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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

We are to be consecrated in truth.

Readings: Acts 20:28-38 Psalm 88:29-30, 33-36 John 17:11b-19

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 may also be consecrated in truth. [John 17:18-19]

Read the Gospel very slowly and if possible, out loud and if necessary, three times! Although John’s literary style is quite complex, the farewell prayer of Jesus is as powerful as is Paul’s farewell message in Acts.

It is not likely that these passages are the actual words of Paul and Jesus. They are compositions that Luke and John or whoever wrote in their name and are based on the oral tradition of the sayings of Jesus and the preaching of Paul. They were written in the style of farewell addresses of prominent leaders of their times in order to win the attention of early believers to whom the message of truth was entrusted.

The ‘truth’ that is being proclaimed is not from a catechism nor is it a defined doctrine or dogma. It is the core truth about the God who spoke through the prophets and then through Jesus about the universality of God’s love.

During this time of immediate preparation for Pentecost, we are invited to think about our own responsibility to pass on the ‘truth’ of God’s goodness entrusted to us in Christ and how we are to live that truth in our daily lives, each in our own unique way. No one of us can do this alone and so we much join hands literally and figuratively within the community of believers everywhere.

To live the ‘truth’ is to live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ the fruits of which are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, moderation, self-control, reverence, etc. I’m sure you memorized these ‘fruits of the Holy Spirit.’

These are the true ‘marks’ of our authenticity as believers.

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Saturday September 3, 2011

Let the prophet’s voice be heard

It may seem redundant to repeat but it bears repetition: The Scriptures never lose their force or relevance to life and death experiences. Authored ages ago, the message is never redundant. Not at all!

People of faith continue to find meaning in the perennial wisdom of ancient prophets and early Christian witnesses to divine interventions.

I recall how after 9/11 people of faith turned immediately to the daily readings as well as to the daily newspapers. In the wake of the attacks as the smoke cleared, we reached out to one another not with simplistic answers but with heartfelt concern. People reached deep into their pockets and found the wherewithal to give sacrificially and deep into their hearts to provide emotional support to those most in need.

Now that the latest storm is over and life is returning more or less to normal, the political debates have received new life with the return of name- calling from both extremes with very little common sense in the middle to say nothing of civility and dignity.

What does the prophet say to a nation that proclaims liberty and justice for all?

I dare say that the words of Ezekiel are troubling on many counts and so we need to be very cautious about his message lest we speculate with simplistic applications to the present state of affairs.

Ezekiel was a prophet during the reign of a weak king, Zedekiah. His weakness was not the absence of physical strength but the absence of resolve toward works of justice and mercy within his own kingdom. Instead, he was preoccupied with kingdom building and unhealthy alliances with other nations for his own gain.

Against whom shall go to war this during these troubled times? Surely we should have learned by now that war has serious limitations in the pursuit of justice and peace.

Who will speak for the impoverished of the land, the wretched refuse not on distant shores but in our very midst, huddled masses yearning to be free – as it is written at the base of the Statue of Liberty?

There are indeed lessons we can take from the prophets this weekend and here are a few for a start:

Things are not right in our land and there is a need for someone to call us to account. There is something wrong in a society in which CEOs pay lower taxes than their secretaries and in which wealthy corporations have so many loopholes that practically eliminate any tax liability. A society in which civil government workers a can’t afford home or car insurance or adequate health care for their families and in which waiters and waitresses can’t afford the quality of food they serve to rich.

But there is a process for the pursuit of justice and reconciliation in a society that is still divided between the rich, a disappearing middle class and a level of poverty that increases by the day especially among the young, their children suffering the most dire consequences. . Reason must prevail in all our responses. Assigning blame to leaders without taking responsibility for the thinking that drives them makes little sense. Presidents and even popes are not always who they say they are but who and what we make them.

We do not need grandstanding from politicians on both sides of the aisle and on- the-spot indictments from network pundits serving as self-appointed prosecutors and judges are not helpful.

We need to challenge the strong to embrace the weak.

We need to adopt a new way of thinking about the justice in our land and about the common good and common ground that can yield solutions to the most complex problems we have ever faced as a nation. To speak of the American dream and prosperity without dealing with the reality and impact of the global economy as well as the impact of an industrial complex that has replaced human muscle with high tech robots is simplistic. To speak of a job market without examining the educational system to prepare workers for the harvest is not realistic.

But this is not the time to look for scapegoats to blame for the inadequate responses to a relentless recession that appears to defy ingenuity. It’s a time for a nation to look into its soul and ask how we got here not economically but socially and politically. Extremes produce extremes.

True love is persistent and relentless in its response even in the face of rejection. Love binds us to justice. Justice holds us to compassion. Compassion demands that we listen to the cries of the poor and that we respond not only with bread and water but with a way out of poverty.

The gospel according to Peanuts records this little anecdote.

“Lucy says to Charlie Brown: ‘You know what the whole trouble with you is, Charlie Brown?’

“No and I don’t what to know! Leave me alone!”

“The whole trouble with you is that you won’t listen to what the whole trouble with you is!’” [Treasury of Quips, Anthony Castle, Twenty-Third Publications as quoted in’ Celebration’, NCR Publications, 2002]

True love takes a lot of listening with the head and with the heart. Listening leads to knowledge; knowledge leads to understanding which is the gateway to justice and peace.

This is a vision, not the way things are. However, Christians must be on the cutting edge of the search and in the vanguard in making the vision come true. And we need to bring our faith to the table.