Pentecost Vigil Gospel Reflection, May 18, 2013: I will put my spirit in you

I will put my spirit in you

Like the readings for Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday), the readings for the Pentecost Vigil are different from those of Pentecost Sunday, and each set has a slightly different way of presenting the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  For the Vigil, there are four possible Old Testament readings in all, one from Genesis, one from Exodus, one from Ezekiel, and a last one from Joel – all of which present moments of theophany, that is, manifestations of God’s presence among humankind.  Our parish will be hearing the reading from Genesis this year.

And Genesis provides us with a point of departure.  Unlike the people settling in Shinar, who are invested in created a structure (the so-called Tower of Babel) celebrating their arrogance and independence from God and Other, we are called to reconnect with the world – indeed, that is the miracle of Pentecost.  How does this reconnection happen?  First and foremost, through the Spirit that we share in every dimension of our lives.  Psalm 104 tells us that God sends his life-giving breath upon us:  we are thus re-created and renewed, called upon to bless God with every breath we take – as thanksgiving in common is a fundmental source of unity among all peoples.  The reading from Romans reminds us that the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness, interceding for us and helping us to open ourselves in prayer to God’s presence in our lives.  And in John’s Gospel, Jesus equates the Spirit with living water that we are called to come… and drink.  The totality of our lives is fed by Jesus, by the love that he came to reveal to the world.  If we drink of this living water that is the Holy Spirit, then our lives can be a source of life for others, as we go forth from Mass, commissioned to be vehicles of God’s love revealed to the world, (re)connecting, as Pentecost calls us to do.

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
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I Can Only Imagine

I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe)

What must it have been like for Jesus to ascend at last to the Father?   And what will our own experience of heaven – perfect union with God – be like?  We can only imagine…

I can only imagine

What it will be like

When I walk

By Your side

I can only imagine

What my eyes will see

When Your face

Is before me

I can only imagine

I can only imagine

[Chorus:]

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel

Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of you be still

Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall

Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all

Jesus Ascending

Many of you will recognize this bit of stained glass window from our church.  If you don't, take a few minutes this weekend to find the ascending feet (and point them out to your kids as well!).

Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 12, 2013: Why are you standing there looking at the sky?

Why are you standing there looking at the sky?

When Jesus is lifted up to heaven (as the story is related at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles), the apostles naturally turn their eyes to the sky and watch as a cloud takes him from their sight.  Their attention is brought back to earth the question posed by two men dressed in white:  Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?  Why, indeed?  The angels’ question is meant to bring the apostles’ gaze back to earth, where there is work to be done.  Acts recounts the apostles’ efforts to give witness to Jesus’ presence among them; their lives will be transformed, geared only in one direction, by their proclamation of the good news.  Reading Acts can give us a deeper awareness of that relationship in which we are all participating.  Because when Jesus’ resurrected body ascends, another body remains on earth to continue his work:  the Body of Christ that is the Church.  And that Church is, first and foremost, you and me.

You are witnesses to these things, Jesus tells the disciples in this week’s Gospel from Luke.  They are called to give witness to their life experiences, as we too are called – to be witnesses with the whole of our lives about how we have turned to God and recognize the great power that is His love in our lives.  As a church, we give collective witness to this reality, bringing that love to bear upon a community, and thereby edging closer to the fullness of that love.  Participating in Eucharist strengthens our identity as members of the Body of Christ and allows us to dedicate our lives to being that love for the world.  This is what it means to be Christ’s voice and hands and breath:  to reveal his love in our every word, gesture and act.  If the eyes of our hearts are enlightened (Ephesians), then we will respond to God’s call for relationship, learning every day to be the presence of God in the world, gifted with inner vision so that we too can shout to God with cries of joy (Psalm 47), and thus share that joy with all who will open their ears - and hearts - to hear it.

This reflection is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
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Radiating Love

Radiating Love

"Each time anyone comes into contact with us, they must become different and better people because of having met us. We must radiate God's love. We must know that we have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in the world, not just to go for diplomas and degrees, this work and that work. We have been created in order to love and to be loved. [...] Love does not measure... it just gives."    (Mother Teresa)

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I Am For You

I Am For You (Rory Cooney)

Sunday's readings called upon all of us to keep God's Word:  to embrace the Word that is Jesus, the Love of God revealed to the World, and to share his Love with all.  Rory Cooney's I Am For You echoes this idea:

We are anointed servants of God

We have been born again of the Spirit

We are the Word God speaks to the world

Freedom and light to all who will hear it

So let us be the Word of the Lord

I am for you

I am for you

I am for you

I am for you evermore!
(verse 4)

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Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 5, 2013: Keep my word

Keep my word...

What does it mean in this Sunday's Gospel when Jesus asks the disciples to keep his word?  As we learn at the beginning of the Gospel of John, Jesus himself is God’s Word, and so to keep my word suggests that we must be bound by that Word that is between us, embracing that bond that is Jesus himself.  And what else is that Word but the very love of God that Jesus came to reveal?  Jesus the Word is the embodiment of God’s love for us, perfect, profound, and complete.  As we open ourselves to that Word, as we embrace it, binding ourselves to it, we find ourselves fully alive and on the way to salvation.  And, following upon last week’s Gospel, we also find that we are able to love one another as Jesus has loved us.  We find, that is, that thanks to the love we embrace, we exist as a community of inclusion.

This week’s reading from Acts strengthens the message of inclusion that Christians are called to embrace.  Who can be saved?  The letter the apostles send to Jerusalem stresses that salvation comes from Jesus Christ, not from circumcision; it is the transformation of baptism – for man and woman alike – that allows everyone and anyone to enjoy the salvation that Jesus came to share, to participate in God’s love.  John’s vision in Revelation equates the Word that is Jesus with the Light or Lamp God sends in the form of the Lamb:  to enter into the holy city is to stand in the light that is Jesus, to bask in the love of God – a light available to all nations, to all who are open to keeping the word.  And when everyone can join, then all the nations can praise God (Psalm 67) – not just an elite, self-selected community, but all – an inclusive community of believers, worshiping God together, keeping his word, loving with a love that trumps all pain and sin and death, the Love that is the gift of Jesus the Word.

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