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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 June 22, 2006

+ Feast of the Sacred Heart

Ya gotta have heart!

Readings: Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8-9 Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19 John 19:31-37

“Out of his infinite glory may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in low and build on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, and the height and the depth; until knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God.” [Ephesians 3:14-19]

Several years ago, I met a woman at St. Joseph Parish, Karen Carbonello, who was in the process of establishing an initiative for the healing of children. It is called “Creative Heartwork, Inc.” with its center located in Morris Plains. The goal of this initiative is to help children suffer from an emotional handicap of once kind or other.

Through music, art, dance and drama therapy, over 150 children have been the beneficiaries of miraculous healings. As Karen put it, “We are growing by leaps and bound and God has continued to grace us with wondrous blessings and tiny miracles.”

I have seen the children perform and stand in wonder at the dedication and commitment of the Heartwok team. Check the website: wwwcreativeheartwork.org.

Sometimes we need to wear our heart on our sleeve.

These folks are not afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeve because that what it takes to heal.