Month: May 2016

7th Week of Ordinary Time, Monday, Year II

by

In today’s First Reading James encourages us to choose the wise path and not the selfish one. The wise path starts with wisdom, an understanding of the big picture, humility, an understanding of our role and place in the grand scheme of things, and a life of good works that reflects that we’ve understood well and lived truthfully.  The selfish path starts with jealously, a resentment and bitterness over what others have and we don’t, selfish ambition, seeking our own interests with no regard for others’, and an opinion of ourselves and our accomplishments that doesn’t reflect the truth, showing our lack understanding.

We’ve all known people who’ve chosen both paths, but James encourages us today to consider which path we’re on and whether we need to be more wise, through humility, and less selfish. That requires considering which path attracts us and is truly best for us and for others. We resist humility, gentleness, and peace when we see others striving to take it all with impunity, but we know in our hearts that peace and gentleness irradiate a serenity and goodness that would make even the most jaded ambitious person reflect on what he or she truly wants out of life.

We know the path to take. Let’s ask Our Lord to help us take it today and stay on it “without inconstancy or insincerity.”

Readings: James 3:13–18; Psalm 19:8–10, 15; Mark 9:14–29. See also 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.

Pentecost Sunday, Cycle C

by

Some people call Pentecost Sunday the birthday of the Church, but, while a lovely thought, that’s not entirely accurate. Today, the last day of the Easter season, we celebrate when the Church “goes public”: the frightened men in the upper room are emboldened by the Holy Spirit to go out and proclaim the Good News, and the Holy Spirit helps them to be understood. Some see this moment as reversing what happened at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9): if the pride and hubris of men led them to division and misunderstanding, the Spirit of the Lord brings them back together again into one people. The places named in today’s First Reading by the astounded Jews are all places where, in turn, the Church spread, aided by the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost Sunday is a special day for celebrating the many gifts the Holy Spirit lavishes upon the Church. Throughout the Easter season we’ve seen the Spirit emboldening, instructing, dissuading, and strengthening the disciples as they started to spread the Gospel throughout the world. As St. Paul reminds us in today’s Second Reading, it is thanks to the Spirit that we are able to pray at all. Just as we are the Mystical Body of Christ, a Biblical image of the Church, the Holy Spirit is like the Soul of that Body, giving the Body form and life that makes the Church visible as a living thing, not just a conglomeration of people who agree on certain teachings, but a communion of life and love that wants to welcome everyone into the fold.

Pentecost Sunday is not just a day for celebrating all the Holy Spirit’s gifts that enable us to be in communion with each other; it is also a day for celebrating the Holy Spirit’s role in bringing us into and maintaining our communion with the Most Holy Trinity, which we’ll celebrate next Sunday. In today’s Gospel the Risen Lord gives the Apostles a special infusion of the Holy Spirit that helps them reconcile sinners with God or help people see when they haven’t. Without this reconciliation there is no communion, and without this communion, little by little, divisions and misunderstandings are sown, just as the tale of the Tower of Babel illustrates.

Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit continues to embolden, instruct, dissuade, and strengthen us in sharing the Gospel and fostering communion between each other and between God.

Readings: Acts 2:1–11; Psalm 104:1, 24, 29–31, 34; 1 Corinthians 12:3b–7, 12–13; John 20:19–23. See also Second Sunday of Easter, 2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), Cycle C, and Pentecost Sunday.

St. Matthias, Apostle

by

Just before Pentecost the Apostles realized that they needed to find a replacement for Judas Iscariot, and today we celebrate that replacement, St. Matthias. Throughout the Gospel they’d been the Twelve, but this number was not by chance. It represented a symbolic connection to the twelve tribes of Israel, which in turn implied a completeness of continuity on the part of the Apostles with the People of God whom the Lord had established in the Old Testament. Peter says in today’s First Reading that Judas had, “turned away to go to his own place”: he had abandoned the apostolic ministry and someone needed to take up the work that had been expected of Judas.

