Saved Through Him

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity 2014 A

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.  Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company.  This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own."  Exodus 34:8-9

Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.  2 Corinthians 13:1

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.  John 3:16-17

Piety

Our piety is expressed by our joining the mission of Christ.  All the ways we offer the sufferings and disappointments of our life in his name bring to realization in our lives the love of the Father in sending his Son to die for us.  All the ways we die to ourselves bring to life through the Sacramental life of the Church the dying of Christ for each and every one of us.  We accept the love of God in our willingness to give our lives for each other.  The “No greater Love” of John 15:13 is the giving of our lives for each other.  We join ourselves to Paul’s saying, “It gives me great joy to fill up what is wanting to the sufferings of Christ’s body, the Church.”

Study

Our study keeps us in touch with Christ’s oneness with all the little people of our world that suffer the slings and arrows of the outrageous fortune of those who are victims of tyranny and injustice.  Matthew 25:40 tell us that what we do for the little ones of our world, we do for Christ.  We also share our needs of others so that Christ may come to us in our need and allow us to be Christ for those who minister to our needs.

Action

We know the life of the Trinity because the Father sent his Son to die for us.  We live the life of Christ when we offer our time, energy and sufferings for those needy around us.  We give voice to the Spirit who cries out to the Father Abba, Abba in our name.   The life of the Trinity is given to us in our baptism when we are given God’s life through our baptism.  We could not know the Trinity if God had not revealed himself to us through the sending of his Son.  The depth of our relationship to Christ allows us to share the divine life through the Spirit.  How we live out the love of Christ gives the Spirit expression.  Our love for each other makes us God’s children and children of God.  Our work is to live the love of Christ for each other.  Thus, the Spirit brings a human expression of God’s life.  Wherever there is love, God is there.  We are the family of God in our Trinitarian life.   All the ‘threenesses’ of life around us allow life itself to be an expression of the mystery of God as Trinity.  We live Trinity by community and we bring God’s love to each other by the oneness life allows us with each other. 

Keep the Lord Always Before Me

Saturday of the Tenth Weekin Ordinary Time

Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them; he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh, and gave it to his people to eat.  Then he left and followed Elijah as his attendant.  1 Kings 19:21

“…[M]ake good to the Lord all that you vow.”  Matthew 5:33

Piety

If we pray to take refuge in God, we cannot pursue a bigger house, a faster car or fancier furniture.  Our piety helps keep the Lord always in our lives.  Keep these words of Psalm 16:8-9 on your mind today:  I keep the LORD always before me; with him at my right hand, I shall never be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad, my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure.” 

Study

The purpose of an oath was to guarantee truthfulness by one’s calling on God as witness.  Once Elisha decided to devote his life to the Lord, he obliterated all signs of his former life.  He slaughtered his oxen, burned his plow and left that life behind.  Just like Peter left his boats behind and Matthew turned away from his tax rolls and the poor widow gave her last nickel to the temple.  They unhinged their lives from   

Elisha set himself up for success. He figuratively burned the bridges back to his former life so there was no comfort zone to which he could retreat. 

On our journeys, we have certain big oaths and decisions.  Baptism is when we make (and later renew) our faith.  When we reach confirmation, we promise to remain faithful to the Lord and then vow to "renounce Satan and all his work and ways, and surrender myself to You, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in belief, obedience, and the earnest resolution to remain faithful to You until my end."  Many then take vows during marriage.  Some take vows in Holy Orders of poverty, chastity and stability. 

Action

We may not need to burn all the symbols and possessions of our life to follow our faith journey but we have to make room in our days to pursue piety, study and action.  How will you make good on that promise to make good all that you vow to the Lord?  What obstacles can you remove (burn) in order to render unto the Lord all that are his due.

A Light Silent Sound

Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church

By Melanie Rigney

Then the LORD said (to Elijah): Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah? (1 Kings 19: 11-13)

I long to see your face, O Lord. (Psalms 27:8)

(Jesus said to his disciples:) “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.” (Matthew 5:27-30)

Piety

Lord, thank You for the times You bless us with unmistakable signs of Your presence.

