May 26, 2013 Feast of The Most Holy Trinity C

Bulletin: May 26, 2013   Feast of The Most Holy Trinity  C readings

 Proverbs 8:  22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

Today is the feast of the mystery of God, the Most Holy Trinity.   It is a mystery; people say, ‘I can’t understand it’…well, it’s a mystery.  But each person can come to know more about God, if they are open to the ways of the Spirit.   Msgr. Chet Michael likes to say that ‘We have a keyhole vision of God.’  He explains it that the person on the inside of the room is looking out on the beauties outside through an old fashion keyhole in the main door.   All that can be seen is miniscule compared to all the beauty and wonders on the outside, but that doesn’t mean that one can’t still be aware of the beauty that is outside.  So it is with God; what beauties about God can be ‘discovered’ about God on this feast?  It is Jesus who reveals the mystery of God:  He told us that the Father cares for His children; and that through Jesus’ incarnation each person has become a Brother to Him; and that through the individual gifts of the Holy Spirit, the love of God has been poured enormously into the hearts of those who are receptive.  The readings today give rich insights into God. 

It was common in biblical times for wisdom to be embodied in some sort of material form. The first reading from Proverbs looks to the role of Lady Wisdom in creation.  The footnote in the Catholic Study Bible adds this, “Wisdom is of divine origin.  It is here represented as a being which existed before all things (verses 22-26) and concurred with God when He planned and executed the creation of the universe, adorned it with beauty and variety, and established its wonderful order (verses 27-30).  Here that plurality of divine Persons is foreshadowed which was afterward to be fully revealed when Wisdom in the Person of Jesus Christ became incarnate.”  So many mornings and evenings, when walking the dog, I look at the heavens and see such an enormous array of beauty in the heavens.  I reflect that God put them there just for me that evening so that I could be enthralled with the beauty of His creation and also more particularly, the specialness of God to me to show me ‘His beauty’ in those moments; I proclaim His praises and am grateful.

In the second reading Paul goes deeper into the relationship with the Trinity by stressing that Christ brings each person to God and the Spirit comes to each person from that same God. This relationship is one of love; God just plain loves me and each person.  As Paul says, “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”  I love the word ‘pour’ that Paul uses…in looking in the Merriam Webster Dictionary, I see why I like it.  The dictionary says, “Pour—to flow or cause to flow in a stream or flood…to rain hard…to supply freely and copiously.”  There is no stopping this love, it continues and is forever; that’s God‘s love for me and each person.  I need to reflect on this constantly.

John in the gospel explains the relationship between the Father, Jesus and the Spirit by relating all three to what Jesus taught.  The Spirit will fill the void with Jesus’ departure back to the Father, not so much as a physical presence as with a form of helping, guiding presence.  As living the word says, “It was from the Father that the Spirit heard the teachings of Jesus, and then it was also from the Father that the Spirit was sent to bring these teachings to fruition.  The Spirit glorifies Jesus by bringing to light the deeper truth of His teaching, teaching that also belongs to God.”

So what does all this mean on this glorious feast?  Faith is a gift; it is the grace of a mysterious encounter with God.  It is beyond my reasoning.  But I can grasp God with my mind and my senses and my whole being like when I am being enraptured with His wonders.  So often I am enthralled when people come to me and share their stories and encounters with God.  It is so easy and special to talk with people who want to talk and share God.  The times go quickly and each person is somehow captivated by the ‘otherness’ of God and yet His presence right then and there.  We are talking not just about an intellectual belief about God, but a sense of God, a feeling.  What a wonder experience that is.

