Instagram, Shine-in-Jesus, December 2020.

….light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.  Luke  12:35-36.

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Time and again Jesus calls us to be ready in every sense of the word for the arrival of the master. In fact there are at least eight times in the gospels that the Lord warns us! So at the very least we cannot ever say we weren’t warned! And today’s gospel is no exception, as seen in the quotation above. No dozing off, no naps, no distractions – we must be always on the watch! But this time there is a twist: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.” Here the servants are being rewarded for doing their duty – and by the master himself! That is how high an opinion the master has for his faithful servants! But note that: his faithful servants. So there is a reward for simply obeying the master, being always watchful for his return and being ready for the happy event. I wonder if the servants’ reaction was the same as Peter’s reaction when the Lord washed his feet! At first he point blank refused, until Jesus said that this was necessary to continue fellowship with him; only then did he relent. The lesson is very powerful however, as we are all called to servant-leadership. Many of us will quite easily reject that image, saying perhaps we are not leaders, not managing directors of anything, not leaders of any industry, not presidents or prime minsters of anywhere! So how then, one might imagine, can we expect the Lord to kow-tow to us? Well now, in imitation, even holding the door open for the person behind you is an act of subservience! We don’t have to do it – but we do it with respect and as a part of civilized behavior. Helping anyone in clear distress is a measure of our Christian identity, because the Lord expects it of us. Indeed, we are called to be on the lookout for any occasion in which we might be of assistance, and perhaps that is what the Lord is asking of us. Because when we see others then perhaps we are being called to see the Lord in them. In other words, perhaps this is the way to be always on the alert, as Jesus demanded. It might well be a difficult challenge with some of our acquaintance, of course, but as I tell many in the confessional, when confronted with a challenging situation where we might be tempted to tell someone to go to hell, as it were, just think this: this person who has offended you in some way might be doing the best he or she can do! It clearly isn’t what we would do – but it might be all that poor soul can do, and so who are we to criticize? It does not lessen the challenge of having to deal with difficult people, but if might help us in handling it. Read this story which might bring that possible situation to life, and make it clearer. 

In that way, with a positive frame of mind which we are determined to maintain even in the worst situations, we are always on the watch! We will be searching for the good in others, for the presence of God even in the unlikeliest of places, even in the hearts and minds of those we might think have neither! So if we actually search for such situations with always a positive frame of mind, we will be satisfying the Lord’s insistence that we be on the watch. Couldn’t that be the meaning of this line from the first reading: For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution. And then there is the second reading, which talks of Abraham, living way beyond the normal years of child-bearing: “So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore”. Flip that meaning into our own world, where we might be dead to saying something nice, positive and constructive, suddenly we are able to do exactly that? In that way we can create a lively atmosphere – an atmosphere full of life – where before there was maybe nothing, emptiness and negativity. So a good word, a small deed of generosity, an offer of assistance – anything positive, will mean we are on the watch, always and everywhere, just as we have been ordered to do by the Lord. Our lamps will be full of oil, lit, and breaking down the darkness that was there before. 

Hand holds a large old lamp in the dark, iStock by Getty Images.

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Christ in the Home of Martha and Mary, Johannes Vermeer 1655, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, UK.

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The Lord said to [Martha] in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”     Luke 10:41.

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There are elements in each of this Sunday’s readings that may be taken as indications of a much broader meaning, in addition to understanding what the original intention was. That mysterious “terebinth of Mamre” in the first reading, for example. What is a terebinth? Turns out that it’s a a small tree or large shrub, very sturdy, growing where most others cannot, such as in dry, rocky, inhospitable terrane, as there is around Mamre, a small settlement in the semi-desert south of Jerusalem. It is in the same family as the cashew. The word turpentine originated with it, but the modern paint-thinning  liquid “turps” now comes from the resin of the pine tree. The terebinth has medicinal properties in addition to an edible fruit and its wood is good enough to be shaped into tools. An all around winner! Then, also in the first reading, there is an example of the well-known hospitality of the Levant, as Abraham and Sarah open their table to three total strangers. What was incredible about them is their prediction that the childless Sarah, then about 90 years old, would bear a son! Sarah overhead that and began laughing, but God rebuked her… Read all about it here, as unhappily it is not included in today’s reading. But Sarah argued with God – and even told God a fib (probably like many of us too)!

