By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at the 50th Anniversary Mass of St. David Parish, in Davie, celebrated on the feast of Corpus Christi, June 2, 2024.
Well, 50 years might not seem like a long time for a Church that is almost 2,000 years old; but here in South Florida, where almost everything seems to have been built the day before yesterday, 50 years is certainly something to celebrate!
Here in the Archdiocese, which was founded 66 years ago, in 1958, many parishes are celebrating 60, 50, 40 years - a testimony to the tremendous growth of our region in the second half of the last century. Bishops in the north celebrate anniversaries of parishes that are much older: 100, 150 years or older.
Here, I’m older than most of our parishes. In fact, one time I was at a consecration of a new altar, and during that ceremony, a relic was place on the altar, and someone before Mass began asked where is the relic? And the altar server pointed at me and said: There he is.
Congratulations to all parishioners of St. David. A special welcome to the family of Gabriel O’Reilly - the founding and long-serving pastor of St. David.
“We are the Body of Christ! Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo” is a song we occasionally sing at our Masses. Through baptism “we are the body of Christ.” And so, it is fitting that we celebrate this anniversary at this Mass during which we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.
The bread Jesus gives us is his very self. When we eat ordinary food, what we eat is broken down and becomes part of us. But Jesus gives us the extraordinary food of his very flesh and blood. We eat and drink this food so that we can become part of him. We receive him in Holy Communion not only so that he can live in us and become part of us but so that we can live in Him and become part of him.
We eat the Body of Christ to become what we receive. The Eucharist is a mystery of communion. Communion simply means participation, and sharing: What is mine is yours, what is yours is mine. Jesus on the Cross takes upon Himself what is truly ours to give us what is truly his.
And what is truly ours, what do we truly own - nothing except for our sins, our misery. And what a wonderful exchange indeed do we receive: Christ takes our sins, our misery and gives us his holiness, his perfection.
The word, parish, is derived from the ancient Greek - pa-roi-ki-a -; the Spanish, parroquia, is much closer to the original Greek than its English equivalent. It meant a sojourn in a foreign land or a community of sojourners or pilgrims. And so, when the Hebrew Scriptures were first translated into Greek, pa-roi-ki-a was used to describe the Israelites as they sojourned through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. And as the sojourning Hebrews were fed by God by manna that fell from the skies, God feeds his Pilgrim People with the Body and Blood of Christ as we journey through this life, the “vale of tears”, on our way to his Kingdom.
Thus, as Catholic Christians, to say that we are parishioners of this or that parish is to identify us as members of a pilgrim people, a group of sojourners called forth by God. To say that we are parishioners is to acknowledge that we sojourn in the way that his Son, Jesus, opens before us. We Catholics are members of the new People of God, the New Israel, established by Christ on the foundation of the 12 apostles. We know that here on this earth we have no lasting dwelling place, for our citizenship is in heaven, our true Promised Land.
Our parishes, where the community of sojourners meet, are then like way stations, rest stops, along our pilgrim way. St. David, of course, is much more than just a simple way station or rest stop: It is truly an oasis. To tell the story of this parish is to tell the story of people who, under the leadership of Father Gabriel O’Reilly and now Father Steven O’Hala, have created an equally extraordinary community of faith, hope, and love.
Parish life is not something merely incidental to us as we make our life’s journeys. Perhaps this might be the most enduring lesson to be learned since we put the pandemic in our rear-view mirrors. We are social beings - we need each other, we need community, and we need God.
Parishes should be “schools” of prayer and communion, places where the love of God and neighbor come together and thus parishes - as way stations along our sojourn - keep us from becoming “of the world” and they enable us, as we sojourn in the world, to be always “for the world.”
The history of this parish - like any history forged by fallen human beings - is full of lights and shadows. We should not be surprised that the Church which Christ founded to save sinners is - well - full of sinners. Yet, the Church is holy - and she is holy not because of us but because of the Spirit that is given to her.
Many have come and gone - among them were some saints, and to be sure many sinners - and today we lift up in prayer those pioneers - priests and people - who were here at the beginning and have gone home to the Lord.
So, as we celebrate this jubilee today, may we remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence.
