Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima

(Acts 17:15.22-18:1; John 16:12-15)

The story of the apparitions at Fatima sound like nonsense to some.  Sophisticated people cannot accept the testimony of three country children about their encounter with the mother of God.  To these people the details of the revelation are pure fantasy.  In the same way the men at the Areopagus hear the testimony of Paul in the first reading today.

The story is written with a dramatic flair.  One can imagine Paul clearing his throat as he prepares to engage the Athenians in a philosophical discussion of Jesus.  Then the preacher begins his discourse by reminding the Athenians of their religious tradition. When he concludes, the people for the most part walk away in apathy to his testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Still today many non-believers have little patience to hear stories of Jesus.  If they will entertain thoughts of him at all, it will be because of the witness of Christians to his love.  When we care for one another and extend such love to those outside our circle of concern, people will take notice.  They will ask why we love others and discover the living effect of the resurrection.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

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

A hospital patient had the fortune of being placed side by side with a charismatic priest.  The man was encouraged to speak about his life.  In the process, he discovered how God was directing him to make much needed changes.  Similarly, the jailer in today’s first reading is blessed to have had Paul and Silas for captives the night the earthquake shook the prison doors open.

The jailer then prepares to kill himself. It may be that he feels disgraced in losing prisoners.  It is also possible that he recognizes that the days of jailers from whom prisoners escape are numbered.  In any case Paul saves the sensitive man from suicide.  The act of graciousness impresses the man so much that he accepts Paul and Silas’ faith as well as their presence in his home.

Every once in a while we too meet a truly holy person.  He or she is not necessarily a priest or a sister; nevertheless, the holy one speaks about God with both simplicity and conviction.  We do well to heed what is said and to thank God for the sign of His presence.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

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

Videos of extremist Muslims massacring Christians authenticate Jesus’ prophecy in today’s gospel.  Men and women thinking that they are doing God’s will are killing his disciples.  As there is cause for outrage, there is also need for reflection on what is taking place.

First of all, not all, not even a sizeable minority of Muslims agree with such persecution.  There are certainly fundamentalist interpretations of the Koran which deny basic rights of peoples of other faith traditions.  But murder is not tolerated, much less condoned by the vast majority of Muslim people.  Still, in many nations with Muslim majorities there is need for recognizing the full range of human rights to non-Muslims just as Muslims thrive with these freedoms in most countries.

It should also be noted that Jesus does not even hint of retaliation for the abuses he visualizes.  Throughout the gospel he promotes a spirit of love among his people.  True, in the Gospel According to John Jesus emphasizes love within the community, but surely this disposition of goodwill affects our outlook toward others.  Indeed, by our readiness to forgive wrongs, we testify to the knowledge of God which Jesus sees lacking among religious persecutors.

Friday, May 8, 2015

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

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

In his book The Four Loves C.S. Lewis sees friendship as grossly undervalued in modern times.  He writes that the ancients considered friendship as “the happiest and most fully human of all loves.”  In contrast, he comments that moderns have trouble seeing friendship as a love at all.  Friendship, according to Lewis, is sharing personally and fully over common interests.  By no means does he equate friendship with regular companionship, however.  Rather he indicates that one would be blessed to have only two or three friendships in her entire life.  So it is remarkable that in today’s gospel Jesus calls all his disciples’ friends.

But, of course, it is not the case that the twelve or so men gathered around Jesus the night before he died exhaust the list of his friends.  Really all serious followers of Jesus become his friends because they share the same desire to know God.  In order to reach this goal Jesus has revealed that they have to keep his commandment of love.

We should see the purpose of our lives as having God for our friend.  The grace of the Incarnation is that He took on human flesh to overcome the impasse that our bodily nature posed from knowing Him.  He has become one like us.  We can know him as an ever-caring, ever-helpful friend.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter

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

In his encyclical Ut Unum Sint Saint John Paul II expressed his openness to a new form of papal leadership. As a significant outreach to Orthodox and Protestant Christianity, the pope asked for suggestions to change his office to accommodate non-Catholic Christians without compromising truth. His offer is reminiscent of the concession that the first followers of Christ are making in the readings from the Acts of the Apostles today.

In the beginning Judaism was as much a part of Christianity as Mother's Day is part of being American. God chose the Jews to be His own people, and, as Jesus says in the Gospel of John, "Salvation is from the Jews." But this does not mean that one necessarily has to become a Jew to be saved. Peter proclaims what Jesus' disciples know instinctively: salvation does not come from Jewish dietetic observance but from the grace of the Jew, Jesus Christ.

The great ecumenical question for us is not how much change in the papacy we are willing to accept but how much personal renewal we are willing to make. Some Catholics may harbor prejudices against non-Catholics which surely have to go. Most of us need to emulate the virtues of other kinds of Christians - like the serious study of the word of God. Finally, all of us must pray more determinedly with Christian brothers and sisters for unity.