Then Paul, in the second reading, reminded me of a childhood exhortation that you rarely hear today. He clearly had plenty of health problems, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake” he says. He seems to liken his sufferings to the pains associated with the growing Christian community, hence to be accepted as they are useful. For those of my age, doesn’t that sound like “offer your pain up for the souls in Purgatory”? In other words it is a positive remedy for what could well become a very negative suffering experience. And finally, in the gospel, Jesus is staying with friends Martha and Mary, where poor Martha has taken on herself all the chores of dealing with a guest, rushing around and complaining about her lot. Mary on the other hand simply sits at the feet of the Lord listening to him. Where would each one of us want to be in that situation? No mention of their brother Lazarus in this passage, which presumably took place in Bethany, just outside Jerusalem. 

Terebinth Tree, Mohand Azouze, Flickr.

So now, what were the promised points about today’s readings mentioned at the beginning of this reflection? The first passage begins, “the Lord appeared to Abraham”, but when he looked up, he saw three men, not one. Although the next chapter talks of two angels together, there is no explanation in this 18th chapter as to who they all were. Some theologians posit that this may have been a first inkling of the Trinity, reinforced by the use of the plural in Genesis 1:26:  “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness“. It’s a pretty weak argument, but quite interesting. In the second reading Paul makes much of the Gentile readers he is addressing. Remember the huge distinction the Jewish people make between themselves and us Gentiles. The Council of Jerusalem, mentioned in the reflection of the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, last 25th May, was necessary because of the crisis following the admission of Gentiles into the new Jewish/Christian, movement. Clearly Paul is at ease with that, expressing his desire that all Gentiles fully understand the meaning of the Messiah among us and that we must submit to him. And finally, the domestic fuss between Martha and Mary. Note what each is doing, and then compare that to the reality of the priesthood and the diaconate. Priesthood involves spreading the Word of God as received from Scripture, and the diaconate means service (deacon: “δεακονος deakonos” is the Greek word for servant). So Mary is doing what a priest would do, listen and absorb the Word of God, whereas Martha is being the deacon, the servant. In the present thinking about the possibility of women becoming ordained deacons, this passage almost certainly must have come under intense study. 

Therefore each reading today may point, in one way or another, to a wider reality or possibility beyond the immediate confines of the scene presented. The first reading might represent the Holy Trinity suggested centuries before the revelation in the New Testament and be seen as a preparation of that revelation. The second reading can be seen as a prayer for the universal acceptance of Christ’s message of salvation, and the gospel as a possible example of a veiled message of universal acceptance into the ordained ministry of the church! Pretty controversial in many ways, not to say inflammatory, but intriguing or at least interesting. It is very human to be challenged and having to defend one’s position, and some clarity is a possible result. We should always be ready to defend what we consider to be right and just, and still be open to listening to and judging fairly someone else’s point of view. We don’t often get a set of three Sunday readings which prompt reflection and some challenge, but today’s do seem to offer that. We should never be afraid of prayerful thought and challenge even for our deepest beliefs. The result might be even greater strength. And isn’t there something in that for us all? Don’t we, sometimes, demonstrate a greater, holier more Christian self in certain moments? Perhaps that could be a call for some reflection, on how each of us can be a truer, better child of God. We surely have moments which point to that. Then why not deepen such moments, and become ever better disciples of the Lord?

