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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

Friday October 26, 2007

+ 29th Week in Ordinary Time

“I see the better things and I approve them, but I follow the worse.” [Ovid]

Readings: Romans 7:18-25 Psalm 119:66, 68, 76-77, 93-94 Luke 12:54-59

“I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” [Romans 7:18-19]

“You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time? Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?” [Luke 12:56-57]

Our doctrine of original sin is rooted in the ancient Jewish belief that every person had two natures. It was their conviction that this was how God made us—with a good impulse and an evil impulse within us. Some rabbis even taught that this impulse existed in the embryo. It sounds a bit like Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde.

Paul is bearing his soul in today’s reading, acknowledging with great anguish the tension that he himself experienced between good and evil. The Jews taught that the Torah served as a prophylactic against evil and sin and that wisdom and reason could overcome evil. It is Paul’s teaching and our belief that in as much as Christ replaced the law, he becomes our armor against the sin that we are so prone to commit be it personal or communal sin. And the Holy Spirit provides the wisdom of sound judgment.

I came upon this quote of St Theresa that I think can help us to live more confidently in the knowledge that nothing can happen that God and we can’t deal with together—i.e., when we act as if everything depended on us and prayed as if everything depended on God:

“Let nothing trouble thee; let nothing frighten thee; all things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Nothing is wanting to [those] who possess God. God alone suffices.”

But this is not just applicable to personal spirituality. It applies as much to our response to local and global justice issues. Life in the spirit is closely tied to Biblical justice.