Reflections on the Sacred Liturgy

Pentecost - May 19, 2013

2013-05-18T12:42:00.000-05:00

Pentecost

Acts 2:1-11 + 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13 + John 14:15-16,23-26

May 19, 2013

“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.” [Acts 2:1]

It’s common to hear the Holy Spirit—or more often, just “the spirit”—referred to as a source of freedom and independence, of innovation and novelty. It’s easy to imagine someone saying, “The Spirit moved me to quit my job and become a missionary in South America”. It’s less easy to imagine someone saying, “The Spirit moved me to get up at 5:00 a.m., do a load of laundry, fix breakfast for the family, and then go to the office for eight hours.” We don’t tend to think of the Holy Spirit in terms of routine, but rather, in terms of what breaks us out of our routine: what introduces change into our lives.

Do you like change in your life? Or are you the type of person who likes things to stay the same? What about God the Holy Spirit? Does the Holy Spirit like change, or does He like things to stay the same? Maybe that seems like an odd question. We could use a different verb instead. Does the Holy Spirit desire change, or does He desire that things stay the same? At the very least, we surely have to say that the Holy Spirit does, in fact, bring about change. Isn’t that what the Holy Spirit is for: to bring about change?

Or is the Holy Spirit for something else? What is the Holy Spirit for? He’s definitely the most mysterious of the three Persons of the Trinity. We’re not even sure how to picture Him: sometimes He appears as a dove, sometimes as fire, and sometimes He’s a burst of wind, which you can’t really picture at all!

Maybe we could make the question of the Holy Spirit and His purpose more concrete by thinking about one of the seven sacraments. Take the Sacrament of Confirmation. Most of us who are adults have received Confirmation. Those of you who are younger know that you will be offered preparation for Confirmation during high school. So whether you already have or have not yet received the Sacrament of Confirmation, reflect on the Holy Spirit in terms of this sacrament. Why do you receive the Holy Spirit at Confirmation?

If you’re my age or older, you likely learned that through the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Holy Spirit makes you a “soldier of Christ”. This image of the soldier goes hand in glove with thinking of the Church on earth as the “Church militant”. That phrase—“the Church militant”—is one that many young Catholics are unlikely to be familiar with, because in many places that sort of imagery went out of vogue in the 1970’s, when Flower Power and Banjo Masses were popular. But in the years since, an awareness has grown that the lyric “All you need is love”—if it can be true at all—requires a depth that secular culture doesn’t have within itself to offer.

When young people are prepared for the Sacrament of Confirmation these days, the word used to sum up what Confirmation is about is the word “witness”. This is a very biblical word. Last Sunday in the First Reading’s account of the Ascension, Jesus promised His disciples, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”[1] Jesus doesn’t use the word “witness” in a passive sense, as we use the word “witness” when we think of someone who “witnesses” a car accident. That is to say, imagine that you’re just standing on a street corner when an accident happens in front of you, and your eyes and mind take in what happens. You witness the accident. But, when Jesus says, “you will be my witnesses”, He’s using the word in an active sense, in terms of giving witness.

Imagine if you did “witness” a car collision one day, and a month later you were called to give witness in court. Imagine, then, that you show up at the courthouse on the appointed day, but that when you are called to the stand to give witness, you sit there without opening your mouth. Attorneys for the defense and the prosecution both ask you questions about what you witnessed, but you refuse to speak. Then the judge asks you to give witness, but you refuse to speak. You were a “witness” at the scene of the collision, but you are not a witness on the stand. What’s likely to happen to you? (This would be a good question for you who are parents to discuss with your children.) Why does a civil court compel citizens to give witness in such cases? What would the judge, on behalf of society, do to that citizen who refuses to give witness? What happens to a society when no one gives witness?

Every one of us in this church is a witness to a collision. Every day we see the collision of two very different cultures. We’ve witnessed it very recently in Philadelphia, where a physician licensed to practice medicine was sentenced to life terms for three murders of those he should have recognized as his patients. We continue to witness the collision as states throughout the country attempt to redefine marriage. We will witness the collision throughout this year as federal regulations go into effect forcing Americans to violate their religious beliefs.

The question is whether members of Christ’s Body, the Church, will give witness. Do we acknowledge, even to ourselves, what’s happening before our eyes? And do we give witness not just against what we’re seeing, but also on behalf of our Faith? In other words, there’s a two-fold witness that each of us needs to give: against the many forms that a corrupting culture is taking in our nation, and also for the responses that Christ gives us in order to build up a culture of life.

What happens to a society when no one gives witness? Why does God, our final Judge, compel the members of His Church to give witness? You re called by God to give witness. But are you ready to do so? God calls you, outside the walls of your church, not only to witness to what is wrong and what God offers instead as good. Perhaps more difficult is God’s call to you to give witness about why what is wrong is wrong, and why what Jesus offers brings life?

This is a tall order, no doubt. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus: not just to live, but to share with others the Way of Jesus, even when that brings us into conflict with what’s popular among many. This is a tall order. But that’s why the Father and the Son have poured down upon you the Gift of their Holy Spirit: for you to be a witness to “the ends of the earth”, and to the ends of your lives.

Does the Holy Spirit bring about change? Is that what He’s for? God the Holy Spirit is not about change for the sake of change. The Holy Spirit is about growth. Life that does not grow is not alive. Growth involves change, of course, but the change is for a purpose. In this world here below, there are many storms with flooding rains and damaging winds. We’re even familiar with tornados, unfortunately. In this world here below, with its fallen nature, we witness destruction. In the face of that, we have to rebuild in order to grow, and that demands change: not for the sake of change, but for the sake of God, and for the sake of life.

[1] Acts 1:8.

Saturday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time [I] - May 25

2013-05-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time [I]

Sirach 17:1-15 + Psalm 103 + Mark 10:13-16

May 25, 2013

“Let the children come to me; do not prevent them….” [Mark 10:14]

Today’s Gospel passage follows yesterday’s immediately in Mark. In yesterday’s passage Jesus spoke the truth that marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power, because through God’s power, husband and wife “are no longer two but one flesh” [Mk 10:8]. In today’s passage Jesus becomes indignant and declares: “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Is it a coincidence that this passage immediately follows Jesus’ teaching about the sacred integrity of Marriage? The Church has taught for some two thousand years that the begetting and rearing of children is integral to the growth of each and every married relationship: the exclusion of this goal dissolves the integrity of the particular marriage.

