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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

Saturday December 25, 2004

+ Christmas Day

Readings: Isaiah 52:7-10 Hebrews 1:1-6 John 1:1-18

There is no going back

“At various times in he past and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets, but n our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son he has appointed … “ [Hebrews 1:1]

Have you ever experienced the urge to go back to your place of birth? Not the hospital but the home in which you spent your earliest years. Given the mobility of life in the 20th century, it is possible that we may need to return not just to one but to many neighborhoods. There are only two on my list! One on Terhune Avenue in Jersey City and one on Chestnut St in Morristown. My dad and dad spent fifty-four years in the latter and my dad four more after mom passed away.

If you have ever gone back surely you must have taken note of how different it was from the way your had remembered it; probably a lot smaller and of course, the ambient vastly different from your childhood. The return to our roots satisfies our desire to go back again and we move on. The memory of the past is more precious than the momentary return to reality such as it was. The memory is able to store up so many experiences that cannot be repeated historically and this memory energizes us to capture the present and make the best of every moment that life has to offer.

As Christians we hold on to a ‘collective’ memory of Jesus’ birth during this season not to go back to this unique event but to connect the memory of Jesus with his many ‘comings’ through the years. This is the memory that enables us to become instruments of his interventions and which energizes us to goodness in our out time and place.

For those whose memories of childhood are not happy, the memory of Jesus’ birth can be a healing experience. “For to those who love God all things work together for good, for those who have been called according to his purpose.”