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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

Much ado about nothing or, is there something to it?

Readings: Acts 19:1-8 Psalm 68:2-7 John 16:29-33

Paul traveled through the interior of the country and down to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered him, “We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” [Acts 19:1-3]

Depending on one’s sacramental theology and pastoral practice, this text has been variously interpreted. For example, those who work with the RCIA (catecheumenate) hold that the sacrament of Confirmation should be administered with Baptism as it was in the early Church. It is one of the sacraments of initiation—Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. The Eastern Rite of the Roman Catholic Church has retained the tradition of administering all three at Baptism. Yes, the infant receives a small piece of the Eucharist bread. And so in the Eastern Rite, there is no formal celebration of First Holy Communion at the age of reason or Confirmation by the bishop at whatever age the local diocese has determined the age of maturity appropriate for Confirmation. All three sacraments are administered shortly after birth.

Others feel that the celebration of First Communion and Confirmation at a later age ensures the participation of youngsters in parish religious education programs – at least until Confirmation. In this case, many Catholics view Confirmation as the completion of or graduation from religious studies.

In recent years I have become convinced that the RCIA folks and the Eastern Rite Catholics have it right. All three sacraments of initiation should be administered together. First Holy Communion and Confirmation have become more social than spiritual. I do not mean to suggest that there is no connection or that there should be no celebration after sacramental ceremonies but for many, the accent is on the wrong syllable.

The path from Baptism to Christian maturity is life-long and the benchmarks for progress are not easily measured by grouping children by age or grade level for a period of preparation that is largely academic.

This is not to suggest that religious education is optional. Faith development is unique to each person within the context first of family and then of parish. Religious education / formation is intended to provide insight into faith development at an age-appropriate level.

Catholicism has become ‘child-centered’ the result of which, we have an adult population whose religious and spiritual development stopped at Confirmation.

The celebration of Eucharist is the primary setting for faith formation. Religious education is a necessary component but detached from Eucharist, it remain just another subject to master.

Of course this all assumes that the parish celebration of the Eucharist is truly inclusive and meaningful rather than just an empty ritual. The parish at worship should be a rendition of a community of faith that strives to live its faith ‘in the town square’ as I mentioned in Sunday’s homily.

Notwithstanding my commitment to religious dialogue, I do believe that effective dialogue is based on the assumption that although both parties are knowledgeable about the topic. Though they may have different perspectives, they are not based on ignorance of the subject.

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'B'

Sunday October 18, 2009

Partners with God in Christ

Several years ago, there was a film entitled, The Man Who Played God. The main character was a wealthy and famous musician. At the height of his career, he began to lose his hearing. Embittered and angered at his plight, he withdrew from society, turned away from God and became a virtual recluse in his penthouse apartment. From his window overlooking a nearby park and with the help of a set of high-powered binoculars, he began to amuse himself by reading people’s lips.

One afternoon, he focused on a young man whose lips were moving in prayer. Once he had determined what the young man was praying for, he sent one of his servants to fulfill his request. On another occasion, he read the lips of a woman who was telling another of a desperate need. This need also was met through his intervention. Gradually the wealthy musician became quite adept at his newfound hobby and each time he performed one of these services, he looked heavenward and laughed scornfully. He was playing God!

Gradually, however, something mysterious began to happen. The man who delighted in playing God began to discover God, converted as it were by the kindnesses he had been moved to perform. In the act of serving the needs of others, he began to know God because God is a God of service but he didn’t recognize the grace of God working within him.

It is true we cannot always be in control of my own lives or the lives of other people. Some of the greatest things can happen when we “let go and let God”; when we step back and allow others to exercise their talents. But the best things happen when we do things together, deferentially.

Jesus was pretty clear about his expectations for his disciples. (Disciple means learner.) He expected them to be servants. Actually, the biblical word used is “slave”. To give up control which is even more than giving up money or personal possessions. It is giving up our will to God, subjecting ourselves to God’s rhythm. Quite frankly, this is a pretty scary thought isn’t it? People recovering from addictive illnesses know exactly what it means to acknowledge and defer to a higher power.

The sacrificial nature of the call to serve is referred to in Jesus’ reference to the cup he would drink and the bath of pain in which he would be immersed. This is the quality of service expected of his disciples. In the world of commerce and politics and even in church life, those who seem to exercise authority lord it over others. Jesus said, “It can not be that way with you.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his one of his reflections on mutual service suggested that every Christian community must confront the ambitious wrangling that set James and John at odds with the other disciples. Over and above the usual applications of servanthood he offered a few contemporary ideas such as the unique service of holding one’s tongue so as to prevent undue criticism and domination while allowing the other to grow freely in God’s image rather than in one’s own; the service of humility that places the honor, opinion and well-being of another before my own; the service of listening that does not listen with only half an ear or on the presumption of knowing what the other has to say but listens with the ears of God; the service of bearing one another’s burdens in a way that does not make the other feel like a burden; the service of communicating without dominating always in the consciousness that everything is gift.

James and John requested of Jesus the gift of honor and status. Jesus asked of them and now of us that we accept the gift of true servanthood that equips us with all we need to be successful.

We are called to be partners with Christ in service to humanity.

Lord make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
And where there is sadness, joy.
Grant, O Lord, that I may not so much seek to be consoled
as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love,
For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning
that we are pardoned
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.