There is a wonderful story about the Russian writer, Tolstoy.  He was praying to God one night by his bed and in front of a Greek icon which I believe was of Mary. The vigil candle was on and the icon became ‘alive’ as all icon eyes do when encountered by a flame.  Then he went out onto the balcony and saw the sky was swarming with stars; the heavens were sparkling and the earth just as shadows and darkness.  He wrote this, “It was a marvelous night.  How can one fail to believe in the immortality of the soul when one feels such immeasurable grandeur in one’s own?  I could die.  And I heard an inner voice say to me:  ‘He is here.  Kneel to Him, and be silent.”   This is what it is all about.  I really don’t need to argue about God or try to prove Him; I know He is.  I believe with the heart, I don’t have to know why; or even ‘waste time’ in seeking to know.  I feel God’s presence in my world, and the world.  I don’t feel alone with this knowledge but fulfilled.  It’s a great blessing to experience this presence of God in the world, but it is even a greater blessing to experience God’s presence in me and those who come to me.  St. Augustine struggled with this for years and then wrote this prayer which I say every morning, “Late have I loved you, O beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you!  You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for You.  In my unloveliness, I plunged into the lovely things which You created.  You were with m, but I was not with You.  Created things kept me from You; yet if they had not been in You they would not have been at all.  You called, You shouted, and You broke though my deafness.  You flashed, You shone, and You dispelled my blindness …You touched me, and I burned for Your peace.  When once I shall be united to You with my whole being, I shall at last be free of sorrow and toil.  Then my life will be alive, filled entirely with You.”    So I reflect on:

·       How often do I think of God as taking delight in His works of creation and salvation?  ‘He looked on all that He created and saw it was good’; this includes me, do I reflect on this?

·       Paul says that God’s love is poured into my heart…do I reflect on this each evening…and am I aware of His love and be grateful?

·       What can I begin this week to help my faith grow even more?

·       Jesus wants to draw me and each person daily into the life of God; the life of love and happiness.  Do I allow this to happen?  What and where are my blockages?  

May 19, 2013 Pentecost

Bulletin:  May 19, 2013  Pentecost C

Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12: 3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23

Today is Pentecost; how glorious that is.  This is the day that the Lord again did what He said He would.  John shares this in his gospel:  “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it.  But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you (Jn 14: 16-17)…”I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.”  (Jn 14:18)…”I have told you this while I am with you, the Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in My name—He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. .”  (Jn 14: 25-26)  “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, He will testify to me.   And you also testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” (Jn 15:26-27)…“But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.  For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.  But if I go, I will send Him to you.  And when He comes He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:  sin, because they do not believe in Me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see Me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.” (Jn 16: 7-11)

These quotes mean so much to me because they tell me that I’m not alone in being Jesus to others and that is also exactly what I must try each day to be.  This last quote from John sets the stage:  since Jesus rose and is with the Father, He has left His followers, those who believe in Him,  to carry on the mission of bringing all people to the Father so that every person created can obtain heaven.  It is not me working but the Spirit giving me and each person the help to carry this out.  And Jesus said the world is sin when it follows the onslaughts of Satan.   But the Father has given us the Spirit to show that it’s not on my power or any person’s power to be a person of love, it is only through the grace and help of the Spirit. And the ruler of the world, Satan, has not won; Jesus has. Now is the end times; the times of preparing myself, each person for heaven by responding to the grace the Spirit gives to be leaders and examples of love. 

Now how does the Spirit do this?   Really, any way the Spirit wants to do it; but from Isaiah 11:1-2 is a listing of the Spirit’s gifts:  wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and ‘fear’ (awe) of the Lord.  So many know these; they have been engraved in our minds since Confirmation and earlier. Sometimes I just don’t reflect on them enough.   One way I have thought of them recently is from the angle of ‘charisms’.  I go to the Catechism of the Catholic Church to clarify this; “The Holy Spirit is the ‘principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body.’  He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity:  by God’s Word ‘which is able to build you up’; by Baptism, through which He forms Christ’s Body; by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ’s members; by the grace of the apostles, which holds first place among His gifts’, by the virtues, which make us act according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called ‘charisms’), by which He makes the faithful ‘fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church.’”  (# 798)  Nothing is accidental to the Lord; there are no coincidences; everything is according to God’s plan.  So I was created at this time to be in this place for two purposes:  one—this is the way that I can best get to heaven and two—this is the time and place through God’s grace and the Spirit’s gifts that I can touch others so they can get to heaven too.  Do I know who they are?  Maybe!  Do I know that I am touching them in a unique way so that they see God in me and through this respond to God’s call?  Probably not!  This is God’s plan; do I let God be in me and fill me so that I can be open to responding?  This is my daily task and struggle. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church helps again, “Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world. (799)  Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude (italics are mine) by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with the authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms.’”  Can I do things on my own?  No!  It is the Spirit and the direction of the Church and its teachings that are my guide and help. 

