Wednesday, May 22, 2019

The Sixth Sunday of Easter


The Sixth Sunday of Easter
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May 26, 2019
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29


In this Last Supper Discourse by Jesus, he tells us that he is going away, and he does not want us to worry. He promises that God will not leave us on our own, sending us one who will provide us comfort and guidance. Jesus knows the world can be vicious and that many are opposed to his message. In fact, he is a victim of the anger of hard-hearted people who seek to preserve their own way of life that the way of Jesus threatens. He knows the words of our faith has a dangerous component because it keeps a check and balance on the status quo and always seeks to support the most vulnerable among us. Jesus realizes that we will need guidance and encouragement to be faithful to the Gospel because living it out places us at great risk. The gift of the Holy Spirit has the power to conduct us wisely through our greatest challenges.

We see the power of the Holy Spirit in the First Reading as the Apostles gather to solve a dispute that had been ripping apart the community. The inclusion of the Gentiles into the Jewish community that followed the Way of Jesus upset the Jews so much because it redefined Jewish identity. After centuries of knowing that they were God’s chosen people, the idea that Gentiles could be included into the faith without keeping the Law or becoming circumcised was too much for the community to handle. Great opposition rose up against Paul and these new converts who perverted the Jewish identity, and it was splitting apart one’s fundamental system of belief. Paul was undeterred because he knew Jesus Christ wanted the Gentiles to be included as believers and beneficiaries of salvation. The Apostles understood the great challenge and took the matter into prayer. The Holy Spirit helped the community discern how to proceed and this is the result of the proceedings:

It is the decision of the Holy Spirit, and of us, not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage.

Despite the great risk and the threat of rupture of the community, the Apostles and elders issued this very bold statement that we just heard. It opened wide the doors to the faith for the Gentiles with minimal burdens placed upon them. Also, the Apostles apologized for the way their Jewish brethren upset them with their teachings and disturbed their peace of mind. The breath of fresh air these statements brought away to the Christians was unprecedented in any religion and it ushered it the most remarkable openness that we have ever seen. It reveals the power of the Holy Spirit when we prayerfully seek guidance as a community, and it is important for us to realize this same Spirit is still with us, guiding us through difficult challenges.
                                   
Many of us pray to the Holy Spirit for our personal challenges, when we are grieving the death of a loved one, when we hope for reconciliation among our children, when we strive to be heard and understood, and when we need courage to speak up for ourselves in situations of power imbalances. The Spirit advocates for us and gives us courage, but our challenge is to trust in the Spirit in communal discernment. We have many issues facing our church; we have many challenges in society that are not easily solved; we have many family issues to face as well. Typically, in our prayer, we go privately to our rooms and ask for guidance, but we now need to come together as a community, society, or family to discern what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. Deliberating with others takes time and patience and the decisions we arrive at must be challenged by more prayer. It takes openness of heart and courage.

I imagine the Apostles and elders were surprised at their decision to admit Gentiles without undue burden, but once it was confirmed by the Spirit, they rejoiced at the magnitude of their discernment. Likewise, we can be surprised by the results of our communal discernment and we have strength in praying through these issues together. I would suspect that we would end up with similar criteria that the Spirit once gave – that we place no undue burdens upon anyone who calls upon the Name of the Lord and need to be treated with mercy, and that we celebrate those who continue to seek God as our brothers and sisters.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 
Monday: (Acts 16) Paul and Barnabas set sail for Philippi, a leading city of Macedonia, and a Romany colony. Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, listens to their preaching and opens her heart to them. She is baptized and invites them to stay with her.  

Tuesday: (Acts 16) Paul is brought to the Areopagus in Athens and tells them of the Unknown God he and Barnabas worship.

Wednesday: (Acts 17) At the Areopagus, Paul declares that this unknown God is the same one Christians worship and has brought about salvation, including the resurrection of the dead. This concept unsettles some who find it a difficult teaching to accept.

Thursday: (Acts 15) Paul travels to Corinth and meets the Jews, Aquila and Priscilla, who were forced to leave Rome because of Cladius’ dispersion edict. He learns the tent-making trade and preaches to Jews who reject him. He encounters Titus Justus and Crispus, a synagogue leader, who comes to believe. The entire congregation believes the news of Jesus Christ.

