Preaching the Name of Jesus

Homily for Thursday of the second week in Easter

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus tells us that God does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is not offered to us in meager quantities. God pours out his gifts lavishly, offering us everything we need to confront the challenges or opposition we face in our lives. Our generous Lord will give us the words we need for the difficult conversations, the energy to respond patiently when we feel we can give no more, the wisdom to shine his light in our places of work, and the love to be his hands and feet in our world. The Father who loves us through his Son has given everything over to us.

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles is a wonderful illustration of just how lavish the gift of the Holy Spirit is. Remember that it is these men who are the ones who turned away from Jesus when they were needed most. And yet here they are, mere weeks later, refusing to back down in their efforts to preach the name of Jesus even though they had been threatened with physical violence. They even continued their preaching efforts to the elders of Jerusalem, the very men who had condemned Jesus to death.

There can be no doubt that God has blessed us with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our baptism, in our confirmation, and through our own prayer invoking the Holy Spirit each day.

As I have mentioned before, the Church pays special attention to martyrs during the Easter season. We celebrate one such martyr today in the person of St. Peter Chanel, a missionary of the Society of Mary. In 1836 he became head of a small missionary group that traveled to the island of Futuna in the Pacific Ocean where they taught the faith to the native population. When many converted, the king became jealous, fearing for his own power, and ordered Peter beaten to death. His death, the death of any martyr, waters the seeds of faith. Eventually most of the population of this Pacific Island converted to Christianity. Like the apostles John and Peter, St. Peter Chanel did not back down when ordered to stop preaching the faith.