May 24, 1998Seventh Sunday of Easter |
Remember, I am coming soon! I bring with me the reward that will be given to each man as his conduct deserves.(2) When we are one in the Lord Jesus as he is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit we are assured of the vision of God's presence. Just as Stephen(1) saw the presence of God in his death by stoning, we are aware of God's presence in the whole of our life. Our glory is not advanced by any possession, power, prestige or pomp that the world can give. We can advance our own glory ultimately only by giving glory to God through Christ in the unity of the Spirit. Every earthly blessing is only used appropriately when it is used for the greater glory of God.
Dear Friends,
Liturgically we are in an in-between time; the Sunday between Ascension and Pentecost. It is a waiting time. A time for prayer and quiet reflection as we prepare our hearts and minds for the gift and presence of the Holy Spirit. Happily this year this Sunday occurs on the National holiday of Memorial Day. This holiday is also a time to pause and remember in prayer and quiet reflection all those who have given their lives that we might live with freedom. This Sunday and holiday afford us a focus that we need to take seriously. As a nation and as a church we need to pause and ponder where we've been and where we are going. This kind of thinking is best done in prayer.
This weekend there will be many civic celebrations that will include some kind of prayer. I think it would be difficult to gratefully remember those who gave their lives in the horrible reality of war without some kind of formal prayer, even as we struggle with some of the false ideas surrounding the founding principle of separation of church and state.
In our churches, too, this weekend we remember those who have died in war, as we pray and await the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us work toward building a society that will not resort to killing in order to settle differences. This weekend also holds the possibility for a lot of busy-ness both in our churches and our country. This weekend traditionally inaugurates the ever-busy summer season. This is also a very popular time for parties of all sorts, especially graduation. Summer is a good season for us. It can be a time to relax and renew our energies. Parties are also good for us. They help us celebrate who we are; a family, a grateful nation, a prayerful people.
And that is my prayer for you. Whatever you find yourself doing this weekend, please take some time in prayer. Let it be a time for gratitude and remembering, for hope and welcoming. We thank our God for what has been as we say "yes" to what is yet to be. We pray that our in-between time will indeed be a time of the Holy Spirit of God.
Fr. Tom, OMI
Next weekend we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Not only do we recall that the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and the other Christians that day, but we also receive a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and souls as we celebrate this wonderful feast. The Holy Spirit is symbolized by wind and tongues of fire. The color red used for the feast reminds us of the tongues of fire. We encourage parishioners to wear red to Mass on the weekend of May 30-31. We ask God to send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and you shall renew the face of the earth.
SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
The Gospel this weekend proclaims part of what is known as the "High Priestly Prayer" of Jesus. Jesus is praying for His apostles that they would be one, that they would be unified, that they would see the glory of God. He is preparing them for their work and ministry which lies ahead...that they always would know the glory of God, and would continue to reveal the work of God. Not long ago, I was listening to a presentation by Fr. Benedict Groeschel CFR, who was commenting on this passage. He eloquently reminded his listeners that not only was Jesus praying for His Disciples, but he was also praying for us...all of these centuries later! Do we ever think to pray for those who would follow us? Something worth thinking about! As we approach the Feast of Pentecost, the High Priestly prayer of Jesus is worth considering and reflecting on. Do we - by our lives and example - proclaim the glory of God? Do we work to bring others together - especially in the Faith, or are we instead bearers of discontent and division by constant complaint and criticism? Do we appreciate the gift of our Faith, and the life of our Church - do we seek to follow the Church's teachings in the fullest sense, or do we do the "bare minimum" each day? The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "In this Paschal and sacrificial prayer, everything is recapitulated in Christ: God and the world; the Word and the flesh; eternal life and time; the love that hands itself over and the sin that betrays it; the disciples present and those who will believe in him by their word; humiliation and glory. It is the prayer of unity (no. 2747)."
On Tuesday an anonymous caller expressed outrage that the Church in Los Angeles planned to offer a Christian burial to singer Frank Sinatra. That call probably represents the concern of at least a few folks about whether or not the Church ought to honor with Christian burial someone who was married several times and believed by many to be connected to the Mob.
Years ago, we rejected burial in consecrated ground for those married outside the Church, individuals who had committed suicide & even non-Catholic spouses of our members. In the last twenty years, by contrast, I am familiar with but a single case where burial was denied. It involved the case of a Catholic woman who wanted the parish to bury her husband despite the fact that he had identified himself as an atheist.
