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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.

Tuesday June 5, 2007

+ 9th Week in Ordinary Time

He’s a nice guy but he has some blind spots.

Readings: Tobit 2:9-14 Psalm 112:1-2, 7-9 Mark 12:13-17

“On the night of Pentecost, after I had buried he dead, I, Tobit, went in to my courtyard to sleep next to the courtyard wall. My face was uncovered because of the heat. I did not know there were birds perched on the wall above me, till their warm droppings settle in my eyes causing cataracts.” [Tobit 2:9-10]

The Tobit story continues with some amusement. Similar to the Book of Jonah, it is akin to a biblical cartoon—an amusing story with a moral that brings a smile to our face and a lesson to our heart.

Anyhow, my good friend Bishop Casey was a wise man too with keen insights in to human behavior. I think I mentioned that one of his many quips in the midst of a crisis was, “Avoid the acute angle.” In other words, don’t over react to the situation and don’t allow yourself to get trapped by the indiscriminate remark of another person.

One of his other ‘quips’ was “He’s a nice guy but he has some blind spots.” In other words, even ‘paradigms of virtue’ are not perfect in every respect.

Yesterday we read about Tobit’s dogged commitment to integrity, justice and the care of the poor—even to the extent that he would interrupt his meal to bury the dead. However, today, he accuses his wife of stealing a goat! In his blindness and spiritual narcissism, he failed to appreciate her virtue evidenced in the gift of the goat given to her as an extra reward for her fine service to her employer. He accused her of stealing the goat!

Even in our pursuit of righteousness and integrity, we can easily adopt a self-righteous attitude and a spiritual narcissism and faith to see the good in others.

We need to maintain an openness in our ‘engagement’ with others and not jump the gun on judgment until we have all the facts and even when we have all the facts straight we need to be cautious about allowing our biases to cloud or clog our reasoning assigning false motivations to others.