Sunday Homily, 10 May 2026 - Fr Paul Rowse, OP

Living with Jesus those years so changed the disciples, that any thought of his departure gave them the feeling of being orphaned.  The Lord acknowledges this when he says: “I shall not leave you orphans.  I shall come back to you.”

With such strong feelings in the disciples on Holy Thursday night, it can sound to us like the Twelve became dependent on Jesus.  The disciples were grown men when Jesus called them.  Some of them had families; a number were modestly successful.

On an unfavourable reading of the Gospels, the Twelve became beholden to One who wasn’t their equal in terms of formal education, much less in industry.  Their decision-making changed too.  All they had to do as disciples was follow Jesus about and do as they were told.  Can it be, for instance, that their frequent misunderstandings of Jesus were not from apostolic foolishness but from restless independence?  Certainly, some of our opponents might think so.

If we went on like this, we’d have a fair set of charges against Jesus: like a cult magnate or a mediocre influencer, Jesus seems to make less of his followers, not more of them.  To erode a grown adult’s sense of self and withdraw their independence are red flags for sure.  Indeed, there is the persistent allegation made against Christianity, and likely all religions in turn, that they diminish their adherents.

This is a good time to check on that.  Now that Jesus’ Good Friday and Ascension departures are in view, should we free ourselves of him?  Certainly not, but why not?

The Twelve witnessed the great things that Jesus said and did.  They saw the miracles worked in real time; theirs were the first eyes that were rubbed in disbelief.  They too received the sublime teaching which cohered with everything else they had been told.  And they were the first to hear of the Lord’s passing from his own mouth, well before it happened.

More than this, the Twelve also started to do some of the same things that Jesus did.  They healed a few people.  They performed some exorcisms.  And after his death and resurrection, they did much more of that: restoring sight, curing paralysis, even raising the dead to life again, all so that their risen Lord would be known to all.

Having been raised above what their family background and natural intelligence would allow, the Twelve cannot countenance Jesus’ departure: “Surely we’re not going back to the way things were?  It wasn’t bad before, but it wasn’t brilliant either.”  Through Jesus, the Twelve entered into another family of great power, in which the Son and heir is already beginning his reign well before his kingdom is spread across the earth.  Jesus is like a father to them; without him, they are like orphans.  Talk of taking him away brings on disorientation and grief.

All of this speaks to the centrality of Christ in the disciples’ lives.  We don’t want anyone to suffer the loss of a loved one, but their reaction at the prospect of losing Jesus shows that the Twelve had done well to ally themselves with him.  That trust they gave him afforded them the opportunity to see the kingdom; it gave them the chance to participate in its glories for themselves.  For as long as that allegiance, that fidelity, that trust continues, they remain members of God’s household.

This all speaks too about the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church.  He isn’t an alternative to Jesus, as if Pentecost begins something other than what the Passion ended.  Rather, when he comes, the Holy Spirit will confirm the Twelve in their hope of heaven by empowering them to do the same work Jesus himself did during the public ministry.  They will heal as he did.  They will teach as he taught them.  They will live for the Father’s love as he did.

The Twelve certainly had their lives reordered by their association with Jesus.  Yes, their priorities changed.  Yes, they had to trust him more than they trusted themselves.  But this shows us what maturity looks like to a Christian: it means being wise enough to make another’s wisdom our own; it means being strong enough to rely on another’s strength, especially when that strength comes from on high.  That’s not the diminishment of grown men; that’s the indefatigable humility of saints.

Perhaps above all, the disciples learned that there is much more to life than what we can claim for ourselves.  The Lord acquainted them with divine power for the service of others.  He put his teaching into them to raise their own hearers’ hearts and minds towards God.

The Twelve weren’t diminished by their discipleship.  They were ennobled.  And much more than that: they were prepared.

Fr Paul Rowse, OP Parish Priest