning inside of us, when we would rather be silent. Yet, silence is often overrated. The spirit of truth, as we see it, with all our fallibility, sometimes calls us to advocate for those who would be marginalized. This is why the Holy Spirit is referred to as a Paraclete or Advocate, someone who is a voice for the voiceless. The Spirit alive in the church inspires prophetic and often unpopular stances.
The Spirit is also the source of empowerment. "They laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." The laying on of hands is a traditional symbolic action that conveys or transmits power. Everything of mine is yours. Jesus promised that in the Spirit his disciples would do "far greater things than I." It is one thing to be a voice for the voiceless, it is still better to help them find their own voice. At the Ascension, the disciples are pictured looking up at the sky. It takes an angel to get them to move on. Through Baptism, Confirmation, as well as Ordination we are ALL empowered to act.
The Spirit is the source of creation and re-creation. In Genesis, the Spirit is seen hovering over the waters till they become the wellspring of all life. We pray, "Send forth your spirit and renew the face of the earth." The presence of the living God is not confined to people. Paul laments, "All of creation is groaning for redemption." The plunging of the paschal candle in the Easter font signifies the impregnating life giving power of the Spirit for every new creation. The native American and the early Celt had a stronger sense than we have of the indwelling of the Spirit in wood and mountain and stream. We need to rediscover the sacredness of the earth itself. The Spirit stirs us to question mountain top removal for the sake of cheaper energy, especially when it puts mercury in the Shenandoah and blights the beauty of the Old Dominion. Care for creation finds its source in the dynamism of the Holy Spirit.
The Third person of the Holy trinity is not a shadowy ghost like shadows at the margins of our life. The Spirit is a voce for the voiceless, it is the power to act in Jesus' name, it is the living hope for our fragile planet.
"Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love."