I invite all of our First Communicants up here to help me with the homily. [Kids come up] Now remember that retreat that you were on early this month, led by Wendy Rappe, our Faith Formation Coordinator? During the retreat, she read a poem by soon-to-be St. Cardinal John Newman.
Part of the poem said this:
God has created me to do some definite service;
God has committed some work to me which God has not committed to another.
I have my mission—I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.
I want you to form two lines on either side of me. Now, Cardinal Newman said that we are all links on a chain, so I want you to join hands and form a chain. OK, do you feel linked? When I squeeze the hand of the first person, I want them to pass the squeeze on to the next person. When the person at the end of the line feels the squeeze, raise your hand. [I try it a few times.]
OK, let’s say a person in the middle of the chain decides NOT to pass on the squeeze, what happens? Nothing!
It’s important for all of us to stay connected and to pass on the squeeze. Ok, I am now going to pass on a bunch of squeezes, let’s have the person at the end of the line tell us how many squeezes they received. [I pass on 3, then I pass on 2]
You were all important to this process. We needed each one of you. We can pass on other things as well. I am now going to whisper a phrase into the first person’s ear and want them to pass it on. [I whisper, “Fear not.” Then “Faith, Hope and Love.”] We can pass on good messages, but each person is needed.
In the gospel, the disciples were gathered right after Jesus died. The gospel says that they were hiding, with the doors locked and that they were fearful of the Jews. What would they be afraid of? [Elicit answers of being killed themselves, being accused of taking the body of Jesus away.]
Then Jesus appears to them. This is the first time he appears to them as a group. His first words were not whispered, but proclaimed loudly . . . which was the same phrase that we passed along in the chain, “Peace be with you.” It’s a phrase that we say all through Mass.
That’s actually a hard message to pass on. It’s easy to pass on a negative message . . . like a gossip, or something juicy about someone. Remember what I always tell you about hearing some gossip . . . before you pass it on, ask yourself: is it true (find out), is it loving (is it shared because of concern), and it is necessary (does it need to be shared). If yes, then share it, otherwise . . . keep the message to yourself. This is especially true with Social Media.
Anyway, Neuroscientist Rick Hanson did studies on passing on messages. When we hear something negative, “we cling to it.” Especially when we hear something negative about ourselves. AND he reports when we hear something positive, again about ourselves, we need to “hold onto it” or think about it for at LEAST 15 seconds before it gets imprinted into our brains.
I know that’s true for me. After Mass, I can receive 99 good compliments about the Mass. For example, “Nice message, or great music, etc.” But when I hear one negative message (Like, “you didn’t bow right.”) I will hang onto that negative message and forget the 99 good messages.
We all do it ALL THE TIME. We do it with gossip, we do it to ourselves, we do it with the messages from Jesus. For example, Jesus clearly says, “Fear not.” But we hang onto messages that tell us to fear everything . . . . fear mosquitoes, fear coffee, people who don’t look like you, fear other religions, fear people who support that other politicians, fear death and not going to heaven.
Jesus’ message was to OVERCOME fear. To embrace life. To see goodness all around us, for we can always see badness, or bad things in others. But let’s start looking for and seeing the good.
It’s odd, too often when we celebrate the Eucharist, we concentrate on Jesus’ death and not his life. We forget all the compassion and forgiveness that he extended and taught while here on earth, but somehow think that now that he’s in heaven, all he does now is to judge and punish.
Well, First Communicants, Cardinal Newman’ poem said that you have a mission to do. Perhaps your mission, which NO one else can do . . . is to go spread the good news that Jesus wants us to be at peace, to not worry so much. To be the link in God’s chain . . . that says, this Eucharist is to receive God’s blessings, God’s love, God’s joy . . . and pass it on!