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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.

Been There, Done That.. A Travelog

Thursday November 18, 2004

“Been there; done that!”

This page provides an opportunity for me to comment on current events, local and global, serious and not-so-serious.

Last Saturday, I attended in a daylong seminar entitled, “Sexual Betrayal in the RC Church” sponsored by the William Alanson White Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC. It was an incredible day for the 200 plus who participated. I expect to comment on the input and output of participants in a future column but first a bit of humor.

Uncertain about whether I should travel to Mt Sinai in my ‘97 Nissan or take the NJ Transit which is two minutes from my apartment. Having researched all the info available on the net, I opted to go with my Nissan. As one who doesn’t travel to NYC very often, I was more than a bit apprehensive about either option—too many subway changes or competition with NY drivers on the narrow streets of NYC to say nothing of the speed on Route 80.

The first challenge was the ice on my windshield in the parking lot behind my apartment. The radio was reporting numerous road accidents throughout the metro area due to icing on road bridges and feeders. Hmmm, maybe I should take the train! Too late; I’ll never make it on time and I hate to be late!

So, on to I-287 north to I-80. Cars and trucks are doing 70 miles an hour! My stomach tightens and I put my hazard lights on to warm the speeders to stay away from me. Okay, I do fine until I get to the bridge. Being slightly dyslexic, I can’t figure out which gate to pass through; all of them have multiple but limited options. Now I hear a loud honk behind me and he wasn’t ‘honking for Jesus!’ I mumble to myself, I should have taken the train!

Mapquest gave me two options to Mt. Sinai: Harlem River Drive to FDR or the West Side Highway to W96 and through Central Park. The latter seemed more scenic to me and so I headed for the Westside. I looked for W96th but the sign just ahead of it said to use W95th. Okay. On to W95th which dead ends in to a one way coming the other way. Okay, I guess they want me to get onto W96th. Meanwhile, impatient NY drivers think I should know where I’m going. I do, but I don’t know how to get there! I have enough trouble in NJ!

Okay, there it is. Off through beautiful Central Park to Madison Ave and voila! there’s Mt. Sinai, but the parking garage is not where the map said it would be. So, around the blocks I go stopping here and there for directions. “Don’t know sir!” Round and round we go, where we stop nobody knows! Should have taken the train. Ooops, there’s a sign for P. Once more around the block and into the garage. Wonderful. I made it and was stil the first attendee to arrive.

The real challenge was getting home.

I assumed the payment arrangements for parking is like NJ. Why not! Well I get to my car, started driving the wrong way and fortunately realized I was heading toward the incoming grarage traffic and turned around. (The signage in NY is no better than in NJ!) Anyhow, I get down to the gate attendant who was in the small booth with a window but no opening. So, I said to myself, how am I going to pay and who’s going to open the gate? Then he turned around and starts yelling at me. “Where are you going?” Home, of course. How stupid of him to ask. I didn’t yell that. I yelled back, “I want to pay!” He yelled back, “Over there!” I yelled back, “Over where?” He said over there! I looked blank at a deadend parking area and said yelled back once more, “Over where?” Then I realized there was a booth behind him and he was telling me to park and go to the booth and pay. All the ‘intelligent’ folks at the booth some of whom were at the seminar were staring at me, probably thinking to themselves, “The priest ain’t too bright!” They were right, in this instance. Well I got out but finding my way back to the West Side Highway is a whole other story.

There has got to be a spiritual lesson to be learned from this juncket. I suspect you may be thinking to yourself, “Been there, done that!” If not, don’t tell me.

Life is a ‘labyrinth’ of sorts. We may schedule our plans and plan our goals all the time assuming we know where we are going. There are many deadend streets and roads that go nowhere but when we keep alert to the right signs and signals, ambiguous though they be at times, we find our way and in the end discover that God was never far.