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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

Tuesday July 17, 2007

+ 15th Week in Ordinary Time

It’s the stuff of a soap opera but it changed the course of Jesus history.

Readings: Exodus 2:1-15 Psalm 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34 Matthew 11:20-24

“Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe while her maids walked along the river bank. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it. On opening it, she looked, and lo, there was a baby boy, crying! So the maiden and called the child’s own mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me and I will repay you.’” [Exodus 2:5-6, 9]

More than likely this is an ‘infancy narrative’ written in the style of other ‘infancy narratives’ to account for the appearance of an extraordinary figure into the larger story of God’s interventions into the human history. Moses of course was a central figure in the escape of the Jews from Egypt. There is no doubt more theology than history in the great exodus story. Remember, the Bible contains more ‘faith history’ than documentary or journalistic history.

As extraordinary as was the discovery of Moses in the cradle among the reeds, it is a believable story—not beyond our wildest imaginations. Whether or not it happened that way is less important than the fact that Moses was destined to be one of the most significant messianic figures in the Old Testament story paving the way for Jesus who, according to our tradition, became the Passover event not just for Jews but for all humanity.

The details of the Moses story are not as significant as the portrait of his character and the authenticity of his mission to free the Israelites from slavery. The Exodus event for Jews (Passover) is pivotal in their salvation story. Moses didn’t just ‘save’ them but instilled within them the qualities that empowered them to faith and trust in a God who cared enough to intervene in a progressive way over time. This was not a God who would do life for them but with them under the leadership of a wise man.

Matthew presents Jesus as the ‘new Moses’—the wise man of the New Testament, who leads us to places we would never chose to go on our own; who does not do life for us but was willing to life for us to the extent that it would cost him his life. He did this not to ‘pay’ for our wrongs but to enable us to overcome our wrongs in our never-ending effort to life rightly. Moses ‘led’ his people; he did not save them. Jesus also leads us and empowers to make choices that bring life not death even if in the pursuit of life, we experience death. That’s the oxymoron of living the life of grace in Christ.