The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

 Lectionary: 164

"...live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you....
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

One of the most important Catholic theologians of the 20th century once remarked that if, for some inexplicable reason, the Catholic Church were to declare that we no longer believe in the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, very few prayers, devotions, or spiritual books would have to be rewritten. For the last several centuries, this beautiful insight into the very nature of God has not seemed important to devout Christians. Some Protestant theologians disputed it while others challenged it; and Catholics didn't know what to make of it.

Fortunately, since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has taken a more serious look at the wonder of the Most Holy Trinity. No one should simply dismiss it as "a mystery too deep to ponder," and then move on.

I have found it helpful to consider the Holy Trinity in the light of human history. The Father appears first to Abraham in the second millennium BC; and continues to speak to his descendants by way of Moses and the prophets through historical events, by dreams, intuitions, and insight; and with laws, commandments, rituals, songs, and stories. When Rome ruled the Mediterranean world, Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, the most blessed woman of Abraham’s descendants. His disciples came to believe in him as the Son of God, as he healed the sick, comforted the poor, and raised the dead. After he was crucified and raised to life, he sent his disciples to celebrate the Gospel throughout the world.

And finally, as the Scriptures show, the Father and the Son poured their life and vitality into the Church and into our hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit. We have been sent as a blessing for all the nations of the world, as God had told Abraham eighteen centuries before.

Easter has reminded us that God the Father is supremely happy with Jesus; we have heard him say, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” Although we crucified Jesus; although we nailed him to a cross and shoved him into the sky as if humanity cannot abide a man like him on our earth, God has not despised us; rather, he restored him to us and showed him to be Our Lord and Savior.. I think Jesus was like the Prodigal Son. He returned from a faraway place to the Father with fatal wounds over his entire body, wearing nothing more than a crown of thorns. And when the Father looked at him, he might have said, “What have they done to you?” And our Savior replied, “If my people don’t come with me into heaven, I don’t come either.” And the Father said, “That’s why I sent you!” Jesus represents all humankind to the Father, who loves us because Jesus loves us. Who is pleased with us because Jesus refused to hate us although we hated him. We are saved because the Goodness of Jesus has outweighed all the evil in human history. He has atoned for our sins. A child might dig a hole on a sandy beach and think he’s dug halfway to China, but in a little while the tide washes over the beach, and the child’s great hole is entirely filled. It disappears as if it were never there. So has the Lord’s sacrifice of himself for us washed over all the evil in the world, covering it completely, and restoring all the Blessings of being God’s children. We have seen the Love of the Father and the Son in the passion and death of Jesus. It’s as if we’re listening to a friend talking on the telephone. We cannot see or hear the third party but we follow their conversation and we understand what they are saying. We hear Jesus say, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!” And the Father replies, “In return I give you, all authority in heaven and on earth and under the earth. Come, share your Father’s joy.” We understand that their love, joy, and satisfaction are perfect and complete; and there is nothing lacking in their absolute devotion to one another. And we understand that the Father now looks upon us as the family of Jesus, who has loved us as a child loves his parents, his sisters and brothers, uncles and aunts, cousins, relatives, neighbors, and friends. He simply has no animosity in him. And despite the wrong we have done to him, he has said, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” The world, of course, has a problem with all that. They don’t want forgiveness for they cannot admit they have sinned; or that all the evil of this world comes from our human hearts. Like Adam who blamed Eve for his sin, they want to blame someone else for everything that’s wrong. “It’s not my fault; it’s her fault, or his, or theirs, or yours.” They have excuses for everything, but never regret or remorse. Perpetually dissatisfied and unhappy, they imagine only a God who destroys and conquers, and then demands gratitude. We’re supposed to say, “Yes, Sir!” to their god, as if we’re happy to be conquered and perpetually humiliated. We should always remember how good and gracious and merciful their god is because he has not destroyed us completely, because he has given us enough space to breathe and say, “Oh yes, God, I love you so much.” There is no freedom, joy, or spontaneity in that fake love; there is only humiliation, submission, and a phony pretense of obedience. In the Holy Trinity, we have seen the freedom of God, and understood the joyous freedom he gives us. Next week, we will celebrate Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Mass draws us into the freedom of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Without the Mass, the Holy Trinity sounds like weird mathematics; and without the Holy Trinity, the Mass sounds like mumbo-jumbo. But we can save that reflection for next week. Today, we must thank God for investing us in the Holy Spirit of Jesus, and for sending us to announce the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to the whole world. We know God as the Father of Jesus – our Savior, Lord, and brother. We know God as the Father of Mercy, who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 352

Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

Although the Letter of Jude is very short, the editors of our lectionary have preferred only a scant six and a half verses from his writing. They exhort Saturday morning congregations "to build yourself up in faith," show mercy to ne'er-do-well scoffers who plague the Church, and conclude with a song of praise the "One who is able to keep you from stumbling." We're not given the juicier passages that describe the awful behaviors that stain our reputation and discourage our patient waiting. 

