This weekend’s liturgy is quite unique. Most dioceses in the U.S. have transferred the Feast of the Ascension to this weekend. Other dioceses, mostly in Northeast will celebrate the Liturgy for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, having celebrated Ascension Thursday several days ago. To accommodate readers in both areas, I have prepared a reflection on the readings for each of these liturgies beginning with the Ascension of the Lord followed by that of the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
It’s hard to believe that three months ago we were beginning Lent. Now, as the Easter season draws to a close, this may be a good time to reflect on where our spiritual journey has taken us.
Were we able to hear God’s voice in the midst of our trials and struggles we encountered on our journey through the day-to-day events of our lives? Were we able to gain a new insight about God’s incredible love for us during this Easter Season or perhaps even get a better sense of what God is calling us to do as we emerge into Ordinary Time? How successful were we in changing some of those habits and behaviors we needed to change about our habits? Were we able to put a stop to our judging and criticizing others, our negative thinking, our inertia for self- reflection and bloated sense of superiority? Were we able to put a leash around our impatience, lack of tolerance for the ideas and beliefs of others, and put an end to our gossiping?
Three months is not a long time when you think about it, especially if we are trying to measure such things as spiritual growth…. It just not a lot of time.
I suspect that three years isn’t a lot of time either, to make much progress in the spiritual realm. And yet, that’s, at most, all the time that the apostles had to grasp Jesus’ new way of thinking and his new emphasis on of loving, forgiving, and serving one another, friend and foe alike. The disciples really were, when you think about it, on the fast track. Once Jesus was gone, in-person training was over. It was all up to them to spread Jesus’ teachings throughout the world. Fortunately, Jesus fostered their continuing education by introducing them to the Holy Spirit who would continue to guide and watch over the band of followers Jesus had drawn to him.
Imagine if today we were the ones who were responsible for preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name. Where would we begin? How would we do that?
Well, guess what? You and I, yes, we are the ones upon whom the responsibility of preaching forgiveness and repentance falls. And the best way to approach this task is by example.
We all have experienced deep hurts and sorrows in our lives caused by others. How have we handled them? Do we hold grudges? Do we retaliate? Do we seek revenge? Do we follow the ways of the world and “Don’t get mad... get even”? That’s not the way Jesus teaches us how to handle the suffering others bring into our lives. Forgive... “Not seven times but seventy times seven times” (Mt 18:22). Imitation is the best method to spread the faith. Much easier said than done!
My brothers and sisters, there is a saying that goes, “Faith isn’t taught, it’s caught.” Jesus’ work of salvation has been accomplished. What remains is our participation in that work that calls us to spread the Good News, to be living witnesses of the faith that we profess, to do as St. Francis was fond of telling his followers…. “Go out and preach the gospel, and when necessary, use words.” May our example in forgiving others for the wrongs they have done to us be a powerful sign that the teachings of Jesus have taken root in our hearts and lives.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in as the three deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.
What is the Point of being a Christian? One is pointed to God, who is the point of everything. If one thinks of religion as just 'useful' then one has reduced it to another consumer product. But if we are pointed to God, then this should make a difference to how we live. This is not a moral superiority. Christians are usually no better than anyone else. But the lives of Christians should be marked by some form of hope, freedom, happiness and courage. If they are not then why should anyone believe a word they say?
In this book, Cardinal Radcliffe is at his best, writing with a prophetic edge. His argument for Christian belief is profoundly Catholic and profoundly human. But what is just as remarkable, Radcliffe's argument for and interpretation of Christian Gospel is couched in a deep understanding of human nature and the problems and anxieties of modern men and women.
Radcliffe is far distant from the theologian's ivory tower and yet his understanding of the Gospel is profoundly theological. The frame of reference for this book is wide, and it is based amongst other things on Fr Radcliffe's pastoral experience of dealing with people with problematic marriages, those struggling with celibacy, those trying to understand the nature of religious authority and those trying to remain loyal to the Church which finds their sexual orientation 'irregular'.
Recommended YouTube Video The Case for God: Timothy Radcliffe OP speaks at St Paul's Cathedral - Timothy Radcliffe OP, former Master of the Dominican Order, speaks on the topic of his book 'What is the Point of Being a Christian?' at St Paul's Cathedral. Part of the series of events hosted by St Paul's Forum entitled 'The Case for God'.
Deacon Tom Writes,
“We Are All in This Together!”
Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year C
The words of today’s gospel challenge anyone attempting to live as disciples of Christ amid the disunity that troubles our world. Jesus finishes the last Passover meal he was to share with his friends before heading across the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane. His final words spoke of his burning desire that “they may all be one”. Jesus calls us to share the same unity with one another and with him as he has with the Father so that we may know, “…that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.” Recall that when Jesus spoke these words, he too was in the midst of a fractured world… Roman occupation, tension between the Jews and the Gentiles, slaves and free, rich and poor, religious leaders and the people they were supposed to shepherd. Unity was far from the reality.
Yet, Jesus calls his followers to a different worldview… one of unity. Jesus’ last words emphasize that we live in God’s love just as Jesus lives in Father’s love. The Son of God calls us to a mutual love, loving him as he loves us. It is an invitation into this mutual love, a love that leads us into union with the Divine Godhead, the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
With even the slightest awareness of this reality, we begin to see ourselves as one with God, united to him as children to their father. We all should be working as one big family seeking to remove all the barriers that divide us, that separate us from the love of God and each other. And so, as people so intimately united with one another through our mutual, loving relationship with God, we are called to surmount all the barriers to God’s love, the barriers of hatred and discrimination, the barriers of poverty and ignorance, the barriers that has one group thinking they are superior to another group. And, furthermore, we are called to shun all the voices calling us to disunity, factions, division. All these barriers attack the central reality of our faith – that we are made in the image and likeness of God and that we possess a dignity of person because of God’s love and indwelling in us.
God loves all his children, without exception and he calls us to be like him in this regard. Let our lives be spent living Jesus’ farewell prayer to his disciples by seeking to be one with him and with each other by reconciling our differences, by being moved with compassion in the face of suffering, bigotry, violence, and ignorance. In the face of the rampant divisiveness, we witness today, do we dare pray with Jesus, “Holy Father… may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you.” May the Almighty Father hear our prayers and give us the grace and courage to overcome our fears so we may live as true disciples of the Lord who prayed that “we all may be one.”
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
