Friday, April 12, 2013

Friday of the Second Week of Easter (Acts 5:34-42; John 6:1-15)
 A Jewish immigrant doctor in San Antonio took care of many Mexican, African, and white Americans before World War II.  Doc Stein was everyone’s friend and healer.  If someone worried about money to pay him back, he would tell him or her: “You should worry to pay me?  You think maybe I want to become a millionaire?  Pay me when you can.”  And he treated the soul as well as the body by admonishing his patients: “Just think only about getting well, and believe in Gott and pray for health.”
 We might think of Gamaliel in the reading from Acts today as a Doc Stein kind of person.  His unshakeable faith in God allows him to tolerate a budding competitor to his beloved Judaism without fluster.  “…if it (Christianity) comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them,” he tells his fellow Jews.  As St. Paul’s teacher, Gamaliel perhaps imparted the acumen for Scripture and the love for God that made his star pupil the most efficacious of Christian apostles.
 Gamaliel and Doc Stein together remind us that religious toleration may not go far enough.  We are wise to learn what other religions teach and how they are practiced.  As a result of these efforts we are likely to better fulfill Jesus’ command to love our neighbors.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

(Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36)

It often seems incredible that one may be saved by simply expressing faith in Jesus.  St. Paul classically expresses this thought in his letter to the Romans: “For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.”  But faith is more than lip-service as today’s gospel indicates.

In the passage the speaker (probably Jesus although the identity is actually ambiguous) juxtaposes belief in the Son with disobedience to him.  The implication here is that faith surpasses giving assent to propositions about Jesus and even having a trusting relationship with him.  Rather, the gospel is saying that faith is obedience to Jesus’ commands.  He will tell us to love one another by performing acts of service.

Is faith then just another name for love?  This is a tempting conclusion, but it is wiser to maintain a distinction between the two.  Faith recognizes the need to love and moves one to act.  Love guides the action to completion with the recognition of God in the other.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

(Acts 5:17-26; John 3:16-21)

The famous Rabbi Hillel was once challenged to recite the whole Law while standing on one leg.  The Rabbi could do it easily by repeating the golden rule.  Many Christians would have equally little trouble summarizing the New Testament.  They would just repeat the first verse of today’s gospel passage.

The remarkable quality of God’s love expressed in the reading is not so much its abundance as its action.  God’s love expresses itself in giving humans a way out of the mire into which they have wandered.  Jesus, God’s gift, not only provides direction but also strength to overcome human faults that block their way to happiness.

We hear of God’s love so often that it is surprising that we do not tire of listening about it.  Yet despite plentiful evidence, many of us become unsure of such love and need reassurance.  However, the surest way to feel it is not to contemplate it but to show it.  The more we love others, the more God’s love will be made manifest to us. 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

(Acts 4:32-37; John 3:7b-15)

When the archbishop of Buenos Aires went to Rome for the recent papal election, his friends persuaded him to accept a new pair of shoes.  Archbishop Bergoglio was not given to buying new clothes but did go out of his way to bless the needy.  He would have found himself at home in the first Christian community as reported in today’s passage from the Acts of the Apostles. 

It is often said that the Acts of the Apostles paints an idealized picture of the early Christians.  Although the reading today sounds almost too good to be true, the author reports that not everyone is quite so magnanimous as St. Barnabas who gives the sum of the proceeds from the sale of his house to the apostles.  He also tells of a couple who retained for themselves some of the money from the sale of their property.  To whatever extent communal sharing is actually lived in Acts, the author sees it as an outpouring of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Communitarian life, as most religious know, can be daunting.  Especially when we are hurting, it is hard to see others’ needs as greater than our own.  Yet as much as we can practice it now, we will be prepared to enter the Reign of God.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

(Isaiah 7:10-14.8:10; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38)

In a bitter attack on faith the so-called new atheist Sam Harris equates Christianity with “the claim that we must love and be loved by a God who approves of the scapegoating, torture, and murder of one man – his son…”  Although Mr. Harris’ broadside may find basis in the writings of some theologians, it misconstrues genuine Christian redemption summarized in the reading from the Letter to the Hebrews today.

God no more delights in human bloodshed than parents in bickering among their children.  What God does enjoy is his creation following the path of goodness leading to its edification.  Human adherence to that way was a long time in coming but at last found its realization in Jesus whose incarnation is celebrated today.  He will be in such perfect accord with God’s will that the world, distorted by Satan’s power, will have him executed.  Anticipating the grace flowing from Jesus’ obedience, Mary gives her assent to God’s word in the gospel.

Today’s Feast of the Annunciation wells up awe and wonder within us.  The consideration of natural birth begins the excitement.  The meditation on God’s becoming human increases the marvel.  And the contemplation of this God-man’s being rejected and executed for the sake of human redemption leads to our adoration and self-surrender.