Clearly, Saint Jude's congregation has survive a period of persecution and bore a second or third generation who have picked up the nasty attitudes of their contemporaries and have little respect for our faith or religion. The picture we glean from his twenty-five verses sounds too familiar in this twenty-first century. There are innumerable "Christians" who claim the title for reasons of their own, but dismiss our morality, doctrine, and devotion. 

Saint Jude gently suggests that we remember Saint Michael who only rebuked the Devil when he attempted to molest the body of Moses. He did not, at that time, defeat his army of wicked angels, nor cast them out of heaven to plague the Earth. Saint John of Patmos had yet to write Revelation 12. We should let the Lord do the punishing while we stand aside and wait on his mercy. 

We should also remember, lest we forget, that our Baptism and Eucharist do not exempt us from the judgment of God. If our baptized brethren can "revile what they do not understand and are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals," the rest of us should be warned. The worst thing we could possibly do is suppose that God has mercy on fools, and then turn away from our disciplined life of good works and prayer. 

A gentle “May the Lord rebuke you!” in imitation of Saint Michael might make all the difference. But if it doesn't, "...have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by (their) flesh." 

The Lord was betrayed by one of his own apostles, so we should never be surprised that there is wickedness among us. We must keep our eyes fixed on him, and continue our walk on the water of faith. 

Optional Memorial of Pope Saint Paul VI

 Lectionary: 351

The end of all things is at hand.
Therefore be serious and sober-minded
so that you will be able to pray.
Above all, let your love for one another be intense,
because love covers a multitude of sins.
Be hospitable to one another without complaining.

"The end of all things" can refer to chronological time, like December 31 is the end of the year; or it can refer to meaning and purpose, like "To what end do you do this? Where is this going?" 

Saint Peter's urgent warning, "The end of all things is at hand" probably doesn't mean we should cash out our bank accounts, sell our homes and property, donate everything to some worthy cause, and sit outside waiting for "the end of the world." Christians have sometimes done just that, only to be disappointed when nothing extraordinary happened. 

But the end is near in the clear sense that we should take nothing for granted. Everything matters; nothing that is done can be undone. The Apostle urged us to be "serious and sober-minded," even in the face of wits, comediennes, and fools. They mock our efforts to live responsibly, and ignore the reality of all ends, including "death, judgment, heaven, and hell." They are often blindsided by the inevitable. 

Pope Saint Paul VI reminded the world of the end of sexuality. It is neither entertainment nor a sport; it is not relaxation or stimulation; it is not necessary for any individual but is needed for human reproduction. It is not an end but a means to an end; nor is the abuse of sexuality justified by an end. 

The Saint knew that flagrantly violating the holiness of sexuality must lead to profound unhappiness and endless disruption -- for individuals as well as entire societies. His encyclical Humanae Vitae was followed by the United States Supreme Court tragic decision to remove all restrictions on abortion in the United States. Perhaps SCOTUS interpretted the popular rejection of the Holy Father's moral teaching as a go-ahead to release the bloodshed upon the nation. Many  other abominations have followed, including gay marriage, polygamy, in vitro fertilization, surrogate mothers, fatherless orphans, and single parenting. Can anyone be surprised by mass shootings and the epidemic of suicide? 

The Catholic Church has long recognized the Natural Law which governs all human behavior, regardless of social norms, expectations, and culture. It is reasonable and sane, although it may be apparent only to those willing to see the truth. 

The arrogant feel affronted by its restrictions on their misbegotten freedom. When enough of them complain loudly enough, they may get what they want even from a Supreme Court, but they will certainly not be satisfied with the consequences of their sin. 

Millions of Catholics, Christians, Jews, and nones, along with many priests and some bishops, objected loudly to Pope Paul's Humanae Vitae. Many husbands had vasectomies; many women had tubal ligation; many children have no siblings, no aunts or uncles, no cousins, no nieces or nephews. Many homes have no children but innumberable dogs and cats -- with health and life insurance. Many people die alone and ungrieved. Many nations are watching helplessly as their populations plummet. The trend has been called irreversible. 

Ideas have consequences, decisions have ends. We do well to reread Humanae Vitae and listen to the Church as we form our attitudes, consider our ideas, make our decisions, and determine our ends. 

Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 350

Once you were no people
but now you are God’s people;
you had not received mercy
but now you have received mercy.

As the Second Vatican Council was ending, Pope Paul VI signed and published one of the most important documents of the twentieth century, Lumen Gentium. The second chapter is titled, On the People of God, and explains, 

God, however, does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one another. Rather has it pleased Him to bring men together as one people, a people which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness. 

Saint Peter's expressions (from Hosea 1:9) "No people" and "...had not received mercy" might resemble the American ideal of competitive individuals; but it also describes lost, lonely souls who are often found dead in their homes and apartments. Determined to do it my way, they forfeit familial, neighborly, and religious connections to everyone else.  

As he journeyed from Galilee to Jerusalem and Calvary, the Lord invited everyone to repent and believe the Good News of God's kingdom. That repentance must include renunciation of my way, my opinions, my property, my preferences, desires, and identity. Myself  is too much baggage to carry on a long journey. 

Nor do we need it when we "Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God...."

Jesus insists, 

"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. 