I find it always valuable to look at my life and to see how the Spirit has been active and how the Spirit has led me closer to the Lord and my eternal home. I do this by looking at the Fruits of the Holy Spirit.  A fruit is a product of plant growth.  So the Spirit’s fruits are a result of His work within me.  So when I encounter any of these ‘fruits’ I become aware that it is the Spirit working in me and it’s not me but God.  The Catechism beautifully describes this, “The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory.  The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them:  charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.”   So I put this all together and reflect on:

·       On this fest of Pentecost which name for the Holy Spirit best describes the role the Spirit has played in my life? 

·       What gift of the Spirit would I ask for, not only for me, but for the good of those I love? 

·       In the Gospel Jesus commissions the apostles to go out into the world and practice forgiveness.  How do I share in this undertaking?

·       I look at the kind of peace that Jesus promises; it isn’t an absence of conflict and war, but a peace that comes from doing the will of the Father.  How am I doing?

·       Do I pray for an awareness of the Spirit working within me?

·       Do I take time each evening to look back at the day and to see where the Spirit was leading me?  How I responded?  Is forgiveness or gratitude necessary?  Where do I need the Spirit tomorrow? 

From Living the Word:  “Come, Holy Spirit; bring peace, mercy, forgiveness, justice, and wisdom to our world and its leaders.  Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.  Come, Holy Spirit, make Your home in me that I might bring Your light in

May 12, 2013 The Ascension of the Lord

Bulletin: May 12, 2013 The Ascension of the Lord

Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23; Luke 24:46-53
I take this time on the feast of the Ascension and look at the two readings from Luke: from Acts of the Apostles and his gospel. They are wonderful readings but they point the finger directly at me and say to me, ‘Ok, it’s up to you…what are you going to do now? And when this question comes about me and being God, I want to hide or retreat to the background or just to avoid the question. The readings do not give me this option, I am to act.
I’m not that much of a traveler; when I go places I just want to stay in one place and not do too much wandering (with the exception of the Holy Land pilgrimages). But when I do travel, I really want to be with someone or meet someone where I am going. I’m thinking of the scenario in going with a friend to anywhere; let’s say downtown D.C. or New York City. Then in the midst of the crowd, I lose my friend. Well, I’m anxious and search, hopefully we can connect. If not, I become frantic. Where could he be? Well I think the scene in Acts is similar: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? They didn’t know what to do. They had just asked Jesus, “Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
It is frantic time for them! Obviously, they still don’t get it. They had listened to Jesus…been intimately aware of Him in His appearances after the Resurrection. They knew that He would be returning to the Father in Heaven. And Rome was still in Israel. When was Jesus going to ‘kick them out’ and restore the Davidic Kingdom. They were paralyzed, just as I would be in being ‘lost’ from my friend? When this happens I don’t know what to do. I’m really waiting for someone to take my hand and lead me to safety, but that doesn’t happen. So I try to be logical in my panic and go to a place of safety.
Jesus responds to the apostles: “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” What do they have to worry about; the Holy Spirit will be with them…they can depend on that; I can depend on that. This tells them that they have been chosen; they have been called to be witnesses to Jesus’ death and Resurrection and are to preach repentance as He did and forgiveness of sins. They are to bring this faith to the world; they are to share their own faith. This is important: being living witnesses is the best testimony to the truth of Jesus’ teaching and God’s love. I personalize this: if people can’t see Jesus in me, how can they see God’s love? Up to this point, the apostles had just been followers, now they are no longer just followers but now they were to be His hands and feet, His voice and His love, His caring and compassion, His connection to the Father. And they already had been commissioned to take His love, peace and power to the ends of the world. Every person, by their baptism, is included in this. I can’t hide no one can; so what do I do now? What does each Christian do?

