May 3, 1998Fourth Sunday of Easter |
This Sunday we look at the Gift of Counsel, or prudence, guidance, as it is variously identified in references to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. When conferring the Sacrament of Confirmation the Presider prays Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their helper and guide. Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence. Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence. In this prayer the spirit of right judgment is another expression for the gift of Counsel. This gift or power is offered to enable us to make the best choices in the many big and little decisions we are called to make in the course of our lives. The gift of counsel helps us apply general spiritual principles and laws to particular situations. For example, the commandment, Thou shalt not kill, is lived out in many decisions we make regarding the care of our health and the care of others in our circle of care. It also would apply to many pro-life issues such as abortion, capital punishment, etc. We often hear the question- What is the most prudent way of achieving this end or goal. The gift of counsel helps us not only to be guided, but in our responsibilities to guide others. Thus it is such an important gift to be called upon and made manifest in the roles of parenting, spiritual direction, counseling etc. The Gospel this Sunday presents Jesus as the Good Shepherd-a metaphor for one who guides us to green pastures and through dark valleys. Readings from the Acts of the Apostles during the Easter Season often present scenes where the early church members were guided by the Holy Spirit. The biblical notion of stewardship implies using right judgment in areas of management and uses of varieties of material goods, e.g. money, land, possessions, etc. A Pentecost Novena Prayer for Counsel invites us to pray Come, O Blessed Spirit of Counsel. Father, guided by Your Spirit, may I strive to make loving choices and respect all life.
Paul and Barnabas encountered both violent rejection and joyful acceptance of the message that they preached. We, too, may meet with mixed reactions when we use our gifts in the service of God. But, the Gospel assures us, the reward for those who follow faithfully is eternal life.
May is Mary's Month... In a long standing tradition of the Church, May has been a time for attention to our devotion to Mary, our Blessed Mother. Because of Jesus' words from the Cross, "Son, behold your Mother," we know that it is His intent that we learn faith from the mind and heart and hands of Mary. Everyone is encouraged to look at the example and intercession and encouragement Mary offers us in living "for Christ". Especially this month praying the rosary is a particularly appropriate daily devotion.
What do you know? Those who hear Barnabas and Paul in our first reading today know only their prejudice and hatred of the new way (1) But the disciples who hear and believe knew only how to be filled with joy and the Holy Spirit (1) We are going to survive the great period of trial (2) only if we rely on the Lord for our strength. We are not clever enough or strong enough to make it on our own. We must wash ourselves clean in the blood of the Lamb (2) who is also the shepherd. The voice of the Lord must be followed in great things and in small if we are to be stewards worthy of our Master's joy.
Funny how a $10.00 bill looks so big when you take it to church, but so small when you take it to the market.
Funny how long are a couple of hours spent at church, but how short they are when watching a movie.
Funny how we get thrilled when a football game goes into extra-time, but we complain when a sermon is longer than the regular time.
Funny how hard it is to read a chapter in the Bible, but how easy it is to read a 100 page novel.
Funny how people scramble to get a front seat at any game, but scramble to get a back seat at church service.
Funny how we cannot fit a gospel meeting into our schedule with a yearly planner, but we can schedule for other events at a moments notice.
Funny how much difficulty some have learning a simple gospel well enough to tell others, but how simple it is for the same people to understand and explain gossip about someone.
Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven, provided they don't have to believe, or to think, or to say, or to do anything.
Happy month of the Blessed Mother. Have you set up your May Mary shrine at home yet? Gather the family for prayer there.
God calls men and women to service in His Church by giving the gifts of nature and grace necessary and then inviting them. May I be an instrument of invitation to a dedicated life in the church as a priest, brother or sister? Jesus said, Come and see, when the apostles wanted to know more about Him. If God has given you some interest in serving God and God's people in a dedicated life in the church, at least get more information and pray about it. If you know someone who you think would make a good priest, brother, or sister, you be the instrument of invitation; call out the gifts.
John Paul II/ Encyclical from Evangelium Vitae "Called ... to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom. 8:28-29): God's glory shines on the face of man.
Life is always a good. This is an instinctive perception and a fact of experience, and we are called to grasp the profound reason why this is so.
Why is life a good? This question is found everywhere in the Bible, and from the very first pages it receives a powerful and amazing answer. The life which God gives us is quite different from the life of all other living creatures inasmuch as man, although formed from the dust of the earth (cf. Gn.2:7, 3:19; Jb. 34:15; Ps. 103:14; 104:29), is a manifestation of God in the world, a sign of his presence, a trace of his glory.
