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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.

Feast of Pentecost

Saturday May 14, 2005

Again—As If For The First Time

Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council in October of 1962 by calling it “a new Pentecost”. I’m certain now that most Roman Catholics then did not grasp the significance of this phrase. It’s possible that even Pope John himself did not appreciate the full impact of his words and surely not the impact the Council would have on the life of our Church to the present time. Nevertheless, I believe the reference was extremely appropriate despite the anxiety that has accompanied many of the changes in the life of the Church inspired by that council.

Almost forty years have passed since the conclusion of the Council. I still remember very vividly the pageantry of the closing ceremonies in the Basilica of St. Peter on December 8, 1966. Many of you are not old enough to remember the Council much less Catholic worship and faith practice prior to the Council, but you have heard lots of stories — satirical and serious, inspiring and scandalous — about “growing up Catholic” in the forties and fifties.

For many Catholic ‘elders’, the Council was about externals — changes in the way we worship rather than changes in the way we think about ourselves as Christians. Of course, the way we worship is a strong indicator of what we believe. Yet, I sometimes hesitate to ask non-Catholic observers what they think we believe.

Sunday Mass in the average Catholic parish is not exactly a “Pentecostal” experience for most Catholics. May we conclude therefore that the full impact of the Council has yet to be experienced fully? I believe the answer is a resounding yes. Life is layered. We never get it right the first time and most of us don’t get it right after the fifth time. I suppose it is accurate to say it takes a lifetime. That’s why we need to keep coming back to the font – literally, dipping our fingers into the baptismal font and to the table where we are fed with the Eucharist bread.

Luke introduced the coming of the Holy Spirit with the same words as he used in his Gospel to announce the time of Jesus birth. Pentecost as portrayed in the Book of Acts and in John’s Gospel launched a new era, a radical change in the way the disciples thought about themselves as followers of Jesus.

Pentecost also effected a radical change in the way they viewed other people regardless of their origin or language. It was truly a reversal of Babel. The preaching of the Apostles attracted people of very different backgrounds. They were fired up as it were, about their association with Jesus. They were ready to live the very life of Jesus. In essence, they were convinced that Jesus lived in them through the gift of his Spirit. “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” [John 14:16]

I’m not sure that even now at 68 I fully appreciate the gifts of the Spirit that I received at Baptism and Confirmation. I’m still afraid to recognize or allow them to be activated for fear that I might have to change my way of thinking about myself and other people. After all, my biases and prejudices are working just fine for me. Forsaking them could have a devastating effect on my lifestyle. I am so much more comfortable with superficial changes in the externals, e.g., in the way we worship, and I find the lightening up of old rules and ascetic practices just fine. They make Christianity a lot easier to live and to explain.

On the other hand, don’t ask me to get involved in issues such as the impact of the global market economy on the poor in our own country as well as in third and fourth world countries. I still want my bargains at the expense of cheap labor in foreign and domestic sweat shops.

Noted Catholic author and Notre Dame professor, Scott Appleby, cited in Father Bill Bausch’s book entitled, “Brave New Church” has this to say about what he refers to as our religious superficiality: “This is religiosity marketed through popular songs, television, and movies, breezy bestsellers and the worldwide web. At its most spiritually deadening, ‘Virtual Catholicism’ offers its practitioners a pose rather than a plunge into mystery, a passing encounter with the hard-won truths of the faith, and a brushing up against the symbols and stories of the Tradition as these are selectively recycled through MTV, cyberspace, and popular art.”

I call it the commercializing of religion. Although many Catholics were so proud of our Church during the coverage of the death and burial of John Paul II and the election and inauguration of Benedict XVI, most of the coverage was about Church power, politics and pageantry. There was not an awful lot about the poverty of Jesus Christ and the simplicity of his mission and ministry.

The “New Pentecost” about which Pope John XXIII spoke so often repeated by Paul VI and John Paul II is not so much about changes in liturgical protocol as it is about a true change of heart toward the world.

Another look at the first Pentecost also reveals the fact that the awakening experienced by the disciples was not morbid or morose. They rejoiced in this new awareness and experienced peace in their pursuit of justice. The mighty wind of God’s spirit continues to blow where it will imparting the rhythm of God’s life, bringing with it the gifts of wisdom, courage, knowledge, reverence for God and zest for life.

The fruits of God’s spirit will be reflected in our charity, joy, peace, generosity, gentleness of heart and faithfulness.

How about we open up our minds and hearts and take the risk “again for the first time?”