 Vesper Sermon
Honoring Recipients of Papal Honors
Sacred Heart Cathedral
Homilist: Very Rev.
Jonathan A. Woodhall, DMin, PhD (retired)
For
two thousand years, the Catholic Tradition has celebrated human
nature—that lived paradox of fallen and redeemed women and men—who
make up those we call Christians. Throughout the Catholic world on
this date, June 29th, we celebrate two apostles, very
different personalities, often at odds with each other, but honored,
not for what each did wrong, but for responding to the invitation to
accept their failings and asking for forgiveness: Peter, the betrayer, Paul, the
persecutor.
Under the
Emperor Nero, both were martyred, probably in the years 64 and 65,
respectively, in the first Christian century at Rome. Years
afterward, the pagan Roman historian Tacitus in his
Annals, mentioned the bloody Christian persecutions, saying that
many went to their deaths freely confessing their faith in Jesus, while some went unwittingly, having been betrayed by their fellow
Christians. St. Clement of
Rome writing to the Corinthians
30 years or so after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul suggests Peter suffered death partly because of envy expressed by a certain faction of
Christians in Rome.
Just in case we
want to view Christians, especially Christians of the past, as not
giving in to the darker side of human nature, this jolt of reality
from the earliest days of our Church brings home the fact that we
are indeed fallen, even while we are redeemed by him whom we try to
follow.
Human nature,
however, has a brighter side—the redeemed side that celebrates our
fellow Catholics for their heroic deeds or for just doing good in
everyday life. When we as a Church want to recognize such people, we
canonize them after they die. We then call them “saints,” even if,
like Peter they denied Jesus or like Paul persecuted Jesus’ followers.
While people we
want to celebrate are living, we honor them with awards, hoping they
will receive a heavenly reward--if they persevere to the end-- but
realistically simply honoring them here and now for what they did in
the recent past for the rest of us in our very human and very
fragile barque of Peter we call the Catholic Church.
Through the
centuries, our venerable and vulnerable Church leaders have devised
ways to honor living people. Our enemies dwell too often on the
human foibles of those honored by our leaders but we Catholics
stubbornly hold fast to the venerable tradition that there are some
among us who deserve our praise.
The teachings
of Paul echo in the letter to the Ephesians which states in Chapter 4 that
Jesus has given gifts to his people and to their leaders in order to build up
the Church through ministry. God-given talents, then, serve to
strengthen the Church, which as the Second Vatican Council teaches,
is you and me, so that we can all grow in
Christ.
Recognizing the
gifts of preserving the faith in the land where Jesus lived, died and was glorified and championing the rights of the Church
in the Holy Land, The
Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre traces its origins back to
the first Crusade in 1070. Today the Order relives in a modern
manner, primarily through philanthropy, the ideals of personal
spiritual growth by helping those few battered Christians and
Institutions that remain in the Holy Land. Knights of the Holy
Sepulchre wear a cream colored cape marked with the blood red Cross
of Jerusalem and a beret, Ladies wear black and every member, lay or
clerical, wears an emblem around the neck.
I now ask the
recipients of this award to stand and be recognized: Al and Donna
Luihan, Ralph Townes, Rev. Msgr. Thomas Paul
Hadden and Rev. Msgr. Jerry Sherba.
In 1832 Pope
Gregory XVI instituted a medal inscribed with the Latin: BENEMERENTI
(to a well deserved person). This award is conferred on a person who
has exhibited long and exceptional service to the Church as an
institution, as well as to family and community. Bishop Gossman
nominated our parishioner Richard Booth, an electrical engineer who
has served for more than 20 years on the Diocesan Building and Real
Estate Commission. In addition, Ron and Jeanette Doggett received
this award for their unmatched generous and continuing financial
support of the Diocese of Raleigh, especially a campus ministry
center at NC State University.
Pope Leo XIII
instituted the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal (Latin meaning FOR
CHURCH AND PONTIFF) at the end of the 19th century. Its
purpose is to reward a person the Pope – through the Diocesan
bishop—judges has been of service to the ecclesial community.
Another of our long time parishioners,
Anne Speicher, became a Catholic
in 1976, served this parish in various roles, but has had the
distinction of serving our retiring Bishop
Joseph Gossman as his secretary
for 25 years. Working for a bishop should get a person canonized but
Bishop Gossman simply said of Anne: “I have not always been easy to work for, but
Anne has always been respectful, patient, gracious and helpful. She has been
the soul of discretion…informing the Bishop of things he has to
know…and [all] have been renewed in our individual faith, hope and
love by her constant example, day after day.”
It would be
good at this point of what I hope is “a-not-too-boring” dissertation
on Papal Honors to review our governance management as a Church. We
recognize our Diocesan Bishop as the living symbol of Christ among
us. To be Catholic we must be in communion with him. We know our
Bishop is Catholic, if he is in communion with the Bishop of
Rome—the Pope, the direct successor to Saints Peter and Paul. Under the bishop, work priests and deacons whose job it is to minister
to all the baptized in the local parishes that make up a diocese.
Any other ecclesiastical title than bishop, priest or deacon is
purely honorific in the Roman
Church: Pope, Cardinal, Archbishop, Rev. Mother Superior, Brother,
Sister, Rev. Father, -- and even Monsignor.
A priest can be
nominated by a bishop to be named monsignor for any number of
achievements, an honor making such a priest part of the Papal
Household, a job that has no perks other than dressing like a
bishop. Bishop Gossman in submitting Jerry Sherba’s name to Rome to be
named monsignor wrote approximately 1000 words in support of Jerry’s
nomination, especially noting his extensive pastoral work as a Canon
Lawyer. By the way, the title MONSIGNORE in Italian translates as
“Milord.” Those of us who know and love Jerry Sherba might be tempted to
translate it “OH! LORDY?!”
Of all the
words Joe Gossman wrote about Jerry, I cherish these most, especially after living 6 years together as
rectory mates. The Bishop wrote: “…in the Rite of Ordination, the
priest is invited …to live the Mystery that has been placed in [his]
hands! Fr. Sherba lives the
mystery with an energy, enthusiasm, empathy and a joy akin to
exaltation. A tall, skinny priest he greets the world and exudes
hope and confidence in a loving father that makes us smile and helps
us believe that with God, anything is possible. A rare trait for a
lawyer but absolutely necessary for anyone who would preach the
Gospel of Christ. The Church needs such priests.”
Honoring people
in the Church before they die, I think, is an energizing way to
remind ourselves that Jesus is alive and well among us. It’s a way of expressing our faith that,
yes, human nature may be flawed but for a Catholic Christian human
nature has been wonderfully redeemed. God became human!
Jesus offers us
the faith to hope that we, too, in the words of the early Church
Fathers can become gods. In our service to others lies our greatest
human possibility for divinity—and it is that divinely human service
we celebrate this evening.
Very Rev.
Jonathan A. Woodhall, DMin, PhD (retired) |