Study

Nothing, I could tell you, had worked out as planned. The dream of working for a major news service in New York, the weekend cottage on Cape Cod, filling it up with friends and family in the summer, solo walks on the beach in the winter.

Except that it did. The solo walks happen in quiet Arlington mornings instead of at Provincetown or Chatham, the friends and family come to the large apartment I share with my sister, and it turned out the stability of a government job suited the rest of my life better than the unpredictability of the news business.

Nothing, a woman said at a recent gathering, had worked out as planned. The house full of children, the extended family and friends wandering in and out.

Except that it did. A ragtag band of an adopted child’s friends, some with nowhere else to go, was forming a community and filling up that very house.

Nothing, a friend said in essence, was working out as planned. Eight more years of stirring ministry in a place that spoke to the heart, soul, and mind, snatched away, seemingly capriciously.

Except that it will.

And as a group of us prayed over him for healing and faith and confidence, the light silent sound was overwhelming. It tingled like electricity, steady, humming, stronger than any wind, earthquake, or fire. It was the Holy Spirit coursing through us, the Lord passing by, reminding us all that it always works out as planned and that in our souls, we know the reason we are here.

Action

Consider a major disappointment from five or ten or twenty years ago. How did it bring you closer to Christ? If the matter still is creating a distance, consider speaking with a spiritual adviser about this hurt.

Go First and Be Reconciled

Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

And the seventh time the youth reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.”  Elijah said, “Go and say to Ahab, ‘Harness up and leave the mountain before the rain stops you.’”  In a trice the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell.  Ahab mounted his chariot and made for Jezreel.  1 Kings 18:44-45

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Matthew 5:23-24

Piety

You have visited the land and watered it;
greatly have you enriched it.
God’s watercourses are filled;
you have prepared the grain.  Psalm 65:10

Study

The New American Bible notes to the first reading explain that by claiming authority over the rain, the Lord was challenging Baal’s power in Baal’s own domain.  The entire drought story in Kings (chapters 17–18) implies what becomes explicit later in chapter 18:  this is both a literal and figurative struggle between the Lord and Baal for the loyalties of the people of Israel.

We see the “push-pull” of the Lord taking dominion over human emotions just as the Lord did in the physical world.  We cannot claim to serve the Lord if we do not set aside our petty jealousy and rivalry.  “Go first and be reconciled.” We have to take these steps before we can be forgiven.  The Lord asks that our reconciliation has to be “before-given” – we must take the first step.  After all, the Lord takes the first step in guaranteeing us His love and mercy.

Jesus also sets the bar within reach.  He does not challenge his listeners with being perfect but he challenges them with these words: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” 

Action

In thanks for the blessings we have from the Lord, how can we put this scripture into practice? To whom do you have to be reconciled?  What first step can you take to right that relationship?  Don’t let the rain or anything else stop you.

Empowered to Spread the Good News

Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle

By Colleen O’Sullivan

In those days a great number who believed turned to the Lord.  The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.  When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch.  For a whole year they met with the Church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

(Acts 11:21b-26)

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God.  Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. (Psalm 98:3c-4)

Piety

He’s my forever friend

My leave-me-never friend

From darkest night to rainbow’s end

He’s my forever friend

(from “My Forever Friend,” Charlie Landsborough)

Study

Years ago, when I was a United Methodist pastor, one of my churches was having a fundraiser.  The district superintendent, who was my immediate superior, happened to be in attendance and I encouraged him to buy whatever was being offered.  As he got out his wallet, he said, “Colleen, you could sell snow to Eskimos!”  I laughed and replied, “Only if I believed in the snow.” 

I’m a fairly quiet, reserved person, who, in general, would be a flop at sales.  But when I really care about something as deeply as I do about my faith, I lose the reticence.  I enjoyed preaching the Gospel for the 11 years I was a pastor.  Sharing reflections on the Wednesday Scripture readings in these Daily Tripods is a privilege and a highlight of my week.  Occasionally, co-workers or friends will initiate conversations with me about God, their beliefs, their fears and doubts, or their desire to have a closer relationship with the Lord, and I share with them out of my own relationship with Jesus.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to witness to what we know of God.

