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This link will keep 'parishioners-at-large' in touch with current creative liturgy sources and resources that respect a variety of 'traditions' within the Church.

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Daily Scripture

+ 21st Week in Ordinary Time

Every day is a gift and a blessing.

Readings: I Corinthians 1:1-9 Psalm 145:2-7 Matthew 24:42-51

I give thanks to my god always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gifts as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [I Cor 1:4-5, 7]

My mother used to say that every day is a gift and a blessing—an opportunity for grace indeed, many graces.

I suppose it’s all according to one’s perspective. The greatest challenge in life is to find something to be thankful for every day. This is particularly difficult during stressful times and certainly during illness of one kind or another.

I think I may have shared difference between a hermit and a nightclub performer. The hermit wakes up at dawn and says, “Thank you, God!” The nightclub entertainer wakes up at noon and says, “Good God, morning?”

There is so much going on in the world at large and in our own particular worlds to bring anxiety and stress. It’s hard work to maintain balance. An active spiritual life based on the confidence that nothing can happen today that can defeat us if we are grounded in the belief that God’s presence is abiding but it’s difficult and sometimes terrifying to let go.

I still remember the first time I road my two-wheeler bike without my dad holding on to the seat. We started off—I, confident that he hand was firmly attached to the seat. I had ridden almost a full block before I realized that he had let go and there I was, gliding down the street. It’s that way with God. We just need to remain conscious that God’s ‘hand’ is not a crutch but that God’s grace within us is real.

Some days it seems as if we are starting all over again.

Fifth Sunday of Easter 'A'

Sunday April 20, 2008

From Easter to a New Pentecost

Over the past several years, we have witnessed extraordinary events that rival any in modern history, events that have had and will continue to have an extraordinary impact on human thinking and human institutions for the rest of our lifetime and more.

But the more recent events in the life of our Church—a mix of tragedy and triumph, joy and sorrow, to be sure—have touched the heart and soul of every Catholic and of many not of our household or, sorry to say, no longer of our household.

The unprecedented outpouring of enthusiasm for the visit of Benedict XVI rivals the attention given to few personages or personalities in recent times with the exception of Princess Diana. I would be less than honest were I not to confess my guarded enthusiasm for such pomp and pageantry in the face of the gospel simplicity of Jesus “who did not deem equality with God something to grasped but emptied himself taking on the form of a slave in human likeness.” [Philippians 2:6-7]

I understand that Jesus did not qualify for a ticket to St. Patrick’s Cathedral yesterday.

The essential mission of the Church, in the words of Pope Benedict, “to build communities in a lonely world” remains firm. But the Church of Christ is ultimately experienced not in the pageantry of papal parades but in the simple gathering of believers at the family table, at the Eucharist table and at the table of humanity through Christian service. And these three tables must remain connected.

The Church among early Christians had the quality of openness and forbearance that is so characteristic of a healthy engagement between God and humanity. The give and take among the Apostles and between the Apostles and the community at large was demonstrated over and over again in their willingness to dialogue and even argue about the most appropriate response to needs within the early Christian communities.

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Luke records a specific example of the apostolic response to the Greek-speaking widows who complained that their needs were being neglected by the leadership of the Church. The response of “The Twelve” was prompt and dramatic and effected a significant change in the structure of the early Church. Seven men of proven worth were appointed to care for the special needs of the widows. The Apostles approved of the appointment of deacons through the “laying on of hands” which made it an official act of the Church. It should not surprise us that the Holy Spirit might be calling the Church to new ministries that include married men and women from among the congregation to preside at Eucharist. St Peter states clearly that in virtue of their baptism, all Christians have been configured to Christ and are a ‘priestly people.’ I assume this means women as well as men.

One of the lessons that history has taught our Church over time is that change is inevitable. It was Cardinal Newman who said, “To live is to change; to become perfect is to have changed often!”

In the second reading, St Peter used the analogy of living stones to describe the Church. Jesus is the cornerstone. Peter sang the praises not of dead stones but of living stones, which in effect breathe with the Spirit of God in Christ. We are the living stones. The rejection of Christ as the “cornerstone” demonstrated his powerlessness in the face of the world.

The lesson is clear: as the Church comes to accept its powerlessness, i.e., its poverty, it will come to know its strength!

Might Peter, the first Pope be calling us to divest ourselves of the trappings of political power and invest rather in the poverty - read ‘powerlessness’- of Christ crucified and risen from the dead?

The Gospel of John captures the fullness of the message. Unless and until we as a Church are rooted in Christ, the way, the truth and the life, we will not be able to proclaim his Gospel to others in word and deed.

Perhaps we are more often like Thomas in our doubt and hesitation. Christ must endure as the truth and to that truth all must surrender—Pope, bishops, priests, deacons and faithful members of the Body of Christ. Although the Church is truly a living organism, as an institution it exists not as an end in itself but as an instrument in the hands of God to empower us to be what Jesus was, and to do what he did in his time and place. Did he not promise us in this very Gospel to continue to work through us? “Truly, I tell you, the one who believes in name will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Our life must be in Christ and anything in the institution we call Church that does not reflect the qualities of the living Christ must give way to the truth no matter how costly the change.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled; have faith in God and faith in me.”

The Holy Father is to be the great tone-setter for the global Church, which in turn is called in a world of conflict and turmoil to be a tone-setter for justice and peace. The Holy Father and the Church ought not to be worldly but must engage the world in conversation and be attentive listeners as well as courageous spokespersons on the issues of the day.

I am hopeful that Benedict XVI will return to Rome a man of greater humility with the mind of Peter and the heart of John XXIII who, in the words of the Constitution on the Church in the Modern Word, will take seriously the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way and that “nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in his heart. [Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, n. 1]

I am hopeful that Catholics of every race and culture will remain faithful to the rich heritage that remains within our Church going back to Peter and will celebrate it without embarrassment in every language.

I am hopeful that Catholics will continue to take responsibility for the preaching of the Gospel and for the passing on the faith to our children with enthusiasm.

I am hopeful that Catholics will not abandon the Eucharist table and that they will continue to keep our tables connected – the Eucharist table at church, our family table at home and the table of humanity throughout the world.

I am hopeful that Catholics will not remain passive spectators as the Church moves forward but will let their voices be heard in the sanctuaries of basilicas and churches as well as in the marketplace.

I am hopeful that Catholics will challenge our leaders to honor the ancient ‘sensus fidelium’ and heed the voice of the Spirit speaking within the hearts of the faithful, especially those who have been wounded in any way by those who have abused church authorities.

I am hopeful that Catholics will remain hopeful and allow the voices of divergent views to be heard and respected. No one person has a franchise on the fullness of truth that comes from the heart of God and anyone who claims to know the mind of God in its fullness has thereby diminished and even demeaned God

I am hopeful that under the guidance of Benedict XVI, the Church will never be the same again but that it will remain rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ who emptied himself becoming like us in all things but sin.

Hope is born of the Spirit; optimism is born of the human heart. Hope is essential. Optimism is a gift but there is much reason today for both hope and optimism.