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 The
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The Homily of Fr. Joseph Tizio, Pastor
jtizio@stclementschurch.com
SEVENTH
SUNDAY OF EASTER
Weekend of May 4th,
2008
My sister is now retired but she served as a
school psychologist for years in some pretty tough schools in the
New York City school system. One day, we were talking about our
fantasy jobs, the jobs we fantasized about on really rough days. She
said that her fantasy job was to be a cleaning lady because at the
end of the day, when you finished work, you could see results. My
fantasy job is to be a trucker, not only do I get to drive a big rig
but the job description seems to be simple, just drive something
from point A to point B. We seem to be a society obsessed with
results. In school, our children have to take more and more
standardized tests with the results carefully analyzed. At out last
school board meeting, one of the topics discussed was the test
results for some of the grades in our school. So many of us in our
jobs are under pressure to produce results. On a personal level, we
so often expect results from ourselves.
The Word of God today is about results. However,
the Word proclaims that ultimately, results do not depend on us but
on the Father. When the day is done, we are challenged to surrender
to God and leave the results in God’s hands.
The first reading today is from the Acts of the
Apostles, it describes for us the period between the Ascension and
Pentecost. In a sense, the faith formation process for the disciples
has been completed. They have followed Jesus for three years,
learned from him, and most especially have experienced his passage
from death into life. Jesus now reigns with the Father in glory and
all the disciples do is wait. The results of their formation as
disciples of Jesus is not in their hands now, nor is it in Jesus’
hands, it is in the hands of the Father. God will bring the results;
send the Holy Spirit when and where he chooses. It is the job of the
disciples to trustingly wait and pray with the assurance that God
will produce results in God’s good time.
The gospel today is the magnificent High Priestly
Prayer of Jesus. Jesus is exercising his role as High Priest by
interceding for his disciples in prayer. It is the Last Supper, the
night before his death, basically in his prayer Jesus tells the
Father that he has accomplished everything the Father has asked of
him. With his passage from suffering, death, into new life, Jesus
has completed the mission the Father sent him to perform. He now
tells the Father that everything is in his hands. Jesus consecrates
himself and his disciples to the Father and tells the Father that
the results are all up
to him.
I think that the perfect night prayer is to simply
be able to tell the Father that you did the best you could during
the day and now the results are in his hands. How much anxiety and
stress could we be spared if we simply trusted that after we have
done our best, God will bring the results that God wants, when God
wants them. When our lives finally come to an end, it is not the
success or failure of our actions that counts, it is being able to
tell God that you tried your best and to trust that God will take
your efforts and bring the results that God wants. During this week
before Pentecost, like the disciples in the first reading, simply
wait in prayer and trust that God will always take your efforts and
in God’s own time will bring results you never dreamed of or
imagined.
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