Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter
(Acts 19:1-8; John 16:29-33)
What can it mean, “’We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit?’” Some may think of the Charismatic movement with its “Baptism in the Spirit” and opine that the majority of Christians do not really know the Holy Spirit because they do not speak in tongues or sway their arms in prayer. But more radically, never hearing of the Holy Spirit may refer to an insufficient appreciation of sanctifying grace, the work of the Spirit. It is a shortcoming just as prevalent today as it was in the beginning and perhaps throughout Church history.
In the days of St. Augustine a priest from Britain named Pelagius evidently taught that grace is not really necessary for eternal life. We say “evidently” because little of his writings remain. We can only surmise what Pelagius taught from what his critics, like Augustine and St. Jerome, wrote about him. However, these two scholars were so upset with Pelagius that his teachings must have been defective. According to our understanding today, Pelagius held that free will guided by Christ’s example is sufficient to overcome the pitfalls the world poses.
Such a concept conflicts with St. Paul’s teaching of Christ’s saving grace. Without such grace the strongest will falter and the weakest are lost from the start. With such grace everyone has hope. The grace, which we acclaim as “amazing,” should never be taken for granted.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Feast of St. Matthias, apostle
(Acts 1:15-17.20-26; John 15: 9-17)
In a Catholic elementary school many years ago, Fr. Joe came to each class at the end of the year to ask the pupils to sign up for the “Friends of Christ” club. He distributed a polished white, three-by-five inches card with the dates of every Thursday during the summer vacation. Those who wanted to join the club would attend 8:30 a.m. mass on those days and circle the date when they returned home. Nothing special was to be done with the card when summer ended. There were no prizes for perfect attendance. There was not even a party after the last Thursday mass of vacation. But many of the children accepted Fr. Joe’s offer. They certainly did want to be friends of the Lord.
And why not? After all, it is always good to have a friend in high places. What is rather astonishing, however, is that Christ would want to make friends with us! As we see in the gospel today, Jesus offers friendship to his disciples as he shares with them the secrets of his divine family. It is as if he were giving us his cellular telephone number so that we might contact him at any hour, with any need.
We may think of Matthias being selected for the inner core of Jesus’ friends. But the particularity of this group is not actually intimacy with Jesus, at least in John’s gospel where the “beloved disciple” is not among the Twelve. Rather Matthias is being included in the echelon with oversight over the spread of the faith. Lest we think it pure privilege, it needs to be pointed out that membership in this club requires martyrdom along with the promise of a high place in Christ’s kingdom.
(Acts 1:15-17.20-26; John 15: 9-17)
In a Catholic elementary school many years ago, Fr. Joe came to each class at the end of the year to ask the pupils to sign up for the “Friends of Christ” club. He distributed a polished white, three-by-five inches card with the dates of every Thursday during the summer vacation. Those who wanted to join the club would attend 8:30 a.m. mass on those days and circle the date when they returned home. Nothing special was to be done with the card when summer ended. There were no prizes for perfect attendance. There was not even a party after the last Thursday mass of vacation. But many of the children accepted Fr. Joe’s offer. They certainly did want to be friends of the Lord.
And why not? After all, it is always good to have a friend in high places. What is rather astonishing, however, is that Christ would want to make friends with us! As we see in the gospel today, Jesus offers friendship to his disciples as he shares with them the secrets of his divine family. It is as if he were giving us his cellular telephone number so that we might contact him at any hour, with any need.
We may think of Matthias being selected for the inner core of Jesus’ friends. But the particularity of this group is not actually intimacy with Jesus, at least in John’s gospel where the “beloved disciple” is not among the Twelve. Rather Matthias is being included in the echelon with oversight over the spread of the faith. Lest we think it pure privilege, it needs to be pointed out that membership in this club requires martyrdom along with the promise of a high place in Christ’s kingdom.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
(Acts 18:1-8; John 16:16-22)
The readings from the Acts of the Apostles at mass these days have covered a lot of territory, principally by skipping over accounts of Paul’s missions. On Monday and Tuesday we heard of Paul’s establishing a beachhead in Europe at the town of Philippi. Not being a critical center of commerce, Paul pushes on to Thessalonica, a provincial capital. He establishes a church community there, but the Jews almost literally kick him and his companions out. The Jews of Beroea, the next missionary stop recorded in Acts, give Paul a much fairer hearing until their kinsmen from Thessalonica arrive. Next, Acts records Paul’s flop in Athens, about which we heard in yesterday’s mass. Today’s reading shows Paul having arrived in Corinth, his ultimate destination on this missionary expedition.