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.

His teaching demands our attention and requires discipline. We must practice this renunciation daily with prayer and meditation; and be alert to the impulses that would sever our ties with others. We are continually atoning -- that is making one -- with others because the habits of a lifetime and the mores of a proud nation do not disappear overnight. 

In the morning we renew our intention to practice patience and charity with others; in the evening we remember our backsliding and thank God for whatever renunciations we managed. And every day we thank God for calling us to be living stones built up into the one Temple of God. 

Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 349

Realize that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious Blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished Lamb.

Beginning with the Church's efforts to restore the Mass without the unnecessary embellishments of the Traditional Latin Mass, many Catholic churches routinely offer the Precious Blood of Jesus to their weekday and Sunday congregations. 

But that astonishing development was first offered in the late 1970's without much fanfare, and so many people routinely ignore it. It didn't seem very important; there was already enough unrest and suspicion in the Church toward the changes that had occurred and were not yet fully integrated. Receiving Communion from the chalice has been widely regarded as an unnecessary option, and tainted by a hint of contamination with germs. (Ugh!) Nor do homilists pay much attention to Saint Peter's expression, "the precious Blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished Lamb." 

I began to receive from the chalice as a seminarian in the late 1960's, and became more aware of its significance when I began my theological studies in 1971. I remember a "practice homily" in a class in which I was overcome with dread and fear, and was practically inarticulate. I don't know what I said but the kind professor understood my dilemma.

I have several mixed impressions about the practice: 

• some people travel miles to a distant parish for the privilege of receiving the Precious Blood;
• recovering alcoholics should not receive from the cup unless they are absolutely convinced of the Church's teaching: "It is not wine; it is the Precious Blood of Jesus." If they suspect their own motives or fear the triggers associated with the taste and smell of wine, they should not;
• some patients in the VA hospital, hearing that I drink no alcohol, asked me about "the wine at Mass." They said no more when I replied, "It is the Precious Blood of Jesus!" 
• blood was more familiar to most generation of the human race than it is today. Grocery shoppers rarely see blood in their transparent packs of beef, pork, chicken, or fish. They consider the sight and thought of blood repulsive; 
• The word blood appears 96 times in the New Testament, and 401 times in the entire Bible. It is too important to be ignored;
• there is in our Roman Missal a Votive Mass of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
• I have sometimes that Mass prayers on a weekday, when the readings suggested it. 
• The Gospels are remarkably discreet about the details of the Lord's passion. Saint Mark says simply, "They crucified him." Only Saint John mentions blood when a lance pierced the Lord's body after he died.
• The Evangelists were more fascinated by other aspects; 
• especially by the Lord's meekness as he was tried, tormented, crucified, and died. 
• Mark accentuates the Lord's abandonment by his disciples, family, religious and civil authorities. Even God, whom he calls Eloi, seems to have deserted him. 
• However, during the Middle Ages, when the Black Death overcame Europe, Christians were fascinated with bloodier, violent images of his suffering and death. See Hieronymous Bosch. 
• The word bloody has been considered offensive in England, because it alluded to the Passion of the Lord, on the one hand; and to the "unbloody sacrifice of the Mass," on the other. 
• finally, I find a strange irony -- perhap this was God's intention all along -- in the Old Testament proscription against consuming the blood of any animal. Was Jesus thinking of that very serious law when he commanded his disciples to drink his blood? 

The invitation to consume the Lord's Precious Blood during the Mass demands our attention and profound reverence. We should do it, as Saint Paul,

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. (1 Cor:11:27)

Receiving the Body or the Blood of the Eucharist indicates our readiness to die as thousands of our martyrs have died, to ourselves and with the Lord. 

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest

 Lectionary: 348

"We have given up everything and followed you." 

We can imagine Saint Peter waking up early one morning somewhere on the road to Jerusalem. He sees his sleeping companions around him, and the Lord, who is sitting up and deep in contemplation. 

Hearing the Apostle stir, the Lord looks toward Peter who, with a sudden astonishment, realizes he has left wife, family and friends, fishing boat and nets, career and reputation, to follow a man who might be The Messiah. Almost without thought, he blurts out, "We have given up everything and followed you." 

He might be asking, "What have we to show for it?" And the Lord replies with a promise. 

That's all; only a promise. 

We are a people of hope; and we live not by the way we wish things might happen, or what we think should happen, but by the promises of God. We can do so because we have found enough satisfaction in our blessed lives, though never too much. 

Satisfaction, of course, is a relative thing; some people are insatiable because they pay attention only to their own wishes and expectations. But the Spirit of God, that Spirit which remained with Peter as they traveled, has remained in our hearts. It has said, "This is good. What I have here and now is good, and what is promised is better."

The Spirit teaches us to wait; and always to wait longer. Even when the Lord was arrested and the pleasure of that lovely Thursday evening meal was shattered, the disciples waited. And when they learned the Lord had died -- perhaps they knew it when the sun darkened and the earth quaked -- they still waited. 

Even as they knew nothing, they waited. And they trusted in their experience. God has never failed us; He will not fail us now. And then He was with them again. He gathered those who had scattered and reaffirming everyone's faith. 

