XXI: ISAIAH 22: 19-23; ROMANS 11: 33-36; MT 16: 13-20
The Gospel for our meditation today is very familiar passage. Jesus wanted to know what the disciples thought who he was. All of us want to know who we are or what people think about us. A wife one day, after reading this Gospel passage, asked her husband to describe her. He said: 'You are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K'. She said, 'What does that mean?' He said, 'Adorable, Beautiful, Cute, Delightful, Elegant, Fabulous, Gorgeous, Humble'. She said, 'Oh that's so lovely. What about I, J, K?' He said, ' I'm Just Kidding.'
Jesus was with his disciples for nearly three years teaching, preaching , healing and casting out demons, raising the dead and he wanted to make sure they understood him well. So he asked them what others thought he was.
"Who do people say I am?" was only a preliminary question; the real question was "Who do you say I am?" The first question is easily answered; one has only to be a reporter. But the second question is a searching one; and only a disciple can come anywhere within range of an answer.
When we recite the Creed at Mass we give the Church's answer. "We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father…."
However, the mere repetition of a right answer is not the answer. We found out in primary school that the right answer given at the end of the arithmetic book was useless unless we reached it by valid steps ourselves. We don’t just repeat the Creed; we profess it. It is more than a set of theoretical statements; it is a commitment and a renewal of faith. This is more demanding. We cannot 'find' Jesus in the way you find some lost object, or a piece of information. In a sense, the seeking has to continue even when we have found him, and especially then.
When we Christians meet in his name we are responding to his question, "Who do you say that I am?" and sharing our experience of him with our brothers and sisters.
There's an old story about an innocent man fleeing soldiers. Some
villagers hid him. When the soldiers arrived, they threatened to destroy the village by noon, unless they turned the Innocent man over to them. Two villagers went to the cave of an old rabbi outside the village to seek his advice. When he opened his Bible for an answer, his eyes fell on the words, "It is better for one man to die than for all to perish." He told them to give the man to the soldiers. Later, an angel appeared to the rabbi and said, Why did you turn him in? He was the Messiah. The old rabbi wept, saying,"How was I to know?" The angel said, "You should have met with him and looked in to his eyes. Then you'd have known."
Only when we look into the eyes and seek to find who he is Jesus can be really known. Only by encountering Jesus we can know him, not just by hearing about him. When Peter gave the right answer to the question he was given power and authority over the church. He was given keys to the kingdom.
We might call this Sunday “Power Sunday” because the main theme is the handing over of the “keys” which open and shut, representing authority in the Church and in the kingdom. The first reading, from Isaiah, gives a detailed description of the investiture of a royal court official. The robe, the
sash, and the keys are insignia of this office. Isaiah tells of how the keys of authority were taken away from Shebna, the unfaithful and proud “master of the royal palace,” and given to the humble and faithful Eliakim.
Peter will receive the keys of the kingdom and be given the power to bind and to loose on earth that which will be ratified in heaven.
Keys can be a sign of “control” – especially car keys or house keys. Visiting dignitaries are often given an honorary "Key to the City" by the mayor.
Keys are meant for locking out or opening up. We are the Church, the called together. We have our structures based on tradition and Scripture with our Holy Father as chief key-holder.
We all need the keys to shut up whatever is destroying us. We need to turn the keys to open up "the floodgates of heaven" (see Mal 3:10) by opening up our hearts to God's love and truth. The Church is the only place where we can get the keys we need. So, if we're addicted, unforgiving, or guilt-ridden, we should go to Church. If we're looking for answers, hope, or peace, we should go to Church. Her preaching and praying are the keys we need. The Lord especially has made the Sacrament of Confession the key by which we are freed.
"Keys" refer to the divinely guaranteed guidance and authority that the papacy will steadily provide about what we should believe and how we should live - faith and morals. The Church teaches that Peter was given the keys which admit a man to heaven or exclude him from it, and that to Peter was given the power to absolve or not to absolve a man from his sins. In other words, Jesus gave to Peter the authority to determine what courses of action would be permitted or forbidden in the Church.
It is possible that God could take those Keys away from us, like He did to Shebna, and give them to others who would use them responsibly. So we need to be responsible Christians who hold the key faithfully for letting the grace of God flow into our lives and of others and locking out the power of evil and negative thoughts from our lives.
During this Mass, let's renew our commitment to him, confident that no matter what happens in this life, we will be victorious in the end, because, as he promised, the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against the rock and the keys.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
XX-Sunday- Cycle A.
XX Sunday ISAIAH 56: 1, 6-7; ROM 11: 13-15;Gospel: MAT 15: 21-28
" Billy Graham once told of an incident that happened a long time ago when teachers could talk about religion in the classroom. A teacher was talking to her class of young boys, and she asked, "How many of you would like to go to heaven?" And all the hands shot into the air at once, except one. She was astounded. She asked, "Charlie, you mean you don't want to go to heaven?" He said, "Sure, I want to go to heaven, but not with that bunch." Unfortunately, that is how many religious groups feel about one another. Consider the Middle East, and, in parts of Lebanon, Christian militias fighting each other. All three great faiths in that part of the world trace their origins through the patriarch Abraham. All three embrace the Mosaic Law. All three are monotheistic. And yet as the political walls of this world come tumbling down, the religious walls seem to grow higher and higher. How tragic. Today’s gospel tells us how Jesus healed the daughter of a Gentile woman in spite of the religious prejudice of his fellow Jews for the Gentiles.
All three readings today speak of the expansive and universal nature of the “kingdom of God,” in contrast with the protocol of the day which demanded that salvation should come first to the Jews and then to all the people of the earth. Although God set the Hebrew people apart as His chosen race, He included all nations in His plan for salvation and blessed all families of the earth in Abraham (Gen 12:1-3). By declaring through the prophet Isaiah (the first reading), “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,” God reveals the truth that in His eyes there is no distinction among human beings on the basis of race, caste or color. The long-expected messianic kingdom was intended, not only for the Jews, but for all nations as well. There is no place for discrimination among God’s children.
Today’s psalm rejects all types of religious exclusivity: "Let all the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. For you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth, so that your saving power may be known among all the nations."
The gospels describe only two miraculous healings Jesus performed for Gentiles: the healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman and the healing of the centurion’s servant (Mt. 8: 10-12). The encounter with the Canaanite woman was the only occasion on which Jesus was ever outside Jewish territory. The miracles foreshadow the extension of the gospel to the whole world.
By granting the persistent request of the pagan woman, Jesus demonstrates that his mission is to break down the barriers and to remove the walls of division and prejudice between the Jews and the Gentiles. God does not discriminate but welcome all who believe in Him, who asks for His mercy and try to do His will.
Jesus first ignores both the persistent cry of the woman and the impatience of his disciples to send the woman away. He then tries to awaken true faith in the heart of this woman by an indirect refusal, telling her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the woman is persistent in her request. She kneels before him and begs, "Lord, help me." Now Jesus makes a seemingly harsh statement, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." The term "dogs" was a derogatory Jewish word for the Gentiles. Dogs were regarded by the Jews as unclean, because they would eat anything given to them, including pork. She also observed that Jesus had used the word for dogs in a joking way – a sort of test of the woman's faith. So she immediately matched wits with Jesus. Her argument runs like this: Pets are not outsiders but insiders. They not only belong to the family, but are part of the family. While they do not have a seat at the table, they enjoy intimacy at the family's feet. Hence the woman replied: "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table" (v. 27), expressing her faith that Jesus could and would heal her daughter. Jesus was completely won over by the depth of her faith, her confidence and her wit and hence responded exuberantly, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." We notice that the woman was refused three times by Jesus before he granted her request and finally, the fourth time, her persistence was rewarded and her plea was answered.