Before the Resurrection, the disciples weren’t great evangelists.  They weren’t even sure exactly who Jesus was before Easter Sunday!  But all that changed as the Risen Lord appeared to them on numerous occasions.  On Pentecost the Holy Spirit transformed them from mere believers into some of the best evangelizers the Church has ever known, as witnessed in our story about St. Barnabas in today’s reading from the Book of Acts.

Action

Our faith was never meant to be a private affair.  We are all called to sing the Lord’s praises. In order to do that, however, we need to have good news to share; we need to have a relationship with the Lord.  Jesus wants to be our closest friend, our forever friend.  Once that friendship becomes the bedrock of our lives, we’ll desire that same relationship for others.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, we’ll find the way to share it. 

What have you done this week to spread the Good News?

Shine

Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

By Beth DeCristofaro

The brook near where Elijah was hiding ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the land. So the LORD said to Elijah: “Move on to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have designated a widow there to provide for you.” (1 Kings 17:7)

You are the light of the world. … Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:14, 16)

Piety

Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters.  Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister.  Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness.  (Pope Francis) http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-a-prayer-for-peace

Study

Have you seen video of Sicilian nun Sr. Christina belting out songs on the Italian television version of “The Voice”?  She is a light not hiding in a basket!  In response to one of the judges, Sr. Christina said “I have a gift and I give it to you.”  She boldly declared that God asks her to evangelize and American pop is her mode of transmission, joy is her message.

Pope Francis’ prayer summit with Palestinian and Israeli Presidents and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was a much subtler light but a beacon none the less.  Not only did they pray communally and individually for peace but each shared prayer from their respective traditions - Jewish, Christian and Islamic – in the heart of the Vatican. 

If we listen, there are other lights shining.  Malala, shot in the face because she advocated for girls’ education, continues her mission with a message of non-violence.  The fathers of a mass murderer and one of his victims sat down together in their mutual loss.  Fr. Richard Martin, former pastor at Nativity Parish raised millions of dollars for Haiti and personally helped build homes there as well.   A dear friend volunteers at Fairfax Hospital visiting the sick with compassion and the gift of Communion.

People question the worth of such gestures.  Critics question the propriety of a nun taking part in a contest.  Analysis of the gathering at the Vatican includes disbelief that it will influence peace talks in the Middle East.  But being the light of the world is not cause and effect.  Elijah was asked to proclaim a drought and to put his faith in God’s command first to hide near a stream then take charity from a poor woman before God pardoned Israel who at last turned back to Him.  God’s glory is to be illumined. 

Action

It is said that even a small flame can be seen from 2 miles away in the dark.  God’s glory is present, do we see it?  Do we reflect it?  Do we trust in it enough to follow God to the ends of our comfort zone?  

Be Satisfied

Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan.  You shall drink of the wadi, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.  1 Kings 17:3-4

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  Matthew 5:6-9

Piety

Father, help us to recognize that our help is not in our own hands but in another’s – Yours.  Let us look toward where that help will come and accept it when it is offered as we prayer the Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.  Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Study

The prophet is not the grumbling Israelite.  The prophet is set apart from the regular citizen, as the notes in the New American Bible explain, because the holy ones receive the divine word and obey it.  In addition, they effectively convey the threat or promise contained in the revelation of the divine word – in the case of today’s first reading the threat of drought is balanced with the promise that the Lord will provide water to drink and meat and bread to eat.

Today’s reading harkens us back to the book of Exodus when the people were wandering in the desert and not satisfied with anything provided for them.  “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have your fill of bread, and then you will know that I, the LORD, am your God.”  (Exodus 16:12).  However, today, we see Ahab get his fill.

Where are we to get our satisfaction?  Jesus recognizes the many needs, wants and desires in life.  He promises to fulfill them if we act as he acted.  In essence, if we want to be happy, we should realize that recently popular bracelet: “WWJD?” 

