Urban Hermit at 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006 US - 4th Sunday through Pentecost
| 4th Sunday through Pentecost |
4th Sunday of Easter (A): Radical Pacifism Acts 2:14a, 36-41—What are we to do? Repent! Receive the gift of the Spirit! Save yourselves from this corrupt generation! Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd. 1 Peter 2:20b-25—Be patient when you suffer for doing good; return no insult; do not threaten. Hand yourselves over to God, who judges justly. John 10:1-10—I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly. Those who raise their voices for peace in the United States of America today risk a great deal. The mood of this generation is not a mood of peace and harmony but a mood of vengeance and retribution. The lessons of Jesus and Gandhi and Martin Luther King seem to fall on deaf ears. And so we are reminded again by this week's readings of the need to center ourselves in God. When we stray, we crucify Jesus again. We are the ones who, like the Israelites in the first reading from Acts, have borne false witness and allowed the Messiah to be sacrificed. It is our own sin, our own perverse and obtuse nature, that has demanded his blood. Likewise we are the ones exhorted by Peter in our second reading. We will be vilified for doing good, and we must be patient as we suffer for it. We must not return insults when we are insulted. We must not threaten when we are threatened. We must be peace, resting in God who is all righteousness. Finally we are the ones who have spoken with the voice of a stranger, who would be followed into perversion. We are the ones who have demanded slaughter in retaliation for the slaughter of our innocents, not recognizing that our slaughter is not an innocent act but an act of terrorism in itself. We are the ones who have ignored the voice of the true shepherd, failing to follow Jesus into abundant life. We have approved of murder. We have encouraged murder. We have committed murder. Today we are called to repent, to step away from the sins of our past, away from the sins of this perverse and corrupt generation. We must be peace, no matter the cost. ____________________________________________________________________ 4th Sunday of Easter (B): The Rejected Acts 4:8-12—Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders, which has become the cornerstone. Psalm 118: The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. 1 John 3:1-2—We shall see him as he is. John 10:11-18—A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. That is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone! And what stone is it that builders today are rejecting? Where is it that Jesus is among us, that we do not recognize, that we cast away, not knowing that it is the cornerstone of the building? In our families, is it the children? In our church, is it the women? In our cities, is it the poor? In our society, is it the minorities? In our world, is it the refugee? Wherever we look, we see the stones we reject. Perhaps we even find ourselves among the rejected. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. As we go about this week, let's ask where we are laying down our lives. If we are not spending them to seek out and love the rejected of this world, we are not doing that which causes the Father to love Jesus. ____________________________________________________________________ 4th Sunday of Easter (C): Sounds in the Silence Acts 13:14, 43-52—I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth. Psalm 100: We are God's people, the sheep of God's flock. Revelation 7:9, 14b-17—The Lamb will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water. John 10:27-30—My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. Today’s reading from Acts pictures for us in vivid detail the typical reaction of antagonists in the church. Paul and Barnabas are preaching the Word, but the religious leaders of Antioch grow jealous because of the large numbers coming to hear them. So they contradict whatever Paul says “with violent abuse.” The leaders then stir up a persecution and expel Paul and Barnabas, who “shook the dust from their feet in protest” and went on to Iconium. The social dynamic has not changed. Whether we’re at work or in the neighborhood or in the government or in the church, those who call us to higher ground are often derided and ostracized. Today we are called to listen to the voice of Jesus, the good shepherd. We know his voice. It’s the voice that issues from God and resounds in each of us. It’s the voice that tells us to be the light of the world. It’s the voice that tells us to be the instrument of salvation wherever we go on earth. Our world is full of noise that can block the voice of the good shepherd. Those who practice silence and solitude are ridiculed as out of touch with the world. Those who cannot recite the lyrics for the top hits or recognize the names of Oscar winners are judged insignificant. Those who do not follow the latest episode of reality TV are considered far from the mainstream. Yet none of those current electronics last when the “off” button is pushed. The circuits that matter—the brain patterns that last—are those that connect us to God. And in our churches we also find “noise” to block out the voice of the good shepherd. Contribute to the scholarship fund, bake cookies for the parish dinner, buy a brick in the new prayer garden, come to a lecture on power walking, run for parish council, join the choir. Called to constant stimulation, we are hard pressed to find an open door and a quiet pew to sit and listen for the voice of our shepherd. As we go about this week, let’s notice the sounds we listen to. Let’s listen for the voice of Jesus. I’m betting we’ll hear it, loud and clear. __________ 5th Sunday of Easter (A): Devoted to Prayer and Word Acts 2:6:1-7—We shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Psalm 33: Lord, let your mercy be upon us as we place our trust in you. 1 Peter 2:4-9—You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own. John 