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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.

Third Sunday of Easter 'A'

Saturday April 9, 2005

Joy on the Journey

Before embarking on journey, it is not unusual for travelers to become preoccupied with their destination. Depending on the purpose of the trip, the sense of anticipation is flavored with feelings of joy or sadness. However, not every journey has a specific plan other than to arrive. There are joy rides and there are sad rides.

For many years during this post-Easter season, I traveled to a small community of Benedictine Monks at Weston Priory for my annual retreat. Located in the heart of the Green Mountains of Vermont, the priory provides a reverent but joyful atmosphere in which “the brothers” and their guests can ponder the great mysteries of life. The natural beauty of the mountains that surround the priory and the Spartan simplicity of the priory make it a perfect setting for intimate conversation with God. The sense of community engendered by the monks brings the Scriptures to life and surely makes the celebration of the Eucharist a genuine experience of Christian community.

What impressed me more than anything through the years was the monks’ intense awareness of the issues of the day. They may truly be separated from the world but they are not disengaged from it and certainly not disinterested in it. A visitor cannot escape the challenges of the world at Weston. On the contrary, one is confronted on a daily basis by the words of Scripture that touch the soul and the Eucharistic narrative that pulsates with the rhythm of Christ’s faithfulness—unto death. In this quiet setting, one is consoled by the living presence of Christ and challenged to re-enkindle the light of God’s Word in the darkness; to go back and build through works of justice and compassion what the ages have destroyed.
The mystery we continue to ponder during this post Easter period is the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. The Scriptures are rich with meaning and give ample testimony to the reality of God’s profound presence in the world.

In his first kerygmatic speech recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter testifies to the fact that even death itself could not prevent the message of Jesus from being proclaimed. More than this, his message continues to empower believers of all times and places to act in accordance with that proclamation, “in season and out of season, when convenient and inconvenient.” The very word of God contains the power of grace to conversion, action, and faithfulness. We do not listen today as if in a classroom but we listen as if in the presence of Peter himself.

Peter continues his witness through his letters, the first of which we received a few moments ago. It is written in the form of a baptismal hymn to alert us to our personal call to salvation. It is a poetic sermon on the hope to which we must cling as if to an anchor. We have been redeemed but our salvation is not yet completed until our participation in God’s life is as full as it was in Jesus. This participation is progressive and expands as we live out our lives in communion with Christ and one another in his Body, the Church. The death to which St. Peter refers is not a biological death but a spiritual death. No one is exempt from physical death but we are all protected from ultimate spiritual death, that is, eternal separation from God if we but open ourselves to the power of his grace through whatever channel it is provided.

The story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of the most powerful post-resurrection appearance stories recorded in the entire Bible. More than likely, Luke based this story on an original tale that formed a nucleus on which he developed his own portrait of Christ and the infant Church that emerged after Jesus resurrection. Notice the subtle liturgical language and the combination of word and sacrament as if to suggest that this experience might become the paradigm for the Church of all ages. It is from this passage that what we have come to know as the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is based. The journey from darkness to light; from confusion to clarity; from death to life through the study of Scripture and the Breaking of the Bread at Eucharist.

The story of Emmaus is our individual and communal story as we journey through life. We think we know where we are going but we are not necessarily fully aware of our ultimate destiny. Our lack of certainty and our fear of failure is always lurking at the side of the road. But as we come daily or at least weekly to the table of God’s Word and the breaking of this bread, sooner or later we come to know that Jesus is never far from us. With eyes of faith we look beyond the turmoil of disillusionment and even despair and see the face of God in every situation and circumstance.

It was an awesome sight and an awesome sign when during the Holy Father’s funeral in the midst of such a diversity of purpose or opinion, at the ‘exchange of peace’ in the Communion Rite everyone extended a hand and I hope their heart to one another as a gesture of unity, if not already achieved at least ‘in pectore’ – a yearning for unity and peace at heart.

I also believe that the power of the Eucharist is such that even those who did not completely understand its mysterious workings in someway became conscious that we are all bread blessed and broken for humanity and that there is enough bread to go around for the homeless and hungry everywhere. To that extent, I hope no one left the table empty-handed or hollow-hearted.

We do not walk alone and though we carry within us individually and as a community, the wounds of our world and of our Church, we know that they are also the wounds of Christ that have the potential to heal our own wounds.

This is why we come to this table—not to escape the challenges of living in the world but to reinforce our determination to live with integrity and honor no matter what the cost. Forty years ago, the Church was re-defined as “the People of God. ” Church leadership was re-defined as the ‘servants of the servants’ of God.

The Church exists not to serve itself and maintain its power over others but to become powerless in the service of humanity. Ours is the redemptive way that was chosen for us at Baptism; this is the way of salvation that is given to us to claim as our own individually and as a community.

May your journey be successful. Bon voyage!