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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

Thursday December 13, 2007

+ Second Week of Advent

What is to become of us?

Readings: Isaiah 41:13-20 Psalm 145:1, 9, 10-11, 12-13ab Matt 11:11-15

“I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open up rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water. I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive; that all may see and know, observe and understand that the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it”. [Isaiah 41:17-20]

“All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come. Whoever has ears ought to hear.” [Matt 11:13-15]

As our global awareness increases almost exponentially, so too our anxiety increases about what is to become of our nation and its heritage. Indeed, what is to become of us?

As our Church digs in its heals out of fear, I suppose, of losing its identity, many of wonder what will become of us, especially those of us who embraced so enthusiastically the spiritually liberating theology of Vatican II with its accent on the pastoral dimension of the Church instead of its dogmatic definitions many of which had lost their meaning in the light of an emerging cosmology and anthropology that cast into doubt at least some aspects of our theological understanding of the universe and our role in determining its destiny.

In an effort to maintain the identity of the Church, indeed, of Christianity, our bishops are restoring old practices such as the Latin Mass that they sincerely believe will keep us faithful to the teachings of Christ. But they are confusing externals with the core of Christianity, a core which ultimately cannot be defined by immutable definitions or moral edicts that are not consistent with the lived experience not just of one individual but of humanity itself as it struggles to free itself from oppression, political and religious.

I feel confident that in the right pastoral setting with a genuine openness to the Holy Spirit, we will move forward despite the efforts of some to bind us with the burdens of the past.

Today’s gospel text may be wrongly interpreted to support violence as a way into the kingdom or as a means to bring about the dominion of God. On the contrary – as William Barclay suggests in his commentary – Matthew is suggesting rather that true believers may indeed suffer violence through persecution for the sake of the kingdom. This is quite a different interpretation indeed. “It may well be that this saying of Jesus was originally at one and the same time a warning of violence to come and a challenge to produce a response would be even stronger than the violence.”

In other words, the response of Christ!