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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 November 26, 2004

+ 34th Week in Ordinary Time

The end is just the beginning.

“Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!” [Rev. 22:21]

This quote is is the last verse of the Book of Revelation. It signals both the end and the beginning. God is the ‘Alpha’ and the ‘Omega,’ the beginning and the end of all things on earth and in the universe.

As I was driving up the Garden State Parkway on yesterday afternoon, I looked to the West and the sky had that ominous look as the sun was sinking below the horizon. I thought to myself, the winter solstice will occur within twenty-five days. Those who are sensitive to the rhythm of nature will also pick up the melancholy of nature as autumn takes its final breath before the death of winter.

Endings are like that. A bit of melancholy with a touch of nostalgia is not a bad thing. It is nature’s way of helping us to calm down and put to rest the anxieties of the ‘season’ and of the last year, nature calling us to retreat, as it were. God speaks to us through nature.

Advent will begin tomorrow, the first day of the Church’s year of grace. How appropriate that it begin before the solstice. How appropriate that Christmas be celebrated shortly after the sun reverses itself and in our northern hemisphere begins it long journey north.

God is always coming into our lives. Nature can help us to get into the rhythm of God’s life. Jesus was perfectly attuned to God’s life. If we take Jesus as our exemplar, we too will in time become perfectly attuned to God’s life.

“Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!”