Pentecost Sunday (Fr. Simham)
Friends first of all let me wish you a “Happy Birthday”. Today is the birthday of the church . It is today, the day of the Pentecost when the disciples after receiving the Holy Spirit went and preached the word of God, 3000 men were converted and received baptism and the church was born.
All those who are baptised: that is all of us are members of the church. And we are the church and it is our birthday today. On this auspicious day I want to talk to you about our mother church. What it is? What is its dignity? Whenever we recite the Nicean creed, we say “We believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.” That is the dignity or these are the characteristic features of the church of which we are all members.
Today I want to talk to you about these four characteristic features of the church. The events that happened on the Pentecost day reveal this.
First, Church is ONE. Don’t laugh at me when I say church is one. Because obviously you come across so many different churches in our county itself: Roman catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist etc to name a few. None of them are connected to each other. I know that. But still what do I mean when I say the church is one. It means that Christ is the head and all of us (including the different churches) are the different parts of the body, each different from the other but all connected to the head. ( Refer CCC 790& 791)Unfortunately each part thinks that it is superior to the other. Not realizing that they only do what the head commands. (You can think of the famous story of body parts fighting with each other and refusing to work.) So church is one professing one Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.
Secondly, Church is Holy. Is it holy? Do we have only saints in the church? If only saints are allowed to be in the church, I thinks not many of us including me will be worthy to be here. Then what does it mean when we say the church is holy? It does not mean it is full of saints although it is they who shine like bright stars, but it means that church is the agent or means of holiness and sainthood. Look at the all the sacraments which is part of the church. What do they do? What are they for? Baptism welcomes a man /woman washing him clean and filling him with grace. Confirmation strengthens him/her, communion nourishes him, confession cleanses him periodically matrimony or holy orders gives him a path of achieving this holiness and anointing comes to him at the last moment to prepare him for heaven.. So church is full of opportunities or graces for those who want to become and be holy. Church is holy.
Third, Church is Catholic. The word catholic means “universal”. It is that ‘mustard seed which is smallest as the seed but when it grows up many birds can come and build their nest.(Matt. 13:31-32)
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches”
It is that net which caught 153 fish. John 21:11 “Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153 [of them]…” that 153 fish stood for 153 varieties of fish believed to be existing that time. And church includes members of all nations, languages and cultures. Church is universal. There is a person from the country of every alphabet of English in our parish. A to Z. That is what it means when we say church is catholic. It is universal. Jesus said “Go to the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. Make it universal. Make it catholic.
Fourth and final, church is Apostolic. It means two things for us. It means that it is founded on the rock of the apostles and its successors. We believe that Apostles and their successors are the foundations of this church. Because often we read in Apocalypse that the new city had twelve gates, or twelve or twenty four thrones or elders referring to patriarchs and apostles. So apostolic succession is an important feature of the church. We all trace back the origin of our church to apostles and Jesus Christ. Secondly it also means that the ‘apostle’ is one who is sent to proclaim. That is the root meaning. So church by nature is ‘apostolic’ which means ‘proclaiming’ or ‘witnessing.’ It is an important feature of the church. You are called to proclaim.
This is the nature of the church. One, holy, catholic and apostolic church. And we are all members of this church. And we are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus the Lord. Amen
Fr. Showreelu Simham