Wednesday, May 13, 2026

 Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

 (Acts 7:15.22-18.1; John 16:12-15)

 No doctrine of the Church is harder to grasp than the Holy Trinity.  How the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are both three and one almost defies explanation.  They are not three individuals making up a collective like a three-person volleyball team.  The three persons have but one mind and one will.  The Son, of course, has taken on a human nature, which involves his body in his heavenly presence.  But this extrinsic quality does not explain the real difference among the three.  They differ only by their relationships – one is Father; one is Son; and one is the life or Spirit among them.  In today’s gospel Jesus reassures his disciples with reference to the unique triad and unity of the Holy Trinity.

Jesus underscores the unity of the Trinity when he says that the Spirit will teach only what it receives from him.  In turn Jesus passes on only what he has received from the Father.  One might ask whether only the Spirit would be present to Jesus’ disciples or to Christians today.  No, Jesus has said in this same discourse that all three are present to his disciples.  The Church would formulate the Trinity’s presence in this way: “The Father is present to us through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.”

Although they are one, we can develop a relationship with each of the three divine persons.  To do this daily we can make an examination of conscience with the three in mind.  We can say, “Thank you” to the Father, the source of all things, for any good that we have experienced during the day.  We can say, “Forgive me,” to the Son who died because of our sins for any sins we committed.  And we can say, “Please…” to the Holy Spirit who is sent to help us for any special need we have tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

 

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

(Acts 16:22-34; John 16:5-11)

Robert Duvall, the recently deceased actor, made a movie called “The Apostle.”  He played the title role, a flawed but charismatic preacher.  The movie ends with the preacher on a chain gang leading fellow prisoners in a song praising the Lord.  Much like Paul and Barnabas in today’s reading from Acts, he never stopped evangelizing.

Song lifts up hearts.  It is especially helpful when working with children, the aged and the sick.  These people have limited self-preoccupation so that they aren’t embarrassed raising their voices, even if they sing off key.  Asking them to sing praise to God not only evangelizes; it also heightens their hope.

Nevertheless, singing is usually better when done well.  Even those who are inhibited when quality is lacking may be stirred to join in good singing.  In any case, singing praise to God should be encouraged because it gives God added glory.

Monday, May 11, 2026

 

Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

(Acts 16:11-15; John 15:26-16:4a)

A most disconcerting aspect of the allegations against Cesar Chavez is that he was a representative of the Catholic Church as well as farmworker justice.  Chavez featured an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on his protest marches.  He also acknowledged Catholic social teaching as a basis for worker rights, and he consulted churchmen on his policies and practices.  He even broke a twenty-five day fast by publicly taking Holy Communion.

Now that he is being discredited, the urgency of Jesus’ statement in today’s gospel that his followers testify to him is underscored.  Like priests’ abusing children, Chavez’ actions will turn people away from Christ instead of toward him.  They will deny themselves the truth and coherency of Christ’s teaching.  They will also be hindered from the benefit of faith in death.  It may be said without pretension that the welfare of the world depends upon good Christian witness.  Chavez unfortunately gave the opposite.

In a way we are in a bind.  We know that, by-and-large, committed Christians are faithful to Christ’s moral teachings.  Yet the exceptions to this rule cause public scandal and resultant harm.  Should we hide our faith so that we do not bring disgrace to Christ?  Of course, this suggestion opposes Jesus’ desire that we give testimony to him.  Rather a much better way of life is to develop virtue by right living when seen and unseen and by asking the Lord to send his Spirit to assist us.

Sunday, May 10, 2026

 

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER(Mother's Day) 

(Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21)

Today is Mother’s Day, not only here but in many countries around the world. Because mothers have played such a vital role in our lives, it is worth reflecting on their spiritual contribution to us.  By "spiritual" we mean our orientation toward God. We want to examine how our mothers have helped us draw closer to Him?  Let’s look at the readings we have just heard for some principles of the spiritual life and apply them to the role of motherhood through examples from Scripture and the lives of the saints.

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows Peter and John praying for the converts in Samaria to receive the Holy Spirit. The Apostles want them to offer thanks and praise to God that characterize the Spirit. In the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth is described as "filled with the Holy Spirit" when Mary visits her. The mother of John the Baptist exalts God when she declares Mary and the child in her womb "blessed." Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine, similarly praised the Lord for her son's conversion.  She told her son: "One thing only did I desire... that I might see you a Catholic Christian before I died. My God has exceeded this abundantly, so that I see you now even despising earthly happiness and consecrated to His service." Our mothers taught us how to give thanks and praise to God when they taught us the Lord's Prayer.

In his letter, the Apostle Peter counsels his readers to be "ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope." As Christians, we seek to evangelize others with truthful and solid explanations. This reminds me of the Canaanite mother who gives the Lord a compelling reason to cast the demon out of her daughter. Saint Perpetua was a mother when she was arrested for being a Christian. In her diary she wrote how she explained to her father that she preferred to suffer martyrdom rather than give up her faith. Our mothers taught us how to defend the faith when they answered our earnest questions, such as: "What happens when we die?"

Today's Gospel urges us to love Christ by keeping His commandments. His first commandment is to love God above all things. In the Second Book of Maccabees, we read about a widowed mother who watched each of her seven sons be martyred. She consoled her youngest and last to be killed: "The Creator of the universe... will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his laws" (II Mac 7:22-23). In the last century, Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian physician, refused a treatment that would have saved her own life but destroyed the life of her unborn baby. It was an act of selfless love for God as much as for her daughter. For many of us, our mothers were the first to teach us to follow God's will by obeying our consciences.  They would tell us: "Let your conscience be your guide."

When the children of one family asked their mother what she would like for Mother’s Day, Christmas, or her birthday, she invariably responded: "Good children." It is true. To please our mothers, we need only develop virtue so that we live justly amidst the evil of this world. We may add that living virtuously includes observing the Fourth Commandment: "Honor your father and your mother."

 

 

Friday, May 8, 2026

 

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:22-31; John 15:12-17)

Sr. Marie Chin was a Sister of Mercy from Jamaica who became famous as a speaker on the spirituality of mercy.  She told the story of how she discovered mercy with the help of a leper.  When she was in secondary school she accompanied a woman religious to a leper colony.  Knocking on the door of one of the huts, they heard a voice from inside say, “Come in.” Entering, she saw something that repulsed her.  The leper, named Miss Lillian, had a completely deformed face.  When she stretched out her arm, which was little more than a stump without fingers, to the youth, Marie was taken aback again.  “Go on,” Miss Lillian prodded, “put your hand in mine.”  Marie responded, “I can’t; I’m afraid.”  The leper woman said, “Yes, you can.”  Marie said that she did not know where the grace came to touch the rotten flesh, but suddenly she was shaking hands with the leper. The story may help us to understand why Jesus has to command us to love one another.

As anyone over twenty should realize, love is often not easy.  Fyodor Dostoyevsky called love in action “a harsh and dreadful thing.”  Love, after all, requires commitment and often suffering as well.  We could never love everybody, and some of us might never love anybody without Jesus’ command.  We also need Jesus’ help to accomplish the seemingly impossible feat of loving as he loved. 

Let us not worry if we do not feel affection for others.  Affection is not of the essence of love.  We must, however, treat everyone with respect.  Those for whom we feel a particular repulsion we can, at least, pray for.  We pray that they receive God’s grace to become better people and to know His eternal love.