One student of St. Paul thinks Corinth a much more strategic place than Athens. He compares Athens to a library given to safeguarding old ideas and Corinth to a marketplace open to new ones. It is definitely a crossroads of commerce from which ideas might spread throughout the Mediterranean world. Paul establishes himself by working as a tentmaker in the shop of Aquila and Priscilla, who become critical mission collaborators. Providing his own bread frees Paul of suspicion the people perennially have of evangelists seeking personal gain. Still Paul needs a patron to provide a place for Sunday worship. Fortunately, he will make the right connection.
It may seem like Paul goes from town to town haphazardly preaching to whoever lends an ear. More likely, he makes deliberate choices on where to go and how to proceed. Since he believes that Christ’s return is imminent, out of love he wants to prepare as many people as possible to receive him. We must see this as God’s plan with the Holy Spirit prompting Paul to act. As Paul eventually realizes, the coming of the Lord is not as near as once thought but still the urgency remains to prepare the world for Christ. As our own times amply testify, all people need to embrace Christ’s message of love, mercy, and forbearance.
(Acts 18:1-8; John 16:16-22)
The readings from the Acts of the Apostles at mass these days have covered a lot of territory, principally by skipping over accounts of Paul’s missions. On Monday and Tuesday we heard of Paul’s establishing a beachhead in Europe at the town of Philippi. Not being a critical center of commerce, Paul pushes on to Thessalonica, a provincial capital. He establishes a church community there, but the Jews almost literally kick him and his companions out. The Jews of Beroea, the next missionary stop recorded in Acts, give Paul a much fairer hearing until their kinsmen from Thessalonica arrive. Next, Acts records Paul’s flop in Athens, about which we heard in yesterday’s mass. Today’s reading shows Paul having arrived in Corinth, his ultimate destination on this missionary expedition.
One student of St. Paul thinks Corinth a much more strategic place than Athens. He compares Athens to a library given to safeguarding old ideas and Corinth to a marketplace open to new ones. It is definitely a crossroads of commerce from which ideas might spread throughout the Mediterranean world. Paul establishes himself by working as a tentmaker in the shop of Aquila and Priscilla, who become critical mission collaborators. Providing his own bread frees Paul of suspicion the people perennially have of evangelists seeking personal gain. Still Paul needs a patron to provide a place for Sunday worship. Fortunately, he will make the right connection.
It may seem like Paul goes from town to town haphazardly preaching to whoever lends an ear. More likely, he makes deliberate choices on where to go and how to proceed. Since he believes that Christ’s return is imminent, out of love he wants to prepare as many people as possible to receive him. We must see this as God’s plan with the Holy Spirit prompting Paul to act. As Paul eventually realizes, the coming of the Lord is not as near as once thought but still the urgency remains to prepare the world for Christ. As our own times amply testify, all people need to embrace Christ’s message of love, mercy, and forbearance.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
(Acts 17:15.22-18.1; John 16:12-15)
In the movie Taps , a crisis descends over a high school military academy. Upon the arrest of the academy’s esteemed commander for a crime he did not commit, the cadets take control of the institution and the multiple arms it stores. Before the commander can counsel the young cadets to give up their futile quest, he dies of a heart attack. The cadet leaders are left in a quandary. Should they nobly defend their academy or should they give in to civil authorities? Seeking clues that might help them answer their question, the cadets review old films of the director. A similar action is suggested in the gospel today.
Jesus promises to send the Spirit of truth to his disciples after he ascends to the Father. It will help them meet their challenges as a community of faith in the future. The Spirit will remind the disciples of what Jesus told them as if Jesus had not really left them. Because he knows that the community will expand and multiply, Jesus has said that it is better that he returns to the Father and the Spirit comes. Not limited to time and space, the Spirit will accompany the community wherever its new incarnations are found.
