Trinity Sunday

Today we celebrate The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.  Our belief in the doctrine of the Trinity is the most distinguishing characteristic of Christianity and of people who identify themselves as Christian (Christ centered people).  It is the essence of our faith.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life.  God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit” (CCC 261).  

In today's first reading from Exodus, God the Father revealed Himself to Moses saying, "The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity" (Exodus 34:6).  God our Father is the source of life.  God our Father is generous.  And God our Father is loving and compassionate.  God promised Moses and all of us that "I will work such marvels as have never been wrought in any nation anywhere on earth, so that this people among whom you live may see how awe-inspiring are the deeds which I, the LORD, will do at your side" (Exodus 34:10). 

It is because of the loving and compassionate nature of God "that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life" (John 3: 16).  God our Father loves us so much that He sacrificed Jesus so that "that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17).  In the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul tells us that "In love," God our Father "destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will..."(Ephesians 1:4-5).  God our Father continues to shower us with his love by sending us the Holy Spirit to strengthen and sustain us.  The Holy Spirit lives in us, guides us, enlightens us and "bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16). 

As children of God, we are called to practice the same love God bestows on us.  Just as God so generously pours love into our hearts, we are expected to pour our God given love out on others and in today's second reading from 2 Corinthians 13, St. Paul tells us how to do it.  "Brothers and sisters, rejoice.  Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.  Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the holy ones greet you.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you" (2 Cor.13:11-13).  By sharing God’s love, we are building God’s community here in Peachtree City and in the world.  And finally, we are building God’s kingdom, a kingdom of love. 

O God Most High,
in the waters of baptism
you made us your sons and daughters
in Christ, your only-begotten Son.
Deep within us is the cry of the Spirit,
who calls out to you, “Abba, Father.”
Grant that, obedient to our Savior’s commission,
we may become heralds of the salvation you offer
and go forth to make disciples of all people.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN

Courage

 

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

― Winston S. Churchill

Pentecost Sunday

This week we celebrate the great Feast of Pentecost when God the Father fulfilled the promise Jesus made to the disciples and sent them the Holy Spirit.  According to St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, that first Pentecost was a spectacular event, “there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind” that “filled the entire house in which they were” (Acts 1:2).  And then “there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them” (Acts 1:3).  When the Spirit filled the disciples they “began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim” (Acts 1:4).  This event marks the beginning of the Church. 

God our Father sends the same Spirit that descended on the disciples to each of us. At our baptism, we received the gift of the Holy Spirit marking us as members of the Body of Christ, the Church.   And at our confirmation we were anointed again to perfect our “Baptismal grace” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1316). Although our baptisms and confirmations probably were not accompanied by driving winds and tongues of fire, the Holy Spirit was there. And each of us received special gifts to build the Body of Christ. St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading from 1 Corinthians 12, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit” (4–7). 

How we use God’s gifts of the Holy Spirit is entirely up to us.  We can deny them.   We can hoard them.  Or we can use our gifts to help fulfil our mission to build of the Body of Christ.

In every generation, O God of Easter glory,
you send forth your Spirit
to breathe upon the world and make it come alive!
Fulfil the promise of these Fifty Days
with the abundant harvest of your Spirit's gifts.
May we, the community of believers in Christ,
adorned with various ministries and gifts,
be continually formed into one body
by the one Spirit which has been poured out on all of us.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who sends us the Spirit of truth from you,
and who lives and reigns with you,
God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

7th Sunday of Easter

Often while I am reading a passage of scripture something strikes me. It can be one word or a phrase. This week it was a sentence in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11, “When they had gathered together they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’” To put the sentence in context, the disciples are with Jesus after the resurrection. He has appeared to them many times. “He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. “

What struck me during my reading and reflecting was that after following Jesus for three years, after witnessing the crucifixion, after the resurrected Jesus appeared to them, after he talked to them, after he prayed with them and ate with them the disciples still didn’t get it! As we study today’s readings we learn from St Matthew that when they were at the mountain just before Jesus ascended into heaven, they worshiped him but they still doubted! What crossed my mind was, “hum, if the disciples didn’t get it with the resurrected Jesus standing right in front of them how can we expect people to grasp the message of Jesus today?” What did it take for the disciples to get the message and following on from that, what does it take for us to get the message?

Jesus Christ left this world and ascended into heaven with eleven doubting followers just standing around looking into the sky. A couple of angels had to drop by to get them moving. This is the beginning of our Christian Church and it isn’t a very auspicious beginning. Yet the church that began with this unlikely collection of people has grown into a global spiritual movement that extends to us right here in Peachtree City, Georgia more than two thousand years later.