Some might say that these two Scripture passages should not be linked. Some might say that the point of today’s passage is that each Christian is called to be “child-like”. In any case, marriage between two persons truly in love with each other and with God will bear the innocence and love for life seen in the child-like.

Friday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time [I] - May 24

2013-05-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time [I]

Sirach 6:5-17 + Psalm 119 + Mark 10:1-12

May 24, 2013

“So they are no longer two but one flesh.” [Mark 10:8]

Today’s Gospel passage (corresponding to Matthew 19:1-9) is the springboard from which Blessed Pope John Paul II began his series of reflections titled “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body”. This revolutionary series is often commented upon, but rarely read itself. Even less often read are the words of Jesus at the end of today’s Gospel passage.

Divorce is commonplace in our society. Many see it as a “necessary evil”, while others see it as a positively good choice or option. However, Jesus is very clear. Divorce and remarriage is morally equivalent to adultery, with the difference being that while adultery is a mortally sinful act, divorce and remarriage is a mortally sinful state.

Nonetheless, Jesus puts this condemnation within a positive context. He explains why marriage cannot be dissolved by any human person. To claim the power to dissolve a marriage is to claim power over God. To claim this power is to deny the essence of marriage: that two have become “one flesh.”

Thursday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time [I] - May 23

2013-05-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time [I]

Sirach 5:1-8 + Psalm 1 + Mark 9:41-50

May 23, 2013

“Delay not your conversion to the Lord, put it not off from day to day.” [Sirach 5:7]

Following the past several days’ meditations on accepting the discipline of wisdom and the mercy of the Lord, today’s First Reading is negative in tone. That is, Sirach exhorts us seven times what not to do as we nurture our relationship with wisdom and the Lord. Any one of these seven could nourish our prayer for the entire day today.

Consider the sixth exhortation. “Delay not your conversion to the Lord, put it not off from day to day. For suddenly his wrath flames forth; at the time of vengeance you will be destroyed. Like most of these seven exhortations, this one has two parts: a direct negative command, and a reason for not doing so.

We might consider Sirach’s reason for this sixth exhortation to be harsh and punitive, like so much else in the Old Testament. We might consider such a warning as meaningless in the light of the mercy that Jesus reveals to us. Nonetheless, our image of Jesus is two-dimensional if we think that He didn’t take seriously the possibility of eternal punishment for sin. There is a time and place for reflection on the real possibility of Hell. With the First Reading of today’s Mass, the Church chosen today as that time.

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity [C]

2013-05-14T14:01:00.000-05:00

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity [C]

Proverbs 8:22-31 + Romans 5:1-5 + John 16:12-15

May 26, 2013

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” [John 16:12]

As we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, we might find it difficult to meditate upon this mystery of God’s divine nature: three persons in one God. Of course God knows us even better than we know ourselves, and so knowing the weakness of our human intellect, he demonstrated his divine nature very clearly through Christ’s Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension: what we call the Paschal Mystery.

When we consider the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God the Son, we have to remember that He existed from all eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. God the Son never had to become human in order to fulfill his identity. God the Son could have remained divine for all eternity without ever descending to earth and taking on our human nature.

But in the Paschal Mystery of the Word made Flesh, God makes clear to us—in the love of His Sacred Heart—not only His divine nature. We also see in Christ Jesus—true God and true man—the fulfillment of what it means to be human.

We realize this if we consider that scene in the gospels where one of the Scribes comes up to Jesus and asks Him which is the first of all the commandments. Jesus replies not only to the scribe, but to each one of you as well: “‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!’ … This is the second, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Love, quite obviously, is the common denominator between these two commands: “Love the Lord completely,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Understanding these two as one means having Christ at the center of our entire spiritual focus: seeing in Christ our neighbor, and seeing in Christ our Lord and God. And so, first of all, we are to love others as Christ has loved us. But we must even go one step further. We are to love others so that others will love as Christ has loved us. Not merely are we to give our lives for others. We are to so have an effect on others—through the power of God’s grace—that they in turn will do the same.

Wednesday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time [I] - May 22

2013-05-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time [I]

Sirach 4:11-19 + Psalm 119 + Mark 9:38-40

May 22, 2013

“Fear and dread she brings upon him and tries him with her discipline ….” [Sirach 4:17]

Today’s First Reading returns to a meditation on wisdom. This passage does not so much define wisdom as it describes the relationship that the believer has with her (that is, wisdom).

The first sentence of this passage describes wisdom in maternal terms. Following verses suggest an intimate relationship between wisdom and the Lord, as those “who serve [wisdom] serve the Holy One; those who love her the Lord loves.”

Yet despite all this intimacy, the relationship between the believer and wisdom is bound to bear difficulties. Wisdom does not promise an easy life to the one who follows her. Wisdom “tries [the believer] with her discipline, a phrase reminiscent of Hebrews 12:7: “Endure your trials as ‘discipline’; God treats you as sons. For what ‘son’ is there whom his father does not discipline?”

It is wise to accept discipline that comes from a just one. Give thanks for such discipline and take it to heart and prayer.

Tuesday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time [I] - May 21

2013-05-13T00:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time [I]

Sirach 2:1-11 + Psalm 37 + Mark 9:30-37

May 21, 2013

“…keep His fear and grow old therein.” [Sirach 2:3]

At the end of yesterday’s First Reading Sirach proclaimed that the Lord has lavished wisdom upon her friends. In today’s First Reading Sirach expands on this theme by focusing on the relationship of the Lord with those who “come to serve the Lord.” This relationship is expressed in terms of human suffering, a theme found throughout the seven books of the Old Testament called the “Wisdom literature”, perhaps most strongly in the Book of Job.