The Gospel this weekend begins with "MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE. I KNOW THEM, AND THEY FOLLOW ME. I GIVE THEM ETERNAL LIFE AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH." This selection from St. John's Gospel reminds us that the Fourth Sunday of Easter (this Sunday) is informally entitled "GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY"..a time for us to reflect on Christ as the Good Shepherd. This imagery of God's care and vigilance for His people was already present in the Old Testament (in the Psalms, for example, and Ezekiel), and Jesus takes this image and teaching to Himself in speaking to the Disciples and teaching with parables. We are to listen for and to the Lord's voice as He speaks to us in our prayer, and through our Faith Community, the Church, and to respond to His guidance, so that we do not find ourselves in spiritual difficulty. This image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd was so immediately popular that it found it's way into Christian art. The New Catholic Encyclopedia notes, for example, that "The picture of the Good Shepherd carrying the lamb on his shoulders is the most frequent type. He is depicted from the beginning in a great variety of scenes. The paintings of the catacombs display the Good Shepherd usually as a young and beardless man wearing a tunic, a shoulder cape, and high stockings--sometimes seated among his flock, sometimes with the shepherd's flute, sometimes protecting his lambs from aggressions, and sometimes carrying a milk pail. But the favorite picture is that of the Good Shepherd with the animal on his shoulders. This figure has a long pre-Christian tradition. In early Christian art the Good Shepherd illustrates the Gospel parable of the lost sheep carried back to the fold (Luke 15: 3-7; John 10: 1-18;), in a time honored type. (New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VI, page 624."
For those who were present to celebrate the Easter Vigil, you will remember how all in the assembly were invited to come forward and "Lay Hands" on those to be confirmed. Laying on of hands is one of the oldest traditions in our Judeo-Christian Tradition. Through the Old Testament, we see fathers imparting their blessing through the laying on of hands, and priests, kings and prophets being appointed to service through this action. In the New Testament, we see the laying on of hands taking place in conjunction with invoking God's Spirit upon another, entrusting one with leadership/ministry or asking God's healing.
In the Church today, the ritual action of laying on of hands contains all those meanings and more. When we lay hands on another, we are asking God to abide with that person in this moment of initiation, vocation or healing. We use the laying on of hands sacramentally in the Church in all seven Sacraments. There are many wonderful times when, each of us can use this ritual action in our families: at the end of the day to ask God's blessing on each member of the family, before a trip asking God's presence during the journey, when someone in the family is injured or sick asking God's healing touch on that person, the list could go on and on.
We are embodied spirits and thus pray with our bodies as well as our minds and voices. Laying on of hands is a beautiful gesture of prayer in which we can use our bodies to ritualize what we are praying with our minds and voices. Next time you pray for someone, don't just say a prayer; but as you pray, lay your hands upon them and ask for God's guiding, healing, loving presence in that moment of prayer.
This Sunday, May 3rd, at 1:00pm, we offer congratulations from the entire St. Mary's Parish Family to the children of our parish who will be receiving their First Holy Communion today. Next week we will publish the names of all the children; today, we will offer some reflection on the Eucharist for the whole parish to think about.
We all know the value of a meal shared with others- not just its food value, but its ability to bring people together. So, we gather around a table as family and friends to talk with one another as we share a meal. Through many of our modern meals are consumed while on the go, or with some members of the family absent, we still strive to have at least some family meals together. In the Old Testament, the special meal celebrated by the Jews was their Passover Meal which marked their passage from slavery to freedom. It was during a ritual Passover Meal that Jesus took the unleavened bread, blessed it, and passed it to his disciples, telling them Take and eat, this is my body, Then he took the cup of wine, offered a blessing upon it, passed it to his disciples and told them, Take and drink, this is my blood...do this in memory of me! From the time of Resurrection, Christians have faithfully followed this invitation of Jesus. So we gather as friends, share the stories of our faith in the Scriptures, offer prayers and hymns of praise, and do what Jesus told us to do at the Last Supper: Take and eat his body...Take and drink his blood, doing this in his memory. We who eat his holy food and drink are nourished by the very life of Jesus Christ.
The Christian community has always acknowledged that Jesus' death on the cross was the greatest of all sacrifices. The Liturgy of the Mass derives its value in its relationship to this free sacrificial offering of Jesus. When we celebrate the Mass, we come to realize that Jesus did truly give up his body in death; his blood really did pour out for us. Thus, when Jesus told us that he gives us his Body and his Blood, he really did. When we celebrate the Liturgy of the Mass with other believers and receive the Eucharist, we are joined together as a community. It is in this way that we are united to Jesus by dedicating ourselves to do God's will and his work in our world.
Catholics believe that when Jesus said, This is my body....This is my blood, He meant exactly what he said. For Jews, body meant the person, and Blood was the source of life identifiable with the person. So Jesus was saying over the bread and the cup: This is myself, and we believe that the consecrated bread and wine truly become the very person of Jesus. Scripture bears witness to the reality of Christ's presence in the Eucharist. Jesus multiplies loaves of fish, a miracle that foreshadows his ability to multiply his presence in the Eucharist. When he walks on water, he shows his divine power over nature, a power capable of changing bread into his body. Even more importantly, Jesus tells us: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh...Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.
