The Holy Spirit is a relationship (Fr. Ron Rolheiser)

    Scripture assures us that the Holy Spirit is not a generic force, one-size-fits-all, but a person, a relationship, a spirit that has particular manifestations and gives itself to each of us uniquely so that the understanding and strength that we receive are geared to help us in our own particular struggles. 

--Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI 

Image source: https://www.curtlandry.com/manifestation-of-the-gifts-of-the-spirit/#.YIyKjWZKgzU 

Quotation source

Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 23, 2021: We were all given to drink of one Spirit...

We were all given to drink of one Spirit…

How, then, do we become a source of life for others?

   In the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve trade their solid relationship with God for control; it is the beginning of a diminishment of humankind’s connection with the Lord. The building of the tower at Babel is yet another example of humankind’s desire for control; the people migrating to Shinar seek dominance, presuming to make a name for themselves by creating a structure with its top in the sky, and God puts an end to their efforts by confusing their speech. Renewal is necessary, as Psalm 104 reminds the people of Israel: Lord, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth, the psalmist prays. Jesus’ death and rising will restore us to relationship with God. When, at Pentecost, he promises the disciples an Advocate, he sends the Holy Spirit who will intercede for us, as Paul tells the Romans, coming to the aid of our weakness by perfecting our petitions and helping us to open ourselves to God in prayer. If we respond in love to God’s invitation to open to him, we will be able to allow his love to flow from within us like living water, as John's Gospel states, that all might come and drink. It is thus through us that the love of God flows out to the world, an expression of life-giving grace that transforms the world.

   If the hubris of the people of Israel caused the confusion of tongues at the tower at Babel, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is a reversal of this confusion, since, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, each person present hears the disciples in his native language. It is an event that marks a radical change, as the apostles now embrace their ability to share the love of God that they have experienced themselves. In John’s Gospel, a similar event occurs in the upper room, when Jesus breathes on the disciples, inviting them to receive the Holy Spirit, a renewal of relationship wherein they can ground themselves in the love of God. Paul tells the Corinthians that to each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. We need to open ourselves not only to God and the Spirit, but also to community, allowing ourselves to depend on that community to form a whole wherein each has different kinds of spiritual gifts. The Spirit is meant to flow from us all; we are to reveal the Word with love and generosity of heart. To be sent to proclaim the good news is to find in our hearts the capacity to love, to love always, to love under any circumstances. This is the ultimate lesson of Pentecost, an outpouring of God’s love into our hearts that we must share with our world. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Blessed and lucky (10,000 Maniacs)

Never before and never since, I promise

Will the whole world be warm as this, 

And as you feel it, you’ll know it’s true 

That you are blessed and lucky 

It’s true, that you are touched by something 

That will grow and bloom in you 

These are the days you’ll remember 

When May is rushing over you with desire 

To be part of the miracles you see in every hour 

You’ll know it’s true, that you are blessed and lucky 

It’s true, that you are touched by something 

That will grow and bloom in you 

 These are the days 

That you might fill with laughter 

Until you break 

These days you might feel a shaft of light 

Make its way across your face 

And when you do 

You’ll know how it was meant to be 

See the signs and know their meaning 

You’ll know how it was meant to be 

Hear the signs and 

Know they’re speaking to you 

To you 

To hear 10,000 Maniacs perform “These Are The Days,” click on the video below:

Image source: https://darpanmagazine.com/lifestyle/healthfitness/may-is-national-sunshine-month/ 

Video source

He is on the right hand of God (St. John Henry Newman)

God mounts his throne to shouts of joy… 

--Psalm 47 

    Christ is already in that place of peace, which is all in all. He is on the right hand of God. He is hidden in the brightness of the radiance which issues from the everlasting throne. He is in the very abyss of peace, where there is no voice of tumult or distress, but a deep stillness – stillness, that greatest and most awful of all goods which we can fancy; that most perfect of joys, the utter profound, ineffable tranquillity of the Divine Essence. He has entered his rest. That is our home; here we are on a pilgrimage and Christ calls us to His many mansions which he has prepared. 