But in today’s First Reading suffering is expressed through the need for many forms of “patience”, a word stemming from the Latin word meaning “to suffer”. These forms of patience might seem to suggest a sort of passivity. In fact, patience is always an “active virtue”: that is, demanding our attention and dedication. For the one who serves the Lord, the “activity” of patience comes from the longing to unite one’s own will with God’s Providential Will. It’s along this line that Sirach exhorts us: “incline your ear and receive the word of understanding, undisturbed in time of adversity.”

Monday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time [I] - May 20

2013-05-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time [I]

Sirach 1:1-10 + Psalm 93 + Mark 9:14-29

May 20, 2013

“He has poured her forth upon all his works, upon every living thing according to his bounty; he has lavished her upon his friends.” [Sirach 1:10]

It may seem confusing to hear in today’s First Reading—the first ten verses of Sirach—that “Wisdom” is spoken of in feminine terms. For example, the biblical author asks, “To whom has wisdom’s root been revealed? Who knows her subtleties?” In English, the word “wisdom”—like other abstract nouns—is neuter in gender: we use the pronouns “it” rather than “she” to refer to “wisdom”. At times, we may hear “wisdom” metaphorically referred to as feminine, with a phrase like “Lady Wisdom”. Is Sirach’s feminine description of wisdom metaphorical? Of course, in some languages—Greek, the language in which we have copies of Sirach being among them—the word “wisdom” is feminine. Is Sirach’s feminine description of wisdom merely linguistic?

Even more puzzling: why does Sirach call wisdom a “creature”? If wisdom is a creature, it (or she) cannot be “part” of God, who is the uncreated Creator. What (or who) exactly is this “Wisdom”? Beginning today we hear from Sirach for two weeks at weekday Mass. Ask the Holy Spirit to pour out His gift of wisdom on you during this time to hear and heed deeply Sirach’s words.

The Ascension of the Lord [C] - May 12, 2013

2013-05-11T15:08:00.001-05:00

The Ascension of the Lord [C]

Acts 1:1-11 + Ephesians 1:17-23 + Luke 24:46-53

May 12, 2013

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses….” [Acts 1:8]

About two weeks ago, one of my family’s pastors (when we were members at Schulte) died at the age of 81. Father Art Busch was a talented man, and served our diocese in many roles, but he seemed to enjoy most the role of parish priest. It was Father Busch, there at St. Peter’s in Schulte, who heard my first confession, and gave me First Holy Communion. Three weeks before Father Busch died, Monsignor Thomas McGread died at the age of 84. He was the pastor for 31 years at St. Francis of Assisi, where I spent the first four years of my priesthood, learning many lessons from him.

In a manner of speaking, every time a loved one, friend or mentor dies, part of us goes with them. Part of—a chapter of—our life ends. With the passing of each of our family members and friends, we become more divided between this world and the next. Although I’ve not been blessed by God with a vocation to Holy Matrimony, as a priest for eighteen years (this month) I’ve sat with, prayed with, and prayed over many spouses who have suffered through the experience of their husband or wife dying, and they have learned each day to live alone, after decades of married life. Those widows and widowers are torn between this world and the next. Their departed spouse carried part of them—memories, hopes, regrets, and lost opportunities—with them on that day of death.

Of course, being torn between this world and the next is not entirely a bad thing. Saint Paul the Apostle was torn in this way. In his epistle to the Philippians he wrote: “to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, (for) that is far better. Yet that I remain (in) the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.”[1] The tension between wanting life on earth as well as life in Heaven is a healthy tension. But as long as you remain on this earth, you are here for a reason.

This reflection on being torn between this world and the next points to our Christian belief in the “communion of saints”. This “communion” of persons does not refer only to canonized saints, such as St. Peter, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Mark the Evangelist, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It refers to all the baptized in heaven, in purgatory, and on earth. This “communion” of persons is really another way of describing the Mystical Body of Christ: that is, the family of the Church. As Catholic Christians, this is our way of being the Church: as a “communion of saints”. It’s as this “communion” of persons that we are bound together by a bond that’s stronger than death, because Christ has already conquered death, and it’s within His Body that we’re bound to each other. This is what offers such great hope in the face of a loved one dying. We entrust those who have gone before us in faith to the mercy and embrace of God our Father, who in baptism made us members of His Son’s Body.

+ + +

All that’s by way of background to reflect on the mystery of the Ascension of Jesus to the Father’s Right Hand in Heaven. The Church celebrates the mystery of the Ascension through her Sacred Liturgy: firstly, through the Scriptures, prayers and antiphons of today’s Mass. The Sacred Liturgy also celebrates the Ascension through the Liturgy of the Hours (sometimes called the Divine Office). The Liturgy of the Hours offers scriptures and readings from the saints for every day of the Church year, and lay persons increasingly today are making it part of their prayer life.

The Scriptures, prayers and antiphons of Holy Mass include the Preface that the priest chants or recites right before the “Holy, Holy”. There are two prefaces for the Ascension (found on page 143 in our missalette). In the first, the priest professes our belief—that is to say, the belief of the entire Communion of Saints—that “the Lord Jesus, the King of glory, / conqueror of sin and death, / ascended today to the highest heavens” “not to distance Himself from our lowly state / but that we, His members, might be confident of following / where He, our Head and Founder, has gone before.”

The Church’s celebration of Jesus’ Ascension is about the virtue of hope: about you and me and every other member of the Church on earth living the virtue of hope in our daily lives at home, at work, and among our family and friends. Through hope, we live within the tension between Heaven and earth. This virtue of hope, however, flowers in a two-fold manner. To grow in this virtue of hope, you and I have to focus our hope on Heaven first, but then also on hoping to follow Jesus there. To put it another way, we have to focus first on the end of the road, and then secondly on the road that leads to the end of the road. Jesus gives us hope for both of these, because He is both. You recall that the Apostle Thomas had trouble getting this. He asked Jesus, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” To this confusion, Jesus replied very simply, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.”[2] In other words, Jesus in Heaven is the end of the road—our goal in life—but He’s also the Way leading there.