We need to pull down the walls of separation and share in the universality of God’s love: Very often we set up walls which separate us from God and from one another. Today's Gospel reminds us that God's love and mercy are extended to all who call on him in faith and trust, no matter who they are. In other words, God’s care extends beyond the boundaries of race and nation to the hearts of all who live, and God’s house should become a house of prayer for all peoples. It is therefore fitting that we should pray that the walls which our pride, intolerance and prejudice have raised, may crumble. Next, we have to be grateful to God for all the blessings we enjoy. As baptized members of the Christian community, we have been given special privileges and easy access to God's love. But we also have serious responsibilities arising from these gifts. One of these responsibilities is to make clear to others, with true humility and compassion, that God's love, mercy and healing are for them also because they too are the children of God.
Often when it is asked to the candidates in RCIA, what took them so long to decide to become Catholic, many times the response is, "No one ever invited me!" Wouldn't it be a good thing if, once in a while, we could say to a friend or relative, or a neighbor, "Have you ever thought of becoming a Catholic?" If they show interest, then say to them, "Well, I would like to invite you, right now! And I'll go with you to a special process that we call the RCIA. From September 6th we begin our RCIA in the parish. Let’s decide to invite at least one person gently to our program there by helping to fulfill the prayer of Jesus: "that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that the world may believe that you sent me." (John 17:21)
The Canaanite woman’s tough and unshakable determination to get her child healed points to her deep trust and confidence in the power of Jesus. It is faith that impels us to persevere, to struggle till we get what we want. In the story we notice that faith demands humility, courage and perseverance, and above all love. Love is the testing ground of faith. Jesus promised us to give us any thing that we need for our life whenever we ask him. Recognizing that what we need most are the peace and security that come from being in harmony with God's will for us, let us pray the Lord for a strong and persevering faith as that of the Canaanite woman.
" Billy Graham once told of an incident that happened a long time ago when teachers could talk about religion in the classroom. A teacher was talking to her class of young boys, and she asked, "How many of you would like to go to heaven?" And all the hands shot into the air at once, except one. She was astounded. She asked, "Charlie, you mean you don't want to go to heaven?" He said, "Sure, I want to go to heaven, but not with that bunch." Unfortunately, that is how many religious groups feel about one another. Consider the Middle East, and, in parts of Lebanon, Christian militias fighting each other. All three great faiths in that part of the world trace their origins through the patriarch Abraham. All three embrace the Mosaic Law. All three are monotheistic. And yet as the political walls of this world come tumbling down, the religious walls seem to grow higher and higher. How tragic. Today’s gospel tells us how Jesus healed the daughter of a Gentile woman in spite of the religious prejudice of his fellow Jews for the Gentiles.
All three readings today speak of the expansive and universal nature of the “kingdom of God,” in contrast with the protocol of the day which demanded that salvation should come first to the Jews and then to all the people of the earth. Although God set the Hebrew people apart as His chosen race, He included all nations in His plan for salvation and blessed all families of the earth in Abraham (Gen 12:1-3). By declaring through the prophet Isaiah (the first reading), “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,” God reveals the truth that in His eyes there is no distinction among human beings on the basis of race, caste or color. The long-expected messianic kingdom was intended, not only for the Jews, but for all nations as well. There is no place for discrimination among God’s children.
Today’s psalm rejects all types of religious exclusivity: "Let all the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. For you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth, so that your saving power may be known among all the nations."
The gospels describe only two miraculous healings Jesus performed for Gentiles: the healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman and the healing of the centurion’s servant (Mt. 8: 10-12). The encounter with the Canaanite woman was the only occasion on which Jesus was ever outside Jewish territory. The miracles foreshadow the extension of the gospel to the whole world.
By granting the persistent request of the pagan woman, Jesus demonstrates that his mission is to break down the barriers and to remove the walls of division and prejudice between the Jews and the Gentiles. God does not discriminate but welcome all who believe in Him, who asks for His mercy and try to do His will.
Jesus first ignores both the persistent cry of the woman and the impatience of his disciples to send the woman away. He then tries to awaken true faith in the heart of this woman by an indirect refusal, telling her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the woman is persistent in her request. She kneels before him and begs, "Lord, help me." Now Jesus makes a seemingly harsh statement, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." The term "dogs" was a derogatory Jewish word for the Gentiles. Dogs were regarded by the Jews as unclean, because they would eat anything given to them, including pork. She also observed that Jesus had used the word for dogs in a joking way – a sort of test of the woman's faith. So she immediately matched wits with Jesus. Her argument runs like this: Pets are not outsiders but insiders. They not only belong to the family, but are part of the family. While they do not have a seat at the table, they enjoy intimacy at the family's feet. Hence the woman replied: "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table" (v. 27), expressing her faith that Jesus could and would heal her daughter. Jesus was completely won over by the depth of her faith, her confidence and her wit and hence responded exuberantly, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." We notice that the woman was refused three times by Jesus before he granted her request and finally, the fourth time, her persistence was rewarded and her plea was answered.
We need to pull down the walls of separation and share in the universality of God’s love: Very often we set up walls which separate us from God and from one another. Today's Gospel reminds us that God's love and mercy are extended to all who call on him in faith and trust, no matter who they are. In other words, God’s care extends beyond the boundaries of race and nation to the hearts of all who live, and God’s house should become a house of prayer for all peoples. It is therefore fitting that we should pray that the walls which our pride, intolerance and prejudice have raised, may crumble. Next, we have to be grateful to God for all the blessings we enjoy. As baptized members of the Christian community, we have been given special privileges and easy access to God's love. But we also have serious responsibilities arising from these gifts. One of these responsibilities is to make clear to others, with true humility and compassion, that God's love, mercy and healing are for them also because they too are the children of God.
Often when it is asked to the candidates in RCIA, what took them so long to decide to become Catholic, many times the response is, "No one ever invited me!" Wouldn't it be a good thing if, once in a while, we could say to a friend or relative, or a neighbor, "Have you ever thought of becoming a Catholic?" If they show interest, then say to them, "Well, I would like to invite you, right now! And I'll go with you to a special process that we call the RCIA. From September 6th we begin our RCIA in the parish. Let’s decide to invite at least one person gently to our program there by helping to fulfill the prayer of Jesus: "that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that the world may believe that you sent me." (John 17:21)
The Canaanite woman’s tough and unshakable determination to get her child healed points to her deep trust and confidence in the power of Jesus. It is faith that impels us to persevere, to struggle till we get what we want. In the story we notice that faith demands humility, courage and perseverance, and above all love. Love is the testing ground of faith. Jesus promised us to give us any thing that we need for our life whenever we ask him. Recognizing that what we need most are the peace and security that come from being in harmony with God's will for us, let us pray the Lord for a strong and persevering faith as that of the Canaanite woman.
Friday, August 5, 2011
XIX-Sunday-A
XIX-Sunday:1 KGS 19: 9, 11-13; ROM 9: 1-5;Gospel: MATTHEW 14: 22-33
Three ministers were out fishing together in a small boat. One of them, suddenly realizing that he had left his tackle box in the cabin, stepped out of the boat, and walked on the water over to shore. Just then, the second one said he had forgotten his faithful fishing hat on the front seat of the car. He too stepped out of the boat and walked on the water over to shore. When they had both returned, the third minister who had watched this remarkable demonstration with mouth open and eyes wide, reasoned to himself "My faith is as strong as theirs. I can do that too."
So he stepped out of the boat and promptly sank to the bottom. His two companions dragged him out, but once they got him in the boat, he was determined not to be shown up. He stepped out once more, and immediately sank again. As his friends pulled him out, he sputtered, "My faith is as strong as yours. Why can't I walk on the water?"
The first two looked at each another and one finally said, "We'd better tell him where those rocks are before he drowns himself."
The gospel episode explains how Peter lost his trusting faith in Jesus for a few seconds and consequently failed during his attempt to walk on water. Peter ventures into this dangerous element, and makes his way while he keeps his attention on the Lord, but he sinks once he thinks about danger.