14:1-12—The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. The dignity we have as people of God is a stance we often forget. We are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own," as the first letter of Saint Peter describes us. God dwells in us, living stones in the holy temple, just as God dwelled in Jesus. That is the "Way" we are to follow. When we do something good, people tend to say thanks. What's our response? "You're welcome." "No problem." How about "Thanks be to God!" or "Glory be to God!" For that is exactly where the thanks and glory belong, to the God who acts through us and dwells in us. As we go about this week, let's be mindful of the times we do not reflect to the world around us the presence of God within us. Let's devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word made flesh in us. 5th Sunday of Easter (B): Bear Good Fruit Acts 9:26-31—When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. Psalm 22: I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people. 1 John 3:18-24—Believe in the name of Jesus Christ and love one another just as he commanded us. John 15:1-8—I am the true vine. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. The picture of peace that follows upon the early church's eventual acceptance of Paul as a follower of Jesus is one that we might hope for in our own day. More often, however, we see the earlier picture: suspicion of others, fear of those who differ with us and from us, attempts at murder—literal or figurative—for those who speak the Word boldly. A couple of years ago I took part in a peace demonstration, holding my hand-lettered "PEACE" sign at a busy corner, along with hundreds of others here and thousands around the country. After the demonstration I fastened the sign in the window of my car, thinking I might have opportunity to use it again. I didn't think of the action as speaking out boldly, but someone else did. One day after the President ordered the U.S. attack on Iraq, I found a crudely handwritten note under the wiper blade. It said, "Kill the Iraqis." I took a great deal of pleasure running the note through my paper shredder and adding it to the compost heap. It will be recycled into the soil to grow food for the poor of Toledo. Would that we could so easily turn all the world's hatred to good purposes! Today's Gospel reminds us of our connectedness to God and one another. The metaphor of the vine and branches defines our relationship. We cannot jump in and out of connection. We're either stuck there, remaining in Jesus as our vine, or we're cut off and thrown into the fire. And we are stuck, connected integrally with the Word of God, so we must, as John says, believe in the name of Jesus Christ and love one another. We'll be buffeted by those who hate—pruned a bit, to use the Gospel metaphor—but we are required to keep on loving one another. In that way we will indeed bear fruit. As we go about this week, let's ask for the courage to remain connected to God, the ground of our being, through the true vine, Jesus Christ. Each occasion for anger and hatred is an opportunity for love. Let's take it. 5th Sunday of Easter (C): Love One Another Acts 14:21-27—It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. Psalm 145: I will praise your name forever, my king and my God. Revelation 21:1-5a—Behold, I make all things new. John 13:31-33a, 34-35—Love one another. How do we know people? What is it that makes us recognize them? In a small, rural community where families have lived for years, often there’s a family resemblance that marks individuals. I recall how the people in my hometown would know my brothers and me even though we’d never met. It was unnerving for me as a child, especially when I thought about doing something forbidden, like taking a library book without checking it out. It never occurred to me that I could get away with it! Then there are ethnic traits that mark us. My maternal grandmother’s maiden name translates from the German as “thick person,” and I can testify that centuries of genetic inheritance have not wandered far from that family stereotype. Of course, I prefer to think that it referred to a thickness of body around the middle, not a thickness in the brain. Technology has given us photographs and videotapes, so we have a third way of knowing people, even when we have never seen them before. The President is well-known around the world because he’s been photographed and taped so much. Distant cousins are known at the family reunion because we’ve seen pictures of them in the family album. A fourth thing that helps us recognize people is our personal experience of them. This kind of knowing is different from the physical recognition. We have experienced them in our own lives, and we remember. We know our parents. We know our children. We know our siblings. We know our friends. And we know our enemies. The experience of the people close to us teaches us patterns that we apply to the people we meet in the world. We look at them through the lens of our experience of family and friends. And we “know” what they are like. Today’s Gospel urges us to love one another. Do people who see us Catholics gathering for worship, working at our jobs, traveling with our families, shopping in the mall, recognize us as Christians. Do they know we are Christians by our love? Think about your day today. Would a stranger know you’re Christian by looking at you?
6th Sunday of Easter (A): Where is God?
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17—They laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 66: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy!
1 Peter 3:15-18—Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. It is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.
John 14:15-21—I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.
Where is God? The indwelling presence is again the subject of our Easter/Pentecost readings, and each of the three readings today focuses on one aspect of the Trinity.