I have quoted Fr. Anthony Kadavil’s Teaching and Preaching resources before; he gives another fine explanation for this feast: “My friends, one of the best ways to experience the presence of God, one of the best ways to know that He is alive within us, one of the best ways to feel His love and mercy, is to be about His work, to be about the very things that were important to Him --- feeding the hungry, reaching out to the lonely, embracing sinners, giving from our want and not simply our excess --- in a word --- loving. That’s how we will know that he hasn’t just ascended from us, but has risen within us and among us.

What do we do now? May each of us strive to answer that question honestly and faithfully as we continue the work of the Lord in this time and place, in each of our families and in each of our communities. There’s plenty to do in God’s kingdom. Let’s stop staring at the sky and get to work. God will be there to lend a hand, providing all we need.”
When I look at these two readings of Luke I can so easily see that Jesus didn’t say, ‘Ok, I’m all done, there’s nothing else to do.’ Jesus is point blank telling the disciples and me that the next stage of His work, God’s plan for the world, has now begun and is continuing in me and in the world He has placed me. The work is totally in control of the Holy Spirit. Can I do this on my own; absolutely not. As the Angel said to Mary, ‘With God, all things are possible.’ So this is a great deal of work that remains to be done under the power of the Holy Spirit. So I can’t look around, wondering, or even in panic, or ‘looking up at the sky’. I must get moving.
So I reflect on:

• Someone asked me recently, ‘Are angels whispering to you to do some special work as a witness of Jesus?’ Well not exactly; but am I listening and being aware of the needs around me?
  
• The Apostles “returned to Jerusalem with great joy”; when I find myself responding to the Lord’s movement within me, I can identify with this joy. What hinders me from responding?
  
• People who live with hope and those who are hopeless are two totally different kinds of people. Those who are hope filled are usually filled with energy, focus and meaning. Those without hope feel powerless and discouraged. Hope is a gift of the Spirit. A Christian is really hope-filled? Am I? What keeps me away from this?
  

I conclude with the beautiful words from Sacred Space 2013, “Even as He leaves the disciples and sends them as witnesses, Jesus reminds them that He had to suffer, die, and rise. As I face the world into which Jesus sends me, I acknowledge that the marks of His suffering will identify me as His disciples.

Jesus promises that His disciples will be clothed with power from on high. I think of those gifts of the Spirit that are necessary for me in my life. I pray for them and prepare to receive them.”