Jesus’ walking on the water follows the miraculous feeding in Matthew, Mark, and John. However, the account of Peter walking on the water is found only in Matthew. Thus Matthew expands the purpose of retelling this event to say something about Peter and his faith. While we might emphasize Peter’s fear, his sinking and his “little” faith, we need to look also at his leap of faith. Peter represents all who dare to believe that Jesus is Savior, take their first steps in confidence that he is able to sustain them, and then forget to keep their gaze fixed on him when they face storms of temptations. From the depth of crisis, however, they remember to call on the Savior, and they experience the total sufficiency of his grace to meet their needs. It is this type of “little faith” of Peter which Jesus later identifies as the rock on which He will build his Church. The only faith Jesus expects of his followers is a faith which concentrates solely on him. In other words, when we simply heed Our Lord, we can do great things. So, with His grace, we have to raise our awareness of God’s presence in our lives. As we become more aware, we will step out and proclaim that presence, even in surprising places.
For Elizabeth Blackwell “walking on water” meant something entirely different. Elizabeth wanted to become a doctor in the 1840s. At the time, medical schools were only for men. Elizabeth Blackwell had to fight just to get in. Finally, at one school, Geneva College of Medicine in New York, the students voted to let her in as a joke. But the head of the school didn't know it was supposed to be a joke, and he let her in. When she got there, the students made fun of her. They refused to share their notes with her. Some professors tried to keep her out of their classes. She refused to give up. In 1849, she graduated at the head of her class. When no hospital would allow her to practice, she opened her own hospital. Then she opened a medical school to train women. Elizabeth Blackwell got out of the boat and walked on the water.
Matthew recorded his Gospel after Peter was crucified, when the Christians were being persecuted. The two storm stories address issues of danger, fear and faith. In both stories, the boat seems to represent the Church, buffeted by temptations, trials and persecutions. In both, Jesus appears as the Church's champion, strong to save those who call on him in faith. The recounting of this episode probably brought great comfort to the early Christians, especially those of Matthew’s faith community. For, it offered them the assurance that Christ would save them even if they had to die for their faith in him, and that, even in the midst of persecution, they need not fear because Jesus was present with them. The episode offers the same reassurance to us in times of illness, death, persecution, or other troubles. It teaches us that adversity is not a sign of God's displeasure, nor prosperity a sign of His pleasure, that illness is not a sign of inadequate faith, nor health a sign of great faith. Paradoxically, the storms of life can be a means of blessing. When things are going badly, our hearts are more receptive to Jesus. A broken heart is often a door through which Christ can find entry.
Storms let us know that without him, we can do nothing, without him we are doomed to fail. Yet, when Jesus shows up, we gain the strength to join Paul, saying, “In Christ I can do all things.” But this demands a personal relationship with God, with Jesus, enhanced through prayer, meditative study of scripture and an active sacramental life.
Peter's cry for help is a pure expression of prayer. "Sinking times are praying times….Short prayers are long enough….There were but three words in the petition which Peter gasped out ("Lord, save me!"), but they were sufficient for his purpose….
A great deal of failure in the Christian life is due to acting on impulse and emotional fervor without counting the cost. Peter, fortunately in the moment of his failure clutched at Jesus and held him firmly. Every time Peter fell, he rose again. His failures only made him love the Lord more deeply and trust him more intently. The Lord keeps watch over us at all times, and especially in our moments of temptation and difficulty. Jesus assures us that we have no need of fear if we trust in Him and in his great love for us. When calamities or trials threaten to overwhelm us, how do us respond? Do I turn to the Lord and pray as Peter prayed “Lord, Save me”?
Three ministers were out fishing together in a small boat. One of them, suddenly realizing that he had left his tackle box in the cabin, stepped out of the boat, and walked on the water over to shore. Just then, the second one said he had forgotten his faithful fishing hat on the front seat of the car. He too stepped out of the boat and walked on the water over to shore. When they had both returned, the third minister who had watched this remarkable demonstration with mouth open and eyes wide, reasoned to himself "My faith is as strong as theirs. I can do that too."
So he stepped out of the boat and promptly sank to the bottom. His two companions dragged him out, but once they got him in the boat, he was determined not to be shown up. He stepped out once more, and immediately sank again. As his friends pulled him out, he sputtered, "My faith is as strong as yours. Why can't I walk on the water?"
The first two looked at each another and one finally said, "We'd better tell him where those rocks are before he drowns himself."
The gospel episode explains how Peter lost his trusting faith in Jesus for a few seconds and consequently failed during his attempt to walk on water. Peter ventures into this dangerous element, and makes his way while he keeps his attention on the Lord, but he sinks once he thinks about danger.
Jesus’ walking on the water follows the miraculous feeding in Matthew, Mark, and John. However, the account of Peter walking on the water is found only in Matthew. Thus Matthew expands the purpose of retelling this event to say something about Peter and his faith. While we might emphasize Peter’s fear, his sinking and his “little” faith, we need to look also at his leap of faith. Peter represents all who dare to believe that Jesus is Savior, take their first steps in confidence that he is able to sustain them, and then forget to keep their gaze fixed on him when they face storms of temptations. From the depth of crisis, however, they remember to call on the Savior, and they experience the total sufficiency of his grace to meet their needs. It is this type of “little faith” of Peter which Jesus later identifies as the rock on which He will build his Church. The only faith Jesus expects of his followers is a faith which concentrates solely on him. In other words, when we simply heed Our Lord, we can do great things. So, with His grace, we have to raise our awareness of God’s presence in our lives. As we become more aware, we will step out and proclaim that presence, even in surprising places.
For Elizabeth Blackwell “walking on water” meant something entirely different. Elizabeth wanted to become a doctor in the 1840s. At the time, medical schools were only for men. Elizabeth Blackwell had to fight just to get in. Finally, at one school, Geneva College of Medicine in New York, the students voted to let her in as a joke. But the head of the school didn't know it was supposed to be a joke, and he let her in. When she got there, the students made fun of her. They refused to share their notes with her. Some professors tried to keep her out of their classes. She refused to give up. In 1849, she graduated at the head of her class. When no hospital would allow her to practice, she opened her own hospital. Then she opened a medical school to train women. Elizabeth Blackwell got out of the boat and walked on the water.
Matthew recorded his Gospel after Peter was crucified, when the Christians were being persecuted. The two storm stories address issues of danger, fear and faith. In both stories, the boat seems to represent the Church, buffeted by temptations, trials and persecutions. In both, Jesus appears as the Church's champion, strong to save those who call on him in faith. The recounting of this episode probably brought great comfort to the early Christians, especially those of Matthew’s faith community. For, it offered them the assurance that Christ would save them even if they had to die for their faith in him, and that, even in the midst of persecution, they need not fear because Jesus was present with them. The episode offers the same reassurance to us in times of illness, death, persecution, or other troubles. It teaches us that adversity is not a sign of God's displeasure, nor prosperity a sign of His pleasure, that illness is not a sign of inadequate faith, nor health a sign of great faith. Paradoxically, the storms of life can be a means of blessing. When things are going badly, our hearts are more receptive to Jesus. A broken heart is often a door through which Christ can find entry.
Storms let us know that without him, we can do nothing, without him we are doomed to fail. Yet, when Jesus shows up, we gain the strength to join Paul, saying, “In Christ I can do all things.” But this demands a personal relationship with God, with Jesus, enhanced through prayer, meditative study of scripture and an active sacramental life.
Peter's cry for help is a pure expression of prayer. "Sinking times are praying times….Short prayers are long enough….There were but three words in the petition which Peter gasped out ("Lord, save me!"), but they were sufficient for his purpose….
A great deal of failure in the Christian life is due to acting on impulse and emotional fervor without counting the cost. Peter, fortunately in the moment of his failure clutched at Jesus and held him firmly. Every time Peter fell, he rose again. His failures only made him love the Lord more deeply and trust him more intently. The Lord keeps watch over us at all times, and especially in our moments of temptation and difficulty. Jesus assures us that we have no need of fear if we trust in Him and in his great love for us. When calamities or trials threaten to overwhelm us, how do us respond? Do I turn to the Lord and pray as Peter prayed “Lord, Save me”?
