PRE - PENTECOST MINISTRATION OF FAITH!

Homily recipe for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, Yr A 2023: PRE - PENTECOST MINISTRATION OF FAITH!

by Benedict Agbo (Rev Fr)

*Act 2: 42 - 47, 1 Pet 1: 3 - 9, Jn 20: 19 - 31.

A. MINISTRATION FOR FELLOWSHIP

Don't mind my use of this vague terminology called "ministration" by Charismatics in today's homily. I just chose  to refer to what Jesus did for the apostles in today's gospel as a kind of "pre - Pentecost ministration" of faith mearnt to deepen fellowship.

We are told that the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Yes, the greatest problem the early Church must have faced after the death of Christ was the problem of fear causing backsliding in fellowship. Christ therefore came, even before the Pentecost, to release grace for fellowship which is the staying power of any Christian community. It is said that 'a family that prays together, stays together'. 

Today's 1st reading says that the early Christians were sustained by 4 things; fidelity to the doctrines, sacraments, liturgical prayers and the brotherhood. It says that the whole community remained faithful, (i) To the teaching of the apostles (Word of God), (ii) To the brotherhood (Practice of Love ), (iii) To the breaking of bread (Sacrament of the Eucharist) and (iv) To the liturgical prayers (Fellowship), Matt 18: 20, Heb 10: 25. And the Lord added to their number those who were to be saved. 

B. BACKSLIDING FAITH

Immediately after the death of Christ, some people began losing faith /backsliding. The problem of Thomas was not really lack of faith but the backsliding of his faith. The Bible says he was not with them when Jesus came for  the first time and when they told him what happened he said: 'I refuse to believe until I see the holes in his hands.' But that was too bad! Philosophical and theological scepticism have remained the biggest blows to modern day Christianity. Christ's message to him and to us today is: 'Blessed are those who have not seen yet believed. 

Faith is not an empirical experience but a spiritual one. The Word of God says that 'The faithful shall live by faith and not by sight', 2 Cor 5: 5. Faith is a gift /reward of fellowship. It is not a mark of wisdom to insist on waiting for personal experience in the face of a group experience. Even the resurrectional faith is proved not merely by the empirical evidence of the empty tomb but by the prior evidence of scriptural revelation. Personal miracles alone cannot make us good believers. We need others' faith (the faith of the Christian community) to help our unbelief. 

- Heb 11: 1: Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for or prove the existence of realities that are yet unseen. 

- Is 65: 19 f: Example, blessings of longevity, prosperity, divine favour, divine protection and peace.  

- Community faith is therefore what we acquire from fellowship. 

C. CONTEXTUALIZATION

We are face to face with the problem of 'Sunday - Sunday - medicine' approach to Christianity and 'Social - Club - mentality' to contemporary Catholicism especially in Nigeria. Our Christians are fast losing the value of fellowship, respect for the mass, the Word of God and the Holy Eucharist. Our funeral and wedding ceremonies show clear examples of our 'planned lateness' that negates the whole idea of Christian fellowship; no hunger for the Word of God, no respect for the Eucharist and no real sense of Brotherhood. Our leaders must act fast otherwise we are watching the Christian Fellowship being eroded in our very eyes. 

This pre - pentecost ministration of the Holy Spirit for the elimination of fear and forgiveness of sins is the greatest secret behind the survival of the Church before and after the Pentecost. Our people are also losing faith in the efficacy of this sacrament of reconciliation /forgiveness of sins.  According to Vima Dasan, the Holy Spirit works in 2 ways; through the explosive power of charisms and through the staying power of the Church sacraments and fellowship. Because Thomas was absent from Church fellowship, he lost out completely.  Christ's ministration today is bifocal; He releases the Holy Spirit for the escape of fear and timidity, 2 Tim 1: 6 - 8 and for the Sacrament of reconciliation. This is because, anytime we offend God, we lose the boldness (faith) and confidence to come before him as children of God, Heb 10: 19 f. 

D. CONCLUSION

We praise the frankness of St Thomas in today's gospel. As Alfred Tennyson puts it: 'There lives more faith in honest doubts, believe me, than in half - based creeds'. Many of us pretend to be Christians when we haven't the slightest faith in what we are doing. But when he (Thomas) was sure, he went the whole way of faith: 'My Lord and my God!'. Soren Kierkegaard calls it 'a transcendental leap of faith'. He now went beyond the physical revelation (phenomenon) of the pierced hands of Jesus to the metaphysical (neumenon) revelation of Christ's divinity - a Christological proclamation that we still like to make during the lifting of Eucharistic species before Communion even until today. Happy Easter dear friends!