Category Archives: Catholic

Holy Trinity Sunday – why we celebrate

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HolyTrinityWindowWe have all kinds of solemnities, feast days, and other special days in the church year. We commemorate happenings in the life of Christ: Mary’s visit from Gabriel announcing the miraculous child she was to bear into the world. We celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings, the Baptism of our Lord, the Transfiguration when the glory of Christ is revealed, and on Palm Sunday, we celebrate Jesus riding triumphant into Jerusalem amidst palms and cheers. We celebrate the empty tomb and Resurrection of Easter, the glorious Ascension, the explosive coming of God’s spirit to the church at Pentecost … and then we have Holy Trinity Sunday.  And suddenly it is like we have moved from these great events in the life of Christ, and now…. tadah!!  We are celebrating a …..a….. a church doctrine. Continue reading →

…that through this belief you may have life in his name

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Pentecost3The Catholic lectionary for Pentecost Sunday (Year C) has different gospels:  one for the Vigil Mass and another for the masses on Sunday. This commentary is offered for the Pentecost Sunday gospel

John 20:19-31

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 (Jesus) said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” 24 Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of (his) disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may (come to) believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

Perfect Joy Isn’t Fun

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Pope Francis

This is the lesson that Pope Francis drew from the Acts of the Apostles at Friday morning Mass (May 10) as he described the disciples joy in the days between our Lord’s Ascension and Pentecost and what we can learn from them.

“A Christian is a man and a woman of joy. Jesus teaches us this, the Church teaches us this, in a special way in this [liturgical]time. What is this joy? Is it having fun? No: it is not the same. Fun is good, eh? Having fun is good. But joy is more, it is something else. It is something that does not come from short term economic reasons, from momentary reasons : it is something deeper. It is a gift. Fun, if we want to have fun all the time, in the end becomes shallow, superficial, and also leads us to that state where we lack Christian wisdom, it makes us a little bit stupid, naive, no?, Everything is fun … no. Joy is another thing. Joy is a gift from God. It fills us from within. It is like an anointing of the Spirit. And this joy is the certainty that Jesus is with us and with the Father”.

“Can we ‘bottle up’ this joy in order to always have it with us? No, because if we keep this joy to ourselves it will make us sick in the end, our hearts will grow old and wrinkled and our faces will no longer transmit that great joy only nostalgia, melancholy which is not healthy. Sometimes these melancholy Christians faces have more in common with pickled peppers than the joy of having a beautiful life. Joy cannot be held at heel: it must be let go. Joy is a pilgrim virtue. It is a gift that walks, walks on the path of life, that walks with Jesus: preaching, proclaiming Jesus, proclaiming joy, lengthens and widens that path. It is a virtue of the Great, of those Great ones who rise above the little things in life, above human pettiness, of those who will not allow themselves to be dragged into those little things within the community, within the Church: they always look to the horizon”.

 

The Ascension of the Lord – Part 1

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Acts 1:1-11

1 In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught 2 until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; 5 for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.” 6 When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7  He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. 8  But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. 10 While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

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The dangerous memory

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dangerous_memoryI have been musing about memory this week because I had a wonderful two days in Atlanta with my dad’s side of the family – all the cousins and their children.  It was all a walk down memory lane especially with my cousin Frank.  Although at times I wondered if we walked the same lane – but then he has had the advantage of all the things that can trigger memory:  people, places, sights, sounds, smells, and all the rest. It did seem that the longer I was around the family, the more I recalled, and made more memory connections. More and more, a whole range of memories came to ready recall – out of storage somewhere in the misty past of memory. Continue reading →

The Peace of God revealed…

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6th Sunday of Easter, Year C: John 14:23-29

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. 25“I have told you this while I am with you. 26 The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 28 You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.

Introduction

Our passage today is taken from the “Farewell Discourse” of Jesus contained in five chapters of John (13:1-17:56). In other words, we have but a few verses which are an integral part of a much larger passage. Accordingly, the Discourse can be outlined in a number of ways, though three main parts are fairly clear: Continue reading →

The Son of Man glorified…

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The Gospel for the Fifth Week of Easter: John 13:31-35

31 When [Judas] had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 (If God is glorified in him,) God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. 33 My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you. 34 I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. 35 This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Introduction

Perhaps we should place this short gospel passage in context. The public ministry of Jesus has drawn to a close with Chapter 12.  Here in Chapter 13 begins the “private ministry” of Jesus preparing his disciples for his impending death.  John 13:1-17:26 is characterized by Jesus’ being alone with his disciples before his betrayal and arrest. While there may have been others present, such as those who were serving the meal, the focus is on the Twelve (so also Mt 26:20; Mk 14:17;  Lk 22:14). The section begins with an account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and the prediction of Judas’ betrayal (13:1-30). Then there is a lengthy section known as the farewell discourse, which consists of teachings (13:31–16:33) and a concluding prayer by Jesus (17:1-26). Continue reading →

The Good Shepherd

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Christ the Good ShepherdThis coming Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Easter, is often referred to as “Good Shepherd Sunday” as the gospel comes from John 10. I thought I would share some notes I have assembled over the years…. as I note when I post such things, credits, footnotes and other such things are incomplete.  Please know the work of many true scholars makes this post possible.

John 10:27-30

27 My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”

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The cords that bind and lead us…

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francisbrnI am still waiting for the call from Rome telling me that I have been appointed Papal Household Swim Coach.  It has been a running joke in the office since the papal elections. So, it was somewhat humorous several weeks ago when the parish telephone rang – and on the other end was a call from Rome.  Wasn’t the swim coach call, but rather it was the Vicar General of the Franciscan OFM Order worldwide asking me to consider a new job.  It was not a pastoral job, but a full time job more akin to running a business – and in a place where people wear sweaters even in summer – as opposed to Tampa where sweaters are optional most of the year. I promised to pray about it Continue reading →

The Upper Room

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2nd SunSt-thomas5day of Easter – Year C: John 20:19-31 – Jesus Appears to the Disciples in the Upper Room

Something to consider. We have come to know this passage as the story of “Doubting Thomas.” Yet among all the Greek words for “doubt” [diakrinomai, dialogismos, distazō, dipsychos, aporeō, or aporia] none of these appear in the gospel text. Thomas is described as apistos, that is, without trust, lacking assurance, or questioning. What, if any, difference is there between “doubting” and “questioning?” Continue reading →