Friday (Acts 18) While in Corinth, Paul receives a vision from the Lord urging him to go on speaking as no harm will come to him. Others are harmed, but Paul escapes injury.

Saturday (Acts 18) Paul travels to Antioch in Syria. Priscilla and Aquila meet Apollos, a Jewish Christian, who is preaching the way of Jesus, but of the baptism by the Holy Spirit he is not informed. They take him aside and teach him the correct doctrine. He then vigorously refutes the Jews in public, establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.

Gospel: 
Monday: (John 15) Jesus tells his friends that the Advocate will come and testify to him. Meanwhile, they will be expelled from the synagogues and harmed – even unto death.  

Tuesday: (John 16) The Advocate, the Spirit of truth, will guide his friends to all truth. Jesus confuses them by saying, “a little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.”

Wednesday (John 16) The Spirit of truth will guide you and will declare to you the things that are coming. The Spirit will glorify. Everything the Father has is mine.

Thursday (John 15) Remaining close to Jesus will allow us to share complete joy with one another.

Friday (John 16) As they debate, he tells them their mourning will become joy – just like a woman who is groaning in labor pains.

Saturday (John 16) As Jesus tells them again that he is part of the Father, he instructs them to ask for anything in his name and God will grant it because Jesus is leaving the world and is going back to the Father. The Father loves them because they have loved him. The Father will reward them for their generosity.

Saints of the Week

May 26: Philip Neri, priest (1515-1595), is known as the "Apostle of Rome." A Florentine who was educated by the Dominicans, he re-evangelized Roe by establishing confraternities of laymen to minister to pilgrims and the sick in hospitals. He founded the Oratorians when he gathered a sufficient following because of his spiritual wisdom.

May 27: Augustine of Canterbury, bishop (d. 604) was sent to England with 40 monks from St. Andrew's monastery to evangelize the pagans. They were well-received. Augustine was made bishop, established a hierarchy, and changed many pagans feasts to religious ones. Wales did not accept the mission; Scotland took St. Andrew's cross as their national symbol. Augustine began a Benedictine monastery at Canterbury and was Canterbury's first archbishop.

May 31: Visitation of the Virgin Mary commemorates the visit of Mary in her early pregnancy to Mary, who is reported to be her elder cousin. Luke writes about the shared rejoicing of the two women - Mary's conception by the Holy Spirit and Elizabeth's surprising pregnancy in her advanced years. Elizabeth calls Mary blessed and Mary sings her song of praise to God, the Magnificat.

June 1: Justin, martyr (100-165), was a Samaritan philosopher who converted to Christianity and explained doctrine through philosophical treatises. His debating opponent reported him to the Roman authorities who tried him and when he refused to sacrifice to the gods, was condemned to death.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      May 26, 1673. Ching Wei‑San (Emmanuel de Sigueira) dies, the first Chinese Jesuit priest.
·      May 27, 1555. The Viceroy of India sent an embassy to Claudius, Emperor of Ethiopia, hoping to win him and his subjects over to Catholic unity. Nothing came of this venture, but Fr. Goncalvo de Silveira, who would become the Society's first martyr on the Africa soil, remained in the country.
·      May 28, 1962. The death of Bernard Hubbard famous Alaskan missionary. He was the author of the book Mush, You Malemutes! and wrote a number of articles on the Alaska mission.
·      May 29,1991. Pope John Paul II announces that Paulo Dezza, SJ is to become a Cardinal, as well as Jan Korec, in Slovakia.
·      May 30, 1849. Vincent Gioberti's book Il Gesuita Moderno was put on the Index. Gioberti had applied to be admitted into the Society, and on being refused became its bitter enemy and calumniator.
·      May 31, 1900. The new novitiate of the Buffalo Mission, St Stanislaus, in South Brooklyn, Ohio, near Cleveland, is blessed.
·      Jun 1, 1527. Ignatius was thrown into prison after having been accused of having advised two noblewomen to undertake a pilgrimage, on foot, to Compostella.

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