In our second reading Saint Peter urges us to "sanctify Christ as Lord" in our heart. We are to do good for God, and if we suffer for it, it's better than suffering for having done evil things. The "Way" of Jesus is to be our way, with our hearts set on Christ as our model.
The pericope from John's Gospel contains one of the mystic statements that provides the basis for our theology of the body of Christ. We are in Christ, Christ is in us, and Christ is in the Father: we are one, united eternally in one body.
Today's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles relates the gift of the Spirit that comes from the laying on of hands.
The three readings, however, are not separate: each of the Trinity is present in each of the readings, reflecting the same mystery of indwelling in Christ and in us.
As we go about this week, let's be mindful that we are in Christ who is in the Father and who is in us. We are holy! Let's act like it.
6th Sunday of Easter (B): The Command to Love
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48—In truth, God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears God and acts uprightly is acceptable.
Psalm 98: The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
1 John 4:7-10—Let us love one another, because love is of God. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that God loved us.
John 15:9-17—This I command you: love one another.
It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Everyone is acceptable. God loves me… and you. Love one another.
Simple to say, but not so very simple to live. From the U.S. bombing of Iraq to the private terrorism of domestic violence, our world is full of examples of the exact opposite of the message of the Word. They say Saddam Hussein is unacceptable, so kill him. Drug addicts are unacceptable, so let them die. Unwanted babies are unacceptable, so abort them. A spouse gets on your nerves, so shoot him or her. It's very hard to accept the unacceptable… but it doesn't stop there.
The guy on the next line at the plant talks with an accent, so make fun of him. The student in the next row wears outdated clothes, so call her names behind her back. The worshiper in the next pew just went through a messy divorce, so spread it around the congregation. Make yourself acceptable by putting others down.
Jesus is clear about the requirement to love one another. He does not suggest it, or recommend it, or urge it. He commands it! If we wish to follow his Way, we must love one another. If we want to call ourselves Christian, we must love one another. And all who love are acceptable to God in the same way.
As we go about this week, let's look at our lives in light of whether or not we accept others. The command to love begins there.
6th Sunday of Easter (C): Dwelling with Us
Acts 15:1-2. 22-29—No burden beyond the necessities.
Psalm 67: O God, let all the nations praise you!
Revelation 21:1-14, 22-23—Its temple is the Lord almighty and the Lamb.
John 14:23-29—Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father and I will come and make our dwelling with that one.
That spark of God’s self, that nuance of the personality of Jesus, that fire of the Spirit, which is within each of us is very often ignored by the people we meet.
And if that is so, it is also true that we often ignore that spark of God in those we encounter. At the end of each day, ask yourself if you have acknowledged the Jesus Christ in each person you met.
7th Sunday of Easter and Ascension of the Lord: Are We Getting It?
Acts 1:1-11: Why are you standing there looking at the sky?
Psalm 47: God mounts his throne to shouts of joy, a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
Ephesians 4:1-13—Live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.
(A) Matthew 28:16-20—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. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.
(B) Mark 16:15-20—Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
(C) Luke 24:46-53—Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” the apostles were asked after the Ascension. Throughout the Gospels the apostles are the last to “get it,” the last to understand the words of Jesus and the Word of God.
The message is clearly “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature!” The apostles argue about who is the greatest. The apostles have to keep following Jesus around Galilee trying to get it. Jesus speaks peace, and Peter cuts off the servant’s ear. Jesus tells parables chock full of spiritual wisdom, and the apostles hear words of rebellion against Rome. Others hear the Word, and they are sent to tell the good news. The apostles, however, are quintessential slow learners, and once again, as Jesus ascends into heaven, they are standing there not getting it.
They will toddle off, arguing and pondering and coming and going until, finally, frightened and praying together in the locked upper room, they will finally get it.
But that’s next Sunday. Today, they still are not getting it.
Are we? Do we still, 20 centuries later, stand looking up at the sky? Do we still wait to carry out the instructions Jesus gave? Or are we indeed preaching in his name to all the nations? Our second reading from Ephesians tells us how we are to live: "in a manner worthy of the call." Paul writes that some are preachers, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, some teachers—all to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry. As we look about our churches this morning, do we find ourselves surrounded by holy ones equipped for the work of ministry? Does the mission of Christ have us as church to go into the whole world proclaiming the good news?
We are called to be witnesses to the good news on earth. What are we doing about it?
Feast of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-11—We hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.
Psalm 104: Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13—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.
Sequence: Come, Holy Spirit!
John 20:19-23—Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.
Have you ever seen someone nursing a grudge? Holding onto a hurt—or a supposed hurt—letting it fester into a sore that eventually spewed its venom out on everyone around them?