May 5, 2013 6th Sunday of Easter

Bulletin May 5, 2013 6^th Sunday of Easter

Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21: 10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29
Today’s readings put my life and the life of every Christian into perspective. What does it mean to be a Christian? Is this to be viewed as a ‘high class club’ that one belongs to and the prize for membership is heaven? Can I just belong and that’s it; the privileges are great and the responsibilities easy? It is so easy to put myself in that frame work. But that is pure rubbish; so I look into the readings to gain wisdom and direction.
It is obvious in the first reading from Luke’s Acts of the Apostles that the question of conditions for membership in the early church was a much disputed and very serious topic. The first followers of Jesus were all Jewish and they continued to follow their customs and traditions. When Gentiles started to believe in Jesus, there was conflict; the ‘old timers’ felt that the new converts should be brought up under the same religious rules, regulations and rituals. Paul brought this concern to the leadership saying that salvation came only from Jesus and not even indirectly through ‘the law’. Jesus’ Resurrection changed everything. As one author said, “…it broke the rules, and for a people who followed Moses the teacher, keeping the rules was of utmost importance. Also the practice of circumcision was not negotiable for males; since these marks were ‘their identity.” The Pharisees were the teachers and enforcers of these rules and Paul was a devout Pharisee. At Jerusalem, the first Council of the church decided, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and ours too, not to demand any burden beyond that which is strictly necessary.” (The ‘ours too’ refers to Peter, Barnabas, Paul and James the leader of the church of Jerusalem) The Spirit is at work and continues to lead the Church and to lead me and each person closer to the Lord. The questions are ‘Do I allow the Spirit to work within me? Do I feel that since I am a relatively good person, what I do must be ok?
This really brings up an important question: How is the Holy Spirit given to us? Jesus ‘gave’ the Spirit to us … ‘I will never leave you alone, I will send the Spirit to be with you always.’ The Holy Spirit is a gift to each person, and it is also a gift to us as we interact in our life community. The Spirit is always at work. Fifty years ago the Spirit guided the deliberations of the Second Vatican Council. So what does the Spirit do?
John devotes many pages on Jesus’ Last Supper Discourse much of which describes the Spirit in each person’s life. Today He tells us, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” Now the word John uses to describe the Holy Spirit is paracletos, which doesn’t translate very well into English. The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete is a nice phrase but what does this word mean? Paraclete means ‘helper’, ‘advocate’, ‘consoler’, or’ counselor’. These different translations all point to the same thing: that the Holy Spirit will help me and each person to live the life of Jesus today. And how is this accomplished? Jesus says it all, “Whoever loves Me will keep my word and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep my My words, yet the word you hear is not Mine but that of the Father who sent Me.” So am I a person of love?
One of my mentors while I was on Sabbatical at Notre Dame in the 1990’s was Msgr. Eugene Lauer, he used this fitting example: “A Love That Flows – That exquisite sage of Chinese culture Confucius described the Superior Person as the one for whom duty was no burden. He or she is the person who can carry out moral righteousness with little effort. To be caring, to be good, is exactly what that person wished to do and be at every moment. Just laws are not perceived as binding or restricting; rather, they provide one with the opportunity to carry out what is already one’s inner desire. The facility of virtue, therefore, is identifying characteristic of the Superior Person.” This is what Jesus is expressing, “Anyone who loves Me will be true to My word.” So If I love Jesus, this is what I will do spontaneously. I don’t need anyone to force me to keep commandments, I want to do them. I want to live in love. I want to live and be Jesus. I want to but do I want to? Jesus said in the Gospel that He gives me His special gift, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.”
When Jesus broke through the closed doors of fear and doubt He spoke these words to the apostles who desperately needed them. And I need them so very often too. He said, “Peace be with you.” And these words turned their despair into hope and their sadness into joy. This is the peace that the world cannot give; even though I try to find it in the many ‘amusements’ and ‘games’ society offers as objects of pleasure which give maybe at most a passing peace. It is the peace that Jesus gives that no one can take away from me. It is in the knowing that I am never alone, that no matter what, I am loved and treasured as well as being needed. It is that peace which can exist in the midst of my troubled world, and even in the midst of my unresolved problems, because God is with me and the Spirit is helping me. Peace is God’s gift to me and each person and most importantly it can be my gift to each person who comes into my life. This is what it means to be Jesus and work for heaven. So I reflect on:

• So how does the Holy Spirit work? The Spirit works in and through me and others. Do I allow this to happen?
  
• What does it mean to love one another as Jesus loves me? Can I love with that much perfection?
  
• How do my belief and my trust in Jesus impact my daily life?
  
• Jesus recognizes that I will have times of fear and doubt. It seems that when I face these all by myself, they overpower me. Why don’t I realize the Spirit is always present? Why do I do the ‘man’ thing and tackle it by myself?
  
• As Paul tells the Romans in the 8^th chapter, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? And then Paul gives his wonderful conclusion in the 39^th verse. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, not things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
  

So I trust and love!