• Happy are the poor:  Jesus lived his life in the family of a hard-working carpenter and then as an itinerant preacher. 
• Happy are they who mourn:  We saw Jesus mourn and weep for his friend Lazarus.
• Happy are the meek:  Jesus was never boastful, or conceited or proud.
• Happy are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness: Jesus was concerned at how people treated the children, the poor widows, the outcasts and the sinners.
• Happy are the merciful:  Even as he hung from the nails of the cross, Jesus prayed to the Father for mercy (“Forgiven Father, for they know not what they do.”)
• Happy are the clean of heart: Jesus healed the words, “Go and sin no more.”
• Happy are the peacemakers:  Although Jesus said he came to bring division, he also came to bring people to his side of the division – the side or peace, love and happiness.
• Happy are they who are persecuted:  Despite preaching in the temple, the Pharisees and Sadducees plotted against him and frequently tried to trap Jesus in theological riddles.

Action
To where do you look for satisfaction?  Chances are good it will not come from Ford or Maytag or Safeway or Lord and Taylor or Sears or Target or eBay or Amazon.com.  We can get stuff from them but not stuff that will make us eternally happy.  

Receive

Pentecost 2014 A

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.  1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  John 20:21-22

Piety

Our piety is not simply a statement of how we give the gifts of the Spirit back to God.  Our piety is the uniqueness of our gifts of the Spirit shared with others.  The fruits of the Spirit develop from our use of the gifts.  Peace is what the Apostles received from Christ.  Peace keeps us from being a lot of noise and clanging cymbals.  Our peace makes people feel safe around us.  Our security in the Lord comes from our letting go and letting God handle our problems by our confidence in how well he can use us to make a difference.  Piety is the gentleness of a breeze that comes from we-know-not-where and takes us where all too often we are unaware.

Study

Pentecost gives us our freedom to proclaim the good news of Christ.  The Apostles were heard in other languages.  Speaking in tongues is a wonderful gift even as we make the holy sounds that are the expression of the peace of our hearts.  In a community praying there is the overlay of the voice of the spirit at work.  Tongues allow one to praise God without searching for words.  They are the language of the heart escaping from our hearts on fire with the love the Spirit shared through us.  Pentecost is where the Church has its real beginning.

Action

We join ourselves to the work of the Spirit by how our gifts are used for the building up of the church.  In John’s Gospel Christ comes to the apostles behind locked doors.  The action of Pentecost creates the audiences and gathers the people for the sharing of Christ.  Our fears make us hold back.  The result of Pentecost is seen in all the ways we share the Christ of our hearts.  All the ways the people of God share Christ is Pentecost at work.  The more we work at emptying ourselves out for the sake of Christ, the more we have of Christ to share.  Christ fills the emptiness that our sharing Christ makes possible.  Our emptiness is the call of our hearts for the coming of Christ.  The more we share of Christ, the more of Christ we will have to share. 

You Follow Me

Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter

“But when the Jews objected, I was obliged to appeal to Caesar, even though I had no accusation to make against my own nation.  This is the reason, then, I have requested to see you and to speak with you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear these chains.”   Acts 28:19-20

“What concern is it of yours?  You follow me.”  John 21:22bc

Piety

Father, free us from the concerns of life.  Make us as carefree as the birds in the air and the lilies in the valley.  Help us to walk away from what preoccupies us and overcome all obstacles in the way of following you.  Send us your Pentecost that we can be on fire with desire to spread your Good News.

Study

Paul is chained up by the Romans.  However, those external chains may hinder his physical movement around the city but they do not hinder his journey toward Jesus and toward spreading the Good News even if he can only do that from his confined quarters.  He follow Jesus despite the physical obstacles.

Peter, however, while free remains chained by his own emotions and disposition.  Maybe there remains a hint of jealousy toward John.  Could there be a “You-love-him-more-than-me” sibling-type rivalry?  Beyond that, Peter may have walked away from his boats and his nets, but he cannot walk away from his inner nature.  Neither can we.  “You follow me.”

Yet THAT is exactly what Jesus has been asking ever since he walked under the waters of Baptism by his cousin.  Repent.  “You follow me.”

