Do you understand?

“Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” How timely are these words taken from a conversation between Philip the Deacon and a learned, intelligent, and wealthy Ethiopian eunuch in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles 8: 26-40. It is a strange encounter we hear today. I can’t say that I’ve ever met an Ethiopian eunuch. While I’ve met quite a variety of people over the years in parishes I happen to be short on my quota of African eunuchs!

Yet, the story is an important one in this Easter season. It is a story about a totally non-Jewish person who embraces the revelation of the scriptures and the person of Jesus Christ by the mere power of knowledge and the witness of Philip. The eunuch occupied a leading position as treasurer at the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. There is a tradition that Candace herself converted to Christianity on his return, and that he became the apostle of Christianity in that whole region, carrying the good news also to Abyssinia. Apocryphal or not, it bodes well for the strength of Christian witness and the Holy Spirit who is not limited by anything. And perhaps, that is why it has been included by Luke in his book of Acts. Luke, who himself was a convert to Christianity, wrote of a Jesus who was compassionate and inclusive in his ministry.

The story is also somewhat contemporary. If you’ve ever been part of an RCIA team or once a former catechumen, you know how inspiring are the many stories of why people come to seek a connection with the Catholic Church.

There is much huff and puff today from some corners of the media and from restless Catholics who call for a surgical blade to reshape the Catholic Church. It feels like the means to an end is more to reflect a social agenda than to be faithful to tradition, history, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. One would wonder why anyone would want to belong to a narrow minded, hierarchical, male dominated, out of touch, archaic Church filled with Bishops who are engaged in a conspired cover up who should all be sent to the gallows! (I'm not exaggerating from what I've heard or read.) The elimination of mandatory celibacy for priests is touted as the holy grail to solve the dysfunctions of today. So is the tone in some quarters of the world and this Country. It is disturbing for its extreme passion and potentially divisive changes. There is a more respectful and constructive way to bring reasonable reform to the Church. Such vitriolic judgement is not the way. It smacks of 16th century protest against the Church, much of which was deserved at the time, but none of which should have shattered Christian unity as an end result.

Yet, people still find the Catholic Church attractive as it is, not as they want it to be. Although humility is a virtue rarely practiced by those with an extreme agenda, by contrast what this Ethiopian seeks is a similar process we find in the RCIA.

Folks come with interest, with an open mind, with curiosity and for a variety of reasons that seem to evolve as they journey through the days and months of the RCIA process, all the time as seekers of truth. This past Easter Vigil we welcomed ten new members into our Catholic community. The mix of personalities and reasons for their first interest was humbling. All were enthused and curious and as we often see, the work of the Spirit was evident as they found themselves enlightened and would constantly admit their surprise. One man in particular, a chiropractor by profession, was frequently awed by all the distortions he had experienced over the years about Catholics. By the time Easter arrived, he was among the most ready to embrace the Catholic faith but knows that he needs to continue to learn much more.

The Ethiopian and Philip didn’t spend months in an RCIA process but Philip’s request about whether he understood the passage of Isaiah that he was reading is significant. As the eunuch said, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” Once Philip explained that it was Jesus he read about and continued to open other scriptures referring to Jesus, it suddenly became the Easter Vigil! The eunuch said, “What is to prevent my being baptized?” Nothing. Go for it Philip! This man has faith and the Spirit has moved him to accept baptism. Alleluia! If only our Easter faith, our humility, and our thirst for truth in the Gospel could be so instantaneous.

For most of us, it is a much longer process but the journey is the same. The way to know Christ and to live by his word is to seek, to ask, to be humble before the truth, to set aside not our mind and human intelligence but to recognize how God can and will use us in inspiring ways if we allow him. The Gospel today from John 6: 44-51 has Jesus stating, “I am the bread of life.” What more beautiful and humble food could Christ have chosen than simple bread become his life. His life. His truth. His knowledge and faith born of water and spirit.

As the eunuch went on his way “rejoicing” in his new found faith, so too this Easter season is a time for us to rejoice. May the Spirit of the Lord snatch us away as it did Philip to proclaim and move others to know, love, and serve this God of life.