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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 September 16, 2010

+ 24th Week in Ordinary Time

But for the grace of God…

Readings: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 28 Luke 7:36-50

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me. [I Corinthians 15:10]

Grace means freely given gift. Gracious people are gifts to a family, to a community, indeed, to a society. They are people who are aware that their strength comes not from themselves but from God. They are humble and grateful people who use their gifts and talents on loan, as it were, from God.

Despite Paul’s reputation for being somewhat ambitious, arrogant, and chauvinistic, I think this is more a caricature of Paul and belies his true temperament.

This passage reveals his true inner disposition.

I think all of us can boast of the same, i.e., that our true strength comes from God and the good that we do each day is ‘by the grace of God.’ Sometimes it is in our weakness that we come to know our strength because when we are aware of our weakness, we know we must defer to God and to the strength that comes to us through Christ.

Do you remember two kinds of grace we learned in our old Baltimore Catechism?
Sanctifying grace and actual grace. The first is the state of living in God’s favor and the second is the ‘push’ we need to get there. In both cases, we are participating in the divine life of God that empowers us to use our gifts and talents for the common good of others.