Action

What concerns do we have?  Leave those aside.  Wash those away in baptism.  Reject those in reconciliation.  Follow me to the altar.  Accept Jesus in Eucharist.  Accept a new journey in matrimony or holy orders.  Follow Jesus through thick and thin, through illness and healing.  Follow Jesus to the cross.  “You follow me to the cross and beyond.” 

What chains are we wearing?  Some are chains which have been thrust upon us externally.  Others are chains that we have donned all on our own.  Throw off those chains to freely follow Jesus. 

Where You Do Not Want to Go

By Melanie Rigney

Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter

(Speaking about Paul, Festus told King Agrippa:) “His accusers stood around him, but did not charge him with any of the crimes I suspected. Instead they had some issues with him about their own religions and about a certain Jesus who had died but who Paul claimed was alive.” (Acts 25:18-19)

Bless the Lord, all you his angels, you mighty in strength, who do his bidding. (Psalms 103:20)

(Jesus said to Peter:) “Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” (John 21:18-19)

Piety

Lord, guide me through my earthly “deaths” as You increase my dependence on You.

Study

Back in late 2010 and early 2011, I was struggling. What I really enjoyed writing was Christian fiction, but other than the occasional contest honor, that was going nowhere. What was getting published was the Catholic nonfiction I was writing, here and in Living Faith and a book on setting up a parish program for returning Catholics I’d co-authored. It wasn’t that I disliked writing nonfiction, but I’d been doing it in the secular world for decades. It didn’t transport me the way writing fiction did. And, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of being pigeonholed as a Catholic writer. There’s still quite a market for Christian fiction, but as you likely know, many folks don’t consider Catholics to be Christians. I wanted to be obedient to God’s call to me as a writer. I just wasn’t sure what it was.

So I talked with a friend. He suggested I pursue both types of writing since they brought me joy in different ways. I explained the time and pigeonholing constraints. He listened a lot. He lent me his copy of James Martin’s The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life. He hadn’t read it yet, but he thought it might help. It did, annoying as I found the concept of spiritual indifference —accepting our situation as it is here on earth and focusing on the purpose for which we are created.

My friend and I talked a few more times. He prayed. I prayed. And a little more than a year later, God gifted me with the most wonderful writing opportunity of my life: telling the stories of 366 female saints and blesseds and relating them to our faith journeys today. You don’t get much more Catholic than writing about saints. Not only did I find a whole lot of new friends among those 366 women, I was humbled by the way those stories touched other people, some of whom I knew and some of whom I didn’t.

It turned out that once I stopped focusing on what I wanted and let my doubts and tendency to overanalyze die, God was more than happy to help me be both obedient and joyful. And, it appears that Christian novel I finished back in 2010 might get published after all—by a Catholic publisher.

Now, it’s my friend’s turn. He faces some decisions in the coming weeks that will mean death of some of the things he most loves, no matter which way things fall out. I’m praying for him, confident that like Peter, he will continue to say yes to Christ’s command to “Follow me,” no matter where that takes him.

Action

Pray for a family member or friend facing a crossroads in a relationship or his or her career, that the Lord illumines the person’s path.

Determine the Truth

Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

The next day, wishing to determine the truth about why he was being accused by the Jews, he freed him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene. Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.  Acts 22:30

“I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.  John 17:20-21

Piety

Just as Jesus prayers for unity, we too pray for unity with God and with each other.  The world divides but our faith in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church must proceed. 

Study

Wishing to determine the truth, Paul is brought before the Sanhedrin.  In the scene, we see the Roman commander who realizes that his prisoner also is a citizen.  We see the factions of the Pharisees and Sadducees who have disagreements amongst themselves.  And we see the emerging beliefs of the new church which also distinguish it from the Hebrew traditions.  Paul, in the center, brings witness to these groups…but that witness only inflames the divisions.

Jesus had prayed right before leaving for the Gethsemane for unity.  In this scene from the first reading, we see how far we have to go to get there. 

Action

As Pope Francis journeyed to the Holy Land last month, he planned a meeting with the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church to mark the anniversary of the Council of Nicea. 