+ + +

Hoping for Heaven is challenging because for most of us, Heaven is still a long ways down the road. After all, on the practical level, for most of you, your “tomorrow” is going to look pretty much like your “today”. Regarding your hopes for “tomorrow”, you likely hope for sunny skies and 72°. You likely hope for your investments to show at least a modest gain, or your boss to give you a raise, or your grown child to call to see how you’re doing, or your spouse to take you by the hand, look into your eyes and say, “I love you. Thank you for being such a wonderful mother to our children.” That’s not hoping for too much, is it? All of these are perfectly natural things to hope for.

But we tend not to hope for Heaven tomorrow. That is to say, unless you reside in the Shady Lanes Retirement Community, there are probably a whole lot of tomorrows left between “today” and the end of your road. And so, practically, we put our hope in things that lay in between our “today” and the end of the road. As a result, Heaven becomes not so much an object of hope as a vague and fuzzy ideal far, far off on the horizon.

Our Blessed Mother Mary can help us to hope more realistically. We honor her throughout this month, and especially this weekend on Mother’s Day. She more than any other disciple of Jesus can show us—and help us—to place our hope each day in her Son, Jesus who is the Way of true hope for your daily life.

Mary was, as we pray in the “Hail Mary”, full of grace—that is, filled with the Holy Spirit—so much so that she would have followed Jesus anywhere. She did, in fact, follow Him to His death on Calvary, and all of you who are mothers know what sort of agony was involved in Mary witnessing her Son being nailed to a cross, and dying for the sake of sinners. But Mary would have followed Him further still, in a heartbeat! If she could have joined her Son on the Cross to alleviate His suffering, she would have! If she could have descended into the underworld after His death, She would have, in order to be at His side!

But Mary remained at the foot of the Cross, and remained among living on earth, both after Jesus’ death, and after His Ascension. Why? Because Mary lived her daily life in the virtue of hope. She accepted the fact that hope calls us to live in a tension between Heaven and earth. We cannot have everything now, and God does not mean for us to. When you pray the Rosary on Tuesday and Fridays this month, you’ll be praying the Sorrowful Mystery. The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery is the Crucifixion. During this month of our Blessed Mother, imagine that mystery of the Crucifixion from Mary’s point of view. When Jesus was hanging on the Cross, He spoke to few persons, but Mary was one. “Woman, behold your son,” Jesus said, nodding his crowned head towards St. John, the Beloved Disciple. [3] After Jesus’ Ascension, Mary gathered with the Apostles in the Upper Room where Jesus had given the Eucharist at the Last Supper. But why was Mary there? Why was Mary still on this earth? Wasn’t her vocation over? Wasn’t she just—so to speak—treading water until her Assumption? Of course not.

In Mary’s earthly life, she lived for others, not for herself. She lived with the hope that St. Paul wrote about to the Philippians. We can imagine our Blessed Mother, pondering in her heart the Mystery of her Son, and in that Mystery pondering her own life and its tension. We can imagine her saying in her heart, “I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, (for) that is far better. Yet that I remain (in) the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.” When St. Paul wrote those words, “your benefit” meant the benefit of the Philippians. But we might ask: for Mary, for whose benefit would she have meant these words?

Mary is the Mother of the Church. During her earthly life, she hoped to be with her Son in Heaven, but the way—the daily path—by which she lived out that hope was by being with the Beloved Disciple and all those whom Jesus had entrusted to her care, those who were and are her sons and daughters because they’re members of her Son’s Body, the Church. Mary is your mother, inasmuch as you are one member of her Son’s Mystical Body. Mary is “our life, our sweetness, and our hope”, because she gathers with us just as she did with the Apostles during the ten days after her Son’s Ascension. As our mother, she helps us purify our hearts of selfish human hopes. We tend, in our sinfulness, to confuse human desire for the virtue of hope. Mary prays for us and for what is best for us, because she is our Mother just as surely as she was the Mother of the Beloved Disciple. She is our hope because she models what living the virtue of hope looks like: she hopes for Christ, and lives for others, knowing that her service to them is the path to her Lord.

[1] Philippians 1:21-24.

[2] John 14:5,6.

[3] John 19:26.

Pentecost Sunday

2013-05-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Pentecost Sunday

Acts 2:1-11 + 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 + John 20:19-23

May 19, 2013

“There are different works but the same God….” [1 Corinthians 12:6]

When the event of Pentecost occurred almost 2000 years ago, the apostles were transformed by their “encounter” with the Holy Spirit. But in what way were they changed? The Holy Spirit didn’t make them taller, or richer, or stronger. The Holy Spirit doesn’t try to change us in these ways, because He isn’t interested in our bank accounts, or the vehicles we drive, or our looks… but only the state of our souls.

So how were the apostles’ souls changed? What did the apostles “get out of” their encounter with the Holy Spirit? The apostles didn’t receive the Holy Spirit in order to help them “feel good” about their relationship with God.

Instead, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to apostles and prophets, clergy and lay people, in the first and twenty-first centuries, in order to build the Church on earth, so that the members of the Church might reach Heaven. St. Paul describes the Mystical Body of Christ this way: There are different works but the same God who accomplishes all of them in every one. To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To each person, the Holy Spirit is given for the sake of service: for the common good, in the words of St. Paul.

We—just like the first members of the Church 2000 years ago—receive the Holy Spirit in simple ways. We receive the Holy Spirit through our reading of the Bible early in the morning, or late at night. We receive the Holy Spirit by devoutly accepting the Lord through the sacraments. We receive the Holy Spirit by carrying out the corporal and spiritual works of mercy on behalf of our neighbors. But as we receive the Holy Spirit—as His Presence grows in our souls—every one of the gifts that blossoms from His Presence there is to be laid at the feet of others.

Saturday of the 7th Week of Easter - May 18

2013-05-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Acts 28:16-20,30-31 + Psalm 11 + John 21:20-25

May 18, 2013

“There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” [John 21:25]

This morning’s Gospel passage consists of the final six verses of the Gospel according to John. Our Verse for Recollection is the very last verse of John. The Easter Season draws to a close, then, with an almost parenthetical reminder that the Gospel accounts’ record of Jesus’ earthly life is by no means exhaustive.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, in composing their accounts of the Gospel, did not aim to give an exhaustive record of Jesus’ saving words and deeds. For that matter, even if all of the words spoken—and deeds carried out—by Jesus during His earthily life were recorded, that account of the Gospel would not be the “final word”.