Friday, July 22, 2011
XVII-Sunday in Ordinary Time
XVII- Sunday-1 KGS 3: 5, 7-12; ROMANS 8: 28-30;: MATTHEW 13: 44-52
There is a story from the Desert Fathers about a young monk who asked one of the older monks why it is that so many people came out to the desert to seek God and yet most of them gave up after a short time and returned to their lives in the city.
The old monk told him, "Last evening my dog saw a rabbit running for cover among the bushes of the desert and he began to chase the rabbit, barking loudly. Soon other dogs joined in the chase, barking and running. They ran a great distance and alerted many other dogs. Soon the wilderness was echoing the sounds of their pursuit but the chase went on into the night.
After a little while, many of the dogs grew tired and dropped out. A few chased the rabbit until the night was nearly spent. By morning, only my dog continued the hunt. "Do you understand," the old man said, "what I have told you?"
"No," replied the young monk, "please tell me father."
"It is simple," said the desert father, "my dog saw the rabbit."
Jesus told a parable about a man who one day in the market place saw the pearl of great price. The merchant understood at once the value of the commodity before him and he sacrificed everything to obtain it.
The Kingdom of God is a treasure worth selling all that we have in order to possess. This treasure is of such great value that anything else we may own pales in comparison. It would be easy to give up everything else in order to have the Kingdom of God, and, unlike the treasure hidden in the field, the love of Christ is a treasure everyone is invited to possess.
Wisdom gives us insight into what is truly important in life, an awareness of the meaning and purpose of living, and of what really matters. Wisdom is an understanding of where our real well-being and happiness lie. Wisdom is indeed the “pearl of great price," that Jesus speaks of. Solomon discerns and follows the right way, and so he is a model and a challenge for us. His request invites us to cultivate his prayer for a heart and mind attuned to God's word and docile to His desires.
Ancient people hid their treasure in their fields. Frequent battles and foreign invasions encouraged the people of Palestine to bury their treasures like money and jewelry in their fields. For example, the great religious treasure – the “Dead Sea Scrolls,” discovered in the caves at Qumran in 1947 – was hidden there over 2,000 years ago. When enemies attack, they would flee for their life, leaving the treasure in the field. Years later a hired ploughman would find such treasure.
Sometimes unclaimed and forgotten, the hidden treasures awaited some lucky finder. Jesus tells the story of one such lucky treasure-finder who sold everything he had in order to get ownership of the field. According to the Palestinian laws of that time, the mere finding of buried treasure did not entitle the finder to possession unless he also owned the property in which it was found. In the parable of the treasure in the field and in the parable of the merchant who sought fine pearls, we see the image of one who recognizes the value of the kingdom of God and gives everything to possess it. Matthew, a tax-collector, might have experienced something like this when he discovered the eternal value of the kingdom preached by Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus wants us to know that the kingdom of God is worth all we have. He has come to offer us God's Kingdom, a unique pearl of the greatest price. The genuine disciples are those who respond to this opportunity with joy and selfless commitment, eagerly giving top priority to life in the Kingdom by doing God’s will. This parable teaches us that, although we are baptized Christians, we still need to pursue the true and full meaning of the Gospel which can escape us for many years. We always need to understand more, to love more, and to serve more.
What the parables really teach us is that, when one discovers Jesus and his vision of life, everything else becomes secondary. That is what St. Paul meant when he said: "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3:8), and again "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil 2:21). To have a personal experience of Christ and personal relationship with Him is the most precious thing in the world.
At time we stay focused on things of little pleasure that we lose sight of the most precious pearl. Our hearts tend to remain satisfied with that.
Little Mary listened intently in Sunday school while the teacher explained the parable of the “treasure” and “pearl” and gave a detailed description of eternal bliss in heaven. The teacher concluded her class asking the question, “All those who are ready to go to heaven, raise your hands.” Every hand went up except one. “Why, don’t you want to go to heaven, Mary?” asked the teacher. “Well,” Mary replied, “Mom was baking apple pie when I left home!”
For Mary, Apple pie was more dear and attractive than heaven. What is our Apple pie ?
We should live every moment in view of our precious goal. Most of the time, we are chasing false treasures such as money, status or pleasure. Often we are locked into regrets over the past, or focused too much on the future. As a result, the enriching present passes us by, and the treasure is never discovered. Thus, the really valuable pearl of sharing in God’s life here on earth and later in heaven is never found. Let us always remember that heaven is within the reach of all who follow the ordinary vocations of life and partake of this world's joys and pleasures within the framework of God's commandments.
The kingdom of God is God’s reign in our hearts, in our lives, in our homes, in our society, and in our world. Only those who develop a searching mind and are willing to give up everything for the great treasure of God’s kingdom, will be rewarded.
During these precious moments with the Lord, let us ask ourselves: Have I experienced the joy of finding the treasure and the precious pearl? Am I ready to sell everything in order to enter into the Kingdom of heaven? Let us ask for the wisdom of God to recognize the preciousness of God’s Kingdom.
There is a story from the Desert Fathers about a young monk who asked one of the older monks why it is that so many people came out to the desert to seek God and yet most of them gave up after a short time and returned to their lives in the city.
The old monk told him, "Last evening my dog saw a rabbit running for cover among the bushes of the desert and he began to chase the rabbit, barking loudly. Soon other dogs joined in the chase, barking and running. They ran a great distance and alerted many other dogs. Soon the wilderness was echoing the sounds of their pursuit but the chase went on into the night.
After a little while, many of the dogs grew tired and dropped out. A few chased the rabbit until the night was nearly spent. By morning, only my dog continued the hunt. "Do you understand," the old man said, "what I have told you?"
"No," replied the young monk, "please tell me father."
"It is simple," said the desert father, "my dog saw the rabbit."
Jesus told a parable about a man who one day in the market place saw the pearl of great price. The merchant understood at once the value of the commodity before him and he sacrificed everything to obtain it.
The Kingdom of God is a treasure worth selling all that we have in order to possess. This treasure is of such great value that anything else we may own pales in comparison. It would be easy to give up everything else in order to have the Kingdom of God, and, unlike the treasure hidden in the field, the love of Christ is a treasure everyone is invited to possess.
Wisdom gives us insight into what is truly important in life, an awareness of the meaning and purpose of living, and of what really matters. Wisdom is an understanding of where our real well-being and happiness lie. Wisdom is indeed the “pearl of great price," that Jesus speaks of. Solomon discerns and follows the right way, and so he is a model and a challenge for us. His request invites us to cultivate his prayer for a heart and mind attuned to God's word and docile to His desires.
Ancient people hid their treasure in their fields. Frequent battles and foreign invasions encouraged the people of Palestine to bury their treasures like money and jewelry in their fields. For example, the great religious treasure – the “Dead Sea Scrolls,” discovered in the caves at Qumran in 1947 – was hidden there over 2,000 years ago. When enemies attack, they would flee for their life, leaving the treasure in the field. Years later a hired ploughman would find such treasure.
Sometimes unclaimed and forgotten, the hidden treasures awaited some lucky finder. Jesus tells the story of one such lucky treasure-finder who sold everything he had in order to get ownership of the field. According to the Palestinian laws of that time, the mere finding of buried treasure did not entitle the finder to possession unless he also owned the property in which it was found. In the parable of the treasure in the field and in the parable of the merchant who sought fine pearls, we see the image of one who recognizes the value of the kingdom of God and gives everything to possess it. Matthew, a tax-collector, might have experienced something like this when he discovered the eternal value of the kingdom preached by Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus wants us to know that the kingdom of God is worth all we have. He has come to offer us God's Kingdom, a unique pearl of the greatest price. The genuine disciples are those who respond to this opportunity with joy and selfless commitment, eagerly giving top priority to life in the Kingdom by doing God’s will. This parable teaches us that, although we are baptized Christians, we still need to pursue the true and full meaning of the Gospel which can escape us for many years. We always need to understand more, to love more, and to serve more.