John Allen of the Boston Globe reported the following during the tour:  Pope Francis continued his goodwill tour through the Middle East today, offering a message of “mercy, magnanimity and compassion” in stops at sites holy to both Muslims and Jews and visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial to lament what he called a “boundless tragedy.”

On his way home from a meeting with Pope Francis in the Holy Land, Patriarch Bartholomew I, the primary leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, gave an interview in which he said that he and Francis are planning a gathering in Nicaea 11 years from now "to celebrate together, after 17 centuries , the first truly ecumenical synod." That's a pretty big deal; in 1054, theological disagreements led to a schism in Christianity, which is how Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians became separate faith traditions. This is a call back to a time before the schism, before the Protestant Reformation and the fundamental disagreements that kept popes and patriarchs from talking to each other for more than 900 years. 

The prayers for unity may foretell an important story which may take more than a decade to develop.  However, if the seeds planted in Jerusalem last month are cultivated, who knows what might results in 2025. 

Keep Them from the Evil One

Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

By Colleen O’Sullivan

At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus:  “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.  And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them…  And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated”…  When he had finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with them all.  (Acts 20:29-30, 32, 36)

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying:  “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one…  I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One.   (John 17: 11b, 15)

Piety

O Lord, make me ever vigilant against the enemy, even when it bears a terrible likeness to myself.

Study

Today’s Scripture readings consist of two farewell messages.  Paul is taking leave of his friends at Ephesus and Jesus is preparing his disciples for his imminent suffering and death.  Both of them pray for their friends, Paul for strength for hard times ahead and Jesus that his friends be one with his Father and for protection for them against the Evil One.

As I was thinking about the Church today and her enemies, I thought how nice it would be if they always came packaged as wolves.  We’d recognize them straight away and know to fight them off!  But the Evil Spirit is too clever for that.  As I look about the Church, I wonder if maybe the Evil Spirit is disguised as complacency.   In my parish, Sunday Mass used to be standing-room only, but over the last 18 years, there have come to be more and more empty seats.  My parish is not an anomaly; this is the trend across the Church in the U.S.  What bothers me is how few people seem concerned about this, let alone actively trying to do anything about it.

Jesus and Paul were never complacent about their faith.  Jesus spent his entire public ministry going from village to village and town to town, sharing what he received from his Father.  Paul traveled tirelessly, founding new churches and then writing letters to these young churches in between journeys.  Both men knew that to be a sower of the Word, you have to go out into the fields.  The fields never come to you.

In Cursillo, the way we express that is:  Make a friend.  Be a friend.  Bring a friend to Christ.  There’s nothing in that that implies we should sit at home or at church and wait to be approached.  There’s everything that urges us to be tireless in spreading the Good News.

Action

What one action could you take this week to make a friend, be a friend, or bring a friend to Christ?

An excellent book that my Cursillo group is reading on the topic is Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry A. Weddell.   I wish it were required reading for every person in every pew in every church.

Accomplish God’s Work

Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs

By Beth DeCristofaro

… compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace. (Acts 20:22-24)

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said … I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. (John 17:1, 4)

Piety

St. Charles Lwanga and the Martyrs of Uganda, we ask your prayers of intercession on behalf of all who suffer from the unjust exercise of authority. May you who were so cruelly persecuted for your faith in Jesus Christ intercede for all who are oppressed, that they might be comforted by the Divine Mercy and empowered by the gift and grace of fortitude. May justice be the goal of all people and may all who are called by the name Christian join together in works of redemption directed at the sins and the structures of sin that afflict our communities. Amen.

        (from www.justpeace.org)

Study

Just a little over 100 years ago, Charles Lwanga and more than 20 others became the first martyrs in a bloody oppression during which 100 Ugandan Christians died under a brutal king.  Like so many other persecutions, this one came from someone seeing a threat to his power.  Charles also protected others from the immorality of the royal court.  Power and entrenched systems still do not take kindly to those who speak truth and hold others accountable.