Icon of the Hospitality of Abraham, Holy Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos, Mount Penteli, Greece. [Theotokos is Greek for “God-bearer” or Mother of God; ΦΙΛΟΞΕΝΙΑ, Philoxenia, is Greek for hospitality]

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The Liberation of Saint Peter, Raphael, Stanza di Eliodoro 2025, Vatican Museums, Vatican City State. 

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[The angel of the Lord]  tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” So he followed him out……       Acts of the Apostle 22:7-8.

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Let us begin this special day with a reminder that Saints Peter and Paul are the patron saints of Rome, and as such have an extra-special significance to Catholics everywhere. Both are martyrs to the faith, both executed for being Christian. They were among the small sect of Christians whom Emperor Nero blamed for the great fire of Rome in AD64, although some historians are of the opinion that Emperor himself deliberately set fire to the city in order to create a giant palace for himself. By tradition, Peter considered himself unworthy of the death endured by Jesus, and was crucified head to the ground. Paul, on the other hand, was a Roman citizen and hence had the right to be executed by beheading rather than crucifixion. But both must have made a deep impression with the local company of Christians, at least those who survived the persecution, to be so remembered. St. Peter, by tradition, was buried close to where he was crucified, the Circus of Nero. This eventually became the site of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, and in 1968 it was claimed that the bones of the saint had been found immediately under the high altar of the basilica, three levels down, in an ancient pagan cemetery, the Vatican Necropolis. Similarly, it was claimed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 that the bones of St. Paul had been identified in the Basilica of St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls in Rome. I mention all this just to state, as far as it is historically possible, that Peter and Paul are linked to the city of Rome as strongly as it is possible to be. Both the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches place great importance on relics. They bring us closer to the heroes of our faith, and concentrate our thoughts and prayers in ways which are singularly powerful. 

Peter, of course, is claimed as the first pope, the apostle to whom Jesus gave the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, the reason why they are today the principal charge on the Vatican’s coat-of-arms:

Coat-of-Arms of the Vatican City State.

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Matthew 16:17-19.

Paul, on the other hand, started his association with the Christians as one out to destroy them. Christians had become troublesome to the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem, and Saul (his original name) was given the authority to destroy these trouble-makers. And this he did. Not only did he witness and approve of the death by stoning of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, Acts 7:54-8:2. but experienced one of the most dramatic conversions ever, thrown from his horse on the road to Damascus to inflict as severe a persecution on the Christians there as he had brought to the Christians in Jerusalem. 

The Conversion on the Way to Damascus, Caravaggio 1601, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, Italy.

Not surprisingly this altered Saul/Paul’s perception of the new faith, and he eventually became its greatest teacher and guide. In this dramatic encounter with the Lord, he heard the Lord’s voice asking “Saul, why do you persecute me?”. That stayed with him evermore, possibly giving him the idea that we are all the body of Christ, here and now. How else could he have been persecuting “me” when the Lord had been executed? And from this dramatic event, one of the greatest figures in the Church entered the ranks of the followers of The Way. On the other hand, Peter is remembered because he was the first pope, but one who had denied all knowledge of the Lord when it counted the most, as Jesus was being interrogated by the high priest. But Jesus had clearly forgiven him, asking him three times, “Do you love me?”. Paul, whose symbol is a sword (Peter, of course, always holds his keys to the Kingdom), is symbolic of the word being mightier than the sword. Perhaps his most beautiful passage is this, which he wrote to the Christians in Philippi:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Saints Peter and Paul, Peruvian wood relief.

So today we commemorate the two most important figures in the early church without whom it would be difficult to imagine what the church would be like without them – if even there were a church! Peter was chosen personally by Jesus, commemorated in the gospel of 9th February 2025. Paul, on the other hand, was “converted”, if that is the correct word, by direct intervention from on high. I presume this was in response to the danger to the very early church that Saul/Paul represented. He regretted his determined attempt to destroy Christ’s following for the rest of his life, but by his work we know that he planted the seeds which took sturdy root, and we are here today to bear witness to that. Most of us have not undergone such a dramatic conversion moment as Paul did, but in God’s own way, each of us reads these words either to confirm our belief, or assist us in the search for meaning in this life, pointing the way to a life guided by light and faith, the service of others, and supported by a divine love – which is actually commemorated this very week, namely…….