Through the years I have celebrated funerals for people who had not practiced the faith, received the sacraments, supported the Church, obeyed her marriage laws, or shown much sign of commitment. More than a few were rather racist, anti-Semitic, or misogonystic in their attitudes. To be honest, I sometimes wondered if the funeral rites were doing any more than making the family "feel better." In every case, though, I celebrated the rites as reverently as I could and prayed as sincerely as possible for the deceased person's eternal salvation. While sacraments may be delayed (never denied) when a person fails to go to Mass faithfully, at the time of death we leave judgement in the Hands of God.
The Church offers Christian burial unless someone publicly repudiates doctrine or sins so notoriously that his offenses cause grave public scandal. Sacraments & rituals of the Church are not magic--by His own choice, God is powerless to act unless a person responds to the gift of grace. No confession, no Mass, no blessing is worth anything unless an individual, within the realm of what he truly knows and understands, acknowledges his faults, is genuinely sorry, desires forgiveness, and intends to reform his life.
Frank Sinatra was an extremely gifted man, but an outstanding singing career, great generosity, and worldwide fame will not deliver him from his sins. Only the grace of Christ, accepted in faith, can save him from final damnation. We certainly hope that he repented of what sins he may have committed. Not even his confessor could have known what was in his heart. For him, as for all others, we can only pray. May he rest in peace!
Celebrate 2000!...Reflections on Jesus, The Holy Spirit, and the Father, by Pope John Paul II...The Kingdom of God is a Person...Christ not only proclaimed the Kingdom, but in Him the Kingdom itself became present and was fulfilled. This happened not only through His words and deeds: "Above all...the kingdom is made manifest in the very person of Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, who came 'to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many'" (Mk 10:45).
The Kingdom of God is not a concept, a doctrine or a program subject to free interpretation, but it is before all else a person with the face and name of Jesus of Nazareth, the image of the invisible God. If the Kingdom is separated from Jesus, it is no longer the Kingdom of God which He revealed. The result is a distortion of the meaning of the Kingdom, which runs the risk of being transformed into a purely human or ideoloical goal, and a distortion of the identity of Christ, who no longer appears as the Lord to whom everything must one day be subjected (see 1 Corinthians 15:27).
Likewise, one may not separate the Kingdom from the Church. It is true that the Church is not an end unto herself, since she is ordered toward the Kingdom of God of which she is the seed, sign and instrument. Yet, while remaining distinct from Christ and the Kingdom, the Church is indissolubly united to both.
Christ endowed the Church, His Body, with the fullness of the benefits and means of salvation. The Holy Spirit dwells in her, enlivens her with His gifts and charisms, sanctifies, guides, and constantly renews her. The result is a unique and special relationship which-while not excluding the action of Christ and the Spirit outside the Church's visible boundries-confers upon her a specific and necessary role. Hence the Church's special connection with the Kingdom of God and of Christ, which she has "the mission of announcing and inaugurating among all peoples."
It is within this overall perspective that the reality of the Kingdom is understood. Certainly, the Kingdom demands the promotion of human values, as well as those which can be properly called evangelical, since they are intimately bound up with the "Good New." But this sort of promotion, which is at the heart of the Church, must not be detached from or opposed to other fundamental tasks, such as proclaiming Christ and the Gospel, and establishing and building up communities which make present and active within humankind the living image of the Kingdom. [RM n. 18- 19]
APRIL 25TH - MEMORIAL OF ST. BEDE THE VENERABLE, presbyter and Doctor of the Church
Bede lived with the Benedictine monks when he was a child and spent nearly his entire life at the Abbey of Jarrow in England. From these surroundings he made a great impact on his world. He educated over 600 monks in subjects covering music, math, medicine and science. Bede wrote scripture commentaries, as well as a history of England, and a translation of the Gospel of John. He died on Ascension Day. The word "venerable" means holy or worthy.
On APRIL 25TH, the Church also celebrates the MEMORIAL OF ST. GREGORY VII, pope, and ST. MARY MAGDALENE DE PAZZI.
POPE GREGORY was first known as Hildebrand. He became a Benedictine monk, a counselor to popes, and was eventually elected pope himself in 1073. He immediately began making important changes, among them freeing bishops from the control of governments. In doing so, he found himself battling Emperor Henry IV of Germany. Due to this struggle, Pope Gregory was finally forced into exile, where he died.
ST. MARY MAGDALENE DE PAZZI had a gift for prayer and entered a Carmelite convent at 16 years of age. She quickly rose to become a leader of novices and teacher of nuns. She died at the age of 41 after a long illness. She was beloved for her kind heart and her strong desire to pray always.
