As you might imagine, during my time as a Catholic priest, many folks have come to talk with me while they are in the midst of suffering. Suffering from a cataclysmic life event, a prolong encounter with illness, betrayal, a life that is heading in the wrong direction, the weight of dealing with a situation or with people – and many more topics. I rarely have solutions and even if I had a suggestion, that’s not why people come to talk. There is a very human need to say things out loud in a place they are sure that someone will listen. As best I can, I try to listen. I pray with them. I suggest they begin to take a look and see where they might find God in milieu of life that swirls around them. And sometimes I will inquire if they have read the Book if Job.
The Book of Job
Reply
In our Pentecost Sunday gospel, as noted in yesterday’s post, to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room on that first Easter evening Jesus first words were: “Peace be with you.” His second words were: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” His thirds words were “Receive the Holy Spirit.” What had been promised in many ways in John 13-17, is now fulfilled in the giving of the Spirit. It also marks a turning point in salvation history as a fulfillment of the prophets, not just that the Messiah would come, but that the Messiah would begin the eschaton, the final era when the Kingdom of God would become manifest – and the future become present.
At the start of 1973 the majority of States outlawed abortions entirely. New York , Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington (state) had already legalized abortion in nearly all cases before the fetus was viable. The following states allowed some abortions: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, California and Oregon. Soon, the Supreme Court will hear a case from Mississippi that could undermine Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. The new case, concerning a state law that seeks to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, will be reviewed by a Supreme Court holding a seeming 6-to-3 conservative majority. In the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned, it does not mean that abortions are no longer legal, it means that the policy and law decisions will return to each State for determination – at least that seems to be the views of those who write on constitutional law – both conservative and liberal. Of course the Supreme Court can render a decision that falls between letting Roe v. Wade stand and a complete overturn of the law.
In our 
In the Confieitor, we hold up the things we have done and what we have failed to do. The first reading for today’s Mass is certainly a list of what St. Paul has done for the sake of the Gospel. He has traveled, worked, suffered, been prosecuted, imprisoned, witnessed, held nothing back, did not back down, and took every opportunity to proclaim the Good News. I have no doubt, if asked, that St. Paul could have easily listed what, in his mind, he had failed to do. 
On Pentecost Sunday, the 
This past week, the Commonwealth of Virginia announced that it would immediately implement the just announced CDC guidelines which stated that fully vaccinated individuals do not have to wear masks in outdoor or most indoor settings, except on public transit, in health care facilities, and in congregate settings. Throughout the pandemic at national, state and local levels that last phrase “congregate settings” have included churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship. Following on the heels of the Commonwealth’s announcement, our local diocese announced that because of some ambiguity in the announcement, that we were to not inhibit or challenge people who wanted to not wear masks during the celebration of Mass. While we did not agree that there was ambiguity, we complied. As folks and families approached the doors of the church they were not asked if they were vaccinated, but were simply informed that “fully vaccinated people were not required to wear masks but were also free to wear them if they desired.”
With our celebration of the Ascension complete, as a Church we look forward to the celebration of Pentecost, that great event in which the promise of Jesus begins its fulfillment in the coming of the Advocate, the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth who will lead the disciples in all things (John 16).
friarmusings 