 

FRIDAY 27 JUNE 2025: Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus:

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Deviant Art.

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God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Perhaps there is no greater devotion celebrating Jesus’ love for us humans than that of the Sacred Heart. Such a devotion has existed for centuries, inspired by that terrible moment on the cross when a soldier plunged a spear into the side of the Anointed of God, from which flowed blood and water. Our modern understanding of the ineffable love of God as shown in the Sacred Heart comes from the visions and revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a member of the Order of the Visitation of Mary. Despite many trials and challenges, she eventually convinced her order and the many clerics who questioned her, that Jesus had, indeed, appeared to her to promote this special devotion of his love of us. Indeed the first Mass I celebrated was devoted to the Sacred Heart. This is a love which never fails, one which is everlasting, despite the indifference or even hostility thrown at it. It remains constant in hope and faith, welcoming us when we at last we see the light and respond in appropriate ways which echo its divine source. It is love we can trust never to reject us, always to forgive us and hoping to nurture us into an eternity of happiness. One of the two founders  of the order, St. Francis de Sales said: “What is the special spirit of the Visitation? I have always judged it to be a spirit of deep humility before God and of great gentleness towards our neighbor.” And that echoes the love as demonstrated by Jesus’ Sacred Heart, now and always.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, Punta Gorda Catholic Church, Florida, USA.

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Blessed Sacrament Procession, Lourdes, France, 2013.

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I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”          1 Corinthians 23-25.

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Central to the Catholic understanding of the sacred is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. For any priest, his greatest privilege is to celebrate the Mass. For any bishop the greatest privilege is to celebrate the Mass. For any pope, the greatest privilege is to celebrate the Mass. The priest is simply following Christ’s command, or mandate, “Do this in memory of me”. Catholics become that rarest of creatures, a fundamentalist, when it comes to the words of institution, “this is my body; this is my blood”. Catholics accept those words as literally true; the simple bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus the Christ (the Anointed) of God. That is why the consecrated bread and wine are treated with the utmost respect, why they are venerated, why they are kneeled to, and so on. Baptists, Pentecostals and other non-denominational churches do not accept this understanding. For them the bread and wine are symbolic of Christ, not Christ himself in those traditions. Yes, symbols can be very powerful: look at national flags, for example. They are powerful enough for people to die for them! But are they that which they represent? Is the flag of the United states actually the United States? Clearly no. But is the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ really the Body and Blood of Christ? Yes, answer Catholics and Orthodox. That is the manner in which Jesus promised to be with us until the end of time! So Catholics are fundamentalist concerning this most important commemoration of Jesus, and the so-called fundamentalists are not! And all this when Scripture clearly states that Jesus said, “This is my body”, and “This is my blood”, and for us to “Do this in memory of me”. And today is the great feast commemorating that Last Supper event when Jesus becomes present to us even today, as he promised. And the picture above shows a priest carrying the consecrated bread in a monstrance past the many sick people at Lourdes, which typically is the time, rare but not unknown, when a curing miracle might well happen. (The monstrance is a special vessel built just to house the consecrated bread; the much more common word “demonstrate” comes from the same root, to show or make known). And if you would like to know about the latest miracle claimed as such in Lourdes, look here, or if you prefer, take a look at my favorite miracle from Lourdes, dating from the 1920s, but only just now, 100 years later, declared to be such. It concerned John Traynor, a Catholic from Liverpool. He had been so grievously wounded in the First World War that he was granted a 100% pension by the government (a very rare privilege) as, in the  opinion of his doctors, he was incurable. But he was an honest man and declared that he had indeed been cured while in Lourdes. The government disbelieved him, as no-one had ever recovered from such wounds; he received his pension right up to his death in 1943!