What the parables really teach us is that, when one discovers Jesus and his vision of life, everything else becomes secondary. That is what St. Paul meant when he said: "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3:8), and again "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil 2:21). To have a personal experience of Christ and personal relationship with Him is the most precious thing in the world.
At time we stay focused on things of little pleasure that we lose sight of the most precious pearl. Our hearts tend to remain satisfied with that.
Little Mary listened intently in Sunday school while the teacher explained the parable of the “treasure” and “pearl” and gave a detailed description of eternal bliss in heaven. The teacher concluded her class asking the question, “All those who are ready to go to heaven, raise your hands.” Every hand went up except one. “Why, don’t you want to go to heaven, Mary?” asked the teacher. “Well,” Mary replied, “Mom was baking apple pie when I left home!”
For Mary, Apple pie was more dear and attractive than heaven. What is our Apple pie ?
We should live every moment in view of our precious goal. Most of the time, we are chasing false treasures such as money, status or pleasure. Often we are locked into regrets over the past, or focused too much on the future. As a result, the enriching present passes us by, and the treasure is never discovered. Thus, the really valuable pearl of sharing in God’s life here on earth and later in heaven is never found. Let us always remember that heaven is within the reach of all who follow the ordinary vocations of life and partake of this world's joys and pleasures within the framework of God's commandments.
The kingdom of God is God’s reign in our hearts, in our lives, in our homes, in our society, and in our world. Only those who develop a searching mind and are willing to give up everything for the great treasure of God’s kingdom, will be rewarded.
During these precious moments with the Lord, let us ask ourselves: Have I experienced the joy of finding the treasure and the precious pearl? Am I ready to sell everything in order to enter into the Kingdom of heaven? Let us ask for the wisdom of God to recognize the preciousness of God’s Kingdom.
Friday, June 3, 2011
ASCENSION
FEAST OF ASCENSION.
Many years ago there lived a very poor family in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina by the name of Carpenter. The oldest boy was a teenager before his father took him on his first trip to the city, where he saw paved streets, skyscrapers, and electricity for the first time. The boy wanted to stay there and get an education. His father arranged for him to board with some family friends, who generously financed his studies when he decided to become a doctor. He graduated with honors, but declined all job offers to practice medicine in the city. He said he was going back to the mountains, where there were many sick people and few doctors. For many years he ministered to the sick. Some paid, most couldn't. He gave his very best and helped everyone he could. In his old age he was in broken health himself and almost penniless. Two small rooms above the town grocery store were his home and office. At the foot of the creaky stairs leading up to his office was a sign with these words: "Dr. Carpenter is upstairs." One morning someone climbed those stairs to find the devoted doctor dead. The entire community was plunged in grief. They wanted to erect some kind of monument to him. But they decided to simply write these words on a large tombstone: "Dr. Carpenter is upstairs."
Jesus is the divine doctor of our souls. He is "upstairs" in heaven, where he ascended after his resurrection. But he is still alive and eager to help us through the sacraments, the Bible, and the Church. Every time we turn to him in prayer, we climb the stairs to his office. Because he is upstairs, Dr. Jesus is always in.
Christ is the only King of the universe, the only Lord of history. Only Christ has ascended to the throne of heaven - not Buddha, not Confucius, not Mohammed. There is only one Savior. Jesus’ ascension finishes the job of reconciling fallen humanity to God, because it brings our human nature back into a right relationship with God. It guarantees that Christ's sacrifice on the cross was completely accepted by the Father. Reconciling fallen humanity with God has always been the main problem that religion tries to solve. In the Old Testament, the Israelites achieved this right relationship through what was called the sacrifice of atonement -the sacrifice that made sinners, once again, one with God. This sacrifice took place in the Holy of Holies, the innermost chamber of Moses' tent of worship and, later, of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Holy of Holies was separated from the inner altar of incense by a huge, thick, ancient curtain. Only the High Priest was allowed to pass through the curtain, and even he could only enter once a year, on the Day of Atonement. That ancient ritual foreshadowed Christ's Ascension.
In his Ascension, Christ was taken up into the real, eternal Holy of Holies, the inner chamber of the universe, heaven itself. But instead of coming back out, he stays there, in his human nature, as our representative, as the everlasting bridge of reconciliation between mankind and God. Through faith in Christ, we have no more doubts that our sins can be forgiven; we don't have to wait for the Day of Atonement; we can live constantly in a right relationship with God. And he is the only way to the Father. Jesus didn't tell his followers that he was "one of the many ways, truths, and lives that are out there." And none of the other founders of world religions rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, and let their Resurrection and Ascension be witnessed by hundreds of followers. Only Jesus Christ is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. Only his mercy can heal hearts that have been wounded by sin and evil.
At the end of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus assures us that he will be with us. He does not promise that our lives will be easy but he does assure us that he will walk with us intimately. The Ascension of Christ is his liberation from all restrictions of time and space. It does not represent his removal from earth, but his constant presence everywhere on earth.
As Catholics, do we obey the parting directive of our Savior to preach and baptize and obey his command ?
It's true that many parents make it a point to have their children baptized. But it doesn't end there: "teach them," Jesus says, "to observe all that I have commanded you."
This teaching to observe what Jesus commands us, in turn leads to forming us as true, mature disciples, not just nominal Catholics. And that's crucial. To be a disciple means to be "disciplined" or well formed in our faith. A disciple is a follower or "pupil" of Christ, our Teacher. That means an ongoing process throughout our growing-up years and right through adulthood.
Someone once called a preacher to say he wanted to place church membership. But, he went on to explain that he did not want to worship every week, study the Bible, visit the sick, or serve as a leader or teacher.
The minister commended him for his desire to be a member, but told him the church he sought was located in another section of town. The man took the directions and hung up. When he arrived at that address, the man came face to face with the logical result of his own apathetic attitude. There stood an abandoned church building boarded up and ready for demolition.
Being a Christian, without practicing what Jesus commanded us,does not help us experience resurrection and share in his ascension. If we find the world not receiving forgiveness and the ascension experience, it is because we don’t follow his directives to be his agents in the world.
A woman saw a little girl in the street. The child was poorly dressed, ill-nourished, and playing in the gutter with filthy trash. The woman became angry and said to God. "Why do you let a thing like this happen in the world you created? Why don't you do something about it? God replied:
"I did do something about it; I created you."
This story invites us to ask ourselves: "How seriously do we take Jesus' command to transform our world into the kind of place God created it to be?" Starting today, let's ask Our Lord to deepen our faith and help us better observe all His commands.
Many years ago there lived a very poor family in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina by the name of Carpenter. The oldest boy was a teenager before his father took him on his first trip to the city, where he saw paved streets, skyscrapers, and electricity for the first time. The boy wanted to stay there and get an education. His father arranged for him to board with some family friends, who generously financed his studies when he decided to become a doctor. He graduated with honors, but declined all job offers to practice medicine in the city. He said he was going back to the mountains, where there were many sick people and few doctors. For many years he ministered to the sick. Some paid, most couldn't. He gave his very best and helped everyone he could. In his old age he was in broken health himself and almost penniless. Two small rooms above the town grocery store were his home and office. At the foot of the creaky stairs leading up to his office was a sign with these words: "Dr. Carpenter is upstairs." One morning someone climbed those stairs to find the devoted doctor dead. The entire community was plunged in grief. They wanted to erect some kind of monument to him. But they decided to simply write these words on a large tombstone: "Dr. Carpenter is upstairs."
Jesus is the divine doctor of our souls. He is "upstairs" in heaven, where he ascended after his resurrection. But he is still alive and eager to help us through the sacraments, the Bible, and the Church. Every time we turn to him in prayer, we climb the stairs to his office. Because he is upstairs, Dr. Jesus is always in.