Does this assertion sound blasphemous? Does it reduce the power and beauty of the Incarnate Word?

In truth, it reveals the full intent—the full vocation and mission—of the Incarnate Word. God’s providential, covenantal, saving Work blossoms through the life of the Mystical Body of Christ: the Church.

The life of the Church—from her conception in the Sacred Triduum, to her birth at Pentecost, until her consummation on the Last Day—is the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Jesus on this earth.

Friday of the 7th Week of Easter - May 17

2013-05-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Acts 25:13-21 + Psalm 103 + John 21:15-19

May 17, 2013

“Peter was distressed that He had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” [John 21:17]

On these last two weekdays of Easter, our Gospel passage comes from the epilogue of John’s Gospel account. In these final days, we hear John’s account of Jesus’ “final word”, which echoes what John records time and time again throughout his Scriptural writings (the Book of Revelation, his three epistles, and his Gospel account).

Jesus’ “final word” is Love—caritas—which in fact is the very nature of the Triune God, and the “Word made Flesh”. As we prepare to celebrate the Sundays and other solemnities that flow forth from the Easter Season, we meditate on the meaning of the Caritas Who Is God. In the weeks following the end of the Easter Season, the Church will celebrate the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi, and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through each of these, the Church reflects and liturgically celebrates the goodness of God’s very nature: the Love that has been poured forth for us in the Risen Jesus.

Today, Jesus calls Peter, the Rock of the Church, to accept this divine caritas as the heart of his own life and ministry. We pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis. We also pray for ourselves, that no matter what our vocation may be, our lives will also reflect this divine outpouring of love.

Thursday of the 7th Week of Easter - May 16

2013-05-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 + Psalm 16 + John 17:20-26

May 16, 2013

“…so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you.” [John 17:21]

There are many types of unity. For example, if two persons agree about a political issue, and join a common party, these two persons have political unity. If two persons agree about a moral teaching, or agree to act in common on behalf of a moral goal, these two persons have moral unity. If two students study for doctorates in physics, specializing in the same specific topic, and become the two foremost experts in the world about that topic, these two persons have intellectual unity.

Two persons can be united by far less significant matters: they can be united by their nationality, by the clothes they wear, or by the physical space they share (in an elevator, a house, or a courtroom).

Two siblings are united by their parentage, and identical twins enjoy an even more specific genetic unity. Beyond physicals traits, siblings—or a parent and child—can be united by psychological traits, temperament, or even predispositions towards certain virtues and vices.

None of these is what Jesus is preaching about in John 17:21. Jesus is preaching about something far more profound.

The tiny word “as” in today’s Verse unlocks the meaning of the Verse. Reflect, meditate, and contemplate the meaning of the Unity that the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity not merely have or share, but Are.

Wednesday of the 7th Week of Easter - May 15

2013-05-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Acts 20:28-28 + Psalm 68 + John 17:11-19

May 15, 2013

“…that they may be one just as we are one.” [John 17:11]

Of the four gospel accounts, John’s is the “loftiest” and thus is symbolized by the image of an eagle. In the vocabulary of theology, John has the “highest Christology”. One can make the case that the Last Supper discourses—found in John 13-17—make up the loftiest part of John (with the possible exception of the prologue in John 1:1-18). Within the Last Supper discourses, the seventeenth chapter of John is commonly titled the “High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus, and is the loftiest part of these discourses. All of this is merely to point out that in this last week of Easter, we are breathing rarified air indeed…

It’s from today’s Verse for Recollection that Pope John Paul the Great took the title of his twelfth encyclical letter: Ut unum sint [“That They May Be One”]. It was his only encyclical about ecumenism, and was promulgated in 1995, with Pope John Paul already looking toward the Great Jubilee of 2000. Yet he anticipated the Jubilee somewhat wistfully, because he knew that it would not be celebrated with the followers of Jesus united according to the meaning of John 17:11.

Ecumenism was a topic close to the heart of Pope John Paul II, who of course was of Slavic heritage. He longed both for the unification of the Eastern and Western Churches—in his phrase, the “lungs of the Church”—and for the reconciliation of Protestant ecclesial communities with the Catholic Church.

Slowly and prayerfully re-read today’s Gospel passage, and as you continue your Novena to the Holy Spirit, pray that the Gift of the Holy Spirit will be accepted in His fullness, ut unum sint.

Resources for the Solemnity of the Ascension

2013-05-06T15:38:00.002-05:00

Click below to prepare for the Solemnity of the Ascension with:

+ a sermon of St. Augustine of Hippo

+ St. Thomas’ teaching on “Whether Christ’s Ascension is the cause of our salvation?”

+ Catena Aurea of the Church Fathers on Luke 24:50-53

+ link to Father Barron’s audio reflection

Saint Matthias - May 14

2013-05-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

Saint Matthias, apostle and martyr

Acts 1:15-17,20-26 + Psalm 113 + John 15:9-17

May 14, 2013

“So they proposed two, Joseph… and Matthias.” [Acts 1:23]

Saint Matthias is mentioned by name only once in the Scriptures, on the occasion of his election to the office of apostle. By this we see how important this ministry is to the on-going nature of the Church.

It’s fitting that we celebrate this feast of Saint Matthias during the sixth week of Easter. Throughout the first weeks of the Easter season, we hear Jesus speak to the apostles. These words are the Lord’s preparation for His Ascension, and for the Holy Spirit’s descent. These words are His preparation for the new life of the Church. His words reveal to us the nature of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.

Hearing about the election of Matthias to fill the vacancy left by Judas Iscariot, we recognize that God the Holy Spirit works through the work of the apostles. Both the apostles’ human selection of two candidates, and the Holy Spirit’s election of Matthias to the apostolic office, are the means by which this vocation is given to Matthias. Both divine grace and human works work together in the life of the Church, and in the life of each Christian, to continue the saving work of the Lord Jesus.

Monday of the 7th Week of Easter - May 13

2013-05-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Acts 19:1-8 + Psalm 68 + John 16:29-33

May 13, 2013

“In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” [John 16:33]

This coming Sunday’s celebration of Pentecost is the backdrop for all our weekday readings this week. Wherever we Christians are, we are united in the Mystical Body of Christ, and together we are praying this week for a greater openness to the Gift who is God the Holy Spirit.

