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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 February 4, 2011

+ 4th Week in Ordinary Time

But prophecy has not died out.

Readings: Hebrews 13:1-8 Psalm 27:1, 3, 5, 8-9 Mark 5:14-29

The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request, “I want you to give me at one on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.” [Mark 5:25]

It’s a well-known story and there is a feast that commemorates the occasion. John the Baptist, the precursor of the Christ, didn’t mince his words with the high and low. His life was at risk because he stuck to his guns – no, not literally. He was not a warrior but an indefatigable prophet who called for conversion of heart and soul.

Prophecy is a double-edged sword that cuts in both directions. In the words of another prophet of our time, a credible prophet “comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.”

Prophecy did not die with John the Baptist. Jesus was the prophet of prophets but all of us take on that role from time to time whether it be giving voice to the rights of the most forgotten in our society, not the least of which are the unborn as well as those who challenge kings and princes and yes, even popes.

Pope John XXIII, who convened the Second Vatican Council, himself a prophet challenged the “prophets of doom” who saw no good coming from this historic council that was intended to set a new course for the Church – a course that would bring it into dialogue with the modern world. It was neither his intent nor the intent of the Council participants to water down perennial truths and values but to put them in a new light with the openness that through dialogue, a new truth might emerge giving a better understanding of who Jesus was for his time and of who Jesus is for our times.

Put simply in the words of the Magnificat: “He shall cast down the mighty from their thrones and exalt the lowly; he shall feed the hungry with good things and the rich he wil send empty away.”