Lectionary 55

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20

1 Pet 3:15-18

John 14:15-21

Possible preaching themes:

• What is authentic joy (drawing on 1^st reading and the Psalm)
• The laying on of hands and the power of touch (referencing the first reading)
• Companioning as a form of discipleship (drawing on the gospel)

Possible scientific resources:

• On Joy
  • “Stuck in a Rut? Sometimes Joy takes a little Practice,” an accessible article on nurturing positive emotions.
  • “This is how Joy affects your body,” an easy introduction to the neuroscience and physiology behind feeling joy.
  • A short but useful introduction about distinguishing Joy vs. Happiness.

• The Power of Touch
  • “Why Physical Touch matters for your Well-being,” an interview with the head of the Touch Research Institute in Florida.
  • Neuroscientists explore “The Science of Touch in Humans,” the first sense to develop in the womb, and key to our well-being.
  • 8-minute video by psychologist Dacher Keltner about touch as a fundamental act of compassion.

• Companioning and Friendship
  • The scientific article “Companion Animal Ownership and Human Well-Being in a Metropolis,” explores how companion animals not only contribute to the well-being of owners, but also may enhance general social connectedness to others.
  • “Social Relationships and Health” provides an overview of research and opinions about the importance of social relationships for human health.
  • Research shows that good relationships actually help people live longer, and social isolation provides the same or even more risk of morality than smoking, alcoholic consumption, and obesity.

A homily outline on divine-human companionship

• Attorney or friend?
  • In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises his followers an “advocate,” language which requires some excavating.
  • The first English translation of the Bible for Catholics was the Douay-Rheims Bible, which translated this word as “paraclete” – language familiar to some.
    • While certainly obscure in English, the paraclete language does bring us close to its Greek root paráklētos, which had a notable legal slant in its ancient usage.
  • A paráklētos was an advocate, but largely in the sense of a legal aid, i.e.
    • someone who pleads a case before a judge; literally, a legal defense.
  • Increasingly in our society it seems that folks need the help of legal defense, as the U.S. is regularly acknowledged as the most litigious society in the world.
  • Jesus had his own run-ins with the law, both religious and civic
    • Scribes were specialists in the law, whom Jesus regularly confronted,
    • in his final days Jesus stood trial before the Jewish judicial body known as the Sanhedrin,
    • and Pilate was the provincial governor who ultimately condemned him to death.
  • He also seemed to understand that his own followers were going to be similarly persecuted
  • While many of his followers probably could have benefited from some legal aid, Jesus seems to be offering a different kind of advocate; one still important to believers today. 

• The Power of companioning
  • It is well recognized that, like many other species, human beings are social animals who rely on cooperation to survive and thrive.
  • The survival aspect of social collaboration has long been recognized.
  • More recently, however, researchers are exploring the importance of companionship for our physical and mental well-being.
  • The opposite of companionship is isolation, whose destructive effects are so widely accepted that it is often used as a form of punishment or torture.
  • Humans require friends and companions if they are to flourish and not simply exist.
  • Research demonstrates that quality friends are just as important as diet and exercise.
    • Such social connections are linked to lower blood pressure
    • Enable us to maintain lower body fat
    • and contribute to a reduced risk of diabetes.
  • Maybe most shocking is the data that having healthy relationships actually helps us live longer.
  • We crave companionship so much that we have even domesticated other species so that they can fulfill this fundamental human need.

• Friendship in Christ
  • Jesus was an unusual Rabbi in many respects.
  • One was that his disciples were not to be his servants but friends and collaborators in bringing about his vision of God’s reign.
  • It is that lens which allows us to understand the enduring gift of Jesus’ spirit promised to us in today’s gospel.
  • This passage is placed in Jesus’ long last supper discourse in John,
    • which is written in the style of a last will and testament by someone whose life was coming to an end.
  • Aware of his impending death, Jesus assures his followers that his friendship will not end with his earthly death.
  • Friendship in his Spirit is planted here as a resurrectional seed that will sustain and accompany his followers through every joy and trial.

• Accompaniment as ministry
  • The Pentecost story in the book of Acts relates the gift of God’s Spirit as an unmediated, direct act of God.
  • Today’s first reading, however, demonstrates that this same Spirit is mediated through the companioning of disciples.
  • Furthermore, this gift of the spirit is mediated through a very human but exceedingly important act: through the gift of touch.
  • The laying on of hands is not simply some obtuse ritual action, restricted to ordinations, absolutions or exorcisms.
  • Rather it is one of the many ways that the church extends a caress to believers
    • related to anointings
    • blessings
    • and even the sign of peace.

• The take-away
  • The companionship of Jesus’ Spirit may seem absent to some
  • but it is as close as the nearest disciple
  • who is willing to reveal the presence in friendship
  • and the respectful gift of a gracious human touch as the very caresses of God in Christ.