However, we receive God the Holy Spirit not for our own plans and purposes. He comes to us in order to ‘equip’ us for the vocations that God the Father gives us. The providential plan of the Father, and the grace of the Spirit, cannot be separated: both meet in the life of Christ’s Mystical Body, within which we live.

Each of us is called first through Baptism to holiness. For most Christians, this baptismal vocation—the vocation to live as members of the “priesthood of all believers”—is deepened by a further call from the Father. The vocation to Holy Matrimony, or to Holy Orders, or to consecrated religious life, gives specific form to one’s baptismal vocation. Even more specifically, each Christian daily discerns the call of the Father to make small sacrifices with great love, as St. Thérèse of Lisieux teaches us. And so we beg the outpouring of God the Holy Spirit.

The Sixth Sunday of Easter [C] - May 5, 2013

2013-05-04T17:17:00.003-05:00

The Sixth Sunday of Easter [C]

Acts 15:1-222-29 + Revelation 21:10-14,22-23 + John 14:23-29

May 5, 2013

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit… will teach you everything….” [John 14:26]

It’s not enough in life to have a good idea. It takes time and energy to translate the good idea into reality. By way of example, when a new format for our parish website was introduced, one idea was to video-record interviews of the veterans from our parish whose names appear on the stone marker in our grotto. Two interviews have been recorded and uploaded so far, but more need to be made.

Life is full of good ideas, but each of us only has 24 hours in a day. When all is said and done, our entire life on this earth is short. That’s why the virtue of prudence is so important: because we need to use the time and energy God has given us to accomplish not just good things, but rather the good things that God wants us to accomplish, which are the best things for us, because the ideas come from God Himself! In a sense, that’s what the Season of Easter is helping us to see.

God Himself shows us prudence in the Ascension of Jesus to Heaven, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit from Heaven. Jesus could have remained in Jerusalem instead of ascending to Heaven. It’s easy to imagine that through His divine power He could have kept His resurrected, glorified body from ever aging, so that even today, He would still be just 33 years old. From Jerusalem He would be ruling the earth, settling disputes, and working miracles to dispel hunger and disease.

“Would not that have been a better world?”, we might ask. Why, instead, did Jesus ascend to the Father’s Right Hand in Heaven, and establish in His stead a Church whose members have demonstrated in every century an ignorance of the Gospel in mind and will? The Church teaches us that there are at least three reasons why Jesus departed from our midst. These reasons direct us to the divine virtues of faith, hope and charity.[1]

“Christ’s Ascension into Heaven, [by which] He withdrew… from us, was more profitable for us” because it can “increase our faith, which is of things unseen.” St. Thomas the Apostle stands as a contrast to this faith that Jesus wants you and me to develop. Doubting Thomas would not believe until he saw the Risen Jesus. Although Thomas’ faith was real when he saw the Risen Jesus and cried, “My Lord and my God!”, Jesus asks for more from you and me. He explains this when He says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”[2]

“Christ’s Ascension into Heaven… was [also] more profitable for us” because it can “uplift our hope”. We might like to imagine that the earth would be a perfect place had Jesus never ascended, remaining to guide us through this world. But it’s not for this world that Jesus became incarnate by the Virgin Mary, was crucified and rose again. Two of Jesus’ miracles in particular—the raising of Lazarus and the multiplication of the loaves—remind us where Jesus wants us to direct our hope.

Lazarus was “raised” from the dead. He wasn’t resurrected as Jesus was. Lazarus didn’t have a glorified body after Jesus raised him. Lazarus could not walk through solid doors. Lazarus was raised from the dead, but he later died again. Jesus did not raise Lazarus in order to give him immortal life in this world, because God did not create Lazarus for this world, but for the next. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead was not finally about Lazarus. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead was about Jesus, to reveal the power Jesus has over sin and death. Jesus does not use that power to grant people unending life on earth, but to inspire hope in us for immortal life in Heaven.

Out of the many times that Jesus miraculously multiplied loaves of bread, it’s in the sixth chapter of John that this miracle most powerfully moves us to hope for Heaven. After Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fish, “when [the disciples] had eaten their fill,” the people responded by saying, “ ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’ Perceiving then that they were about… by force to make Him [their] king, Jesus withdrew again to the hills”. The next day, when the people found Jesus, He said to them, “ ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life’ ”.[3] Jesus multiplying the loaves was not about eradicating physical hunger on earth. This miracle is about Jesus offering Himself as a way to recognize and satisfy the spiritual hunger we have for Heaven.

If Jesus had remained until this day on earth, it would be more tempting for people to see Jesus as an earthly Messiah, as many of His apostles did right up through Holy Week. His miracles—such as the healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, and satisfying physical hunger—would be more likely perceived as ends in themselves, rather than as signposts by which Jesus raises our eyes to Heaven. His Ascension, then, raises our eyes as we follow Him, and increases in us the virtue of hope: that where He has gone, we may follow.

“Christ’s Ascension into Heaven… was [also] more profitable for us” because it can “direct the fervor of our charity to heavenly things.” In other words, we need Heaven to focus all the many different forms that virtue can take. Every virtue is meant to culminate in the virtue of charity, and all charity is meant to culminate in sharing God’s life in Heaven. But here below, in our own day, each of the virtues often wanders alone, degenerating into its own end. One of the greatest apologists of the 20^th century, the English convert and journalist G. K. Chesterton, put it this way:

“The modern world is not evil; in some ways the modern world is far too good. It is full of wild and wasted virtues. … The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues have gone mad because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone. [And so, for example,] some scientists care for truth; [but] their truth is [without pity]. [Also,] some humanitarians only care for pity; [but] their pity (I am sorry to say) is often untruthful.”[4]

Today we also see the virtues isolated from each other. For example, there are scientists who would like to clone human beings, or even make hybrids between humans and lower animals. This search for truth is divorced from the need for ethics: specifically, from the need to respect the unique dignity of human nature. Also, there are strict federal laws in our nation protecting the eggs of certain birds that are endangered species, and yet this desire to have compassion for an innocent unborn bird is divorced by many from the need to have compassion for an innocent unborn human being. In each of these examples—as different as they are—a desire to pursue a good is divorced from the larger picture, and leaves a more important virtue out in the cold. Looking to God—the Maker of all creatures and the origin of all Truth—focuses human efforts to do good, and helps us neither to do bad, nor to do good inconsistently.

