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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

Readings: Acts 20:17-27 Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21 John 17:1-11

I am in the world no longer, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. [John 17:11]

Shakespeare ‘penned’ the phrase quoted above. I didn’t understand it as a student of Shakespeare in high school but I began to understand it when I waved goodbye to my family as I sailed off to Italy on September 21, 1963 for a three-year stretch in Rome. In fact, it has multiple meanings and applications that I appreciate now more than ever before.

There is another phrase that perhaps gives credence to my thoughts so poorly expressed and it’s this: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Ah, that’s it. At times we need to separate from ‘the source’ in order to appreciate how important it is to stay connected.

The farewell speech of St. Paul in Acts and the farewell ‘prayer’ of Jesus in John’s gospel were more likely composed by the authors of these texts along the lines of the farewell speeches of great leaders of their times in order to attract the attention of Jesus’ followers.

The departure of Jesus and later that of Paul created ‘fallow’ time in the hearts of the neophyte believers that was absolutely necessary if they were to grasp the significance of Jesus’ message and the teachings of St. Paul.

We are once again in ‘fallow’ time as we prepare for Pentecost. It’s a time of discernment during which we are invited to ponder the words and deeds of Jesus so that in his absence, we may come to know his presence in the Spirit that remains within us and around us.

As we ponder, it is important to reflect on the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and reverence of the Lord. And the fruits of the Holy Spirit are qualities that are characteristic of a community living in Christ: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty self-control and chastity.

There is much to ponder as we wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

Daily Scripture

Wednesday December 22, 2004

+ 4rd Week in Advent

Readings: Samuel 1:24-28 Luke 1:46-56

Christianity is countercultural; or is it?

“He has confused the proud in their inmost thoughts. He has deposed the mighty from their thrones and raised the lowly to high places. The hungry he has given every good thing while the rich he has sent away empty.” [Luke 1:51a-53]

Over the past few years, I have read theological commentators who suggest we are now living in post Christian times in a post modern era. I don’t know how one determines that we are living so far in the future that the present is no longer real. Or is the converse true? Has the ‘reality’ of the present far exceeded the appearance of what is that the signs and symbols of past human events and divine interventions are no longer valid. They have become vapid shells, devoid of meaning which have lost their ability to inspire and so we search for new signs and symbols.

People will gather on the feast. Parents will bring their children to the manger scene to see the ‘baby Jesus.’ The will sing the shepherds hymns and angels’ songs but in truth, these no longer capture the reality of what it means to be an ‘observant’ Christian in a post modern age.

The readings today are truly revolutionary in their implication for believers and in their application to underlying realities that in fact are truly perennial despite the fact that the traditional signs and symbols no longer hold.

Christmas for the true Christian is more than midnight Mass, which for many has become more a pageant than a prayer, or the momentary act of generosity to the poor, which is often simply another reminder of our superiority over the poor.

No ‘bah humbug’ here. There’s nothing wrong with Christmas cheer and festive celebrations but Christians must be the sign of yet hidden realities that God is not indifferent to the demands of justice and the rule of divine law that will ultimately prevail over the human will to conquer.