Sunday Gospel Reflection, August 2, 2020: What will separate us from the love of Christ?

What will separate us from the love of Christ?

God seeks relationship with you…

  From the beginning of time, God’s desire has been for relationship with God’s people.  The prophet Isaiah speaks to all of the ways God reaches out to establish that bond, to create connection:  God promises water to the thirsty, grain to those who have none, and life to all who listen, to all who heed God’s word.  The dynamic is ongoing and eternal – God wishes to bring God’s promises to fulfillment in this moment now and in the fullness of time, by feeding God’s people not just with physical sustenance but also, and especially, with food that nourishes the soul, meeting humankind’s spiritual needs in all possible ways. And so God is faithful to covenant.  Psalm 145 reminds us that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness – all covenant language.  And God gives us our food in due season, satisfying the desire of every living thing.  Following ancient rules of hospitality, God desires to provide all that we need; we have but to call upon God in truth.

  God’s desire for relationship is ultimately sealed by God’s Son Jesus.  In Matthew’s story of the loaves and fishes, Jesus wants to go off to a deserted place by himself, but, seeing the crowds, his heart is moved with pity for them.  Not only does he feed their bodies, he also finds their need, their living need, and heals them, thereby teaching them the nature of God’s great love for them.  Jesus enters into relationship with all of these people, even with those who are not ready for it; there are no barriers where Jesus is concerned – not even, as Paul tells the Romans, anguish or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or the sword.  Suffering is not meant to be an obstacle to our faith; the pain we might experience because of our relationship with God unites us more deeply in relationship with God.  Paul’s question, What will separate us from the love of Christ? has no tangible answer, for ultimately, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, a love that, at its very core, seeks relationship with all.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 31, 2020: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness...

The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness…

What can the Spirit of God accomplish in us?

  In the Old Testament, the people of God are bound to God in covenant through the spirit of God that comes upon them; to break covenant is a sign of self-focus, an indication of a failure to give room to the spirit of God working within them.  We see this failure to recognize a need for God’s spirit at work in the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis, when the people look to the work of their own hands as sufficient to greatness; in Exodus, on the other hand, the people are bound to God and God to God’s people through the work of God’s spirit in covenant, visible to them in the form of peals of thunder and lightening, a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast .  The dry bones of Ezekiel are another example of a people dead to God through sin, but when God breathes spirit into them, they are lifted to new life.  God’s ability to transform us through God’s spirit is evident in Joel as well, when God says, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and all people with thereby coming to unity in God.  Lord, send out your spirit, and renew the face of the earth, we sing in Psalm 104 – this is God’s action in our lives, time and time again, from the beginning of time.

  Jesus is clear to his disciples on this point:  Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me, he tells the crowd at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles in John’s Gospel.  He is speaking in reference to the Spirit that we will receive once he has died and risen, a Spirit that will flow through us and from us to other.  That Spirit is the breath Jesus breathes upon the apostles in the upper room in John as well:  Receive the Holy Spirit, he tells them, receive, that is, the ability to do what I am sending you to do, to open yourselves to the Spirit in your life so you can understand those who need to be forgiven and forgive them.  It is the same Spirit that comes like a strong driving wind upon the disciples at the time for Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles – the tongues as of fire that come to rest upon them offer them enlightenment, a light they did not have previously, a kind of interior vision.  Henceforth, as Paul tells the Corinthians, all of our different gifts are given to us by the same Spirit, even our ability to proclaim Jesus as Lord.  It is the Spirit that makes it possible to come together in one Body, coming to the aid of our weakness as Paul notes in the Letter to the Romans, drawing us closer, ever closer to God, our faithful guide to perfect Love. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordcloud.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 9, 2019: We were all given to drink of one Spirit...

We were all given to drink of one Spirit…

How does the Spirit dwelling within us transform our world?

  Left to themselves, humans tend toward self-centeredness.  We read in the Book of Genesis the story of Babel, in which the people build an enormous ziggurat, not to deepen their relationship with God but to make a name for themselves.  The end result?  God scatters them over all the earth, and any hope for union is lost. 

  Paul recognizes the dangers of self-centeredness in his epistles to the Corinthians and to the Romans when he notes that if we remain in the flesh, self-centered, self-focused, our only concern is what we can accomplish ourselves, and we will remain disconnected, isolated, separate, without anything larger that connects us.  But if we drink of the Holy Spirit, and allow our existence to be defined in terms of God rather than of ourselves, then it is possible for love to be eternal.  For no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.  Paul also notes that we know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now – we long for forgiveness, long for redemption, long for union, but have not yet found them, and so we wait for adoption.  But the Spirit allows us to transcend our own self-centeredness when it intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings and enables an ever more full relationship, and union, with God.

