Feast of the Holy Trinity

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity, in the first centuries of the Church, was a topic held to be of great importance. As with the teaching on the Incarnation the Church had to struggle to fend of inadequate understandings of its fundamental truths. These misunderstandings, if they are stubbornly maintained by their proposers, become heresies and have the potential, like cancer cells in the body, to destroy the whole. Fortunately, we no longer hand over such people to the civil authorities to be burned but heresy remains a delict or crime in Canon Law under canon 1364. According to canon 751 "Heresy is the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith." This should not prevent us from searching more deeply into the truths of the faith. It is only when we obstinately hold on to our own mistaken idea that we are in danger of heresy. Such a verdict has to be reached by a church tribunal. Thus, we should always desist from calling other people heretics and enter into discussions with them in good of the faith striving to edify each other by what we say, think and do.

Pentecost

In Eucharistic Prayer III we pray: "... for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all things and make them holy and you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name. Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you: by the same Spirit ...". Each time we gather for Mass and celebrate a sacrament it is the same Spirit that is at work in us as was present to the disciples at Pentecost. The manifestation is different but the effects and the end results are the same. We are united in faith, given courage to bear witnesses to it, granted charisms and spiritual gifts as well as endowed with the gift of peace. It is that gift for which we pray after the Lord's Prayer and was given to the disciples as related in today's Gospel. The life of the Church is unchanged in its essentials: "The Church was, in this fundamental sense, catholic on the day of Pentecost and will always be the same until the day of the Parousia" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 830). This should give us all hope because the obstacles faced by the Church were far greater than what we face now. It is really a question of our openness to the Holy Spirit and our willingness for him to work in, with and through us so that the works and fruits of the Spirit will be evident in us.

The Ascension

The mystery of the Ascension is best addressed through looking more closely at the consequences of the Incarnation. It is a matter of doctrine that Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, is fully divine and being conceived in his humanity, he is fully human. By assuming life in the flesh he lost none of his divinity however he took on the capacity to be tempted, to suffer and to die. In other words he entered into our reality in all ways except he did not sin. By doing so he enabled human beings to participate in his divinity. Saint Paul tells us that we participate in the life of Christ through baptism: "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his ... The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you all must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ." (Rom 6: 5, 10-11) Since we are joined to him in this way the lack of a tangible experience of his risen body is not problematic because, through the sacraments and the Church, Christ is present to us now in a way that far surpasses a one on one physical encounter. In the Ascension we see that he has set a pattern for us which is not bound by earthly realities: "Thus it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living being'; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual." The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the amn of dust, so are those who are of dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven."  (1 Cor. 15: 45-49) Our gaze therefore should not remain on the crucifix, with the sufferings of Christ, nor should it be directed to heaven searching for when he will come again. Rather it is alert to Christ present in our midst through the power of the Holy Spirit working in, with and through us. Thus, we pray for and anticipate our renewal in the Holy Spirit next Sunday at Pentecost. We need not worry that Christ has been taken from our sight. We know in faith that if we stay faithful we will be joined with him in the heavenly realities when our time comes.

6th Sunday of Easter

Jesus says that he is going to send us the "Advocate." Why would he do that? Isn't the example and gift of Jesus enough for us? What about other people who are not baptised? Often, sadly, you cannot tell the difference. Someone can say: "I am a good person. I do not need God to do that. I am as good as you. Why do I need the Holy Spirit." I think that, in order to understand the situation, we need to realise what it means to have the Holy Spirit within us rather than acting upon us. Saint Basil the Great writes: "Through the Holy Spirit paradise is restored; we can ascend to heaven and regain our sonship. We can address God as Father with confidence, we can share in the grace of Christ, we are called children of the light and sharers in eternal glory; in a word we can become full of all manner of blessings in this world and in that to come. We can observe as in a glass the beauty of the goods stored up for us in the future but now anticipated  in faith, as though they were already here. If the earnest is such, what must the perfect thing be? If the first fruits are such, what must the consummation be?" (Monday Week 4 of Eastertide, Office of Readings) Let us never underestimate the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised him to us for a reason.