So today’s feast celebrates the most intimate union of each one of us and God. We actually take the Lord into ourselves with the full intention of being as far as we can, Christ to the world. In all we do, in all we speak and in all we think, we are Christ to the world. It is what we are called to and it is the Lord’s expectation of each of us. With his help, each one of us can do this, for we are not alone: the Lord stands with us.

Gothic French Monstrance, Abbott Church Supplies.

There is a prayer called “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” which in a way reflects today’s feast. It makes it real as we respond to the presence within us of Christ’s goodness and strength. It reflects our openness to God, and the strength we get, each of us, from that conviction. Here is a beautiful visual/audio version, or, if you prefer, the prayer itself below. It sings to our trust, our hope and our deepest belief in God, the blessed consequence of today’s celebration:

I bind unto my­self to­day
The strong name of the Tri­ni­ty,
By in­vo­ca­tion of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this, today, to me for­ev­er
By pow­er of faith, Christ’s in­car­na­tion;
His bap­tism in Jor­dan riv­er,
His death on cross for my sal­va­tion;
His burst­ing from the spic­èd tomb,
His riding up the heav­en­ly way,
His com­ing at the day of doom
I bind un­to my­self to­day.

I bind un­to myself the pow­er
Of the great love of cher­ub­im;
The sweet “Well Done” in judg­ment hour,
The serv­ice of the se­ra­phim,
Confessors’ faith, apos­tles’ word,
The pa­tri­archs’ pray­ers, the pro­phets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done un­to the Lord
And pu­ri­ty of virg­in souls.

I bind un­to my­self to­day
The vir­tues of the star-lit heav­en,
The glo­ri­ous sun’s life-giv­ing ray,
The white­ness of the moon at ev­en,
The flash­ing of the lightn­ing free,
The whir­ling wind’s tem­pes­tu­ous shocks,
The sta­ble earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eter­nal rocks.

Christ be with me, Christ with­in me,
Christ be­hind me, Christ be­fore me,
Christ be­side me, Christ to win me,
Christ to com­fort and re­store me.
Christ be­neath me, Christ above me,
Christ in qui­et, Christ in dan­ger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and strang­er.

I bind un­to my­self the name,
The strong name of the Tri­ni­ty,
By in­vo­ca­tion of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By whom all na­ture hath cre­ation,
Eternal Fa­ther, Spir­it, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my sal­va­tion,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord. 

Corpus Christi Procession, Nigeria 2015, Oluchi’s World.

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THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

The Martyrdom of St. Stephen, Annibale Carracci 1604, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.

Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.      Acts of the Apostles, 7:55-57.

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St. Stephen is revered as the first person to die for love of God, Jesus the Son of God and the Holy Spirit of God. His words exalting Jesus the Christ as the Messiah were so offensive to those who heard them that they stoned him to death, even though that was forbidden in the Roman Empire unless ordered under Roman authority. It was the first taste of the persecution God’s People would undergo for the next 300 years from many different quarters. And note, Stephen was one of the first ordained deacons of the church. The word deacon means servant in Greek; he had been ordained to serve the people of God, and he demonstrated that by dying a martyr’s death, the first of many martyrs to enter God’s kingdom thus; he was God’s servant first. You may recall that his feast day is December 26. The contrast is presumably intended, the birth of an innocent baby on the 25th and the brutal death of a man refusing to betray all that the baby represented remembered on the very next day. And the power which gives life to the birth of Jesus, the strength which Stephen demonstrated in bearing witness to Jesus, and the second reading inviting “the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water” are all examples of the love God has for us, expressed in many ways. It is the power which gives us more strength than we know. And sometimes it is good to demonstrate that love in unexpected ways, the expression of which is left to each of us. God has given multiple examples; pick and choose!

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Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

The Ascension of the Lord, S. G. Rudl 1900, St. Wenceslas Church, Prague, Czech Republic.