When he disappeared again, ascending into heaven, they felt no disappointment. Their satisfaction was complete although there was still more promised. The life of faith finds its satisfaction within our hearts, in our love for God and affection for one another. 

Faith is about the past; hope concerns the future; love is right now. It is good. 

Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

 Lectionary: 572A

All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
 

Saint Luke seems to mention, almost in passing, that "Mary the mother of Jesus" was with the disciples when they gathered in the Cenacle after the Lord's Ascension. But he was a true artist who did nothing "in passing;" The Church would amplify this detail; many icons present the twelve apostles sitting together with Mary at their head. 

Saint Luke's reference intentionally recalls the
Annunciation. Just as she had conceived the Lord in her womb many years before, she was there as the Church was born in the Upper Room. She would remain always as the inspiration of the Church. Indeed, we cannot imagine our faith without her. 

To anyone who doubts the humanity of Jesus -- and there have been innumerable challenges in every age and from many quarters -- Mary reminds us that he is a man like us in all things but sin. And the phrase "but sin" reminds us that sin is not, and is never, necessary. Sinning is an inhuman thing to do; and we have no excuse for it. Making excuses only wastes precious time. 

The Blessed Mother, by her presence in the room, anchored the disciples of Jesus in a past which they had not witnessed. He was a boy and a young man long before He called them to abandon their former lives and follow him. He was never like the Lone Ranger, appearing in the moment with neither a past nor a future. He was, as Saint John reminds us and she knew, the Word made flesh and the Son of God from all eternity. And, as He was God's only begotten Son, He was her only conceived son, born of her womb and suckled at her breasts. 

Saint Francis, in his salutation of the Blessed Mother, would call her "...daughter and handmaid of the Most High Sovereign King, our Heavenly Father, Mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit." The sainted Assissan saw her in a physical relationship to each Person of the Holy Trinity: daughter, mother, and spouse. 

Catholics, in particular, know this divinely inspired physical relationship to God through the matter of our Eucharist, which is no longer bread and wine but the flesh and blood of Our Savior. And through that relationship to the Lord, Mary is our mother, the Mother of the Church. How could she not be there at the birth of our Church in Jerusalem? 

We have passed through the ninety days of Easter and reentered Ordinary Time, but refreshed and renewed through Sacraments and ceremonies to a livelier faith, hope, and love in the practice of our religion. Praise God for the future with the challenges that lie before us. 

Pentecost Sunday

Lectionary: 63

"Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained."

After the sad history of sin, from Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, to the Tower of Babel and the confusion of languages, the Book of Genesis recalls the History of Salvation. The first eleven chapters showed that the human race had been, up to that point, an unmitigated catastrophe.

Clearly God’s remaining a distant ruler in the heavens while expecting human beings just to be good, had not worked out; nor had drowning everyone in the world except Noah and his family. The darkness of sin lay hidden in the human heart. No flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, forest fire, prairie fire, blizzard, famine, or plague could wipe it out. After the Flood the history of evil resumed with Noah getting drunk and scandalizing his family. Depravity, perversions, and violence continued as if there had been no interruption. Beginning with a single family, God would personally direct human history. And so, in chapter twelve, we read how he chose Abraham and told him, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you." That was the beginning of our salvation. Today, with the Feast of Pentecost, we remember the final touch of God’s plan. “All the families of the earth” will find blessings as Jesus Christ’s disciples receive his Holy Spirit; and are sent to announce the Gospel of Jesus Christ “to the ends of the earth.” Eighteen centuries of Abraham’s descendants from Isaac to Mary and Joseph; and the Lord’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension: led to this moment in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in the form of tongues; and they began to announce the Good News in Jerusalem. They would soon go to Samaria, as St. Luke tells us and as the Lord had said. Eventually they must go to the ends of the earth. Wherever they went, they brought the Name of Jesus, the vitality of the Holy Spirit, and the sacraments, especially the Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist.

On that Pentecost Day, Saint Peter first reminded the Holy City of what had happened fifty days before; and how the city, in a paroxysm of religious insanity, had demanded the crucifixion of an innocent, holy man. And then, when they remembered with horror that terrible day, and asked what should we do, he told them:

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel begins with a reminder of our sin, but we should not need much reminder. There is something profoundly, seriously wrong with the world, and with ourselves. And common sense tells us a reasonable God would not create an evil world – what would be the sense of that? – nor can we believe human beings were created to be evil. That makes no sense at all; but we know that something has gone terribly wrong. We know that we need salvation. God must save us for we cannot save ourselves. Nor can we, for that matter, just stop doing wickedness. “Just say no!” doesn’t work and never will. We say no, and do it anyway. Time after time, generation after generation. If God does not do something for us, we have no hope. If the Holy Spirit of Jesus does not take charge of our desires and decisions, our myths, dreams, and fantasies we are lost. As the Lord’s disciples, we know about sin; our experience is personal. One of the Lord’s inner circle had betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver. Every one of his apostles had sworn they would never abandon the Lord; and everyone of them had fled into the night when he was arrested. Only one had silently followed him to Calvary to see what would happen. Only his Mother had remained faithful even as he died. But he had told us that would happen. “You will all be scattered like sheep!” he said; and his apostles – to a man – swore that would never happen. Peter had loudly thrown everyone else under the bus when he said, “Although they all desert you, I will never desert you.” But when a little girl noticed his Galilean accent and said he must have come with Jesus, he swore he’d never met the man. Not only had Jesus predicted it, but he also – on that Easter Sunday – went clear out to Emmaus to collect two of his runaway disciples. Saint Luke doesn’t tell us why they were leaving town but it’s obvious they were going back home to the families, friends, and neighbors they’d left behind to follow one who, until Good Friday, seemed like the Lord’s Messiah. The disciples of Jesus know sin and we know his forgiveness of sin. And we have received the Holy Spirit. It is a spirit that reassures us, “Although you have sinned, you are mine; and I will never lose you. I will never forget you. And I have work for you to do. You now have a mission and responsibility and I will not let you forget it.” And so we know what we are talking about – as, twenty centuries later – we say, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Unlike Noah’s neighbors, we have been drowned in the waters of Baptism, and risen to new life with Jesus. And unlike Noah and his dysfunctional family, we have been purged by the Holy Spirit of our fascination with evil. Unlike the ideologues who speak the languages of Babel and agree on nothing, we speak the one language of unchanging truth. Pentecost reminds us of our restored innocence in God’s sight, and our mission to announce the name of Jesus to the ends of the earth, for “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”

As Saint Paul said,

For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…. For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous by faith will live.”

With the words “faith to faith,” the Apostle remembered the mutual fidelity of Abraham and God who sacrificed their beloved sons – Isaac and Jesus – to prove their love to one another. We are not ashamed to live, work, play, and pray in the Holy Spirit; nor are we ashamed to let our neighbors, friends, family, and enemies know that our fidelity belongs to God; our obedience is to God; and we look to God Our Savior for our identity, mission, and purpose.

Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter - Mass in the Morning

 Lectionary: 302

This is the reason, then, I have requested to see you and to speak with you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear these chains."

As Saint Luke tells the story, Saint Paul insisted that his preaching should be welcomed by Jews throughout the world. He was absolutely convinced that Jesus had come not to change or annul the Law of Moses, but to fulfill it.  

But the more he said that, the more opposition he met. At least part of the problem was his welcome of gentiles into Jewish history and beliefs. Had he only spoken of Jesus he might have fared better, but that would not be true to the Spirit he'd been given, nor to the Word of God. 

For this apostle the transition from the "Old Covenant" to the "New" was seamless. He found abundant support for that belief in the stories of Abraham and the writings of the Hebrew prophets. It made no sense that the history of Israel's adventures, misadventures, suffering, blessings, and glory should not belong to the whole world. He knew the Jewish mission to the whole world would be fulfilled by his preaching the Good News of Jesus. 

Zygmunt Bauman, in his sociological study, Modernity and the Holocaust, reported that, before the Second World War, most Germans had little concern about the Jews in their country, one way or the other. As "a nationality without a nation," German Jews were neither admired nor despised. Poland and other eastern European nations were far more antisemitic, and that eastern animosity periodically broke out in violence. Kristallnacht proved to be a disappointment and setback to the Nazis who spawned the pogram. Most Germans, like most people, disliked the violence; and many assisted their Jewish neighbors to clean up the broken glass and reopen the shops.

Many Americans today seem to have the same laissez faire attitude. They do not know Jews, have little feeling about them, and suppose antisemitic Americans are feeding themselves with hate for no apparent reason. Perhaps it gives certain kooks a thrill to claim a Nazi past with a pastiche of Christianity. And some find the support of equally weird Christian pastors.

Saint Paul knew that Christians were grafted onto the blessed tree whose roots are in Abraham. Should the Jews disappear from the Earth, as Hitler and his people intended, no one would know Jesus. He would be lost to us, as well Mary and the Apostolic Church. Without the Jews in the world today, Egypt might as well have annihilated the escaping Hebrews on the shores of the Red Sea; they might never have received the Ten Commandments, occupied the Promised Land, or built Jerusalem. Their history and all human history would be swept away, along with the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. God's word would have failed. Human history would be aimless and pointless. The Earth would again be a formless waste in abysmal darkness. 

Saint Paul brought many of his own Jewish people through the narrow gate to faith in Jesus. Today Christians must also go through the narrow gate to honor their abiding presence in the world. 

Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter

 Lectionary: 301

So when they came together here, I made no delay; the next day I took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought in.
His accusers stood around him, but did not charge him with any of the crimes I suspected.
Instead they had some issues with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died
but who Paul claimed was alive.

Saint Luke's Acts of the Apostles describes the successes and setbacks of the first disciples as they took the Good News to cities, towns, and hamlets throughout Asia and Europe. The middle chapters depict Saint Paul's continual movement through an endless series of towns with innumerable disciples. Many names appear only once and without any more description of them or their accomplishments. Perhaps these were names known throughout the Church as there were so many missionaries moving so rapidly from town to town. The Evangelists apparently wants us to understand how seriously the disciples took Jesus' commission to announce the Gospel to the ends of the earth. 

