Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

(Acts 16:11-15; John 16:5-11)

It is said that St. Augustine avoided preaching on today’s gospel 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, regarding righteousness, and regarding 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 about 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 which gave Christians immunity for a while.  But when Christians were expelled from the synagogues, the Romans persecuted them 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.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

(Acts 16:11-15; John 15:26-16.4a)

Anwar al-Awlaki was a Muslim imam who condoned terrorism.  He has recently been associated with the two men who perpetrated the bombing in Boston last month.  His story underscores what Jesus says in the gospel today about Christians being persecuted by people who believe that they are doing the will of God.

Jesus' words relate to the experience of the early Church.  Jews executed men like Stephan and James believing that they were heretics.  Of course, at least nominal Christians have more than revenged the atrocities.  In places and times of Christian majorities Jews have been systematically traumatized.  For Christians such mistreatment is doubly sinful.  After all, they not only profess a God of love but a Savior who advocated turning the other cheek when mistreated.

Does this mean that we are to ignore injustices done to us?  No, that also would be a misrepresentation of Jesus’ ethic.  But we are to bear injury without overreaching recompense by taking the injustices to God’s appointed representatives.  In most cases this means the state which is better equipped than the individual to make fair and indiscriminate restitution.

Friday, May 3, 2013

The Feast of Saints Philip and James, apostles

(I Corinthians 15:1-8; John 14:6-14)

With the placing of the feast of Saints Philip and James the day after the memorial of St. Athanasius for no inherent reason, one wonders if the Church has a theological purpose in mind.  In today’s gospel passage, Philip in effect asks if Jesus and the Father are one.  Athanasius staked his life on the fact that they are as Jesus testifies in the same passage.  The implications have no mean import for Christians.

We base our faith on God’s humanity.  That is, we believe that out of love God showed himself to the world so that humans might sense His closeness.  Some call it a gamble as many, like Arius, have not grasped the concept.  Others no doubt dismiss a God who humbles Himself so terribly.  But for us God’s closeness means that His grace is ever available so that we might live in peace and joy.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church

(Acts 15:7-21; John 15:9-11)

The name Athanasius means immortal.  St. Athanasius, of course, died, but he now enjoys eternal life.  He came to it by making good use of the grace bestowed on him.

Athanasius both ingeniously defended the divinity of Christ and severely suffered for his efforts.  When Arius taught that Christ could not be on the same level of the Father, Athanasius rose in defense of the traditional teaching.  He agreed with Arius that it is unimaginable how God could constrict himself into a human body.  But, in contrast to the heretic (as we think of him), he realized that God’s ways are infinitely beyond human imagining.  Political machinations favored Arian teaching for a time, and Athanasius was exiled repeatedly for his insistence on Christ’s complete divinity.  In the end, however, his status as bishop of the prominent see of Alexandria was restored.

We do well to keep in mind Athanasius’ insight that God’s ways transcend human understanding.  Partly on the authority of his genius and partly on our own experience of Christ’s love, we hold fast to our belief that God made us, loves us, and reveals Himself to us in Jesus Christ. 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 15:1-6; John 15:1-8)

A theologian of some repute once challenged Mother Teresa’s famous dictum that the Lord does not ask us to be successful but only to be faithful.  The theologian reasoned that it is a waste of talent and time to go about oblivious to the effects of our actions.  Rather, he would say, it is only prudent to make our efforts as productive as possible. 

As often happens, both sides in this debate have a hand on the truth.  Certainly Jesus calls us to accountability for what we do.  Wasting resources and producing results which harm as much as they help are not the fruits that he looks for.  But some fruit trees, like the tropical mangosteen, take over a dozen years to grow from seed.  Faithfulness on the part of the planter is required if their fruit is ever to be harvested and enjoyed. Just so, sometimes our best efforts require years to produce the results we desire.

In today’s gospel Jesus prescribes faithfulness as the one indispensable quality to produce any worthwhile fruit.  He calls himself the vine to which we must stay connected.  Apart from him our well-intended actions either devolve into egotism or are summarily abandoned.  Both results are like incipient fruit that shrivels when plucked off the vine.  Staying connected to Jesus we produce a harvest which both benefits people and glorifies God.