“One in Christ, the Bridge to the Father”
Homily, Profession of Solemn Vows of Missionaries of Charity
May 22, 2025; St. Paul’s Church
Readings: Acts 4:32-35; Ps 27; Eph 1:3-14; Jn 15:9-17
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Introduction
We are certainly living through some historic times right now. We are still rejoicing in the election of our new Pope, often referred to here in the United States as “the first American pope.” Of course, Pope Francis was also from America. Pope Leo, though, is American in the full sense of the term. He speaks of building bridges, and rightfully so, for he is, in his very person, a bridge: bridging north and south, bridging pastoral care close to the people and administrative governance at high levels of authority. He is very much of a universal man, and in this sense he is an apt image of all that the Church is called to be.
Prayer and Communion
The Church, too, is called to be a bridge, uniting peoples from all over the world: all nations, all races, all languages, united into one family of faith. But this only happens when we look to the bridge: Jesus Christ. He is our bridge to God, he is the one who unites us as his people to his Father. In this sense the Church, too, is called to be a bridge between heaven and earth. As members of the Body of Christ, in and under our head Christ the Lord, we live in both worlds, the earthly and heavenly. We cannot pretend to exist in only one realm. This is how it has always been, from the very beginning.
We heard in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles a description of the community life of those first Christians, how they shared all things in common, such that no one was lacking in anything. And in the verse immediately before the opening verse of our first reading, St. Luke describes that first community as gathered in prayer and so greatly filled with the Holy Spirit that “the place where they were gathered shook.” They are absorbed in prayer, already anticipating the life of heaven, but they never forgot about the material needs of their brothers and sisters.
Prayer was the most important and the foundation of all, but they understood that it is empty show if it does not manifest itself in the love of communion – that is, the sharing of spiritual and material resources. This is what “communion” means in its most basic sense. Now, certainly, it is possible to attain the sharing of material goods by force, such as by the rule of law or by imposing a tax. There is a place and need for this, especially in large societies, but this is not communion. As one wise biblical scholar put it: “It is not when the law compels us to share but when the heart moves us to share that society is really Christian.”[1]
The Last Commandment
It is love that opens us up to this communion with the other. It is simply the fulfillment of the commandment that Jesus gave us the night before he died, as we heard recounted by St. John in the Gospel reading for our Mass today: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”
This love is not theoretical, or some sort of a lofty idea to be left in the abstract without any practical application. It must be manifested in very concrete ways. In fact, the best way to define this love of Jesus, the love with which he loves us, is not with words, but to gaze upon a crucifix: he gave his life for us, he gave us his all, even though he stood to receive nothing in return. There is nothing we could give to him to equal what he gave us, he did it purely for us. And yet, if we truly love him, we want to try, anyway. Love moves us to do so.
This is the bridge that unites, that unites us, who were once far apart, into one people of God and, as one people of God, to God the Father. This is pure love, the pure love that is the bridge that unites.
The Church as a Model
My dear sisters: we cannot thank you enough for being that bridge for us. You fulfill this commandment of our Lord, the commandment he gave us the night before he died, to love one another as he loves us, in the most visible and radical way possible. Your love is the bridge that unites us, heals us and gives us peace. It is a healing that goes beyond those to whom you immediately minister, a unity and peace that your very presence blesses our entire local church with.
Still so early in his Pontificate we are already hearing repeated pleas for unity from our new Holy Father. As he said, for example, last Sunday at the Mass of his Solemn Inauguration of the Petrine Ministry:
Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.
In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalises the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family …”.[2]
And then he concludes with a crescendo by quoting his episcopal motto, which comes straight from his spiritual father, St. Augustine: “in the one Christ, we are one” – In illo uno unum.” This comes from St. Augustine’s reflection on Psalm 127, where he explains that the Body of Christ consists of both head and members. He says there: “Although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one. We are many and we are one – because we are united to Him, and if our Head is in heaven, the members will follow.”[3]
Pope Leo wants us, as a Church, to model peace, unity and communion for a very divided and warring world. As he also reminded us in that homily last Sunday: “Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters.”
Conclusion
My dear beloved sisters: thank you for modeling that for us, the entire Body of Christ. You are a living bridge uniting all of us in the Body of Christ, and directing us toward the bridge who unites us to the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord. To him be all honor and glory and praise, now and ever and forever. Amen.
[1] William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series Revised Edition: The Acts of the Apostles (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1977) p. 43.
[2] 5th Sunday in the Time of Easter – Holy Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate of Pope Leo XIV (18 May 2025) | LEO XIV