At left, Fr. Frank Case, S.J., Vice President for Mission, right, blesses President McCulloh
Shared by President Thayne McCulloh in his role as Director of the Jesuit work. At the Mass of the Holy Spirit offered by VP for Mission Fr. Frank Case, S.J., September 14, 2011.
In the earliest part of this week, the nation – and we here at Gonzaga too – commemorated the 10th anniversary of some of the greatest acts of terrorism ever to occur in our country’s history. In the days leading up to, and then on September 11 itself, the media incessantly replayed the news video – much of it horrifi c – which was broadcast live that day in 2001. Having vivid memories I’ve carried with me since that tragic day, I was reluctant to re-live it; but I did watch a fi lm which some of you may also have seen – the creative work of two brothers – which documented the events of that day and its impact upon the men of one particular Manhattan fi rehouse: Engine 7, Ladder 1. On Sept. 11, 2001, 343 fi refi ghters died in New York City; but not a single man from Engine 7, Ladder 1 perished.
What is striking, 10 years later, is the profoundly differing effects that the events of that day – all experienced at the same time by this group of men – had upon each of them as individuals across the ensuing years. All were forever changed. But some have been able to emerge with a sense of having been miraculously saved from death, and have gone on to celebrate life as a grace daily received; while others were unable to free themselves from the images of that day and the overwhelming feelings of guilt that they too did not die. As I sat watching this fi lm, I began to feel overwhelmed at my own sense of helplessness; for we all know at a fundamental level that anguish, despair, and a tormented spirit are very common human conditions, ones from which many fi nd it diffi cult, if not impossible, to escape.
This year, our Mass of the Holy Spirit is celebrated on a special day in the liturgical calendar, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The conjoining of these two events
provides us an opportunity to appreciate the critical relationship between the very human experience of suffering – here exemplifi ed by Christ’s suffering and death – and the power of the Holy Spirit to inspire us to understand God’s will for us, and to have the courage to live our lives in the fullness of God’s grace.
In today’s passage from John’s Gospel, Jesus is talking with Nicodemus, a Pharisee who sees something important in Jesus’ teachings and who is really trying to understand – with limited success – what Jesus is saying. “No one,” Jesus says, “has gone up to heaven, except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.” Jesus goes on to say, in abstract language, ‘the Son of Man must be raised up – must die – so that those who believe in him will have everlasting life.’ This promise of Jesus’ is an unprecedented one: the promise of an eternal life after death, an eternal life with God.
The most recognizable symbol of our relationship with God, as Christians, is the Cross. Over the centuries, it has frequently been stylized and represented as a thing of artistic beauty, but to early Christians it was a symbol of terror, of despair – a cruel reminder of the frailty of human life and persecution at the hands of the powerful.
As humans living two thousand years after Jesus, we are still confronted with daily examples of terror, and injustice, and human frailty. Our history and personal experiences are filled with examples of cruelty and persecution, sometimes public and sometimes private, some well-documented, and others shrouded in secrecy. The Cross as a symbol of Jesus’ own suffering and sacrifice is mirrored in the experiences of countless people who have suffered, and suffer today, often directly due to the actions, or neglect, of others.
Throughout the Gospels Jesus teaches His apostles, and us, how truly diffi cult it is to follow in His footsteps. The path to life with God is filled with many obstacles, many
temptations, not least of which are those created by our own humanity, our own narrow-mindedness, our inability (or unwillingness) to listen for God’s voice in our lives. Following in Jesus’ footsteps is not easy. It is easy – in fact, easiest – to become cynical, to detach, to grow cold and hard-hearted.
But before we do, we are called to be mindful of our first reading today, which reminds us of our purpose as a University, and celebrates a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me. For in her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique…
Today, our readings are calling us to be a people of hope, a people of wisdom, and a people of action. In the simplest of terms, John’s gospel calls us to recognize that to live in communion with Christ means believing in Him; and our understanding of the Gospel compels us to realize that “belief” here demands action; it is not passive. Jesus is calling us into belief made manifest in an active life, lived in His image.
Today we exalt the Cross because of the salvation Jesus’ death gained for all of us. And we remember that in John’s gospel, it is at Jesus’ very last moment on the Cross – what from the perspective of most must be the moment of greatest despair – that He breathed out His Spirit and in turn shared it with all the world. In John, it was from the Cross that the Lord’s last breath became humanity’s first breath of new life. And later in this same Gospel, locked in the upstairs room, the risen Christ appeared to the apostles, breathed upon them, and said, “receive the Holy Spirit.”
In receiving the Holy Spirit, we in turn become animated by the power of Christ’s eternal light, the image of God’s goodness. In seeking and receiving the Holy Spirit, it is us that God calls – knowing that at times the work will be difficult, and that in doing the work we may face many obstacles and challenges. Through his life on Earth, Jesus showed us the way, and now it is our turn: to work hard through our academic endeavors to seek the truth; to support one another in our learning and in our relationships; to comfort the affl icted, to console those who mourn, to give voice to the voiceless, to bring hope to those who are hopeless.
The purpose of our Mass today – a September tradition stretching back for us to the very first year of the founding of this University – is to invoke an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon each one of us, and upon the entire University of which we are a part. For as a Jesuit, Catholic, humanistic university, we seek not only to serve humanity through learning and the pursuit of truth; we actively seek to frame our work in terms of Christ’s message and in so doing to understand our endeavor as an encounter with the living God. We ask God to send the Holy Spirit to be with each one of us this day: to animate, inspire, and to empower us to be Christ’s light to the world. Amen.
