Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ

I think this feast needs to be seen together with the feast of the Word of God which occurs on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Blessed Sacrament does not exist in a vacuum. It exists in relationship with the other presences of Christ in the Mass: people, Word, priest and Blessed Sacrament. When we adore the Blessed Sacrament outside of the Mass we prolong that moment in the Mass when the priest elevates the consecrated Host and the chalice containing the Precious Blood. We acknowledge that Christ is present to us in this mystery in an enduring and substantial way. We contemplate not bread or wine but rather Emmanuel - God with us. It is not only the crucified Lord but the whole of our Lord, glorified in the resurrection, who is made present to us under the form of bread and wine. To this end not only the consecrated Host is holy but also the priest, the Word and the people. Parishioners are encouraged to adore the Blessed Sacrament as well as honour Christ in all the other ways that he is present to us. This means to love one another and forgive each other for our faults: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (1 Pt 2: 9-10)

Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

After Pentecost the Church enters Ordinary Time, that is, counted time in which every Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection. Initially, however, we have a number of feasts which amplify and elaborate the mystery which have have encountered during the Easter season. In a way it is a communal experience of mystagogia, that is, a reflection and deepening of understanding that comes from experiencing the sacraments and the mysteries of the faith. Today we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. To articulate and understand the revelation of God as an infinite dynamic synthesis of eternal, personal and unadulterated love is beyond us. God must be experienced rather than explained or described. Let us ask the Holy Spirit into our hearts so that we may experience God's love and in doing so become participants in the cosmic dance (circumincessio) that is the Holy Trinity. It is this amazing God into whom we have been baptized and who we are to follow by making disciples of all nations starting with our own communities knowing that the one who has called us is also with us: "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Mtt 28: 20)

Pentecost

Catholic faith is not restricted to what is revealed by Jesus in his earthly ministry. In the gospel today we hear: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth." (Jn 16: 13) The Holy Spirit, whose presence is recognized by the fruits of the Spirit that we hear of in the second reading, continues to be mediated through the Church which prolongs the Incarnation in the world. This mediation allows for the Church to be guided and informed by the Holy Spirit. Every Sunday we call done the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine we bring into the substantial presence of the Lord. Likewise, all of the other sacraments bring about changes so as to further the mission of the Church and nourish us as members of Christ's body. Thus, when we recite the Nicene Creed, subsequent to professing our faith in the Holy Spirit we also say: "I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." We can believe in the Church, even though its members can be sinful or misguided, because it is guided by the Holy Spirit and does not deceive us. No one can fully understand the mystery of Christ at work in the Church but we do know that when we are true to the teachings of Jesus and open to the Holy Spirit we are the presence of Christ to a world which badly needs the joy and love that comes from encountering the Lord.

Ascension of the Lord

One thing, in particular, is puzzling to me about the Ascension of the Lord. St Luke has two accounts of the same mystery with one happening at the end of his Gospel (Lk 24: 50-53) and the other at the start of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1: 3-11).  These two do not match up completely and you would have thought, that since one was a sequel to the other, a single mention narrative would be sufficient. On reflection I think of it this way - the first account is Jesus farewell to the apostles as he returns to the Father. This fills the disciples with joy as they realize in this  Jesus' divinity: "And they worshipped him." (Lk 24: 52) The second account is a prompt to mission and a reminder that Jesus will return in glory: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." (Acts 1: 11) The message is the same for us today. We should rejoice that Jesus Christ is indeed fully human and fully divine and that his mission of salvation has been accomplished through the resurrection. At the same time, we should be mindful of our own role in continuing that same mission. In other words, let us not stand staring into space longing for the Lord's return rather we should get on with sharing the Gospel with others as missionary disciples secure in the sure and certain hope that Jesus will return in due course to join us with himself for eternity: "And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." (Heb 9: 27-28)

6th Sunday of Easter

Since Ascension Thursday has been "sundayized" in New Zealand the Church makes it possible for the readings of the 7th Sunday of Easter to be used today as an option. It may help Mass goers to look at the readings for both Sundays (Jn 15: 9-17 and Jn 17: 11b-19) together to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Ascension which will be celebrated on Sunday 16 May. When we look at both gospels we get a sense of Jesus, prior to his Passion but also in his Ascension, is bequeathing a legacy so that the Church, founded on the motherhood of Mary and the rock of Peter's faith, can continue the mission of salvation. He assures us that: if we keep his commandments we will abide in his love; if we follow him our joy will be complete; we are his friends because we know what he is doing; he has chosen us to go out and bear fruit; the Father will protect us so that we may be one; we do not belong to the world as he does not belong to the world; we have been sanctified in the truth; we are sent into the world just as he was sent into the world. Taken together we can see that the Church is not alone or unprepared for the mission she has received. Yet, sometimes, we doubt ourselves. We lose faith that the Scriptures, sacraments, Tradition and prayers that have been handed on to us still "work." The siren call of contemporary means of self improvement can cause us to put our trust in worldly alternatives to the gospel. The challenge today is for us to abide in the Father's love: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." (Jn 15: 9-10)