Friday, May 14, 2021

 Feast of St. Matthias, apostle

(Acts 1:15-17.20-26; John 15:9-17)

To hear evolutionists talk about development, one will conclude that everything happens by chance.  Yes, they admit some natural laws that matters must follow.  Still given all the possibilities, they assert that the end product (however so much there is an end), is determined by chance.  With this conclusion they are refuted by Scripture.

In today’s gospel Jesus tells his disciples that they have not chosen him.  Rather, he has chosen them.  The gospel narratives relate as much.  There is the “call of Matthew” and the “call of Peter and Andrew,” etc.  Today’s reading from Acts shows how Matthias was called to replace Judas, the traitor.  The people select two worthy men and pray for the Lord’s guidance.   Then they cast lots.  Is this not chance? we might ask.  Evidently the disciples did not think so or they would not have prayed.

We too have been chosen.  Although it may seem that we are Catholic Christians by chance, God has always wanted us to be so.  Then it is not by chance that we were baptized into a Catholic family or that we met someone who convinced us of the rightness of Catholicism.  Christ has chosen us to follow him – to love as he loved and to have eternal life.

Thursday, May 13, 2021

 Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter

(Acts 18:1-8; John 16:16-20)

Many people today would join the Catholic Church if it weren’t for a living parent.  They do not want to disappoint the mother or father who devoutly worships in another church.  They themselves, raised in the other church, know that its value includes harboring virtuous members.  Today’s first reading tells of St. Paul effort to convert such people reluctant to cause hurt in the family.

Of course, the reading does not give the reason that Jews in Corinth do not accept Paul’s teaching about Jesus.  Some of them might be scandalized by Jesus being executed for a capital crime.  Still, it is likely that many do not want to break with the tradition of their ancestors who waited for a military Messiah.  Paul sounds much too brusque when he condemns their obtuseness, “’Your blood be on your heads!’”

The clarity with which we see Jesus properly worshipped in the Catholic tradition is not obvious to everyone.  We should be very slow to condemn others for not joining the Church.  But we should not surrender hope that they may convert.  By our testifying to the Church’s authenticity with righteous lives, we may be surprised to see how others respond.

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

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

In his First Letter to the Corinthians St. Paul writes of how from the beginning he intended to preach Christ crucified in Corinth.  He says that he never employed worldly wisdom in his preaching.  Rather he was determined to tell them of God’s love in sending His Son to die so that they might have eternal life.  This tact was instigated by Paul’s bitter experience related in today’s reading from Acts.

In the passage Paul tries to engage the Athenians in rational discourse.  He begins by noting the place in the Greek pantheon of “an Unknown God.”  He proceeds to claim that this God is the uncreated Creator of all things whom Israel worships.  He concludes by mentioning God chose Jesus as His judge of the world by raising him from the dead.  His listeners, however, brush him off with what amounts to saying that his ideas are “interesting.”  Paul has had enough with logic.  From Athens he will proceed to Corinth where he will use a completely different approach in preaching Christ.

We will find ourselves at times in a situation similar to Paul’s in Athens.  We may be tempted to convince others of the logic of our Catholic faith.  If so, we probably will find them resisting our efforts.  We will be wiser to state our fundamental convictions and show their validity by our virtue and joy.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

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

Today’s first reading may provide a model for understanding its notoriously difficult gospel.  St. Paul and Silas are released from their chains by an unexplained earthquake.  Since the Holy Spirit is the prime mover throughout Acts, we should consider Him the real shaker of the earth.  This event will lead to the vindication of the Christian preachers and the condemnation of their persecutors.

The Holy Spirit Advocate acts like a wise master who will convince his students that the world is wrong.  Because the world was wrong in abusing and imprisoning Paul and Silas, the Spirit has set them free.  Because it was wrong about Jesus’ righteousness, the jailkeeper now wants to follow him.  Finally, because the world was wrong in condemning Jesus, the Holy Spirit is converting the whole world from Satan’s darkness.

Satan, the “prince of the world,” tries to win us to his side.  He will tempt us to doubt the validity of such fundamentals as the Son’s incarnation and his resurrection from the dead.  Likewise, he wants us to believe that the sexual mores of the Church need an overhaul.  We must resist these allurements by keeping faith in the Church’s teachings. 

Monday, May 10, 2021

 Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

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

Today’s first reading relates a milestone event in Christianity.  The gospel arrives in Europe, at least in the purview of the New Testament.  Paul and companions have crossed the Hellespont from what is now Turkey to Greece.  But before Paul directs his mission primarily to pagans, he looks for Jews who might be interested in hearing his message.

It does not take long to find them.  A group of women who are Jews or Jewish aspirants gather by the river where they can practice purification rituals.  They readily accept Paul’s teaching and are baptized in the same purifying water.  One woman, Lydia, stands out among the rest.  She is evidently a successful businesswoman and not shy to converse with the learned evangelist.  Perhaps to ascertain more about Jesus and the Christian community, Lydia insists that Paul and company stay at her house.

We are told today that our culture has to be re-evangelized.  Just because people have been baptized (and sometimes even go to church) does not mean that they live the faith.  We should not hesitate to tell others of how our faith in Jesus has affected our lives.  Nor should we leave out how the sacraments have given us a sense of his spiritual presence.