  All of this is only possible because Jesus, by his death and resurrection, promised to create an open passage between God and us, such that, as he says in John’s Gospel, rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes.  This is the work of the Spirit that those who come to believe in him were to receive at Pentecost and beyond.  Later in this same Gospel, Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room to transfer his mission to them:  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.  Receive the Holy Spirit.  The disciples are thus tasked with opening the way of salvation to all by going out and loving their world through a love facilitated by the Advocate, the Spirit.  It is the Spirit that will allow that love to flow from them, that they might renew the face of the earth (Psalm 104), fostering union among all peoples.  The Pentecost story as told in the Acts of the Apostles is different, but with the same ultimate result:  the apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit, which will dwell in them and flow from them as they proclaim the mighty acts of God.

  We are called to no less!  May we too be filled with the Holy Spirit every single day, that we might proclaim God’s manifold works and bring his forgiveness to all, fostering union as God’s love flows from us to the world.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 15, 2016: Renew the face of the earth...

  Renew the face of the earth…  

But how? 

   The multiple readings for the Feast of Pentecost (for both Vigil and Sunday Masses) take us on a journey from the human debacle of arrogance at the Tower of Babel in Genesis to the purification operated by the Holy Spirit when the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, as recounted in Acts.  Pentecost reverses the confusion of Babel, restoring mutual comprehension to the disciples and their listeners as those who are filled with the Holy Spirit speak in different tongues and are understood by people from all over the known world as they proclaim the good news.  Their journey is our journey on a grand scale.

   In John’s Gospel, Jesus repeatedly prepares the disciples for this moment.  In John 7, Jesus likens the Holy Spirit to rivers of living water that will flow from within him who believes in the Christ, a force that will draw them more deeply into love, to Jesus.  Later, when, on Easter Sunday, Jesus breathes upon the disciples and intones, Receive the Holy Spirit, he is revealing the Advocate who is to be with them always, giving them peace as the Spirit is intended to give us Jesus’ peace as well.

  Yet Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds us that, while it is true that in order to enter into the fullness of life in Jesus, we were baptized, that union is not yet perfect:  we groan within ourselves, as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.  Hope fills us as love speaks from the depth of our being, with the Spirit drawing us further along toward the perfect union that we long for.  It is the Spirit that allows us to focus on God rather than wallowing in the self-centeredness Paul calls the flesh.  For when we focus on other rather than on ourselves, we are focusing on God who dwells within.  Only in this way are we able to manifest that self-sacrificing love in our earthly body, for the Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies, so that we might, as the first letter to the Corinthians states, use our gifts as the Spirit intended, that is, for the benefit of others.  But first, we have to enter into that love that is the call of us all, receive the Spirit, and, like the disciples, proclaim it to the world, blessing the Lord with all our soul, that our love for God may bring God joy and gladness.  Only then can we fulfill the prayer of Psalm 104, giving over both voice and body to the Spirit that can renew of the face of the earth.  Love is our gift, love is our call; love is our mission – may we help it to spread to the ends of the earth!

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.

Image source:  Wordle

Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 31, 2015: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit... 

What does an intimate relationship with God look like? 

Though it may be difficult to grasp entirely, we have our model in the Holy Trinity, a manifestation of the relationship of perfect union for which we strive throughout the entire journey of our lives.  To come to know and experience God is the ultimate task of our lives as Christians, for God is relational:  God chooses relationship, chooses to be in relationship with humankind.  

Hence Moses, in Deuteronomy, asks the people to ask themselves:  have I encountered and engaged the God who created all things?  Do I have an appreciation of the singular relationship God calls me to?  God made us, Psalm 33 reminds us; God breathed his Spirit into us, spoke one Word and we were created.  Blessed are we whom the Lord has chosen to be his own!  This is, implicitly, an evocation of Trinity.

