The following is taken from the reflection Bishop Rojas shared at the Diocesan Awards ceremony at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral on May 20.
It’s always a beautiful thing for us to see and recognize your generosity, your heart and your dedication to ministry and to serving people. This is what we are all about as a Church and of course where do we get this from? Jesus himself. He came to serve, not to be served. I think you give us a beautiful example of that in doing what you do every day and even nights, right?
We’re coming to the end of Easter. This Sunday we are going to celebrate Pentecost. This is the official coming of the Holy Spirit into the Church. That’s actually the very beginning, I say it again, of the official beginning of the Catholic Church. That’s when the Holy Spirit came into that very first group of people, among them the apostles. That is how the Catholic Church started, this is over 2,000 years ago.
Since then, the action of the Holy Spirit does not stop. The fact that you are here today is a result of the action of the Holy Spirit.
The story of the apostles, you remember those 12 people that Jesus chose? And why do you think Jesus needed 12 apostles? Isn’t He God? Couldn’t He do everything on His own? Yes, He could have, easily. But then why would He train these people who had no clue about what He was trying to get them to learn? Why do you think that He did that? When you think of God as the love, and God’s love overflows, it overflows His whole being, and when the love of God overflows His whole being, this is what happens [gestures his hand toward the awardees seated in the church]. The whole creation comes up. This is what results out of the love of God, that’s shared out into the world, into the creation.
So, then Jesus, being the Son of God, being the Word of God, who was incarnated, who became flesh, who became one of us to really redeem us fully body and soul all together, He comes and He is reflecting God’s love and He’s not going to do it alone. He’s also going to share it. So, He wants a group of people to help, to cooperate, so then He chooses those 12 apostles. They were around Jesus for about three years. They saw Jesus do many things, sometimes the apostles had no clue, no idea, what Jesus was doing and what that meant exactly. A lot of times they did question Jesus. We know from the Gospels that Jesus actually answered their questions and thank God someone recorded it. But a lot of times I’m sure they didn’t and a lot of times I’m sure that they were afraid to ask another question.
So, He brings in those 12, they go around with Him for those three years, and do you think that was enough time to know what Jesus was asking them to do? Not really, they were really confused. We remember from the Gospel that after the crucifixion that these 12, well, 11, went into hiding, very much afraid. And many of them wanted Jesus to go back and do what they were doing before and Jesus says, ‘no,’ not going back to doing the same. And so, the very day of the Resurrection as we know, Jesus appears in the middle of that room where they are all shaking in panic and what did he say to them? ‘Peace be with you.’ These are the very first words of Jesus to this group that He chose to help Him. The very first words after His Resurrection are ‘Peace be with you.’ It was almost like saying, ‘chill out and relax, I’m not gone and you’re not alone and you are not able to do it alone. Did you think you were going to do this alone? Forget that. I am here with you.’ That’s what Jesus is doing.
The Gospel says that He greets us like a gentle breeze, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t have a body, it really is like a breeze. We don’t see it; it’s like the wind. We don’t see the wind, but we do see the effects of the wind, don’t we? Very clearly. And the Holy Spirit kind of works in the same way. So finally, they got the Holy Spirit. This Sunday, we’re going to be celebrating this official reception of the Holy Spirit.
So, Jesus gives the apostles that Holy Spirit and then they begin to lose their fear. They were not so much afraid about it but remember these 50 days after the Resurrection? This was real serious training that Jesus was giving the apostles already with a risen body. Jesus was already risen, He appears to them and to a lot of people many times, that’s the proof of His Resurrection. He is sharing with them again after He died and was buried and on the third day, He’s up and ready to go with the mission. As He shares His Holy Spirit, He sends them out. Now, they have everything they need and also the courage and the strength and all those gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are strengthened and now they are going out. And thank God for them that they went out because now we know it and we have received it.
Sisters and brothers that that you do we admire. We want to recognize today is also somehow connected with the action of the Holy Spirit because you do it with a lot of generosity with compassion with love, with the spirit of charity to other people. And I think that’s what the Church is about. So, we’re so glad to see you doing this and we’re glad that we are able to recognize your work. I know the Lord Jesus rewards you greatly in doing what you do.