Then [Jesus] led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.     Luke 24:50-51.

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Notes from the first reading:

1. Jesus’ disciples asked “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” In other words, they still expected the Messiah to be a conquering soldier! And Jesus said definitively, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority…” Remember those words the next time someone announces that the world will end on a certain future date. It is NOT for us to know!
2. Jesus quite clearly enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak”. The two men on the road to Emmaus were clearly disobeying that instruction, until, of course, the Lord caught up with them and, as a result, they voluntarily returned to Jerusalem.

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The Lord’s ascension into heaven effectively ended his bodily presence here on earth somewhat spectacularly. Death had no further power over him, and he was destined to be seated at the right hand of the Father. Consequently he had to depart this world. It was also to fulfill his promise to send the Holy Spirit to us and hence begin the era of the Holy Spirit which has lasted to the present day: “…it is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you. But if I do go away, then I will send him to you” Jesus said (John 16:7). In other words, it was necessary for the Lord to ascend to his Father in order to send the Holy Spirit to us, and inaugurate the time of the Spirit, in which we now all live. Remember that over the centuries before Jesus, God the Father slowly revealed the nature, the qualities, of God through the pages of the Old Testament. Then Jesus had to demonstrate totally and completely the identical qualities in his own life in order to be recognized as God’s Son. Finally, the Holy Spirit, sent by God, has been with us ever since, being the power through which we all strive to be good followers of Christ in the world, in fact to be Christ to the world as best we can. From the Ascension on, the saints have been the guiding men and women who have modeled themselves on Christ and shown us what it truly means to be Christ to the world. And we try our best to do exactly that. In fact, we have to exhibit the identical qualities of God in our lives.

For example, one of the first qualities revealed by God was power. Abraham was an old man, perhaps near 100, and his wife was perhaps a few years younger, yet God announced she would have a child. Sarah laughed at hearing this, and then argued with God! (Genesis 18: 10-15). She gave birth to Isaac. Anything is possible with God. Jesus had divine power, the supreme example of which was the raising of Lazarus from the dead. And each one of us has power too. Even a 6-year old has power! How? I ask altar servers sometimes, “Do you have the power to make your mother’s life today a total misery?” and then, “Do you have the power to make today one of the best days of your mother’s life?” The answer is clearly “Yes” to both questions. We all have power, but do we use it as Jesus would? Take a look at the lives of the saints; they used their God-given power to do great things, just as a 6-year old has. We know deep down what our powers can do in the way we conduct our lives. Another divine quality revealed through the Old Testament is that God is relational, unlike just about all the pagan gods of the time. Moses asked God for the divine name at the famous scene with the burning bush. God revealed the divine name, Yahweh, I AM WHO AM, at that moment creating a relationship between God and Moses, and through Moses to the entire Hebrew people. Jesus took this quality to the level of the infinite, when at the Last Supper he took some bread and said to his disciples “Take, eat, this is my body”. Each time we consume the consecrated host, we literally incorporate the Lord into our own body; the relationship is total. And so we, in our lives, must be open to others, welcoming to others, friendly to others, help others, just as the Lord did. It is a divine quality. God revealed other qualities through the pages of the Old Testament: God listens, God forgives, God loves freedom, God is loyal, God is merciful. Jesus displayed each one of these in his ministry, clearly and strongly. And so must we. 

For a few days there was, in a sense after the Ascension, a sort of absence of God before the arrival of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter/Passover (hence pente, the Greek for 5). A provocative friend of mine often suggested that it was at that “vacant” time that the empty seat at the table, once occupied by Judas Iscariot, was filled by a man rather a woman! Now there’s a thought to be pondered! One wonders. But Jesus had completed his vocation, to be Christ to the world, which is also our vocation, based on the gifts, the talents, that God has given us. Each one of us is a child of God through baptism. All was set after the Ascension, then, for the arrival of God’s Holy Spirit, to give each of us the strength, the power, to be truly children of God.