Jesus, Matthew tells us, has the power of the Father to give life, and he passes that power on to the Church through the Spirit:  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations… The Church gives life by baptizing and by teaching what Jesus has commanded, namely, love of God and love of neighbor.  Witnessing the disciples’ doubt, Jesus draws closer to them, reminding them that he is with them always, until the end of the age.  And thus is His Spirit passed on to us, the Church, so that we might remain in him, remain, that is, in the relationship that is so central to our identity as Christians.  This is why we can call God Abba, Daddy, as Paul tells the Romans:  the word is an affectionate expression of connection based in intimacy and origin, signaling our hope to be united in relationship with God.  We are not simply creatures, created to exist on this earth:  we are children of God, and joint heirs with Christ, because God has chosen to enter into relationship with us, a relationship exemplified by the Trinity, a relationship shared, in all its awesome wonder, with us as God draws us ever closer into the love that is Trinitarian, the love that is eternal life.

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.

Image source:  Wordle

Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 24, 2015: I will put my spirit in you, that you may live...

I will put my spirit in you, that you may live... 

Are you open to the arrival of the Holy Spirit in your life? 

Christians have not always been open to that holy presence.  Our Vigil readings this weekend remind us of the barriers we tend to erect when we focus more on what we can accomplish on our own than on what God is doing in our lives.  Our reading from Genesis offers the lesson of the so-called Tower of Babel, a monument to the arrogance of those caught up in their own state of prosperity, the same arrogance that led to humankind’s original fall from grace:  God scattered them from there all over the earth.  Hence creation’s labor pains, humankind’s expression of longing for God, as described by Paul in his letter to the Romans:  salvation, he reminds us, is not yet complete, but will be when we come into the full union of perfect love, a love we will find in all its depth and wonder if we remain in the Spirit, who comes to the aid of our weakness.  In John’s Gospel, Jesus promises the Spirit to those who thirst for God:  Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.  His promise is reminiscent of that of Psalm 104:  when God’s creatures… look to God, God gives them food in due time.  As always, the Vigil is about waiting, longing, hoping for the coming of the Spirit, and the eventual salvation that is promised…

If the Vigil is about our longing for God, the celebration of Pentecost Sunday helps us to recognize what the Spirit’s action in our lives can look like if we are open to it.  Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on the disciples in John’s Gospel, and still they hesitate, but Luke’s account in Acts sends them, filled with the Holy Spirit, pouring into the street to proclaim God’s Word, Jesus himself.  A measure of the fullness of the Spirit is available to us, too, if we are are open to it, if we truly are able to pray, with true longing, Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.  Only then, as Paul tells the Galatians, can we enjoy the fruits of the Spirit:  love, joy, and peace, to name just a few…  May the Holy Spirit come to unite what has been divided, and may we be open to its breath flowing forth to fill us with God’s love.

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.

Image source:  Wordle

Sunday Gospel Reflection, March 1, 2015: From the cloud came a voice...

From the cloud came a voice...

Do you understand God? 

It’s pretty impossible to get your head around God’s promises.  Take the story of Abraham, in this Sunday’s first reading from Genesis.  God has given Abraham a son in his old age, only to ask him to sacrifice Isaac on a height God will point out to him.  What?  How can that possibly make sense?  But Abraham does not question God, not once:  he has embraced God over all, and follows God’s instructions to the letter.  Yes, the messenger stops him mid-deed.  But ultimately, the story is about Abraham believing – having faith – when he cannot possibly understand God’s plan.  He doesn’t need to get his head around God’s request:  he simply trusts.  The psalmist likewise believes, even when he cannot understand; he keeps the faith, even when afflicted, knowing that precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones (Psalm 116), trusting in God’s infinite mercy in his time of difficulty.

Jesus is the son of [God’s] handmaid:  born into the slavery that is human existence, Jesus takes this identity on fully; like the psalmist, he will know great affliction.  Paul recognizes this in his letter to the Romans:  God did not spare his own son, handing him over for us all.  Unlike Isaac, God allowed Jesus to be sacrificed, to die and be raised.  Is this a reality we can get our heads around?  Is it, really?  Or is God’s love simply greater than anything we can imagine?  The disciples certainly don’t get it, even when they are on the mountain with Jesus in Mark's Gospel.  Having heard him predict his own Passion, they witness his Transfiguration before their very eyes.  Peter hardly knew what to say, and the disciples will continue to question what rising from the dead meant in the aftermath of this remarkable event.  Although they hear God’s statement – Listen to him – they really have no clue what it all means.  Not yet.

It is a part of the human condition to live with doubt, to be overwhelmed by the ineffable – it’s hard to get what God is about in our lives.  Understanding the revelation, comprehending what God has done – sending his son, handing him over, raising him – takes time, and we’re still working it.  Hang in there… In the end, it will surely be worth it!

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source:  Wordle