On this Seventh and last Sunday in the Easter Season before Pentecost the Church gives us readings that call us to yearn and pray for the renewal of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. On Ascension Thursday the reading from Acts of the Apostles portrays Jesus' farewell with the instruction: Wait, rather for the fulfillment of my Father's promise... John baptized with water, but within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:4) The coming feast of Pentecost portrays the fulfillment of that promise you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down upon you, then you are to be my witness in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, yes, enter to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
In the readings this Sunday we have the story of Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit recognizing Jesus standing at Gods right hand. (Act 7:55) In the second reading from Revelations we have the metaphor of thirst as an expression of desire or yearning for God's Spirit the Spirit and Bride say, ÔCome'! Let the one who is thirsty come forward. let all who desire it accept the gift of life giving water. (Rev. 22:17) Reading this I am reminded again of St. Augustine's famous teaching on the relation of desire and prayer Why he should ask us to pray, when he knows what we need before we ask him, may perplex us if we do not realize that our Lord and God does not want to know what we want (for he cannot fail to know it) but wants us rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what he is preparing to give us. His gift is very great indeed, but our capacity is too small and limited to receive it. That is why we are told: Enlarge your desires,...The deeper our faith, the stronger our hope, the greater our desire. (Augustines letter to Proba)
The excerpt from St. John Gospel contains Jesus farewell prayer for unity-that all may be one as you, Father, are in me, and I you...that they may be one, as we are one, I living in them, you living in me-that their unity may be complete. (Jn 17:22) This revelation gives us an insight into the inner working of the Holy Spirits gift of Reverence-namely the recognition through faith of the sacred in our midst. Gestures of respect flow from this recognition-signs of deference, bowing or genuflection, especially in the presence of the Holy of Holies-the Blessed Sacrament. The Holy Spirit gift of Reverence, or reverential love, enables believers to sense that we stand on holy ground. This gift helps us to go beyond surface flaws all too evident in other people and come to sense the indwelling presence of God, no matter how hidden. Mother Teresa exemplified this gift to the fullest as she recognized God's indwelling presence in the most disfigured and unattractive members. The love that Jesus offers to his followers in his prayer to the Father for unity may be the most preferred gift imaginable. Mother Teresa of Calcutta declares its absence a more unspeakable poverty than the lack of material things, for it feeds a hunger more original than our physical appetite. But everywhere today hunger is not only for a piece of bread, but hunger for God, hunger for love. (Mother Teresa of Calcutta, My Life for the Poor).
May our celebration this Sunday lead us to hunger and thirst and yield to be led by the Holy Spirit.
We learn from Acts that Stephen would engage in apparently heated discussions with certain Jews. Unable to out-argue Stephen, his enemies accused him of blasphemy, using false witnesses to further their cause. To answer their charges, Stephen recounts the events of salvation history. He finally accuses the Jews of opposing God by murdering Jesus. Stephen's fate is sealed when he declares he sees "an opening in the sky, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand." This is blasphemy to his hearers and he pays the ultimate price.
The vision from Revelation emphasizes the central place Jesus must hold in the life of believers. He is "the Alpha and the Omega," the only one who can give access to the tree of life.
The gospel reading comes from Jesus' words at the Last Supper. We can only wonder when that prayer for unity of all believers will be achieved. Until then we must never allow our differences to overshadow our shared faith in Jesus. We must work for the time when all will be truly one.
The Parish Festival brought in $75,000 for the parish and to help the poor. This indeed is a great success and again I want to thank all of you for your fine effort.
The following is a poem used at some of the Masses last Sunday that many of you found helpful. Perhaps all of you might find some meaning in it.
For every pain we must bear
For every burden, every care
There's a reason
For every grief that bows the head
For every tear drop that is shed
There's a reason
For every hurt, for every plight
For every lonely, pain-racked night
There's a reason
But if we trust god, as we should
It will turn out for our good
He knows the reason.
(Anonymous)
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Por cada dolor que tenemos que sufrir,
por cada carga, por cada cariño,
existe una razón.
Por cada maldad que pasa por la mente,
por cada lagrima que corre por nuestra mejilla,
existe una razón.
Por cada ofensa, por cada problema,
por cada momento de soledad y sufrimiento,
existe una razón.
Pero si nosotros creemos en Dios como debemos,
todo se tornar en bien nuestro y El sabe la razón.
(Anónimo)
Dios este con ustedes.