We have to notice also the similaries of Saint Paul's ordeal and the passion of Jesus. The indefatigable traveller was arrested and jailed for two years apparently because Festus simply didn't want to deal with the problem. 

More importantly, as the above passage indicates, the civil authories who condemned Jesus to death and sent Paul to Rome were forced by the political situation to punish both men without any legal justification. The people of Jerusalem were rioting when Pilate washed his hands of the whole affair and sent Jesus to be crucified. He knew the Galilean had done no harm. Festus first, and then King Agrippa sent Paul to Rome only because Paul had demanded it. They were happy to pass the problem up the line. 

Like most stories in the Bible, there is no clear intervention from God, neither a catastrophe like the parting of the Red Sea nor a subtle angelic message. The human actors must decide; those who know God rely on divinely inspired dreams and intuitions; those who do not are guided by political expedience. The darkness of human life is illuminated by faith; those without faith muddle in darkness while God directs their course of events. 

Fifty days after that awful Passover, Jerusalemites were reminded of what they had done. Clearly, they had been impelled by irrational, inexplicable fears and desires. And then, at Pentecost, they wondered how they might atone for it. 

God is still in charge. We have to believe that as we see the federal government's sending ICE agents to cause madness and mayhem in states that voted for Kamala Harris; and exorbitant amounts of money dumped into another war while ordinary government services at home suffer neglect. I don't pretend to understand why God abandons a nation to its own godless ways while many devout and needy persons suffer. But I believe that He has not abandoned his faithful.

He provides us with his Holy Spirit, which remains courageous, generous, confident, and joyous. We've seen the Spirit's hand in demonstrations and protests around the country. 

We will soon receive some guidance from our Holy Father Pope Leo in the form of an encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity") addressing the advent of artificial intelligence. Its publication must remind us that we are facing a "revolution" more demanding, and perhaps more life-altering than the Industrial Revolution addressed by Pope Leo XIII. I am reasonably sure the Pope's message will include, "Do not be afraid." 

Fear is stupid and cruel. We have seen that vicious idiocy demonstrated repeatedly in recent years, as we faced epidemics and political, economic, and social upheavals. Do not be afraid; trust in the Lord; pray for guidance and direction. Turn off the 24/7 news cycle and turn to the Lord in prayer. 

All will be well; all will be well; and all manner of things will be well. 

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

 Lectionary: 300

I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.

Saint John's Gospel begins with, "In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

The Fourth Gospel has been described as the most sacramental of the four, because it points so directly at the Word who is made flesh, who lives among us, who is the Bread broken, shared, and eaten. The Word of God is the beginning and end of our life; it is our purpose, direction, animation, and end. The Word of God is our oneness; our integrity, privilege, and delight. 

Hearing the Word, I find and recognize myself and my fellowship with the Church. Though I know existential apartness, I also know sacramental communion; both are integral to myself as a person, as a man of God.

The Word of God is ever ancient, ever new, as Saint Augustine said. It is always fresh and refreshing, always enabling and empowering; demanding, challenging, and encouraging. If it seems to demand more than I expect of myself, it also provides more willingness and courage than I knew I had, because it will not return to the Lord unfruitful:

So shall my word be

that goes forth from my mouth;

It shall not return to me empty,

but shall do what pleases me,

achieving the end for which I sent it. (Is 55:11)

As we hear the Lord pray for us in today's gospel we know His prayer -- "that they may be one" -- cannot fail. It will continue to gather us; leading us as an alpha wolf leads her pack, driving us into harmony like a barking, heel-nipping, hectoring sheepdog. 

For the Word of God we are grateful, because gratitude, praise, and worship are also its fruit. 

Optional Memorial of Saint Bernardine of Siena, Priest

Franciscan preacher, St. Bernadine
promoted devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus

 Lectionary: 299

Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me,
so that they may be one just as we are one.
When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me,
and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction....

Saint Bernadine of Siena was especially eager to revive an apostolic tradition: invoking Jesus's Holy Name with its power to reconcile enemies and heal the sick. 

Long before the Council of Trent settled the discussion about how many sacraments there are (seven) and which rites of the Church are called sacraments, the Church might have regarded the Name of Jesus as a kind of sacrament. Certainly, as we find in the Epistles and Saint Luke's Acts of the Apostles, the first missionaries were eager to announce that Name and its authority. 

The Lord spoke of the Kingdom of God throughout his brief career. It was coming and was already here. It was a force to be recognised in one's heart and reckoned in the world. Although he was known as a Galilean and the Nazarene, he might have described himself as a citizen of no nation but the Kingdom of God. He had come to alert people to its authority; and they should repent of their sins before it appeared lest they be found unworthy to live within it. Its arrival would be a great and terrible day; and he wept over Jerusalem for its failure to recognize its visitation. 