Looking up to Christ’s Ascension, then, directs all the virtues towards Heaven. Christ ascended to Heaven so that each of us could carry out our own part within His Mystical Body, the Church. You and I and all the rest of the members of His Body may not carry out Jesus’ mission as well as He would, had He remained, but even in our attempting to do so, we can grow in all the virtues, and open our selves more fully to the life of God the Holy Spirit.

+ + +

The Holy Spirit, by His Power, can move your life during the years you have left on this earth. It’s by His Power that all virtues lead to charity, and all charity leads to God’s life in Heaven. This is where Jesus’ words today guide us. The name (or rather, the title) that Jesus gives the Holy Spirit reminds us of His Power. Jesus calls Him the “Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name”. The key, of course, is for you to allow this Advocate to move your life. The problem with “power” in our modern Western culture is that it’s linked in our minds with a need for control.

We like the idea of “power”, for example, when we hear of a Mustang with 750 horsepower. That’s a lot of giddy-up. We’d like to be behind the wheel of that Mustang. Of course, the unspoken assumption is that we would be in control of the car. But if, instead, that Mustang were an elaborate remote-control car in which the steering wheel, foot feed and brake pedal weren’t connected to anything, and the car was controlled by a satellite orbiting high above the sky, we probably would not want to be in that vehicle. Power interests us when we can control it, and the greater such power, the more it interests us. To the contrary, power can cause fear when we’re not in control, and the greater that power, the greater our fear.

Here is one of the great ironies of the Christian spiritual life. There is no power greater than the Power of the Holy Spirit. That is to say, there is no Power greater than the love of God the Father and God the Son for each other. But there is no way to control God. Yet sometimes we act as if we could. As an antidote to such a temptation, and to prepare yourself to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus and the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, look at our Blessed Mother, whom we honor especially in this month of May.

The best way that you can “use” your life on earth is to hand your life over to God’s Power, like Mary. This doesn’t mean becoming a puppet, or a remote-controlled car. Look at Mary’s life as the first and best disciple of Jesus Christ. When you pray the Rosary on the Mondays of this month, you’ll pray the Joyful Mysteries, the first of which is the Annunciation. When St. Gabriel announced to Mary God’s plan for her life, he did not give her a set of blueprints, or a set of maps outlining where her life was going to take her. God instead gave her the Power of the Holy Spirit. The Power of the Holy Spirit works in and through the Heart, mind and soul of the faithful disciple, giving greater freedom and control to that disciple who lives in Christ, and in whom Christ lives.

Ask Mary, by her prayers, to help you take your eyes off this world, and instead to raise your gaze to Heaven. With Mary as your Mother, in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ will live in you as a member of His Mystical Body, the Church. Imitating Mary, open your life not just to doing good, but to allowing God to help you choose the best in this life. Be open and hospitable to the Holy Spirit.

[1] See St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III, 57, a.1, reply 3.

[2] John 20:28,29.

[3] See John 6:12-27.

[4] G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, in The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton, Vol. I (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), p. 233.

The Ascension of the Lord

2013-05-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Ascension of the Lord

Acts 1:1-11 + Ephesians 1:17-23 + Luke 24:46-53

May 12, 2013

“When they had gathered together they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ ” [Acts 1:6]

The readings today mark an extremely important transition in the life of Christ and His Church, of which we are members. We have heard the end of the Gospel according to Saint Luke, and the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. We celebrate the end of Jesus as a person walking the earth in the midst of people who could turn to Him in their needs. His Ascension was necessary, though, so that we could receive Christ in His Holy Spirit, which we will celebrate on the feast of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church.

Whenever we ourselves face transitions in life, we might tend to forget that when one door closes in life, another door tends to open. The Ascension reminds us of this, but also promises us something much more important. Not only do doors open and close in life, but as Christ said to the apostles, He sends down to us the promise of the Holy Spirit, to guide us as we choose which doors to go through and which doors to close behind us.

God is always with us, appearing to us in different ways. The Holy Spirit manifests His presence in our lives through his gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety, and due reverence for God. These gifts are at work in our hearts if we actively seek the presence of the Holy Spirit, whose entrance into our hearts we should pray intensely for during these next ten days.

And so the Ascension is the prologue of the story of the Church, our story. We can celebrate the Ascension because while Jesus is no longer physically present as one of us, he is still with us: His Spirit is with us, and He is with us in his sacraments. But Jesus has passed on his mission to us. It’s up to all of us, bound together by the Holy Spirit, to show the world what God is like. Because the Holy Spirit, as a spirit, can only be seen through human beings. And with Jesus in heaven, it’s up to us to show the face of God to others.

Saturday of the 6th Week of Easter - May 11

2013-05-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Acts 18:23-28 + Psalm 47 + John 16:23-28

May 11, 2013

“The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father.” [John 16:25]

The “spiritual momentum” of the Sacred Triduum and Easter Season moves us through the Passion and Death, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of the Lord Jesus… to the Solemnity of Pentecost. In the Church’s celebration of Pentecost, we meditate not only on the divine origin of the Church. We meditate not only on the divine mission of the Church.

We meditate finally on the divine end of the Church: her ultimate goal; namely, eternal life with and “in” God the Father. On this Saturday of the Easter Season, reflect on the relationship between the Blessed Virgin Mary and God the Father. Think of how, from the time of the Annunciation, throughout the earthly life of her Son Jesus, to the end of her own earthly life, Mary had a unique relationship with God the Father. God the Father and the human creature, Mary of Nazareth, shared in common their Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. How often Mary must have turned to God the Father in prayer for support, comfort, and guidance!