Peter takes the initiative and tells us what the essence of being an Apostle consists: someone who personally knew the Lord during his earthly ministry and all the way up to the Ascension. Someone who’d been with Our Lord from the beginning. Two candidates were presented, yet they didn’t just want it to be a quick campaign and a vote: after praying they cast lots to see which candidate would take Judas’ place, because in that way the Lord could make the final choice by influencing or permitting whatever lot was cast.

Like Paul, Matthias probably never expected to become an Apostle, but Our Lord has his plans. The Twelve (including their new member) and Paul fulfilled their mission. We may not be Apostles, but we have to be ready to be apostles wherever, whenever, and however Our Lord wishes. Let’s respond to the call generously.

Readings: Acts 1:15–17, 20–26; Psalm 113:1–8; John 15:9–17.

7th Week of Easter, Friday (2)

by

In today’s First Reading we see how Paul (later in the Acts of the Apostles) will get to Rome. Roman citizens had the right to appeal directly to Caesar. Providence many times is the way Our Lord arranges various situations in order to achieve some greater good. In this case, a new Roman prefect in Palestine, Festus, inherits Paul’s case from his predecessor. Felix either didn’t want to resolve Paul’s case or didn’t have time to do it. Festus, apparently not knowing the local situation, sizes it up in Roman style: assess the situation, respect the rights (of Roman citizens), and don’t do anything rash.

Paul knows his rights and knows his work in Jerusalem is finished, so he makes an appeal to Caesar, knowing that means he’ll be taken in custody to Rome, the center of the known world and the best place to spread the Gospel far and wide, since so many roads lead there (and, therefore, lead back). The Lord told him in yesterday‘s First Reading that he would give witness there as well, so Paul, even while imprisoned, works toward that goal trusting in God’s Providence to help him along the way.

Even today God’s Providence is at work to help us and others to know and follow the Gospel. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit in these last couple of days before Pentecost to help us see God’s hand in the situations and circumstances we’re facing in order to better live and give witness to the Gospel.

Readings: Acts 25:13b–21; Psalm 103:1–2, 11–12, 19–20b; John 21:15–19. See also 7th Week of Easter, Friday.

7th Week of Easter, Thursday (2)

by

Throughout the Acts of the Apostles Luke brings the protagonists of the Gospel over and over again before the Sanhedrin: the Apostles, then St. Stephen, and now St. Paul. The Sanhedrin threatened, punished, and murdered, but none of that stopped the Gospel from spreading: from that first group of fearful disciples in Jerusalem the Church is now spread throughout Asia Minor and has just made her first fledgling steps into Europe. The Romans have imprisoned Paul because of the public disorder his visit to Jerusalem causes, but are also protecting him; due to his place of birth, Tarsus, he is a Roman citizen, and therefore afforded more legal protection than other subjects of the Roman Empire. Paul knows all the tools at his disposal: he knows his rights, and he knows the crowd, and he uses that to full effect. Even if he almost sparks another riot, it is a riot over accepting the truth.

Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish world, and now Paul has come full circle. From asking for letters from the Sanhedrin to persecute Christians (as Saul) he is now presenting them the core of the Gospel: the Resurrection, just as every disciple when faced with the Sanhedrin did, risking their life, reputation, and security. Paul had visited Athens, the cultural center of his world, with few results, and now the Lord was encouraging him to head to the undisputed center of his world: Rome.

The phrasing of this encouragement in Luke’s account is profound, “the Lord stood by him.” The Lord stands by us too. When it seems our belief is on trial it’s not a moment to put distance between us and those who would question and discourage us, but to present the heart of the Gospel message without fear, showing we believe it to be true by not fearing ridicule, imprisonment or death for what we believe.

Readings: Acts 22:30, 23:6–11; Psalm 16:1–2a, 5, 7–11; John 17:20–26. See also 7th Week of Easter, Thursday.