After his ascension, rather than his Kingdom, the disciples spoke more often of Jesus's Name and its authority. Whether you think of God's Kingdom or Jesus' Name, you must acknowledge, be grateful and worship the Lord! There can be no other response. 

This worship is filled with delight, joy, and relief; nothing could be more wonderful than God's presence in our world and in one's heart. Unlike the passing achievements of a boxing champion or an army, the Name of Jesus triumphs over sin and death forever. Athletes, as Saint Paul remarked, may win a crown of laurel leaves, but the Lord's victory is more valuable, lasting, and powerful than anything like the forgetable victory of a virile young Adonis. Now that is worth singing about! And the song will last far longer than the huzzahs of a Superbowl champion. 

With his authority, Jesus has given us a Word to announce to the nations. They should respect our ambassadorial authority as any foreign representative is respected in another country -- unless they worship Satan and despise the One we serve -- which is often the case.  

But, like many immigrants, we can speak only one language and that is the Language of Truth. We rarely find any advantage in pandering, deceit, or outright lies. As Jesus said, 

They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them,
so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

 

Lectionary: 298

"Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ."

Coming to John 17, we hear the "Priestly Prayer of Jesus." He has turned his soul's gaze away from his disciples and directly to His Father, even as Moses turned away from the Hebrew tribes in the desert to speak with God face to face. 

If we cannot see the face of God we can enjoy the singular privilege of overhearing in human language the Lord's side of their conversation. We can no more comprehend the intensity and depth of their relationship than a toddler can understand his parents' love and devotion to one another. Similarly, as we hear the prayer, we know we are enjoying a heavenly blessing reserved for saints and martyrs. 

What we hear may come as a surprise. Despite the coming of that long awaited hour, and That Day, foreseen by the prophets, in which he will suffer a most cruel and savage death, Jesus's first concern is the glory that he must receive from the Father. If that sounds selfish, further reflection reminds us of Saint Paul's ambition, that he must "glory in the Cross." What mankind sees as horror is Our Savior's glory; his death on the Cross is his victory over sin and death. 

Through the victory of the cross, He will be given, as he says, that

"authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him." 

Jesus understands that his life and death, and the authority he is given, are for us, and not for himself. And that is how we who aspire to the Imitation of Christ, must live our lives. That is how we must pray for no one lives who does not die to hmself. 

Jesus reveals in this prayer his enormous sense of responsibility for those he has taken from their families, careers, and nationalities to be his people. We sense his burden as his prayer continues:

"I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.

They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,

and they have kept your word." 

They will also endure the same abandonment he has known as he seems to abandon his disciples: 

"And now I will no longer be in the world,

but they are in the world, while I am coming to you."

Our desolation will be, like the blessing of the cross, an enormous resource as his missionary people scatter from Jerusalem into the whole world. Their home will not be anywhere familiar; it will not be identified by points on a map, nor even by any language or dialect. Free of these constraints these emigres from Eden will share the Good News that we humans are like our ancestors in the Garden, beloved sinners who come home to penance. They will wear whatever people wear and eat whatever they eat; but their traditional food will be His Body and Blood; their traditional apparel will be the robe of innocence and the helmet of salvation. They will be set apart from others and recognized as belonging to God. 

As He prays to the Father for his disciples, Jesus surrenders his Church to the care of the Holy Spirit. If he worries he also trusts; if he knows our weakness he also knows the Holy Spirit will bring us through to the glorious side of Easter. 

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

 Lectionary: 297

His disciples said, "Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.”
Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?"

The Lord had good reason to doubt the disciples' claim to understand him clearly; and that they were convinced of his authority. 

First, their claim was unproven. Their long apprenticeship had been marked with persistent misunderstanding and their jockeying for leadership among themselves. Although he was an incomparable Master, Lord, and Teacher, they expected one of them would take his place. But which would it be? 

Secondly, they had yet to undergo his passion and death. Their experience to date had not prepared them for what would follow; they had the confidence of untried youth. Jesus knew that hard times were coming and they would be scattered.

Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived

when each of you will be scattered to his own home

and you will leave me alone.

But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

Their togetherness had yet to learn of that which separates us from everyone, our fears, doubts, anxiety, and persistent sin. He would give that knowledge to each of them through the narrow gate of remorse, repentance, atonement, and confirmation in the Holy Spirit. They had yet to flee from him and from the way in which he as leading them. They were not yet scattered, disoritented, confused, and disintegrated. They had yet to know the Lord through his absence and and their unbearable aloneness; an aloneness resembling what the Son of God knew before His Father. 

Their integrity would come as a gift to each one, and to their fellowship, when he found his lost sheep, terrified and traumatized in the upper room. He had to retrieve two of them from Emmaus. Saint Peter, in particular, had yet to smell the charcoal fire and be reminded of how he had sworn to a harmless girl that he did not know the Man. 

Our integrity as individuals and as a Church comes as a miraculous gift in moments of despair to those prepared to pay the cost. That gift, in itself, is a commission from God to preach the Gospel to all nations. 