Though you and I are not privileged with the unique vocation of our Blessed Mother, we are called by God the Father into His divine Life. In these last days of the Easter Season, pray directly to God the Father. Thank Him for His Son, Jesus. Ask Him to comfort you in the face of trial, and for an increase in the virtues of humility and patience.

Friday of the 6th Week of Easter - May 10

2013-05-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Acts 18:9-18 + Psalm 47 + John 16:20-23

May 10, 2013

“But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” [John 16:22]

Jesus uses the imagery of pregnancy to describe suffering in relation to joy, as both pertain to Jesus’ Resurrection and His sending (with the Father) the Gift of the Holy Spirit. While it’s a truism of our culture that any goal worth achieving demands hardship, the image of pregnancy is more pregnant with meaning. The image of pregnancy connotes new life: a life independent of the life that came before, yet owing its existence to the one who begot it.

How do we relate this to the Resurrection and Pentecost? What is the new life begotten? It is the life of the Church. If you ask most people in the world—Christians and non-Christians alike—what the greatest Christian feast day is, they would likely reply “Christmas”. That’s the correct answer if one asks the question in terms of money and energy spent preparing for and celebrating the day. But liturgically, Easter Sunday is far more important than Christmas Day, a truth we can sum up with the saying that “The reason Jesus was born into this world was to die to this world.”

However, just as the meaning of Christmas points forward to Easter Sunday, so Easter Sunday points forward to Pentecost. Pentecost is not more significant liturgically than Easter Sunday, but nonetheless Easter prepares us for Pentecost: for the ‘birth’ of the Church, the Bride of Christ and the Mystical Body of Christ.

Prayer of Students & Scholars to Our Lady

2013-05-01T13:38:00.000-05:00

For the Month of Our Lady

A daily prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas

to the Blessed Virgin Mary

O Mary, Mother of fair love, of fear, of knowledge, and of holy hope,
by whose loving intercession full many, otherwise rude in intellect,
have wonderfully advanced in knowledge and in holiness,
you do I choose as the guide and patroness of my studies;
and I humbly implore, through the deep tenderness of your maternal love,
and especially through that Eternal Wisdom,
who deigned to take from you our flesh,
and who gifted you beyond all the saints with heavenly light,
that you would obtain for me, by your intercession,
the grace of the Holy Spirit,
so that I may be able to grasp with intellect, retain in memory,
show forth by deed and word, and teach to others
all things which bring honor to you and to your Son,
and which for me and others are healthful to eternal life. Amen.

Thursday of the 6th Week of Easter - May 9

2013-05-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Acts 18:1-8 + Psalm 98 + John 16:16-20

May 9, 2013

“…you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” [John 16:20]

The Season of Easter has two poles: the Resurrection and Pentecost. Both are solemnities of great joy for Christians.

Each is preceded by an event of loss, of “grieving” even. The Resurrection is preceded by the Death of the Lord, and Pentecost is preceded by the Ascension of the Lord. But to use the word “preceded” here is a bit lacking. The Death and Ascension of the Lord are the “events”—the sacred “mysteries”—that make the Resurrection and Pentecost possible.

Jesus refers to both sets of mysteries—the Death and Resurrection, and the Ascension and Pentecost—by His words today (our verse for reflection). Today’s Gospel passage is from the sixteenth chapter of John: part of Jesus’ Last Supper discourse. In the short-term, then, He is speaking about His Death and Resurrection. In His divinity, Jesus also knew of His impending Ascension as well as the Descent of the Holy Spirit, so He is also speaking about His Ascension and Pentecost.

Much of the world today celebrates today the Ascension of the Lord. Some dioceses will transfer the Ascension to this coming Sunday, and celebrate today as a weekday of Easter. In either case, begin a novena today: nine days of prayer, longing for the Holy Spirit to come into your life more powerfully, and help you to live more fully your vocation within the Mystical Body of Christ.

Wednesday of the 6th Week of Easter - May 8

2013-04-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Acts 17:15,22—18:1 + Psalm 148 + John 16:12-15

May 8, 2013

“…when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” [John 16:13]

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, the famous nineteenth century convert to the Church from Anglicanism, is famous for many theological works. One of the more famous is about the process of the “development of doctrine”. Newman had from boyhood been a keen student of history, and later in life he said that “to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant”.

To make an analogy: as fundamentalist Christians say that God created the universe, Earth, and mankind immediately (that is, within six days), so the same fundamentalists often say that God created the doctrines of the Church immediately. If a phrase is not found in the Bible—they insist—it cannot be admitted into mind of a Christian. Therefore, dogmas such as the Immaculate Conception and papal infallibility are clearly not Christian, because the apostles who composed the Bible never used these phrases, or spoke about these topics.

However, if beliefs cannot be accepted by Christians if they are not mentioned in the Bible, then these same people cannot profess a belief in the “Trinity”, since this word never appears in the Bible. “But,” these fundamentalists might argue, “the belief in the Trinity is in the Bible. It’s the word “Trinity” that came later, in order to dispel false interpretations of the Bible….” Bingo! Such a defense supports Cardinal Newman’s teaching, which itself is simply an unpacking of today’s verse for recollection.

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter - May 7

2013-04-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Acts 16:22-34 + Psalm 138 + John 16:5-11

May 7, 2013

“For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.” [John 16:7]

What do God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have in common (in addition of course to their divinity)? Each was sent by God the Father into the world. Yet they play different roles within the Providence of human history.

Whenever we speak about the Most Blessed Trinity, we can speak about God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—in two ways. The first is in regard to the “immanent Trinity”. The “immanent Trinity” refers to God’s “inner life”, in the sense of His divine nature: what He is essentially, of necessity.

The second way we can speak about the Trinity is in regard to the “economic Trinity”. This has nothing to do with money! The word “economic” is used in a sense that hews more closely to its Greek etymology, in a sense that is reflected in the English phrase “home economics”. “Economy” in this sense is more or less synonymous with “work”. And so the phrase the “economic Trinity” refers to the work that God freely chooses to carry out within His “house” (that is, the universe). This work is not of His essence, but is, rather, what He is in no way bound to do, but chooses to do freely, out of sheer goodness.

From this basis, continue to reflect—during these last days of Easter—on the “missions” that God the Father gave to God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.