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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 January 11, 2008

+ Friday after Epiphany

Readings: I John 5:5-13 Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20 Luke 5:12-16

All of us are ‘priests’ in virtue of our baptism.

“_This is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ, not by water alone, but by water and blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies, and the Spirit is truth. So there are three who testify, the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are in agreement_.” [1 John 5:6-8]

“It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, ‘Lord, if y ou wish, you can make me clean.’” [Luke 5:12]

I mentioned yesterday that the readings for this week are foundational. They are a necessary preparation for the year ahead as we reflect on the words and deeds of Jesus as they are recorded this year for the most part by Matthew.

This Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus and of course the first question that comes to mind is this: “Why did Jesus need to be baptized by John?” John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jesus had nothing for which to repent. “He became like us in all things but sin.” However he did bear the consequences of sin and thus he accepted John’s baptism to demonstrate the fact that though he was the Son of God, in the words of St. Paul to the Philippians, he did not cling to that status but took on human flesh becoming a servant to humanity, becoming one like us that we might become one like him.

Baptism is the primordial sacrament for the Christian. John states at the conclusion of today’s reading that those who believe in the name of Jesus ‘have’ eternal life—present tense!

We, women and men as equals, share the priesthood of Christ through baptism. This is called the ‘common priesthood’ and it empowers us to ‘put on Christ’ and to act ‘in personal Christi’ i.e., in the person of Christ. It makes us full participants at the Eucharist and I believe it empowers us to preach and to heal and to share the bread of our lives with the hungry—those who are physically and spiritually hungry. The ordained priesthood is entirely dependent on the priesthood of all the baptized, recent efforts to separate them notwithstanding.

There is nothing that we can say or do today that should hide the power of Christ’s ministry to humanity through the church—the Church i.e, is defined as the “People of God.”