ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Jubilarians,

I offer my warm congratulations to you, your families and friends as you celebrate 25, 50, 60 and more years in fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ in the consecrated life. You have labored selflessly toward the building of God’s kingdom, serving the community of the Church, and working for the salvation of many people. I also congratulate the nuns in our cloistered monasteries, as well as the men and women religious in our retirement communities who are Jubilarians but who cannot be with us today for this liturgy. We remember them, as well, for their vital mission of continuous prayer for us all.

Whenever we meet someone for the first time, it is only natural—only human —to form an immediate picture of that person. We call this "our first impression," and often we discover that our "first" impression is not always an accurate one. The disciples of our Lord found themselves in a similar situation: they all had first impressions of Jesus which resulted in their leaving everything to follow Him. They then had a few years’ experience in living and ministering with Him and it was the little things of shared daily life that gave them a clue as to Jesus’ identity. So when He asked "Who do people say that I am?" the disciples answered on the basis of what they had seen and heard. But it was the next question, "Who do you say that I am?" that charged the moment with significance. This was an invitation for them to take a stand. The question was direct and personal.

We know that Peter was able to make a profound declaration of faith in Jesus as the Messiah, but we also know that he could not yet fully grasp what He was saying. Peter tried to rebuke Jesus’ explanation of what it meant to be "the Christ" —to suffer, to die and to rise again—and Jesus in return rebuked Peter! Jesus did so because the surprising focus of His identity was to be the cross!

The cross is, after all, the surprise ending to a story that was filled with surprises. Among the surprises was the incident when the tax collector Matthew came on the scene. Here was the perfect chance for Jesus to straighten out this man, to call him to task for the sins of his life. But, surprise! Jesus invites himself to dinner at Matthew’s house—absolutely unheard of! Or the time the woman bolted from the crowd that was trying to stone her because of her adultery. Surprise!: Jesus says: "Let whoever among you is without sin cast the first stone at her." Then there was the time the disciples wanted Jesus to enter Jerusalem, overthrow the Romans by force and establish his own Kingdom. Yet another surprise: Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die!

We now know what the disciples in today’s Gospel story also eventually came to know: that the cross and resurrection event is not the final surprise. God raised Jesus from the dead and in so doing teaches us that Jesus will continue to surprise us with his grace.

For us, Jesus must be either dead or alive. And, since we believe with our whole being that He is alive, one of the marks of His relationship with us will be the possibility of surprise: our faith, our personal confession, together with the whole Church, that Jesus is the Son of God continues to challenge us each day.

One of the greatest, personal surprises that you, my brother and sister Jubilarians, have witnessed firsthand is the humbling surprise of your call to follow Jesus more closely in the consecrated life. Years ago, our Lord called you to walk in His footsteps—in a special way, to follow Him who is the chaste, poor, and obedient Christ. And for these many years, you have faithfully answered His call through the living out of these evangelical counsels in your vocation according to the special charism of your particular institute or society.

The works you have accomplished as consecrated religious are truly staggering. You have served the youth, the poor, the sick and destitute, those whom society often shuns. And you have done so in schools and in homes, in hospitals and in nursing centers, in parishes, and always in humble daily service. The Church truly appreciates you for who you are and for what you do, for what you speak and for what you give, for your prayer, your sacrifice, and the very gift of yourself. This is the meaning of your consecrated life: complete dedication to Jesus Christ, as you strive to know Him ever more deeply both in prayer and in action. And complete dedication to Jesus Christ also means complete dedication to His Church—the community with which He identifies Himself.

To be a true follower of Christ is to continue to be prepared to receive His surprising word of hope, particularly as He gives it in the Holy Eucharist, to which you are especially bound. When Jesus gives us His Body and Blood—when we share Eucharist—the surprises will come! When we look for Jesus’ presence in the least of our brothers and sisters, the surprises will come. In your religious houses, in the parishes and neighborhoods of our Archdiocese, the school, the office, the hospital where you labor: you will be startled by His unexpected presence. And the final surprise for each of us will be Jesus asking us: "Who do you say that I am?" Our response is that of Peter and the whole Church: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And once again we shall acknowledge that this Jesus alone has the words of everlasting life. Amen.