Clearly at some point the disciples did “get it.” They managed to overcome their doubts and fears. They did come to believe and they did fulfil the commission Jesus gave them before he ascended to his Father in Heaven, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28: 19 – 20). Because of their action, each of us has come to believe. Our faith is nurtured by the Holy Spirit; the same Holy Spirit that descended on the followers of Jesus during Pentecost.

In these days leading up to our celebration of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, let us pray with St Paul the Apostle who did not walk with Jesus while he was on earth but who experienced Jesus through a conversion of heart. “Brothers and sisters: May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe in accord with the exercise of his great might …” (Ephesians 1: 17 – 18).

God our Father,

our risen Lord Jesus Christ

lives now in your presence.

When we keep looking for him in the clouds,

help us turn to the task

he has given us to do here on earth

and learn to recognize his face

in our brothers and sisters.

And when we are too attached to this earth,

remind us that in your own good time

you will complete Jesus' works in us

and take us to your joy and glory

for ever and ever.

Amen.

A Mother's Love

 

Ascension Sunday

As I reflected on our readings for today, the final line of the second reading, “For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God” (1 Cor 2: 10), resonated with me. It reminded me of a quotation that the psychiatrist Carl Justav Jung had inscribed over the front door of his house and on his tomb, VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT. Bidden or not bidden God is present. The author of Sirach in our first reading says something similar, “Immense is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God are on those who fear him; he understands man's every deed” (Sir 15: 18 – 19).

The themes of today’s readings are freedom and the law. The author of Sirach reminds us that, “God in the beginning created human beings and made them subject to their own free choice (Sir 15:14). HOWEVER, no matter how much freedom of choice we have, we are still subject to rules, regulations, laws, statutes and our social and cultural norms.

The kingdom of heaven has laws too. They are the Ten Commandments and the Laws of Moses found in the first five books of the Old Testament. In today's gospel, Matthew 5:17-37, Jesus tells his disciples and he tells us that he came to fulfill the law and the words of the prophets. He proposes a new order, a new way of looking at the world built on what came before. His fulfillment of the law set a new standard. In the kingdom of heaven, it is not good enough for us to observe the letter of the law like the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus asks us to embrace the Spirit of the law, to look beyond the actual words and internalize the values that underpin the law.

Jesus defined the Spirit of the law in Matthew 22:36-40 when he told an ambitious young Pharisee “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

If we embrace the idea that no matter what we are doing or where we are, God is present and that God understands our “every deed,” and that “the Spirit scrutinizes everything,” then we should be motivated to behave accordingly. Imagine what our world would look like if everything we did was defined by our love of God and love of neighbor. Then, truly, we will live in the Kingdom of God.

Lord God, loving father,

In your Son Jesus, you have shown us

How we should seek and fulfill your loving will.

Help us respond to your love

From the depths of our hearts

and to be faithful to you in all that we do.

Reconcile us to one another.

Make us respectful of one another and attentive to the needs of people,

even when they remain indifferent and thankless.

Show us the way to bring your love and mercy to our world.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Oneing

One of my favorite mystics is called Julian of Norwich. We don’t know her real name. She is simply named after the church in Norwich, England—St. Julian’s—where she had her little anchor-hold. One window of her small room looked into the sanctuary for mass and another opened to the street where the people would come by for her counsel and prayer. Julian experienced her “showings,” as she called them, on the night of May 8, 1373. Then she lived in the anchor-hold for twenty years, trying to process and communicate what she had experienced on that one night. Julian wrote about these showings in her book Revelations of Divine Love, the first book published in English by a woman.

Julian experienced and wrote of a compassionate, relational, and joyful God. She writes: “For before he made us, he loved us; and when we were made, we loved him. And this is our substantial goodness, the substantial goodness in us of the Holy Spirit. It is nothing we create; it is our substance. God revealed to me that there may and there will be nothing at all between God and the soul. And in this endless love, the human soul is kept whole as all the matter of creation is kept whole.”

Julian uses the Middle English word “oneing” to describe this whole-making work of God. God is always oneing everything: making twos and threes and fours and divisions and dichotomies and dualisms into one. As she explains, “God wants us to know that this beloved soul that we are is preciously knitted to him in its making by a knot so subtle and so mighty that it is oned with God. In this oneing it is made endlessly holy. Furthermore, he wants us to know that all the souls which are one day to be saved in heaven without end are knit in this same knot and united in this same union, and made holy in this one identical holiness.”

Richard Rohr, OFM Adapted from Intimacy: The Divine Ambush