Christ is the only King of the universe, the only Lord of history. Only Christ has ascended to the throne of heaven - not Buddha, not Confucius, not Mohammed. There is only one Savior. Jesus’ ascension finishes the job of reconciling fallen humanity to God, because it brings our human nature back into a right relationship with God. It guarantees that Christ's sacrifice on the cross was completely accepted by the Father. Reconciling fallen humanity with God has always been the main problem that religion tries to solve. In the Old Testament, the Israelites achieved this right relationship through what was called the sacrifice of atonement -the sacrifice that made sinners, once again, one with God. This sacrifice took place in the Holy of Holies, the innermost chamber of Moses' tent of worship and, later, of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Holy of Holies was separated from the inner altar of incense by a huge, thick, ancient curtain. Only the High Priest was allowed to pass through the curtain, and even he could only enter once a year, on the Day of Atonement. That ancient ritual foreshadowed Christ's Ascension.
In his Ascension, Christ was taken up into the real, eternal Holy of Holies, the inner chamber of the universe, heaven itself. But instead of coming back out, he stays there, in his human nature, as our representative, as the everlasting bridge of reconciliation between mankind and God. Through faith in Christ, we have no more doubts that our sins can be forgiven; we don't have to wait for the Day of Atonement; we can live constantly in a right relationship with God. And he is the only way to the Father. Jesus didn't tell his followers that he was "one of the many ways, truths, and lives that are out there." And none of the other founders of world religions rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, and let their Resurrection and Ascension be witnessed by hundreds of followers. Only Jesus Christ is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. Only his mercy can heal hearts that have been wounded by sin and evil.
At the end of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus assures us that he will be with us. He does not promise that our lives will be easy but he does assure us that he will walk with us intimately. The Ascension of Christ is his liberation from all restrictions of time and space. It does not represent his removal from earth, but his constant presence everywhere on earth.
As Catholics, do we obey the parting directive of our Savior to preach and baptize and obey his command ?
It's true that many parents make it a point to have their children baptized. But it doesn't end there: "teach them," Jesus says, "to observe all that I have commanded you."
This teaching to observe what Jesus commands us, in turn leads to forming us as true, mature disciples, not just nominal Catholics. And that's crucial. To be a disciple means to be "disciplined" or well formed in our faith. A disciple is a follower or "pupil" of Christ, our Teacher. That means an ongoing process throughout our growing-up years and right through adulthood.
Someone once called a preacher to say he wanted to place church membership. But, he went on to explain that he did not want to worship every week, study the Bible, visit the sick, or serve as a leader or teacher.
The minister commended him for his desire to be a member, but told him the church he sought was located in another section of town. The man took the directions and hung up. When he arrived at that address, the man came face to face with the logical result of his own apathetic attitude. There stood an abandoned church building boarded up and ready for demolition.
Being a Christian, without practicing what Jesus commanded us,does not help us experience resurrection and share in his ascension. If we find the world not receiving forgiveness and the ascension experience, it is because we don’t follow his directives to be his agents in the world.
A woman saw a little girl in the street. The child was poorly dressed, ill-nourished, and playing in the gutter with filthy trash. The woman became angry and said to God. "Why do you let a thing like this happen in the world you created? Why don't you do something about it? God replied:
"I did do something about it; I created you."
This story invites us to ask ourselves: "How seriously do we take Jesus' command to transform our world into the kind of place God created it to be?" Starting today, let's ask Our Lord to deepen our faith and help us better observe all His commands.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
VI- SUNDAY OF EASTER
EASTER VI SUNDAY HOMILY
ACTS 8:5-8, 14-17;1 PETER 3:15-18;Gospel: JOHN 14:15-21
Roald Amundsen, the great Norwegian explorer who discovered the South Pole took a homing pigeon with him on his trip. He told his wife that if he reached the end of the world, he would release the pigeon. His wife sat for hours, all alone in their big house looking up the sky for the promised pigeon. One day she looked out the bedroom window and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. “He’s alive!” she cried, “My husband is alive!”
As Jesus gets ready to leave his disciples, he promises to send them the Paraclete who is often depicted as a dove. But there are enormous differences between the pigeon that Amundsen sent to his wife and the Paraclete that Jesus sent to his disciples. The pigeon is merely a sign that the traveller has reached his destination. Beyond that the pigeon can do nothing more. The Paraclete that Jesus sent to his disciples when he reached the Father at his ascension, on the other hand, means to them everything that Jesus himself meant for them while he was with them. Jesus was a Paraclete to the disciples, and he promised them “another” Paraclete: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete” (John 14:16).
What is a Paraclete? Many words have been used to translate this word into English. They include: Advocate, Comforter, Counsellor, Helper. The Greek Paracletos literally means someone who is called to stand beside a client. In legal terms that would be your attorney. But a Paraclete is much more than an attorney. Probably the English word that we use today that most nearly captures the meaning of Paraclete is the word “coach.” The Paraclete is our coach, always by our side, to instruct and correct us when we make mistakes, to encourage and motivate us when we feel down, to challenge and inspire us to be the best we could, to defend us and fight for our rights when the judges are unfair to us. In short, the Paraclete means for us all that Jesus meant for the disciples.
Why do we need a Paraclete? For the same reason that athletes and sports people need coaches. No matter how good they are, sports people always need coaches. Even Tiger Woods has a coach. Left on our own, we are prone to mistakes and errors. Without God we can do nothing. In the 5th century AD there was a British thinker called Pelagius who taught that human beings have the natural ability to fulfill God’s commands if they so choose. The church condemned his teaching as a heresy, insisting that human beings always need God’s grace in order to please God. Pelagianism is the belief that we can fulfill our human destiny just by being ourselves, and that we do not need the grace of God that comes through faith, prayer or the sacraments. Many people today are Pelagians without even knowing it. Jesus tells us in today’s gospel that we all stand in constant need of divine help. We all need the divine Helper, the Holy Spirit who stands always by our side, the Paraclete.
Holy Spirit is a witness to Jesus; he will continue the work of Jesus, mediating the divine presence to the disciples; he will remind them of what Jesus taught them, he will continue to interpret Jesus to them.
Here is a striking sentence from Ignatius of Laodicea about the Holy Spirit. “Without the Holy Spirit God is distant, Christ is merely an historical figure, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church is just an organization, authority is domination, mission is propaganda, liturgy is only nostalgia, and the work of Christians is slave labor. But with the Holy Spirit, Christ is risen and present, the Gospel is a living force, the Church is a communion in the life of the Trinity, authority is a service that sets people free, mission is Pentecost, the liturgy is memory and anticipation, and the labor of Christians is divinised.” The indwelling Spirit of God nourishes us each time we receive the sacraments, each time we pray, each time we read the Bible.
How then do we receive this all-important Spirit Helper? It is by striving to live according to the law of Christ which is love of God and love of our neighbour. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you forever” (John 14:15-16).
One of the most famous of all the English poets was a woman by the name of Elizabeth Barrett, an invalid for many years, her illness so severe that in the end, she was so weak that she could not even raise her head from her pillow. One day, she was visited by a man by the name of Robert Browning, who had come to meet the author of the poetry that had inspired him so. After his first visit, an amazing thing happened. He left Elizabeth with such joy and happiness that she was able to lift her head. On his second visit, she sat up in bed. And on the third, they eloped and were married. Today she is known as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the greatest of all of the English love poets. Such is the power of love. Love has the power to heal. It has the power to make well. It has the power to lift drooping heads and fill empty hearts. No wonder people were healed just by coming into the presence of Jesus. Did you ever wonder about that - those stories in the New Testament that tell of someone who came to Jesus and with just a touch or with just a word was made well? There's no secret to that. If we believe that Jesus was God's love incarnate, God's love in the flesh, why shouldn't people be healed by just coming into contact with him? For love has the power to do that. Love has the power to heal, and that's what Christ can do. But we must come into his presence through prayer, through Bible, through the Eucharist.
The gospel reminds us that the Spirit causes Jesus to be truly present in the Church. The risen Jesus’ continued presence in the Holy Spirit gives meaning and purpose to all we are and all we do in his name.