5th Sunday of Easter

This Sunday’s Gospel speaks of the new commandment: “... that you love one another.” (Jn 13: 34) Jesus had already, earlier in his ministry, summarised the law in the great commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Mtt 22: 36-39) What makes the commandment, bestowed in the context of the Last Supper and the washing of the feet, new? We need to keep reading: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (Jn 13: 34). To understand this love and its newness we need to look at Jesus ministry as a whole as well as absorbing the message of the feet washing. He lived with his disciples, listened to them, taught them and ultimately gave his life for them. The kind of love Jesus asks of them is a complete giving of oneself usually characterised by the Greek term of agape. The new commandment is therefore greater than the Great Commandment because with it the one loving places the beloved ahead of himself. Sometimes I have heard in pop songs the singer affirming a love because s/he knows that the beloved will do the same back. The new commandment asks for no guarantees nor does it speak of mutuality. It speaks of the Cross. A love that has its source in God and Him alone. What, I might ask, is the foundation of my love for others? Is it quid pro quo or mutual protection or self interest or a sense of duty? If it is one of these it fails to meet the standard of the the New Commandment.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Today's feast is also referred to as Vocations Sunday because the Gospel speaks of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. In particular, we can focus on the sacrament of Holy Orders through which the Church is given its leaders. Jesus remarks are prompted by the Jewish leaders who ask of him: "If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." (Jn 10: 24) They clearly wish to force him into their mould and define him by their own categories. Obsessed with power, wealth and theological correctness they want to find something that they can use against him. In doing so they are unable to hear Jesus or to see him as he really is. Jesus states: "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me." (Jn 10: 27) Jesus role and identity can, therefore, be deduced from the actions of his followers who listen to his voice. When atheists, secularists, free-thinkers, etc look at us do they see us as followers of Jesus? Do they detect in our actions the mission and love of Jesus or do they see the same self-seeking and self-focused attitudes of a myriad of other ways of life and spirituality? This is especially the case of those who are called to witness to the Gospel publicly and this applies to priests above all. If the world is to know the truth about Jesus then it will come to know the truth about us. It is not only the apostles and early Christians who were witnesses to the Resurrection. We are called to be witnesses ourselves. This means we need to listen to the voice of Jesus in the Scriptures, the liturgy and the Magisterium so that we may follow him and, in doing so, lead others to him. This can be an intimidating thing to do in a world so hostile to the King of Glory. Jesus reassures us saying: "I will give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand." (Jn 10: 28-29) As we live out our Christian witness we can always be assured that we are in the Father's hand.

Third Sunday of Easter

This week we hear of Peter's response to the resurrection. Last Sunday Thomas was brought to declare: "My Lord and my God" (Jn 20: 28) while this week Peter pleads: "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jn 21: 17) Both men, stubborn and self-willed, are taught a lesson. In the case of Peter the lesson is that faith leadership and our relationship with the Lord is not founded on bluster and fine sounding phrases, for example, "I will lay down my life for you" (Jn 13: 37) or "You are the Messiah the Son of the living God." (Mtt 16: 16). Rather, the true foundation of relationship with Jesus is established on love for him. This is important for us to realise when considering our own faith journey. Like Peter we can fail through sin or in other ways to meet up to what we say in our prayers or with the Church in the Mass. Christ does not ask us for that sort of perfection. It is impossible for us to attain such moral heights and, even if it were possible, Saint Paul tells us: "And if I have all prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." (1 Cor. 13: 2) After all, if we are whole, entire and perfect we have no need of Jesus: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." (Mtt 9: 12-13) Like Peter we need to affirm our love of the Lord and place ourselves at his disposal to work for his Kingdom "Feed my sheep." (Jn 21: 17) In this we are to be conscious of our own response to the Lord and not questioning or judging others by what they say or do. Peter, is curious about the Beloved Disciple just as we might think about how others live out their response to the Lord. The answer from the Lord to Peter and also to us is: "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" (Jn 21: 22) In other word, now that you have said that you love me get on with it!