I would like to take a minute to welcome and introduce Deacon Casey Flack.  Casey is a Transitional Deacon, which means he is only temporarily a deacon for a year, transitioning to be a priest.  He just finished his seminary studies Friday and moved out of Mundelein north of Chicago and he will be ordained in three weeks for the Archdiocese of Dubuque.  Casey is originally from the Diocese of Peoria growing up in East Moline, but he recognized his call to the Priesthood while studying here at Loras, so it’s great that he is able to be back here in Dubuque to serve as deacon today.

 

Coincidentally, our first reading talked about the ordination of the first seven deacons.  The Apostles were successful in their mission to spread Christianity, but as they did, they needed help, because some of the widows, who were among the most vulnerable in society, “were being neglected in the daily distribution.” That word “distribution” in Greek is “diakonia” and can also be translated as “service” or “ministry,” so they chose “seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom” to help serve and minister to the community.  The Apostles then ordained them by praying and laying hands on them, which is essentially still what happens today, when Casey and I were ordained, the Bishop, a successor of the Apostles, prayed and laid hands on us as well.

 

After this first diaconate ordination it says “The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.”

When it says “a large group of priests” it means the Jewish Priests, the people that used to be their biggest enemies, were now accepting Christianity. And we might wonder why or how? Well it seems the addition of the Deacons was quite effective, and if you continue on with the Book of Acts it talks about the ministry of the two first Deacons named, Stephen and Philip, and they were working amazing signs and wonders just like the Apostles were, just like Jesus said. At the end of today’s Gospel Jesus said, “The Father who dwells in me is doing his works… Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.”

 

So now that Jesus is in Heaven, the Apostles and now Deacons are doing greater works than He did.  Now this is an amazing statement if you think about it, especially here in the Gospel of John, where Jesus turns water into wine, feeds five thousand, walks on water, performs all sorts of healings, and even raises Lazarus from the dead!  How can we do greater works than these!? Now on one hand it might sound like He is exaggerating, however on the other hand, if you think about it, what is He going to do when He “goes to the Father?” 

 

Well, after He ascends into Heaven, then He sends the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is going to empower the Apostles, not just to perform the kind of visible and material miracles that Jesus performed, the Holy Spirit is going to empower the Apostles to forgive sins like we saw in John 20:23, the power of Confession. The Holy Spirit is going to empower the Apostles and Deacons to perform the Sacrament of Baptism, where Original Sin and the people’s sins are wiped away and they are made temples of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is going to empower the Apostles and Priests to change bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. In other words, the greater works that the Apostles and future believers will do are the Sacraments! Because, although for most of us, we are more amazed by the visible, material miracles that Jesus performed in His lifetime, Jesus is more correct to say that the Sacraments are actually greater miracles. 

The visible miracles of Jesus are signs which point forward to what God will do in the Apostles (and those they ordain) through the Holy Spirit invisibly in the mysteries of the Sacraments. Basically I'm saying what Deacons and Priests do in the sacraments is greater than any miracle Jesus did in the physical world! 

 

And you might think, “that is kind of strong Father, how could you say that?” Well I am just building on the foundation that has already been laid by our Church Fathers. Catechism paragraph 1994 says this: “Justification is the most excellent work of God's love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit. It is the opinion of St. Augustine that "the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and earth," because "heaven and earth will pass away but the salvation and justification of the elect . . . will not pass away." He holds also that the justification of sinners surpasses the creation of the angels in justice, in that it bears witness to a greater mercy.”

 

St. Thomas Aquinas said something similar. So this is kind of a standard stream of tradition in the Catholic Church,  that John 14 is Jesus promising the disciples not only that He would be the road to salvation, but that that road is going to take the particular shape of the Sacraments of the Church.  And if you pull back for a second and think about it, it makes sense. Take the Sacrament of Confession.

 

If a priest hears the confession of a person who is in mortal sin and that person is forgiven, there's a real sense in which that one act of hearing a confession is a greater work than the creation of the whole universe. Because the universe, the earth and every planet are going to pass away. They are finite, they are temporary. 

But the eternal life given to a person, to the justification of someone as St. Augustine says, making someone righteous, that lasts forever, that's eternal. So Baptism, the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Confession - these are actually greater miracles than what Jesus did during His earthly ministry. 

 

And the Apostles and their successors are going to do them through the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus says “I have to return to my Father so that you can do these greater works.” Because when He goes to the Father He will send the Spirit. This is an awesome passage from the Gospel of John and a perfect passage for us this weekend as 16 students receive their first communion.

 

Communion, the Eucharist, is considered the Source and Summit of our faith, because it is Jesus Christ truly present here for us.  As a priest I am doing a more amazing work at that altar than creating the world, turning water into wine, feeding 5000, healing the blind or raising the dead, because this is helping you along in your salvation!  Your soul is eternal, while all that other stuff is temporary.

 

It almost seems too good to be true, almost seems too easy, that we take it for granted.  Please don’t take it for granted, this or any of the Sacraments, they are God’s chosen way to get us into Heaven.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and these Sacraments are His roadway to eternal Life.

 

So today, whether you are receiving communion for the first time or five thousandth time, give thanks to God for meeting us here in these simple elements of bread and wine made the Body and Blood, receive the Sacraments and encounter Jesus as much as possible, and look forward to that glorious day when we will be face to face with Him in Heaven.