Sixth Week

6th Week of Easter, Saturday (2)

by

In today’s First Reading Apollos teaches us that the truth is something very powerful, and the tools Our Lord has given us for evangelization can have a great influence if we use them well. Apollos did not have all the truths at his disposal or all the means of sanctification; he was not sacramentally baptized, just gifted with a Jewish upbringing, knowledgeable about Sacred Scripture, catechized, a good public speaker, and good at reasoning things out for himself and for others. He didn’t consider himself an armchair catechumen or a neophyte; he went out and tried to share the Word of God.

In comparison with Apollos we have a veritable arsenal at our disposal: a sacramental life, catechesis, the whole canon of Scripture, the teachings and inspiration of so many holy men and women down throughout the centuries, and, for some, a society founded on Christian principles and culture. As Christians it’s not just about what we have, but the fire with which we use it. Everyone can agree that today, even though there is an arsenal at our disposal, there are not enough Christians truly on fire for sharing the Word of God.

We need to stoke that fire. Easter reminds us that we can breathe new life into the deadest situations. On Pentecost the Holy Spirit made the fire of the first apostles flare up into an impulse for evangelization that swept across Asia Minor and into Europe. Let’s ask the Spirit to kindle in us that fire as well.

Readings: Acts 18:23–28; Psalm 47:2–3, 8–10; John 16:23b–28. See also 6th Week of Easter, Saturday.

 

6th Week of Easter, Friday (2)

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord describes what will happen after his Ascension, which is our situation right now. He will return. When he returns, what will happen? It’s his Last Supper with his most loved disciples, away from the crowds. He’s taught them about the Last Judgement, about his return in glory, about the end of history. Today he describes what it’ll be like for those who have persevered as his friends: a joy without end, and all questions answered.

He does not promise joy or understanding from the beginning; throughout the Last Supper discourse in John’s Gospel, which we’ve considered during the weekday readings of the Easter season, the disciples still don’t entirely understand what he is trying to tell them, because they have not been sent the Holy Spirit yet to help them, a moment we remember liturgically in these days between Ascension and Pentecost. Even today we struggle and don’t understand all the designs of God, but Our Lord has promised us that when he returns those struggles and those questions will end.

Take a moment today to imagine when Our Lord returns. What difficulties do you want to end? What burning questions do you want answered? He doesn’t tell us to wait until his return to ask for what we need to remain his friends. Ask.

Readings: Acts 18:9–18; Psalm 47:2–7; John 16:20–23. See also 6th Week of Easter, Friday.

6th Week of Easter, Wednesday (2)

by

Paul in today’s First Reading has gotten one of the biggest missionary opportunities of his lifetime: preaching the Gospel in the Areopagus, the famed public square of the city of Athens where the learned gathered to hear philosophy and great ideas. Athens was at the heart of Greek culture and if Paul had success here in evangelization, it could ensure a much wider audience for the Gospel message, a much as getting “rave reviews” or “media attention” would do today in cities known to be nexus for culture such as New York, London, Berlin, etc.

Athenians prided themselves on being very rational regarding matters of religion; at one point they even dismissed their pantheon of gods whose myths were part of their upbringing. It was fashionable to be skeptical of them, yet they didn’t push it too far, which is why, as Paul notes today, they had many altars to many gods, not seeking to offend any one of them, just in case he, she, or it really was real. Rationalism and superstition sometimes go hand in hand, because the more we stoke our reason, to more something inside us gives us that nagging feeling that there’s something beyond our reasons, calling to us.

As Paul notes, they even had an altar dedicated to an unknown god, and Paul makes that an opportunity to not only introduce them to the God of which they’re ignorant, but to understand that he goes way beyond any gods they had conceived. Even as Paul, in his discourse, rationally discards the falsity of idol worship, he tries to connect the God of which he preaches to the God that rationally they were seeking. The thought of the resurrection of the dead, however, proves too irrational for most of them. As a result, we don’t have a Letter to the Athenians among Paul’s letters; the shift from rationality to testimony was too much for them. Eventually, however, Greek culture would become an incredible vehicle for transmitting the Gospel, greatly influencing all the Eastern Churches, so Paul’s work was not in vain.

There are many Areopagi in the world today, under different management, moved to new locations, where people are seeking the answers to life’s questions and don’t know that the answer is God, much less Christ. Like Paul, let’s try meeting them halfway along the rational road and bring them to meet the Risen Christ, the answer to life’s meaning that they’re seeking.

Readings: Acts 17:15, 22–18:1; Psalm 148:1–2, 11–14; John 16:12–15. See 6th Week of Easter, Wednesday.

6th Week of Easter, Monday (2)

by

In today’s First Reading Paul arrives in Philippi, his first missionary stop in Europe after spending time evangelizing Asia Minor. In Saturday‘s First Reading we saw the Spirit urging Paul to head to Macedonia, and Philippi is the biggest city in that district. The culture is no longer predominantly Jewish; in Paul’s time, when there weren’t enough Jewish families to found a synagogue, the Jews of the town would go to pray in a spot outside of it instead, which is why Paul goes to the most likely spot today where Jews would gather in order to share the Gospel with them.

Luke recalls this momentous occasion because Paul does find people there who believe and are baptized. We know that a thriving Christian community begins there, which is why Paul sends them a letter that we still have today in the canon of Scripture: the Letter to the Philippians.

The Holy Spirit sent Paul to Philippi, and also prepared those living there to welcome the Gospel preached by Paul. The Spirit was able to use Paul’s astuteness and Lydia’s faith to found a Christian community. Let’s ask the Spirit today how we can use our talents to help spread the Gospel.

Readings: Acts 16:11–15; Psalm 149:1b–6a, 9b; John 15:26–16:4a. See also 6th Week of Easter, Monday.

6th Sunday of Easter, Cycle C

by

As we prepare for the Solemnity of the Ascension, to be followed two weeks from today by Pentecost, we see the readings turning to the protagonism of the Holy Spirit in the Church. In today’s Gospel, at the Last Supper, Our Lord promises to send the Holy Spirit in order to teach the disciples and remind them of what Our Lord had told them. We see that help of the Holy Spirit in today’s First Reading when the apostles explain, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us…” Today we call that the Magisterium of the Church. John in today’s Second Reading is taken in spirit to see a vision of the heavenly Jerusalem; the Spirit enables him to see things others can’t.

We have a powerful Advocate. The Spirit doesn’t just hover around us; the Spirit is within us, along all the Most Holy Trinity, if we remain in a state of grace. The Spirit sanctifies us, and wants to guide us as well, if we let him. Even when we are not open to the Spirit, the Spirit helps our shepherds to teach us and remain faithful to what Our Lord has told us: the Gospel.

In two weeks we hope to receive a special outpouring of the Spirit who already dwells within us through baptism and a holy life. Let’s examine our lives to see whether we are letting the Spirit guide us, and hope and pray for a personal Pentecost.

Readings: Acts 15:1–2, 22–29; Psalm 67:2–3, 5–6, 8; Revelation 21:10–14, 22–23; John 14:23–29. See also 5th Week of Easter, Monday.