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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 October 12, 2004

Monday, Oct. 12, 2004 – 28th Week in Ordinary Time

We are called to be Christian from the inside out and from the outside in!

“When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free…. But if you look to the law to make you justified, then you have separated yourselves form Christ and have fallen from grace.” [Galatians 5:1, 4]

Paul continues his diatribe about the Law. Once again, he is overstating the point to make the point. Jesus did not come to do away with the ‘Law’ but to bring it to fulfillment. We need to make a distinction between the Law or the Torah and laws or regulations flowing from the law. When the latter become more important than the former then we fall into legalism. For the Jews, the Torah was like the revealed word of God. It was considered life giving and faithfulness to the Torah was equal to faithfulness to God. Some of the Pharisees over-interpreted the Torah and multiplied rules and regulations to an extreme. That which became life giving became oppressive. Jesus said the letter of the law smothers. It is the spirit that gives life. We Catholics can easily slip or slide into a legalistic Christianity assuming that adherence to rites and rituals or to external religious obligations suffices to justify religious practice. No way. “Instead, give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.” If we life the spirit of the Gospel, indeed we have fulfilled the “Law” because we will be living the Torah!