This indwelling Spirit enables us to manifest our love of God by observing the commandments of Jesus, especially the commandment of love. This commandment includes commands to recognize Jesus in the neediest, in the poor, in the sick, in the marginalized and even in the criminal ("I was in prison..."), and to be agents of healing and reconciliation in a broken and divided world.
The purpose of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to help us grow towards maturity and wholeness. The Holy Spirit comes to our aid and gives us the strength to make difficult and painful decisions. God’s Spirit actually lives in us, and we hear the voice of the Spirit, counseling and guiding us in the way of truth. Let us open our minds to hear Him and to obey His promptings.
ACTS 8:5-8, 14-17;1 PETER 3:15-18;Gospel: JOHN 14:15-21
Roald Amundsen, the great Norwegian explorer who discovered the South Pole took a homing pigeon with him on his trip. He told his wife that if he reached the end of the world, he would release the pigeon. His wife sat for hours, all alone in their big house looking up the sky for the promised pigeon. One day she looked out the bedroom window and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. “He’s alive!” she cried, “My husband is alive!”
As Jesus gets ready to leave his disciples, he promises to send them the Paraclete who is often depicted as a dove. But there are enormous differences between the pigeon that Amundsen sent to his wife and the Paraclete that Jesus sent to his disciples. The pigeon is merely a sign that the traveller has reached his destination. Beyond that the pigeon can do nothing more. The Paraclete that Jesus sent to his disciples when he reached the Father at his ascension, on the other hand, means to them everything that Jesus himself meant for them while he was with them. Jesus was a Paraclete to the disciples, and he promised them “another” Paraclete: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete” (John 14:16).
What is a Paraclete? Many words have been used to translate this word into English. They include: Advocate, Comforter, Counsellor, Helper. The Greek Paracletos literally means someone who is called to stand beside a client. In legal terms that would be your attorney. But a Paraclete is much more than an attorney. Probably the English word that we use today that most nearly captures the meaning of Paraclete is the word “coach.” The Paraclete is our coach, always by our side, to instruct and correct us when we make mistakes, to encourage and motivate us when we feel down, to challenge and inspire us to be the best we could, to defend us and fight for our rights when the judges are unfair to us. In short, the Paraclete means for us all that Jesus meant for the disciples.
Why do we need a Paraclete? For the same reason that athletes and sports people need coaches. No matter how good they are, sports people always need coaches. Even Tiger Woods has a coach. Left on our own, we are prone to mistakes and errors. Without God we can do nothing. In the 5th century AD there was a British thinker called Pelagius who taught that human beings have the natural ability to fulfill God’s commands if they so choose. The church condemned his teaching as a heresy, insisting that human beings always need God’s grace in order to please God. Pelagianism is the belief that we can fulfill our human destiny just by being ourselves, and that we do not need the grace of God that comes through faith, prayer or the sacraments. Many people today are Pelagians without even knowing it. Jesus tells us in today’s gospel that we all stand in constant need of divine help. We all need the divine Helper, the Holy Spirit who stands always by our side, the Paraclete.
Holy Spirit is a witness to Jesus; he will continue the work of Jesus, mediating the divine presence to the disciples; he will remind them of what Jesus taught them, he will continue to interpret Jesus to them.
Here is a striking sentence from Ignatius of Laodicea about the Holy Spirit. “Without the Holy Spirit God is distant, Christ is merely an historical figure, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church is just an organization, authority is domination, mission is propaganda, liturgy is only nostalgia, and the work of Christians is slave labor. But with the Holy Spirit, Christ is risen and present, the Gospel is a living force, the Church is a communion in the life of the Trinity, authority is a service that sets people free, mission is Pentecost, the liturgy is memory and anticipation, and the labor of Christians is divinised.” The indwelling Spirit of God nourishes us each time we receive the sacraments, each time we pray, each time we read the Bible.
How then do we receive this all-important Spirit Helper? It is by striving to live according to the law of Christ which is love of God and love of our neighbour. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you forever” (John 14:15-16).
One of the most famous of all the English poets was a woman by the name of Elizabeth Barrett, an invalid for many years, her illness so severe that in the end, she was so weak that she could not even raise her head from her pillow. One day, she was visited by a man by the name of Robert Browning, who had come to meet the author of the poetry that had inspired him so. After his first visit, an amazing thing happened. He left Elizabeth with such joy and happiness that she was able to lift her head. On his second visit, she sat up in bed. And on the third, they eloped and were married. Today she is known as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the greatest of all of the English love poets. Such is the power of love. Love has the power to heal. It has the power to make well. It has the power to lift drooping heads and fill empty hearts. No wonder people were healed just by coming into the presence of Jesus. Did you ever wonder about that - those stories in the New Testament that tell of someone who came to Jesus and with just a touch or with just a word was made well? There's no secret to that. If we believe that Jesus was God's love incarnate, God's love in the flesh, why shouldn't people be healed by just coming into contact with him? For love has the power to do that. Love has the power to heal, and that's what Christ can do. But we must come into his presence through prayer, through Bible, through the Eucharist.
The gospel reminds us that the Spirit causes Jesus to be truly present in the Church. The risen Jesus’ continued presence in the Holy Spirit gives meaning and purpose to all we are and all we do in his name.
This indwelling Spirit enables us to manifest our love of God by observing the commandments of Jesus, especially the commandment of love. This commandment includes commands to recognize Jesus in the neediest, in the poor, in the sick, in the marginalized and even in the criminal ("I was in prison..."), and to be agents of healing and reconciliation in a broken and divided world.
The purpose of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to help us grow towards maturity and wholeness. The Holy Spirit comes to our aid and gives us the strength to make difficult and painful decisions. God’s Spirit actually lives in us, and we hear the voice of the Spirit, counseling and guiding us in the way of truth. Let us open our minds to hear Him and to obey His promptings.
Friday, April 29, 2011
DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY
DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY : ACTS 5:12-16;: REV: 1:9-11, 12-13,17-19;: JN 20:19-31
A TIME magazine issue in 1984 presented a startling cover. It pictured a prison cell where two men sat on metal folding chairs, facing each other, up close and personal. They spoke quietly so as to keep others from hearing the conversation. The young man was Mehmet Ali Agca, the pope’s attempted assassin; the other man was Pope John Paul II, the intended victim. The pope held the hand that had held the gun and shot the bullet which tore into the pope’s body. John Paul wanted this scene to be shown around a world filled with nuclear arsenals and unforgiving hatreds. This was a living icon of mercy. The pope had been preaching forgiveness and reconciliation constantly. His deed with Ali Agca spoke a thousand words. He embraced his enemy and pardoned him. At the end of their 20-minute meeting, Ali Agca raised the pope’s hand to his forehead as a sign of respect. John Paul shook Ali Agca’s hand tenderly. When the pope left the cell he said, "I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust." This is an example of God’s divine mercy, the same divine mercy to which St. Faustina bore obedient witness.
Today is divine mercy Sunday. And Pope John Paul II, the second-longest reigning pontiff in the history of the Catholic church after Pius IX, and a staunch promoter of Divine Mercy has been beatified; called Blessed today.
The readings for this Sunday are about mercy, trust and the forgiveness of sins. The opening prayer addresses the Father as "God of Mercy." In the Psalm we repeat several times, "His mercy endures forever." "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever!" (Ps 118).
Besides mentioning the word, our readings illustrate mercy in action. How does God reveal His mercy? He does so, first and foremost, by sending His only-begotten Son to become our Savior and Lord by his suffering, death and resurrection. Divine mercy is given to us in the celebration of the sacraments. In today’s gospel, as we recall Jesus’ appearance to the disciples on that first Easter evening, we are vividly reminded of the Sacrament of Reconciliation – the power to forgive sins which Our Lord gave to his apostles. "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained" (Jn 20-23).
On April 30, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized the Polish nun who had received from Christ the amazing revelations of the Divine Mercy in the early years of the twentieth century, Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska. During that ceremony, the pope fulfilled one of the requests that Christ had made through those revelations: that the entire Church reserve the Second Sunday of the Easter Season to honor and commemorate God's infinite mercy.
