thoughts and observations on the daily readings
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Readings may be found here One of my favorite words in the New Testament is “koinonia,” which may be translated as partnership, fellowship, or communion. The early Church revealed this reality in its powerful witness of shared life and cooperation. There are certainly individuals who stand out in the story: Peter, Stephen, Barnabas, Paul, and many others. But there is also the truth that these individuals all drew others into the mission with them. Paul is probably the best example as his letters so frequently mention his partners in mission. In a culture where people were divided into camps and suspicious of strangers, these Christians stood out in their capacity to work with and for one another. In the first reading we learn of the rapid effects of early Christian preaching and ministry. Their authenticity was found in the quality of their trust and faith in the Lord Jesus. As the Lord Himself proclaims in the passage today from John: “the Father and I are one.” It is from that Divine communion of love that the life and ministry of the Church flowed. We live in a time when the communion of the Church has been damaged by sins against love and trust. The last two decades have seen suspicion, recrimination, and division. The path to healing runs through the renewal of our relationship with the Lord Jesus. In the life of the early Church and in the lives of the Saints in every generation communion with the Lord always overflows into compassion and love with and for one another. Our shared baptismal call summons us to repentance, faith, and the mission of living and announcing the Good News. I love that word koinonia: it is a beautiful word because it captures both the Divine gift of a new relationship with God by the grace of the Lord Jesus and the effects of that relationship, drawing us into partnership with one another.
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Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Readings may be found here In the Gospel of John, Jesus promises His disciple the gift of the Holy Spirit, who “will teach you everything and remind you of all that told you.” (John 14:26) In the first reading today we see that teaching and learning taking place in the heart and ministry of St. Peter. The early Church struggled with the question of observance of Jewish ritual laws. Many of the first Christians expected Gentile converts to convert first to the Jewish way of life. Peter appears to have been timid on this matter, at least afraid to provoke opposition even as he was well aware of Jesus’ example of setting aside ritual prescriptions and welcoming Gentiles during His ministry. In Acts 10, Peter has a vision and a visit to the house of the Gentile Cornelius that teaches changes his perspective. He is learning by the power of the Spirit. In our passage, we hear Peter’s newfound conviction as he relates these events and effects a similar change in the hearts of his listeners. In the gospel passage today, Jesus continues to speak of Himself as the Good Shepherd. Notice that He alludes here to others that do not yet “belong to the fold.” He will give His life for them as well. That truth is being taught in Acts to Peter and the whole Church. Learning is about more than information, it is about openness and humility – the willingness to have our own perspectives challenged and changed. Those early Christians give us good example of openness to the power of the Spirit. May we learn the lessons that the Spirit is teaching here and now. Saturday of the Third Week of Easter Readings may be found here Have you been making your bed every day in lockdown? I chuckled when I read those words in the passage from Acts. Peter spoke that command to Aeneas as a demonstration that after eight years, Aeneas was fully healed of his paralysis. I read this and thought sheepishly of my own temptation to slip from daily discipline in the lockdown. On a deeper level, I find the imagery in this passage moving in our context. Here we have a paralyzed man returned to health and even a dead woman brought to life. The disciples in the early Church were doing the work of the Lord Jesus, in His Name and by His Grace. That imagery brings my mind to the images of the folks rising from hospital beds and being celebrated as they return home to family and friends, of nurses and doctors and so many others getting up from their beds and going to work with such courage and effectiveness, of so many others staying on watch and on the job, of others come alive with passion and compassion to help neighbors and the community. The work of the Lord - cherishing, protecting, healing, and raising up life - is on display all around us. This week I asked a pastor who is recovering from Covid 19 about his parish social ministry. Many parishes have struggled to help the hungry as so many of our volunteers are older and vulnerable. He moved me deeply when he told me that their children and grandkids and young neighbors had begun showing up to take on the work of receiving, sorting, preparing, and distributing food to the hungry. I imagine that many of those young people were not much for church before and here they are “rising up” like Tabitha to a new kind of life. At the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus describes His message as “spirit and life.” Peter echoes this truth: Lord to Whom shall we go, You have the words of eternal life!” This Peter, who struggles so much in his life of discipleship has a moment of the deepest insight. He sees in this moment the truth that will lift him up and heal his paralysis. There are so many challenges right now. In particular, we continue to pray for those who are sick and all those around the world facing dire struggles for medical assistance, food, and employment. While it might not be the greatest of challenges, we are also feeling the effects of confinement, isolation, and uncertainty. In the midst of that struggle is the very moment to know the power of the Lord Jesus to raise us up and to remove our paralysis - to bring us to life in ways we may not have expected. So get up, make your bed, and live in the light and freedom of the children of God! Friday of the Third Week of Easter St. Joseph the Worker readings may be found here On May 1st, communist regimes celebrate “May Day.” There are likely to be any parades this year, but I always feel a sense of sadness at communist celebrations of workers. It is such a cruel joke to claim that workers experience justice in such countries where they really become servants to the communist party and the elites that control the party. If any of those workers have the temerity to question their rulers, they will learn the truth of those regimes in a prison camp or worse. The sad toll of suffering, oppression, and mass murder continues even today. On May 1st, Catholics celebrate St. Joseph the Worker. We celebrate the dignity of work, of workers, and of every human person – a dignity given freely by God and not defined by ideology or state power. In the example of humble Joseph and in the readings today we learn a fundamental lesson about the Christian life and about what it means to be human. Ideologies and totalitarian regimes exercise the will to power – they dominate, control, and exploit. God’s power, the power of Love, serves the good of the other, recognizing that dignity and freedom that belongs to every person. In the Bread of Life discourse here in the Gospel of John we see the truth of God’s way of love revealed in Jesus. He Who is truly powerful gives Himself as Bread for the world. He teaches us that we become ourselves when we forget ourselves, we possess ourselves when we give ourselves away. This same truth emerges in the account of Paul’s conversion. When Paul sets out for Damascus, he is a violent ideologue determined to use coercive violence against those he sees as enemies. After his conversion, Paul remains a passionate man, but now he is a man who serves others and seeks to convince by words rather than force. And St. Joseph, in his humble and faithful care of Mary and Jesus offers an example of a man who has given himself for others. On this May 1st, I invite us to pray for those who suffer oppression by totalitarian governments, to pray that the unemployed find work, to pray that men and women of good will recognize the dignity of workers and seek just wages and safe working conditions, to pray for all those who work in this crisis at personal risk for the sake of others, and to pray that all of us may live this truth of compassion and love for one another: the gift of self. |
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