For Paul, being accountable as witness for Jesus was, in fact, a sacred trust.  Today, we see people of many religions being killed for their beliefs by governments, ideologues, or even other oppressed peoples.  Atrocities seem to abound in the news.   In spite of repeated attempts to wipe out the faithful, God’s people continue to multiply and God’s glory shines in the actions and prayers of those who accomplish His work.  Check out an inspiring website of which, I am sure, Charles would be proud at http://www.dacb.org/index.html.  

Action

Much is demanded of those who have much.  What am I doing for oppressed people who have as much right to freedom of worship as I have?    Consider contributing financially or personally to projects such as Dictionary of African Christian Biography or Kairos (which serves prisoners) or your local Catholic Worker House.  Keep all in prayer who seek to accomplish God’s work despite imprisonment and hardships.

Take Courage

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter 2014

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.  Acts 19:5-6

“Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone.  But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.  I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.  In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”  John 16:32-33

Piety

Jesus never wavered in knowing that God would not abandon him yet we waver.  Help us to remember that you will never forget your people because you have carved us on the palm of Your hand.  With Jesus as our forever sibling, we will never be left orphaned or forgotten. 

Study

Today’s “good” news foretells the fulfilment of the prophetic words from the Hebrew Bible:  “Strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered.”  (Zechariah 13:7)  Jesus knows that the events to unfold will shake the faith that the disciples have in Jesus.  However, he also knows that the Holy Spirit will return to repair and strengthen that faith experience in these disciples, in us and in people to come after us.

When the civil and religious leaders who turned on Jesus failed to fulfill their part of the social contract, they lost the right to govern.  It was their duty to protect the anaweim:  the “little” powerless ones of society such as widows, orphans and the weak.  As the prophet Ezekiel predicted, “You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured. You did not bring back the stray or seek the lost but ruled them harshly and brutally.  So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and became food for all the wild beasts. They were scattered.”  (Ezekiel 34:4-5).  So initially, the “sheep” scattered from following false shepherds when they re-turned to the Good Shepherd Jesus.

Even though most of his closest friends will scatter once again, Jesus overcomes the loneliness of his human nature and knows that the Father will never abandon him.   God is the embodiment of the spirit of Immanuel.  God is with us and with Jesus.  “The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.”  (John 8:29)

Still, there is something sweetly ironic about declaring that he has conquered the world when in a few short hours, the world will see Jesus hanging on a tree with three nails and a sword piercing his scarred, whipped and thorn-crowned body.  The world will think that is the life of this annoying-to-some itinerant preacher is finally over and his word is silenced when they roll a boulder in front of his tomb.  The world will be wrong.

Action

The cultural tug-of-war that is part and parcel to being a Catholic these days continues.  We have a Pope in Rome who eschews the showy trappings of power yet stories persist of expensive residences being built for bishops in North America and Europe.  The Pope softens his tone on some of the culture wars that have marked the last 20 years yet institutions still pick fights that are not on the side of the poor scattering the sheep into traditional and modern camps.   

Sometimes, I feel like those scattered disciples who must be wondering, “If this is what conquering the world looks and feels like, then I want no part of it.”  Jesus is the “anti-general” who conquers the world by not conquering the world.  He refuses to participate in the show.

The writings of the late Fr. Richard Martin really resonate at times when the divide between Christians and Catholics get magnified.  The May 25 bulletin at Nativity quoted an old column of his reflecting on (now) Saint Pope John XXIII.

One of [Pope John XXIII’s] favorite sayings that has become [Fr. Martin’s] as well is: “Let us look at what unites us rather than what divides us.” For me that was never difficult to do having been raised in an interfaith family with aunts, uncles and cousins of different religious backgrounds. Walls were never allowed to go up, and our many diversities never stopped all of us from loving one another and sitting down to break bread together. As Blessed Pope John XXIII said: “Whenever I see a wall between Christians, I try to pull out a brick.” In my ministry I have always tried to see the Good Shepherd who cared for all!

What brick will you remove?

PS:  Before canonization, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was referred to as “Good Pope John XXIII.”  So, is he now Good Saint Pope John XXIII or Saint Good Pope John XXIII?”