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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.

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Friday August 5, 2005

That Sinking Feeling

It has been said that we are not born with inherent fear. We acquire both healthy and unhealthy fears through early life experiences that shape our attitudes and our personalities. However, with the help of good mentors, we also acquire the wisdom to avoid life-threatening circumstances and develop coping mechanisms to deal with unavoidable situations that evoke fear and anxiety.

I will never forget a ‘storm’ took place in the Jersey shore at Sea Girt but it was not one occasioned by a meteorological event. It was a beautiful day but given the size of the waves, a mature adolescent might have at least acquired a healthy fear of the undercurrents and rib tides that can occur on the shore at a moment’s notice.

I advanced unafraid into the waves and was carried beyond the point of no return, heading toward the end of a jetty where I would have drowned by the angry waves against the rocks.

At least having the humility to call for help, a woman better able than I to manage the turbulence of the unruly waters saved me.

Disturbing though this incident may have been to me it is only a sample of the psychological, emotional and spiritual storms that strike all of us in the course of our short lives. Many of them are personal such as a serious illness, substance abuse, the loss of a job, the anguish of a troubled or failed marriage to name only a few.

Others are collective or societal as might occur amidst racial strife in a neighborhood, political upheaval within a nation, or the threat of global terrorism.

Some storms we bring upon ourselves and are associated with our own weakness. Others or are the result of the sins of others—individual or collective sin as institutional bias, corporate greed and religious intolerance.

However, the most challenging of all storms are those that test our faith, casting us under a heavy cloud and leaving us with the sink or swim feeling that we might not make it.

Elijah went to the mountain not to seek God’s help but to flee from peril. “Take my life,” he said to God. “It’s all over; I’m done in.” He waited for God to respond but the voice of God was not in the strong and wind, earthquake or fire – the symbolic language associated with war and destruction. It was in the ‘sound of silence’ or as one author put it, “in the noisy sound of silence” that the Lord God spoke.

But God would not accept Elijah’s despair nor terminate his assignment as a prophet. On the contrary, God told him to carry on. He listened, and returned to Jerusalem to complete what God asked of him.

Peter’s ‘walk on the water’ was not about defying the laws of nature but about the assurance of divine protection in the person of Jesus. Caught between faith and doubt, Peter risked stepping out of the security of the boat into troubled waters.

Peter’s initiative in stepping out of the boat is important. Faith is not about sitting and waiting but about initiating and acting. Peter had to leave the boat in a “leap of faith” and enter the water in order to confront his own weakness and experience the power of the savior. Using a script similar to that of Elijah, he called out: “Lord, save me!” It’s a magnificent mantra.

Only after the reassuring words of the master did Peter and the others realize it that it was the Lord. “Truly, he is the Son of God,” an acclamation that we rightly connect with that of the centurion at the foot of the cross.

It has been stated by more than one sage that no one gets out of life alive. It’s a sobering thought that can lead to a spiritual paralysis. Another sage counters with this axiom, “Life is what you make it.” But this is a bit too Pelagian.

As with Elijah and Peter, our faith is often mixed with fear and doubt but we are never alone and there is no challenge that God and we can’t handle together – together!

There are no magic potions or formulas that can replace an abiding trust in God’s presence. However, we also need to step out of the boat into the rough waters. Saint Thomas Aquinas said: “Grace builds on nature.” In other words, we need to face our challenges and embrace the pain that accompanies them in the knowledge that indeed God does help those who help themselves.

God entered a partnership with us at the first moment of our existence. This is a special kind of partnership called ‘covenant’ in which God binds himself to be faithful whether or not we remain faithful. God remains the initiator and makes up for our weakness and even our indolence. Jesus remains the fulfillment of the promise. Though he was equal to God, he emptied himself taking on the form of a slave becoming like us in all things but sin. [Philippians 2:6-10]

Faith is not a ‘disconnect’ from reality. Faith does not anesthetize pain or cover up truth. Faith demands risk and involvement. It impels us to action and empowers to direct-connect with God as our source of strength. But, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for true believers, “there are no cheap graces.”

Whether our challenges be personal, collective; private, public; political, economic, or religious, our faith does not exempt us from diving in with courage and living with integrity.

The prayer that comes to mind is the prayer of serenity:
“Lord, give me the serenity to accept the things I can not change;
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference!”