Maybe it was a co-worker who didn’t get a promotion she wanted. Instead of choosing from the productive and reasonable responses to her dashed expectations, she took the “get-even” route. She sniped at you, made critical remarks about the company, and initiated a passive-aggressive attack on the new boss.
Or maybe you saw your wife chatting over the back fence when you felt lonely and wanted her to be with you. You chose not to see her conversation as routine neighborliness; you chose to feel hurt, and you took it out on her. When she came into the house, you gave her the silent treatment. When she noticed, you barked out a nasty comment and stormed out the door, leaving her alone for the evening.
Again, maybe you’re a teenager and you failed your science exam because you didn’t study. Mom asks you how school went. “What do you care!” you shout, and you rationalize your failure to study as her fault: “I would have had enough time to study if she hadn’t made me mow the lawn Friday.”
On the other hand, maybe the hurt was real. Maybe the boss believed a lie and promoted the wrong person. Maybe your spouse had an affair. Maybe your parents demanded too much of you. But the question revolves around your response to the situation, not whose fault it is.
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us that sins are forgiven when we forgive them, and sins are held bound when we hold them bound.
It’s a funny thing about forgiveness. When we forgive, we become forgiving people. We open the way to love. When we refuse to forgive someone, we become unforgiving people. We hold their sins bound, and we bind ourselves to the hurt.
How can I possibly ever forgive that? You can forgive, and Jesus shows the way. You can give the benefit of the doubt, choosing to think that they didn’t know what they were doing, they didn’t intend to hurt you. You can see the hurtful action as a mistake, and everybody makes them. You can see the person who hurt you as a victim, raised in a family or caught in a situation or led to believe in error. You can think of the times you hurt someone and were forgiven for it.
“Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven; whose sins you shall hold bound, they are held bound.” This is not an easy teaching. At first we might think it just tells us that we have power to forgive—which we do. But it tells us more: it tells us the results of failing to forgive as well as the results of forgiving. It tells us what happens to us, not to that other person--that sinner--when we forgive or fail to forgive.
What kind of a person do I want to be? Do I want to be a Christian, the kind of person who will be recognized by my love for others? If that’s my goal, then I will never reach it by holding bound the sins of others, by nursing grudges, by getting even. I must forgive.
Our tradition offers us time-proven helps with forgiveness. Techniques for bringing our life patterns into awareness abound: there’s the nightly examination of conscience, there’s reflection on reading and during prayer, there’s retreat time, there’s the sacrament of reconciliation, there’s spiritual direction. Each of these methods can help us to see where we are warping our lives by failing to forgive. They can help us discover how to forgive, not only others, but ourselves. They can help us to love one another.
You’ve heard the phrase “practicing Catholic.” That’s literally what we are: we’re not perfect, and we know it, so we practice and practice in the hope that we’ll get better at it. In that same way, let’s be “practicing lovers” and “practicing forgivers,” loving and forgiving over and over and over until we get it right.
Fifty days since Easter—less than two months—and ninety days since Ash Wednesday. What great mysteries we have walked through in that short time: the journey through the desert, the passion, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension, and now the coming of the Spirit!
Yet as we stand here at the end of these great celebrations, we look ahead to the numbered Sundays that form the majority of the church’s celebrations: each of them a manifestation of the Spirit in its own right, another nuance of the great mystery of Jesus’ incarnation.
We make a lot of this feast of the Spirit, as well we should. Nevertheless, it remains, after all our pondering and discussing, a mystery, so we celebrate it and tend to walk away from it. It’s easier to ask WWJD. It’s easier to conceptualize the divinity of Jesus clothed in humanity that to envision the Spirit of God.
Still, the Spirit is with us, as Jesus promised.
- As the early-morning Mass-goers left for their far-flung jobs on the Thursday that would have, in previous years, been the celebration of the Ascension, great chilly storm clouds dumped a much-needed rain on them, and some of them were actually singing as they walked out into it!
- Two parishioners were seen breakfasting after Mass with a mentally challenged adult their pastor has befriended. A tow truck driver stops every day at the local coffee shop, where he pitches in to make coffee and clean the counter, without pay, without being asked, so that the weary all-night counter person can better handle the morning rush.
- An elderly couple has an afternoon snack ready when the latchkey third-grader next door arrives at his empty home from a day at school, and they’re planning some daytrips this summer so they can invite her along.
- A seventh and eighth grade class visited a homeless shelter, then raised over $200 to help out.
- An elderly woman makes and sells crocheted afghans—hundreds of them—and donates the proceeds to her parish.
Yes, indeed, the Spirit is alive among us. Just look around!
