Fr. Patrick M. Kane

7th Sunday of Easter

May 27/28, 2017

St. Mary/St. Robert, Windsor Locks

As most of you know, because of my time in seminary, I have many connections to the State of Florida, and many close friends there. One of my closest friends, who was a year behind me in seminary, was scheduled to be ordained this weekend for the Diocese of Orlando. And I myself had been planning on attending his ordination. However, several months ago, I was talking with one of my classmates from Orlando who had informed me that this friend of mine wasn’t going to be ordained. I was immediately concerned, especially as I had no information as to why he wasn’t getting ordained. After all, having seen the seminary process, it’s a rare occurrence for someone in their last year of seminary to NOT be ordained, and oftentimes, it’s because of something that they’ve done wrong to warrant not getting ordained. And usually, when this happens to someone in their last year, they can oftentimes become isolated from the rest of the guys, as most are afraid to ask them what happened.

So, naturally, I presumed that my friend was feeling much the same. That he was probably upset and angry about whatever had occurred, and perhaps even embarrassed about it. But after some time, I decided that I needed to call him, to make sure that he was doing ok, and to offer him my support. But upon calling him, I was actually quite surprised. Not only was he doing ok, but he was feeling good about it. He had decided that he wasn’t ready for ordination yet, and wanted to work on some things prior to getting ordained. And he wasn’t feeling alone or isolated, but rather, had gotten a lot of support from those around him.

Now, how often in our own livescan the circumstances presented to us leave us feeling alone and abandoned? When we feelnot only isolated from those around us, but we evenfeel like we’ve been abandoned by God? When God seems so distant from our own lives and our situations, and we sense that our prayers haven’t been answered by Him. Even worse, we can feel that God isn’t even listening to us.

We see something similar to this today in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. The Apostles have just witnessed Christ’s ascension into heaven, which we celebrated this past Thursday. They are now, for the second time in less than two months, alone and without Christ. The first time was when Christ was crucified on Good Friday. But there is a clear difference this time with how they react to their circumstances. The first time, the Apostles fled and scattered, each going to his own place and abandoning one other, isolating themselves. This time however, we see them instead coming together and gathering in prayer in the upper room. Clearly, they have not only been strengthened in their resolve by the risen Christ, but they have further understood that they cannot live their faith in isolation, especially when things get difficult.

The same holds true for us. Because we’ve all been there; we’ve all experienced this at some point in our lives. And when these times occur in our lives, we are then left with a choice to make: do we act as the Apostles did at Christ’s crucifixion, scattering and isolating ourselves from God and from those around us? Or do we respond much like the Apostles did today in our first reading, realizing that we need the strength and help of others, in order to get us through these difficult moments?

Our faith is not something that is lived out in isolation from the rest of the world. And our salvation is something that cannot be achieved through our own means. We need to be able to rely not only on the grace of God, but on the love, help, and support of others in our lives when things get difficult. We need to have the courage and the humility to ask for help from others, knowing that we cannot get through these times alone.

And so, my brothers and sisters, whether you’re facing a difficult moment now in your lives, or whenever the next one comes along, know that we need not face these times alone. May we, like the Apostles, have the strength, the courage, and the humility to recognize when we need help, and to rely on the support of others to get us through these moments.