The Spirit remains with us today. It reminds us that in loving one another within the Church, we give witness to the world that Jesus is Lord. As the Church becomes more diversified culturally, communal love means that more established components show acceptance and support for newer, fledging ones. It also means that liberals and conservatives arrest much of their bickering in order to attend to the Spirit’s promptings.
(Acts 17:15.22-18.1; John 16:12-15)
In the movie Taps , a crisis descends over a high school military academy. Upon the arrest of the academy’s esteemed commander for a crime he did not commit, the cadets take control of the institution and the multiple arms it stores. Before the commander can counsel the young cadets to give up their futile quest, he dies of a heart attack. The cadet leaders are left in a quandary. Should they nobly defend their academy or should they give in to civil authorities? Seeking clues that might help them answer their question, the cadets review old films of the director. A similar action is suggested in the gospel today.
Jesus promises to send the Spirit of truth to his disciples after he ascends to the Father. It will help them meet their challenges as a community of faith in the future. The Spirit will remind the disciples of what Jesus told them as if Jesus had not really left them. Because he knows that the community will expand and multiply, Jesus has said that it is better that he returns to the Father and the Spirit comes. Not limited to time and space, the Spirit will accompany the community wherever its new incarnations are found.
The Spirit remains with us today. It reminds us that in loving one another within the Church, we give witness to the world that Jesus is Lord. As the Church becomes more diversified culturally, communal love means that more established components show acceptance and support for newer, fledging ones. It also means that liberals and conservatives arrest much of their bickering in order to attend to the Spirit’s promptings.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
(Acts 16:11-15; John 16:5-11)
If we scratch our heads over Jesus’ meaning in the gospel today, we are in good company. It is said that St. Augustine avoided the passage because of its difficulty! Still, the passage is not impossible to understand. To do so, however, we should note that the word convict is too literal a translation of the Greek and does not fit well with each object. It would be better to say that the Spirit Advocate proves the world wrong regarding sin, righteousness, and condemnation.
The world sees Christians as sinful for believing in Jesus. This may seem odd since we have a sense that the world does not really care what one believes. But the Roman world, at least, had its deities to which people were expected to give homage. Because of their ancient status, Jews were a recognized exception to this rule. So when Christians were expelled from the synagogues, they were persecuted as atheists. The Spirit Advocate (really more a prosecuting attorney) will show the world that the Romans, not the Christians, worship false gods.
The error of righteousness concerns the Jews’ putting Jesus to death for claiming to be God’s son. The Spirit, moving Christians to love one another, shows them to be righteous, not those who crucified Jesus. The final error regards the condemnation of Satan, the prince of this world. Since Jesus is vindicated by his resurrection, his adversary Satan is condemned. We might ask, “Then how can Satan roam freely seeking our ruination?” The gospel would reply that Satan is powerless over true believers; moreover, his limited domination will end once Jesus returns in glory.
(Acts 16:11-15; John 16:5-11)
If we scratch our heads over Jesus’ meaning in the gospel today, we are in good company. It is said that St. Augustine avoided the passage because of its difficulty! Still, the passage is not impossible to understand. To do so, however, we should note that the word convict is too literal a translation of the Greek and does not fit well with each object. It would be better to say that the Spirit Advocate proves the world wrong regarding sin, righteousness, and condemnation.
The world sees Christians as sinful for believing in Jesus. This may seem odd since we have a sense that the world does not really care what one believes. But the Roman world, at least, had its deities to which people were expected to give homage. Because of their ancient status, Jews were a recognized exception to this rule. So when Christians were expelled from the synagogues, they were persecuted as atheists. The Spirit Advocate (really more a prosecuting attorney) will show the world that the Romans, not the Christians, worship false gods.
The error of righteousness concerns the Jews’ putting Jesus to death for claiming to be God’s son. The Spirit, moving Christians to love one another, shows them to be righteous, not those who crucified Jesus. The final error regards the condemnation of Satan, the prince of this world. Since Jesus is vindicated by his resurrection, his adversary Satan is condemned. We might ask, “Then how can Satan roam freely seeking our ruination?” The gospel would reply that Satan is powerless over true believers; moreover, his limited domination will end once Jesus returns in glory.
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