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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

Sunday November 19, 2006

+ 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Readings: Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22 Psalm 15:2-5 Luke 18:35-43

“Jesus asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He replied, ‘Lord, please let me see.’ Jesus told him, ‘Have sight; your faith has saved you.’” [Luke 18:41-42]

I continue to marvel as watch Seeing Eye trainers as they walk the streets of Morristown training dogs soon to become the best friends of the blind. There are several blind people in Morristown who make their way through public streets to stores and to the church and even to the library. It’s wonderful to ‘see’ how user-friendly the town has become over the years to the blind. I expect that is to the credit of “The Seeing Eye.”

I don’t think I appreciate enough the blessing of sight and hearing.

The story of the blind man in Luke’s gospel today is surely about the cure of a blind man but it is more about the spiritual blindness of Jesus’ disciples. Luke places this story just after Jesus’ exchange with Peter about renunciation of possessions followed by Jesus’ prediction of the passion. The blind man ‘saw’ in Jesus what his own disciples failed to see. Luke’s point is that indeed, there are none so blind as those who will not see.

Tomorrow we will read the story of Zacchaeus—one of my favorite biblical stories—in which salvation comes to the sinner and his entire family.

It was the faith of the blind man that enabled him to see.

I think there is a spiritual blindness among many religious leaders today that prevents them from seeing the incongruity between what they say and what they do. On the other hand, Jesus continues to lift the blindness from the eyes of the faithful enabling them to see with eyes of faith far beyond the exclusionary rhetoric of dogmas and decrees to the reality of Jesus’ presence in the word and sacrament that we celebrate every Sunday at Eucharist.