Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the 30th anniversary celebration of St Clare’s Catholic High School, Hassall Grove
Readings: Philippians 3:8-14; Matthew 19:27-29
21 August 2024
Striving to live as members of Jesus’ spiritual family
Dear friends,
We gather to celebrate a significant milestone in the life of St Clare’s Catholic High School. 30 years ago, in response to the need of a growing Catholic community, this college was established. The Capuchin Franciscan connection was made manifest through the name St Clare. Today, we are proud to be a thriving school with a strong focus on developing confident, motivated leaders who are well-equipped with knowledge, skill set and resilience for the 21st Century.
Our patron saint is a model of leadership and Gospel living for us. As a young woman of beauty and nobility, she could have lived a life of comfort, security and status. But she was not blindsided by all that glittered. She was not consumed by the medieval preoccupation with social advancement and honour. She was restless for more.
Clare did something quite radical. She became a cloistered nun – against the wishes of her family. This form of life enabled her to be more sensitive to human reality. She lived in a state of deep self-awareness, empathy, openness and harmony. She was in communion with the divine, human and natural world around her. She modelled a life lived fully and intentionally with the Gospel ethos of love, justice and respect for all. Even though enclosed, she lived for others; she witnessed to the Christian virtue of selflessness in a world that was characterised by strict class distinction, land ownership, violence and conquest. Together with Francis of Assisi, Clare championed a way of life that is rooted in respect, simplicity and generosity of the spirit.
The Word of God today teaches us that Christian life is not about winning or staying on top of the social ladder. Rather, it is about giving us to a greater cause and keeping our eyes on the vision of God’s kingdom. We followers of Christ are to live life to the full by surrendering to the process of dying and rising. This is the great paradox that Jesus taught and lived: life is lived fully not by surrendering it to self-survival instincts or the dominating powers. Life is fully lived when it can make a difference to others and can transform communities into a mirror of God’s reign.
In the first reading, Paul makes a case for living a Christ-centred life. He is a person of strong convictions. He is totally consumed by a passion for the Gospel, saying, “I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”. This is why Paul gives himself to the cause of making Jesus known and loved. He dedicated himself totally to this project and nothing could detract him from pursuing it. Paul inspires us a burning passion for justice, for human dignity, for the fullness of life and love for all God’s children. We may not be a full-time preacher and missionary like him but all the same, our commitment as people of faith must transform us into the catalysts for God’s reign and the conduits of God’s love for the people, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.
In the Gospel, Jesus strengthens such commitment on the part of his disciples. He teaches that God is never outdone in generosity. Anyone who gives generously to the cause of the kingdom will have much more than the very things they sacrificed, things like houses and even family relationships.
We cannot fully appreciate this “repaying” by God without reference to Jesus’s teaching on belonging to His spiritual family. Actually, Jesus was not always complimentary about His blood relatives. For example, when told His own were looking for him, Jesus responded by saying that those who do God’s will are His brother, sister and even mother. Or in another episode, He instructed His disciples that they could not be His followers without hating their natural family. In other words, it is not biology and blood but only by faithfulness to His Word and especially to the cross, can we be truly members of Jesus’ new family.
I take some comfort in this, because I am ambivalent about my bloodstock. Have you ever gone through your family album and wished you had a different set of siblings, or worse, wondered if you were ever adopted? We cannot choose our natural family any more than we can choose to be Asian, Caucasian, Aboriginal or straight. We should be proud of our roots and comfortable with our own skin. But no matter what accidents of birth we have, Jesus says we can choose to be members of His new family by how we live our faith and how we follow Him.
Dear friends,
As we give thanks to God, to the pioneering men and women that gave so much of themselves, let us also be resolved to respond to the needs of our times, in the spirit of faith, hope and love. May Mary who was not only a mother of Jesus in the biological sense but even more so in terms of her faithful discipleship inspire us to be servants of the kingdom and witnesses to the Gospel. May St Clare, who also left the security of her natural family, social position and wealth in order to embrace the Gospel vision of universal love, guide us in our effort to build God’s reign of justice and flourishing for all God’s children on earth.