The Ascension of the Lord

 Lectionary: 58

...in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead
and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,
far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
and every name that is named
not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

With the Ascension of the Lord we celebrate the enormous authority that has been given to Jesus, the Nazarene, a descendant of Abraham and King David; and the Son of Mary. He is a man of flesh, blood, and bone like every human being you have ever loved, and like every human being you have ever feared or distrusted. 

But this Son of Adam and Eve has taken his seat at the right hand of God; and has been given all authority in heaven and on earth, for judgment and for salvation. Every knee shall bend and every tongue in heaven, on earth, and under the earth must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father,  – even if some unfortunate souls wish it were not true. 

But disciples of Jesus might be tempted to remember this day with a bit of sadness, for our Lord and Master has been taken from our sight and has gone to heaven. We have his physical presence in the Blessed Sacrament, but he is not here to tell us which person to marry, which career to follow, which jobs to seek, or which political candidates to support. He left no careful instructions about which house to buy or what schools to attend. We can only believe and trust that we belong to the right Christian denomination, for there are many to choose from. Even the choice of where to begin the proclamation is left to the Church.  

But we do not find anywhere in the New Testament any trace of nostalgia. The early church expected him to come back soon, but they never supposed he would bring back the good old days when he walked on water or fed five thousand with a few fish and several loaves of bread. Those days were over and done. 

Two weeks ago we heard Jesus insist that we know how to follow him for he is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and anyone who has seen him has seen the Father. He also told us that if he did not go away, he could not send us the Holy Spirit. If we suffer any nostalgia for any times past, we should get over it, take up the crosses we’re given, and walk in His Way. The Prophet Isaiah has assured us, 

…your ears shall hear a word behind you:

“This is the way; walk in it,”

when you would turn to the right or the left. (Is 30:21) 

Because he has won enormous authority by his death on a cross, Jesus can authorize, ordain, and empower his disciples. We, his Church, are honored with that responsibility. to announce everything that has been revealed to us about God the Creator, his only begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit they share with us. 

It is because the Lord does not walk like a man on the earth, because he has gone to heaven, that we must find in our minds, bodies, and hearts the willingness and courage to live like his disciples in this passing world. As Woody Guthrey sang, 

This train don't carry no gamblers, this train; 

This train don't carry no gamblers; 

Liars, thieves, nor big shot ramblers; 

This train is bound for glory, this train.

Because we believe that Jesus is “the real deal,” we must also be the real deal. We don’t pretend to look like Christ; we must be Christ. The Sacrament which we eat becomes us. It is truly the body and blood of Christ; it is not an image, appearance, or symbol to just remind us of God. The church building may be a symbol of God, but the Church is the presence of God in our world. 

As Catholics we inherit the Gospel of Jesus, as well as the story of every martyr and saint who has lived and died for the Lord. We recite the same prayers they recited, receive the same Eucharist, and serve the same God. We represent the Holiness of God by our faithful worship of God -- a worship that seems senseless to many people -- and by our moral way of life, which also seems unprofitable at best, and perhaps utter nonsense. 

We must speak the truth; it is our duty and responsibility, our privilege and our pleasure. That truth is more than the infallible doctrines of Roman Catholic teaching; it is also, to the best of our ability, the truth of our experience of mercy and grace. We speak the truth about wealth and poverty, about authority and obedience, about male and female, husband and wife to a culture which idolizes women but despises wives, daughters, and mothers. 

Many people, especially those jealous of their power, find our way of life rude and intrusive. They tell us, “Everything is fine, everything is under control. Trust us; we know what we're doing. Just go ahead and shop, play, be entertained, and let us handle you and your concerns” They say it often and they say it loudly,. They say it so often that we begin to see none of it is true. 

The Church is fascinated by the truth; we’re not into this world's images, branding, first impressions, or customer satisfaction. 

As he ascends to the Right Hand of God the Father, Jesus authorizes us to demonstrate the generosity of God with our message of Good News; and then with our new understanding, what it means to be men and women, freed from this world's tyranny by our life in communion with God. Unlike people who do not know the Lord, our husbands and wives do not bully, threaten, manipulate, intrigue, play games, commit adultery, desert, or divorce. They suffer the "thousand natural shocks" of human life, but love each other more affectionately and with more devotion. It's wonderful; even miraculous; but it’s no surprise for us. 

Living the Gospel is in every respect breathtaking, and we know our unworthiness and our incompetence. Very often we hardly have any notion of who we are in this confusing world. The identity and mission He has given us are obscured by our sins and by the fascinating temptations all around us. We are sorely tempted to abandon both mission and identity in pursuit of an easier, safer, and less controverted way of life.

Next Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit. We will be reminded that the Lord who has left us to sit at God’s right hand as ruler and judge has sent us an advocate; and then, 
…your ears shall hear a word behind you:
“This is the way; walk in it,”
when you would turn to the right or the left. (Is 30:21) 

And then, Blessed Prosperity!

He will give rain for the seed

you sow in the ground,

And the bread that the soil produces

will be rich and abundant.

On that day your cattle will graze

in broad meadows;

The oxen and the donkeys that till the ground

will eat silage tossed to them

with shovel and pitchfork.

Upon every high mountain and lofty hill

there will be streams of running water. Is 30:23-25