Fifth Sunday of Easter
Acts 6:1-7
1 Peter 2:4-9
John 14:1-12

This weekend, the Archdiocese of Portland ordains six deacons. These men will one day become priests but their ordination to the diaconate points to a central ministry in the Church. Most of us take it for granted that the Church will always serve the needy and hardly notice that the same spirit of service is also the spirit of welcome.

No matter how crowded my calendar or hectic my schedule, there are certain organizations and parishes for whom I am always available. They are the places where the meetings seem always to be successful and the message of the Gospel always understood. Again and again, I have tried to discover what sets them apart from the other groups to whom I speak. I always come back to the very human quality of hospitality and the atmosphere of welcome. The room is prepared long before anyone arrives. The coffee is perking, members arrive with home-baked goods, someone greets them on arrival, and a feeling of at-homeness is established. Quite simply, all those “hidden hands” give power to the Gospel. I notice it as a guest; but it is even more important to me as a parishioner.

This is the spirit of “diakonia,”— the concern for service to the community that formed that first diaconal community. The First Reading tells us that from the beginning the need for many and varied ministries in the Church was recognized. Even though the apostles saw that it would not be right to neglect preaching to tend to other needs, they knew the importance of that service and delegated the responsibility to others on whom “they laid hands” — an expression of unity.

Today, we find this spirit of diakonia in all of our parishes. We see it in the growing number of parish ministries like soup kitchens, child care, and parish nursing. It is visible in liturgical ministry. The welcoming smile of the hospitality minister who greets the worshipper, the careful preparation of the lector and commentator, the reverence of the community minister—all these contribute to the faith-atmosphere of the celebration and to the aura of welcome that is a vital part of the church’s missionary work.

In the Gospel, Philip asks for a more visible manifestation of God and Jesus points to Himself. The world today still asks that it might see the Lord. The vision we offer is the community of Christians who are a sign of Christ risen and active in the Church. Those who provide that glimpse of Christianity and prepare a way for those who will preach in words do the ordinary things extraordinarily well.

At this liturgy, we promise to extend the work of Christ to the world and to present a God who welcomes and cherishes those who approach him. We do this by making ourselves approachable.