June 17, 2023 (Grad Mass / Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time)

“You Put the ‘Syn’ into ‘Synodality’”

by Fr. Dominic DeLay, O.P.

[This is the text composed by the homilist prior to delivering the homily.]

“At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” And so he sends the twelve to shepherd the lost sheep. Just as he sends you graduates to shepherd the lost sheep. Some of you may continue with school next year, but Jesus sends you too. Not that you haven’t already been shepherding and serving during your time at Stanford, but your graduation marks a commencement of a newer, fuller, more focused way of shepherding.

On the one hand, this is all pretty exciting, isn’t it? You’re starting a new adventure after all. But it’s scary too. There are plenty of reasons to avoid this new mission. Even with a Stanford degree, how ready are you really to be of use to the lost sheep? Are you adequately prepared to create an economy that serves everyone, to heal our democracy, to slow climate change, to change our violent ways, to advance medicine, to both develop and tame AI? You’re welcome, by the way.

You must be tempted to say, “The needs are too great. I’ll give back when I’m better prepared, when I have something to give. How can I be a shepherd when I’m one of the lost sheep? Am I on the right path? Did I get the right degree? Should I stay in school or start my career? Do I settle for this job for now or keep looking? Should I or can I take some time to rest, serve, or travel?”

The good news is that Jesus shepherds the shepherds. Jesus doesn’t send us out unprepared. We may think we’re unprepared, but Jesus says, “Don’t worry. The Spirit will give you the words and show you the way.” Okay, what he actually says is, “When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say.” We don’t want to forget the part about being handed over, do we? Jesus may not be altogether reassuring and concrete, but if we can’t trust Jesus…

He doesn’t send us out alone. He accompanies us. He gives us companions. We have our faith community. If you’re not going to be here, I hope you’ll find another faith community, even if it doesn’t seem like enough. Your presence and service will make it better. And I hope you stay connected to your Catholic Community at Stanford, even though most of you still haven’t provided your plans and permanent email address and will sadly get automatically kicked off by our database and be lost forever. Damn you, AI! Stay in touch, reach out for help, and visit when you can. This is your community for life.

Jesus shepherds us, accompanies us, takes care of us. In sending us out, Jesus isn’t telling us to put off happiness. There are many voices telling us to put off happiness: “You’ll be happy when you’ve established a career. You can relax a little and start living when you can buy a house. I’ll be happy when I can afford to get married, to have kids…” But Jesus says, “I am extending happiness and life to you every day, every moment. I put people in your life for you to love and be loved by. I give you a faith community to walk with. I whisper my love and affection for you in your quiet prayer. And, yes, I give you the chance to serve others.”

Friendship, community, prayer, service. These are all ways we both encounter Christ’s love for us and share that love with others. Sharing God’s love is the only way to fully experience God’s love. “As you go,” Jesus says, “make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” How can we proclaim the kingdom if we aren’t experiencing it?

Those first disciples, despite any misgivings, went out two by two to share the love of their friend Jesus. They made mistakes, fought with each other, and watched Jesus fail in the biggest way of all. Through their journey together, they came to understand that it’s not their expertise – although the fishing skills of some must have come in handy at times – it’s not their expertise but the gift of faith and the grace of God that made their mission an ultimate success. “Without cost you have received,” Jesus says, and “without cost you are to give.” We freely share the unearned faith and grace given to us.

While generalizations hide just as much as they reveal, Stanford professor Roberta Katz claims that your generation is highly collaborative and that you don’t assume that hierarchy is always the way to go. In other words, you put the syn in synodality. You put the together in journeying together, our Church’s great project for the century. I’ll miss seeing you graduates in the Old Union first floor fishbowls, gathered around whiteboards, working together to change the world or, more difficult, deciding on your pizza order, or trying to figure out why that last fishbowl room is still packed to the gills with furniture. Collaboration is hard, but what a gift it is, what a gift you are, to a world that finds listening and working together so difficult.

Professor Katz says your generation is flexible, efficient, and pragmatic, and that you value “direct communication, authenticity, and relevance.” These sound like skills and attitudes, ways of life even, that serve discipleship and synodality quite well. She says you value self-care. Now whether you’re any better at self-care than the rest of us is another matter. She expresses great confidence and respect for your generation, sentiments younger generations never get enough of.

Surely God equips our various generations and every individual with the gifts to journey together in hope. And so we all continue to walk together in service of the kingdom, sometimes afraid, sometimes a bit too cocky, always needing to rely more on God, who never fails to walk with us and care for us. “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?” Jesus says. “Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge…So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Don’t be afraid, graduates. Don’t be afraid to live and to love. Let’s continue to journey together in faith.