Friday, May 1, 2020

(Optional) Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker

(Acts 9:1-20; John 6:52-59)

Today much of the Church celebrates St. Joseph the Worker.  The feast reminds Christians of the dignity of human work.  Just as Joseph plied his trade to provide for his family so do billions of workers today.   The gospel suggests that Jesus too put food on the tables of his followers.

The gospel is unequivocal.  Jesus provides true food with his body and true drink with his blood.  These elements can hardly be considered ordinary food and drink.  They represent Jesus’ total sacrifice of self.  The also nourish one not just to live today but to thrive eternally.  The difference here is monumental.  It is like that of an entertainer saying, “I love you all” and a spouse saying to his bride on their wedding day, “I will love you until the day I die.”

We will see if the pandemic’s closure of churches results in a greater longing for the Eucharist.  Many people have commented how much they miss receiving Communion.  Hopefully, this longing will translate in regular reception of Communion when public masses resume.  May it all bring about a closer imitation of Jesus’ sacrifice of self for others.

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 8:26-40; John 6:44-51)

In On the Origin of Species Charles Darwin proposed that evolution follows no design or purpose.  According to his theory, changes in living things happen accidently and in many ways.  The best of the changed beings survive and reproduce until even further changes make even better living things.  Most biologists accept Darwin’s ideas as gospel, but not all.   Some find living beings with built-in mechanisms to overcome future changes. These scientists see design and purpose at hand. They would be fascinated by today’s first reading.

Nothing seems to happen accidently when Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch.  He is directed by an angel to go down the desert road.  The Holy Spirit tells Philip to join the eunuch in his chariot.  When he does, he instructs the eunuch in the Scriptures and eventually baptizes the man.  Then the Spirit snatches Philip off.  In the meantime, another person has joined the rapidly expanding number of Christians.

We believe in Divine Providence. That is, we believe that God creates and moves the universe with our good in mind.  Apparent challenges to faith like that of Darwin arise from time to time.  They may even be helpful to stimulate reflection.  But they will never succeed in contradicting faith because faith goes deeper than science can in viewing the nature of things.  We have the testimony of Jesus, validated through twenty centuries of Christian experience, that God loves us.  We will find our salvation in holding on to that faith. 

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin and Doctor of the Church

(Acts 8:1b-8; John 6:35-40)

Frontliners in the struggle with the Corona-19 virus may look to Catherine of Siena for inspiration.  Catherine took care of the poor and the sick in her city.  When the bubonic plague struck, she attended its victims. But she is more remembered for her ministry to the influential.  She convinced the pope to return to Rome and brought reconciliation between the city of Florence and the papacy.  She also left a spiritual legacy.  As a writer, her book The Dialogue is a classic of Western mysticism. 

Catherine had great devotion to the Eucharist.  She would eat almost nothing but took Communion daily.  As a saint, she recognized that Christ is the “bread of life” as he says in today’s gospel.  She fed on him whom she considered her spouse. Nourished on that food, Catherine of Siena is rightly considered one of the most influential women of the fourteenth century.

All of us can find something to imitate in Catherine of Siena.  We may consider ourselves fortunate not to be like her in every way.  But it may be shortsightedness that makes us think that.  She knew Christ intimately and loved him unreservedly.  Now she experiences life in eternity with her beloved.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 7:51-8:1a; John 6:30-35)

People crave bread.  For the hungry bread may be the simplest form of dense food.  Once made, it can be transported anywhere and eaten for instant nutrition.  For the better off, “bread” serves as a metaphor for money.  This kind of bread seemingly provides for every need.  In today’s gospel Jesus uses bread in another way.  It represents his spiritual legacy.

The Jews ask for a sign if they are to believe in Jesus.  They remember how their ancestors pleaded with Moses and received manna received in the desert.  Jesus reminds them, however, that it was God who provided the bread-like substance.  Now, he says, the same God, his “Father,” is giving richer nutrition.  God has sent Jesus as the “true bread from heaven.”  Jesus provides all that a people need to live for eternity. He instructs them in his way of truth and love.  Even more, he nourishes for the task with his own body and blood.

Jesus is always calling us to believe in him more genuinely.  He wants us to embrace him more fully – his teaching, his example, and the community he has left behind.  When we do, he promises that we will not be disappointed.  Quite the contrary, we will find ourselves enjoying the fullness of life.

Monday, April 27, 2020

Monday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 6:8-15; Acts John 6:22-29)

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives a glimpse of societal life in first-century Jerusalem.   Stephen is a Greek-speaking Jew.  He is evidently not from Jerusalem where Jews speak Hebrew.  He also does not have much use for the Temple.  Jesus established a new form of sacrifice that may be done in a home.   So why have a Temple?  When he criticizes Temple worship, he is opposed by other Greek-speaking Jews.  These are “members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen.”  Just because they come from other places does not mean they have no need of Temple sacrifice.  They bring Stephen to the Sanhedrin, the governing body of Jews, for defaming the Temple.  Neither they nor the governors will stomach Stephen’s criticism even with his angelic face.

For a while Christians were tolerated in first-century Judaism.  They appeared as a sect together with Pharisees and Essenes.  They accepted the Law but believed that Jewish hope for the Messiah was realized in Jesus.  Judaism was flexible but the stress on the fault line between it and Christianity would soon give.  The Church was persecuted and the disciples left Jerusalem.  This led to fruitful missionary activity first in Samaria and then throughout the Greek-speaking world.

We should see the action as Luke, the author of Acts, intended.  The Holy Spirit moved the Christian mission from a fair start in Jerusalem to the whole world.  It disposed the people to hear the word of God as explaining the inner movements of their hearts.  It does the same today when we listen carefully to our deepest yearnings.