If I asked you to list places that are holy, what would you put? (Rome? Jerusalem? This church?) If you were to list things that are holy, what would it include? (The cross you have at home? Your bible?) If you were to name people who are holy, who would be on it? (Pope Francis? Bishop Kettler?)
Well, I want to do something a bit different today, instead of focusing on the readings I want to focus on a list. A list of things that we believe . . . which we call the Creed. This is that proclamation we say after the homily.
During the Mass, there are a few options to use. During the Easter Season and during baptisms, we use the Baptismal form of Creed. This is a sort of call and response: I ask “Do you believe in this” and you respond “yes” or “Amen.”
Another creed, which is one of oldest recognized form in our faiths, is the Apostles Creed. We use this during the winter months (during Advent, Christmas Season and the weeks before Lent). Open up the hymnals to find it inside of the back cover. This creed originated from the Apostles and it is concise and to the point. Notice that there are 3 points that believe in . . . we say. “I believe in the Father; and in Jesus Christ; I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Do you catch the similarities with our sign of the cross? That’s right . . . same pattern, same belief points.
The Creed that we use for the rest of the liturgical year (i.e. during Ordinary Time) is the longer creed called the Nicene Creed. It can be found inside of the front cover of the hymnal. This creed originated from a big church meeting (called a Council) which was held in 325 AD in the city of Nicaea (Asia Minor). The Emperor Constantine called this council (or meeting) to settle arguments about who Jesus was. The argument is called Arianism, that some people believed Jesus is NOT to be equal with God the Father.
That’s why that unique word “consubstantial” is in there. The former translation used “one in being” with the Father. But this word and all the entire translation is trying to return to a more pure translation from the original Latin.
Here again are the three points of belief: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But notice, again, how the bulk of the text focuses on Jesus Christ. That’s because most of the fighting among Christians, then and still today, is who was Jesus and how does he relate to the Father.
Notice, where it says we bow. Do you have to? No, but it is kind of cool. It offers a reverence as if saying [I bow], “Wow, God became one of us . . . with warts, and bad breath and stinky feet. Wow.”
Also look at the word “man” in the text. What do we do with it? Well, try this experiment. Think of a moment of the five most important men in your life, living or dead? [Allow time].
Now, did anyone think of a female in his or her list? That word in our Creed becomes a problem for some, because it is meant to include all people, but for many it doesn’t. It doesn’t for me, so here’s what I do . . . when we get to that part; I simply omit the word “men,” so I say “for us and for our salvation.” The word men for me only refers to males and I want to pray for females also.
But the big importance of saying any of these three Creeds is that there are three elements to it. That is, three beings, three components . . . Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And the image that makes the most sense is that these three “flow together” to form God.
You see, too often we diminish God to only being the Creator, our Godhead, or as we usually say “the Father.” And we get stuck thinking that God is somewhere far away from us. Somewhere out there looking down on us. But remember we don’t just stop with the Creed and say I believe in God the Father. End of belief. No we continue to pronounce that God is not just the Father but also the son and also the Holy Spirit.
The best definition of those three (which you have heard me say before) is
God the Father is God BEFORE us
Jesus is God BESIDE us.
The Holy Spirit is God WITHIN us.
It is a flow. A movement of God (not distant from us) but part of us. Instead of boxing God in our small notion of who God is . . . we are invited to think “bigger” and “larger” of who God is.
God is not standing on the sidelines . . . keeping a chart of our bad faults or critiquing which part of creation belongs or which (or who) doesn’t. No, God is the flow of all life . . . that flows through everything and every one of us (without exception).
For when we stop and think that God is in all things before us, alongside us and even within us . . . . and God is holy. Then in answer to my very first questions at the beginning of the homily . . . . everything is holy now.
Now here’s the zinger. In the gospel, when the rich man ignores the poor man, Lazarus, it is meant to signify all the people that we neglect . . . maybe it is people who are poor, maybe people who are Muslim, or people vote different than you. Whoever it is . . . it is our challenge to see them as holy.
And you are holy. And I am holy. This is what we say in the Creed . . . everything is holy.