--St. John Henry Newman 

Image source: http://apostles-creed.org/interpretation/and-sits-at-the-right-hand-of-god-the-father-almighty/ 

Quotation source

Every step is a little bit of eternity (Muriel Barbery)

Why are you standing there looking at the sky?

(Acts 1:11)

   If you dread tomorrow, it’s because you don’t know how to build the present, and when you don’t know how to build the present, you tell yourself you can deal with it tomorrow, and it’s a lost cause anyway because tomorrow always ends up being today, don’t you see… We have to live with the certainty that we’ll get old and that it won’t look nice or be good or feel happy. And tell ourselves that it’s now that matters: to build something now at any price using all our strength. Always remember that there’s a retirement home waiting somewhere and so we have to surpass ourselves every day, make every day undying. Climb our own personal Everest and do it in such a way that every step is a little bit of eternity. That’s what the future is for: to build the present with real plans made by living people. 

--Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Image source: https://www.rmiguides.com/himalaya/everest

Ascension Verbs (Fr. John McKenna)

 --A verb is a part of speech 

that denotes action.

 

Go 

Go out (into the whole world) 

Make 

Make disciples (of all the nations) 

Baptize (them) 

In the name of the Father 

And of the Son 

And of the Holy Spirit 

(Share with them our life) 

Welcome them into the community of our love 

(Reveal to them their true identity) 

Teach (them) 

To observe (the commandments) 

Know 

Know that 

I am with you (always) 

Immanuel 

God with us. 

An Ascension Christian is a verb person, a person of action. 

The Christian is a missionary, one who will not sit home, but will leave comfort and comfort zones with the love of God burning in their hearts. 

Disciples are made – by welcoming people into our hearts. 

Disciples are made – by welcoming people into an embracing community. 

In Baptism, heaven and earth meet in us. 

The powerful seed of faith is sown. 

We are God’s children, and brothers and sisters of the same Father God and Mother Church. 

Teaching most often happens, not in a classroom; 

It happens in the home, in friendships on the sly, what we see out of the corner of the eye; how we treat, talk about, and care for each other. 

Teaching comes only after the experience of being welcomed as a disciple into the community of disciples. 

Baptism only makes sense in the context of community. 

We have to know who before we learn what. 

Who is God? Who am I and whose am I? 

Jesus remains with us forever; 

In Eucharist, in the Word, and in the Community of the disciples, the Church. 

--Fr. John McKenna, C.Ss.R.,

Ascension Verbs

Image source: Rembrandt, The Ascension of Jesus (1636), https://www.wga.hu/html_m/r/rembrand/12passio/05passio.html 

Poem source

Holy Mother, where are you? (Eric Clapton / Luciano Pavarotti)

Holy Mother, where are you?

Tonight, I feel broken in two

I’ve seen the stars fall from the sky

Holy Mother, can’t keep from crying

Oh, I need your help this time

Get me through this lonely night

Tell me, please, which way to turn

To find my self again

Holy Mother, hear my prayer

Somehow, I know you’re still there

Send me, please, some peace of mind

Take away this pain

I can’t wait, I can’t wait

I can’t wait any longer

I can’t wait, I can’t wait

I can’t wait for you

Holy Mother, hear my cry

I’ve cursed your name a thousand times

I’ve felt the anger running through my soul

All I need is a hand to hold

Oh, I feel the end has come

No longer my legs will run

You know I would rather be

In your arms tonight

When my hands no longer play

My voice is still, I fade away,

Holy Mother, then I’ll be

Lying in, safe within your arms

To hear Eric Clapton perform this song with Luciano Pavarotti, click on the video below. To read the story behind Clapton’s composition of this song, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, click here.

Image source: Jen Norton, The Fourth Station: Jesus meets his Mother, 
https://www.etsy.com/listing/667841380/fourth-station-jesus-meets-his-mother (available for purchase)
Video source