The Ascension of the Lord, unknown provenance.

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The Eternal Father, Veronese (undated), Hospital Tavera, Toledo, Spain.

[Jesus said] “I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”       John 14:26-27.

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It cannot be by coincidence that the first major crisis in the brand new Christian community, described in today’s first reading, has been linked with today’s gospel. Word was spreading among the earliest Christian communities that pagan men who had expressed interest in following the Lord had to be circumcised to become Christian. Now all Jewish boys, following God’s orders as stated in Genesis 17:11-12, had been made to follow that command for hundreds of years. So it was not too surprising that such a thought had occurred to the new Christians (who had not yet had that name applied to them; before then we were “Followers of The Way”) especially the ones who had converted from Judaism, probably the majority. Today’s first reading describes that first controversy in the fledgling church. Not surprisingly, it threatened to tear the infant community to pieces unless it was addressed. So, what theologians now call the Council of Jerusalem, namely the “apostles and elders”, met together and decided that it was not necessary for men to submit to that Jewish tradition in order to follow “The Way”. And so it was proclaimed. As such it has never been a condition for boys to be circumcised in order to become Christian. And so it was the first time that Jesus’ prophetic words in today’s gospel were put to the test.

And it is even more interesting if you apply that ultimate requirement of the 16th century Reformation for changes in Church teaching, the “sola scriptura” test. This states simply that if you cannot prove your case from Scripture, then it fails. Both the Catholic and the Orthodox churches reject this teaching. Indeed, this Council of Jerusalem event today supports this rejection. The early Christians were forced to decide what needed to be done for a man to become Christian. For generations the Hebrew people had circumcised all boys, following the clear command recorded in Genesis. Now the Christians had changed that rule. But Scripture clearly proclaimed that this was an absolute requirement if you took the Christian community to be Jewish; after all, it proclaimed Jesus to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah! However, the apostles and elders said it was not, and so, no circumcision. Looking at today’s gospel, Jesus had clearly stated that his followers would be guided by God’s Holy Spirit if and when this became necessary. Today’s first reading demonstrates the reality of Jesus’ promise, and the apostles and elders stated without hesitation that “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us” not to require circumcision for men wanting to become Christian. Such a conviction has been present in the church ever since that time. In fact, the 1871 First Vatican Council proclaimed the logical extension of this belief that when the pope speaks “ex cathedra” his proclamation is infallible, meaning it must be accepted by Catholics as true  and without fault. Apart from that papal infallibility statement, only two further teachings have been declared to be infallible. One was at that Council, with the proclamation that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin, the Immaculate Conception. The only other time was in 1950 when Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary body and soul into heaven to be a doctrine of faith, to be accepted as true by all Catholics. Both those teachings had been present in the church from very early times. And so, even though they are not in Scripture, they are articles of faith to be accepted by all Catholics. No other teaching has been declared ex cathedra since 1950.

The First Vatican Council 1870, image located in the Library of Congress.

The Proclamation of the Doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Pope Pius XII, 1950.

Today’s readings are therefore really an object lesson in the ability of the church to handle questions of faith whenever they arise. Although teachings ex cathedra are extremely rare, the church does have the ability to discern between levels of acceptable belief. For example, the church accepts that St. Bernadette was especially privileged to receive visions and messages from the Blessed Virgin Mary, but it does not require any of us to accept such as essential to our faith: we can accept or reject Bernadette’s experience as we wish; the church simply states it is “worthy of belief”. But, in contrast, the church does, for example, expect us to accept the Real Presence of Christ at Mass in exactly the same way Jesus expected such from his followers at the Last Supper. “This is my body” he said, and he meant it, ordering us for ever to “do this in memory of me”. And what will be our reward, if you like, for accepting God’s word and living God’s Way? Take a look at the second reading today describing our ultimate destination, our home: “The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb”. Amen.

The Sacrifice of the Mass, unknown attribution. 

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