Where do we see this mercy revealed in today's Readings?
First of all, we see it in the reaction Christ shows to those men, his chosen Apostles, who had abandoned him just two nights before. They had abandoned Jesus in his most difficult hour, but Jesus wasn't going to abandon them. He passes through the locked doors, passes through their fears, regret, and guilt, and appears to them. He hasn't given up on them. He brings them his peace. And he reaffirms his confidence in them by reaffirming their mission: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." We also see God's mercy in Christ's reaction to the men who had crucified him. Does he crush them in revenge? No. Instead, he sends out his Apostles to tell them - and to tell the whole sinful world, the world that had crucified its God - that they can be redeemed, that God has not condemned them: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And then, just to make sure that the Church is fully armed to communicate this message, Jesus gives the ultimate revelation of God's mercy - he delegates to his Apostles his divine power to forgive sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
This is the explicit institution of the sacrament of Confession, the sacrament in which the limitless ocean of God's mercy overwhelms the puny ocean of our misery. It was the ultimate revelation of the Divine Mercy. In the revelations of his Divine Mercy, Jesus asked St Faustina to commission a painting. The painting would show Jesus standing, dressed in a white alb, with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand opening his heart.
Out of his heart there were to be streaming two beams of light - one white and the other red. He explained what those rays symbolized:
The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous [baptism]. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls [the Eucharist]. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross ... Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him (Diary, 299).
Today Jesus is reminding us of the power and abundance of his mercy.
If our King and God has treated us with such overwhelming goodness, giving us much more than we deserve, we should strive to do the same for those around us. There are three simple ways we can do this, three ways we activate God's grace and be Christ's true followers by making ourselves into messengers of God's mercy. First, we can forgive people who offend, insult, or harm us, even when we think they don't deserve to be forgiven - just as Christ does every time we come to confession. Second, we can give others a gift, an opportunity, or a kindness, even when we think they have done nothing to deserve one - just as Christ will do for us today with Holy Communion. Third, we can patiently bear with the nerve-wracking foibles of those around us - just as Christ does with each one of us every single moment of every single day.
One way the Church celebrates God’s mercy throughout the year is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Finding time for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is another good way to receive Divine Mercy. The gospel command, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful," demands that we show mercy to our fellow human beings always and everywhere.
A priest was forced, by a traffic police, to pull over for speeding. As the cop was about to write the ticket, the priest said to him, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." The cop handed the priest the ticket, and said, "Go, and sin no more."
We radiate God's mercy to others by our actions, our words, and our prayers. It is mainly through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that we practice mercy in our daily lives and become eligible for God’s merciful judgment.
The more we become like Christ in his mercy, through the power of his grace, the more we will experience the "indescribable and glorious joy" that he died to win for us. Today, as Christ feeds us once again from the very fountain of mercy, Holy Communion, let's ask him for the grace to be living images, living paintings, of his mercy in this world so wounded by sin.
A TIME magazine issue in 1984 presented a startling cover. It pictured a prison cell where two men sat on metal folding chairs, facing each other, up close and personal. They spoke quietly so as to keep others from hearing the conversation. The young man was Mehmet Ali Agca, the pope’s attempted assassin; the other man was Pope John Paul II, the intended victim. The pope held the hand that had held the gun and shot the bullet which tore into the pope’s body. John Paul wanted this scene to be shown around a world filled with nuclear arsenals and unforgiving hatreds. This was a living icon of mercy. The pope had been preaching forgiveness and reconciliation constantly. His deed with Ali Agca spoke a thousand words. He embraced his enemy and pardoned him. At the end of their 20-minute meeting, Ali Agca raised the pope’s hand to his forehead as a sign of respect. John Paul shook Ali Agca’s hand tenderly. When the pope left the cell he said, "I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust." This is an example of God’s divine mercy, the same divine mercy to which St. Faustina bore obedient witness.
Today is divine mercy Sunday. And Pope John Paul II, the second-longest reigning pontiff in the history of the Catholic church after Pius IX, and a staunch promoter of Divine Mercy has been beatified; called Blessed today.
The readings for this Sunday are about mercy, trust and the forgiveness of sins. The opening prayer addresses the Father as "God of Mercy." In the Psalm we repeat several times, "His mercy endures forever." "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever!" (Ps 118).
Besides mentioning the word, our readings illustrate mercy in action. How does God reveal His mercy? He does so, first and foremost, by sending His only-begotten Son to become our Savior and Lord by his suffering, death and resurrection. Divine mercy is given to us in the celebration of the sacraments. In today’s gospel, as we recall Jesus’ appearance to the disciples on that first Easter evening, we are vividly reminded of the Sacrament of Reconciliation – the power to forgive sins which Our Lord gave to his apostles. "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained" (Jn 20-23).
On April 30, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized the Polish nun who had received from Christ the amazing revelations of the Divine Mercy in the early years of the twentieth century, Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska. During that ceremony, the pope fulfilled one of the requests that Christ had made through those revelations: that the entire Church reserve the Second Sunday of the Easter Season to honor and commemorate God's infinite mercy.
Where do we see this mercy revealed in today's Readings?
First of all, we see it in the reaction Christ shows to those men, his chosen Apostles, who had abandoned him just two nights before. They had abandoned Jesus in his most difficult hour, but Jesus wasn't going to abandon them. He passes through the locked doors, passes through their fears, regret, and guilt, and appears to them. He hasn't given up on them. He brings them his peace. And he reaffirms his confidence in them by reaffirming their mission: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." We also see God's mercy in Christ's reaction to the men who had crucified him. Does he crush them in revenge? No. Instead, he sends out his Apostles to tell them - and to tell the whole sinful world, the world that had crucified its God - that they can be redeemed, that God has not condemned them: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And then, just to make sure that the Church is fully armed to communicate this message, Jesus gives the ultimate revelation of God's mercy - he delegates to his Apostles his divine power to forgive sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
This is the explicit institution of the sacrament of Confession, the sacrament in which the limitless ocean of God's mercy overwhelms the puny ocean of our misery. It was the ultimate revelation of the Divine Mercy. In the revelations of his Divine Mercy, Jesus asked St Faustina to commission a painting. The painting would show Jesus standing, dressed in a white alb, with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand opening his heart.
Out of his heart there were to be streaming two beams of light - one white and the other red. He explained what those rays symbolized:
The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous [baptism]. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls [the Eucharist]. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross ... Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him (Diary, 299).
Today Jesus is reminding us of the power and abundance of his mercy.
If our King and God has treated us with such overwhelming goodness, giving us much more than we deserve, we should strive to do the same for those around us. There are three simple ways we can do this, three ways we activate God's grace and be Christ's true followers by making ourselves into messengers of God's mercy. First, we can forgive people who offend, insult, or harm us, even when we think they don't deserve to be forgiven - just as Christ does every time we come to confession. Second, we can give others a gift, an opportunity, or a kindness, even when we think they have done nothing to deserve one - just as Christ will do for us today with Holy Communion. Third, we can patiently bear with the nerve-wracking foibles of those around us - just as Christ does with each one of us every single moment of every single day.
One way the Church celebrates God’s mercy throughout the year is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Finding time for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is another good way to receive Divine Mercy. The gospel command, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful," demands that we show mercy to our fellow human beings always and everywhere.
A priest was forced, by a traffic police, to pull over for speeding. As the cop was about to write the ticket, the priest said to him, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." The cop handed the priest the ticket, and said, "Go, and sin no more."
We radiate God's mercy to others by our actions, our words, and our prayers. It is mainly through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that we practice mercy in our daily lives and become eligible for God’s merciful judgment.
The more we become like Christ in his mercy, through the power of his grace, the more we will experience the "indescribable and glorious joy" that he died to win for us. Today, as Christ feeds us once again from the very fountain of mercy, Holy Communion, let's ask him for the grace to be living images, living paintings, of his mercy in this world so wounded by sin.
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