On Pentecost Day Christians celebrate ‘the great beginning of the Church’, the day the Holy Spirit first came to confused and frightened disciples. During the gathering for worship, we praise God for this great Gift, and ask for a new outpouring in our day.
The readings for this day are drawn from the final verses of Acts and of John’s gospel. Acts rounds out the total theological purpose of St. Luke, which extended from his earlier book, the gospel, into his second book, called The Acts of the Apostles. Luke’s gospel moves from Old Testament Jerusalem (Chs. 1-2) or from the Jordan River where the conquest of the Promised Land once began under Joshua
The sequence of events is important, so natural and yet so filled with spiritual meaning that we must delay here. Youth is marked by an active pursuit of goals. Many options open out before a young man or young woman. With study, experimentation and advice they freely decide. As a person gets older, a more passive acceptance of the inevitable seems to be the only option. As we become still older
Jesus signals unity as the most characteristic mark of his disciples, the sign and the goal of true faith, when he prayed: “that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” Paul of Tarsus appears in today’s reading, yet not as a messenger of peace and unity. He deliberately stirred a discussion, which he knew would turn into a shouting match and then into physical abuse. He got the
Acts 20:28ff. Paul’s final word to church leaders calls them to be shepherds of the church of God. John 17:11ff. Before leaving them, Jesus prays to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth.” More Blessed to Give than to Take The necessity of prayer and of concern about his disciples is proven beyond all doubt…
Both Paul and Jesus indicate that an important phase of their ministry has been completed: Paul must proceed to Jerusalem and if he survives the persecutions in that city, he hopes to sail westward to Rome and then to Spain; Jesus declares that he has finished the work given to him by the heavenly Father and now asks: “Do you now, Father, give me glory at your side?” Paul’s words take the form of a final
The plain language of Jesus’ discourse in John’s gospel still baffles us. Why will the disciples find peace in Jesus, once they are scattered, each to his own way, and Jesus is left alone? How does such a disintegration of loyalties and friendship convince the disciples that Jesus knows everything and has come from God?
We celebrate today Christ’s ascension to his eternal glory in heaven and express our hope that where he has gone before us, we will one day follow, to the kingdom of our Father. A homily theme: we are separated from Jesus our Lord, only in body but not in spirit. His ascension into heaven is a blessing in disguise for us, not a loss, for he pours out on us from heaven all the energising grace that we need, to be his community in this present world.
On Ascension Day, we celebrate the departure in triumph of Jesus. We remember his sending out of the disciples, and his promise to remain with us until the end of time.
While the gospel implies an immediate awareness of the Holy Spirit and a direct communication between ourselves and the heavenly Father, the first reading seems to take a different slant. Acts points out that despite his
Because the Bible is the word of God, we often think to ourselves that it will answer all our questions. Yet, today’s Gospel indicates that we will have questions on our mind until the second coming of Jesus. “[Only] on that
Because the Bible is the word of God, we often think to ourselves that it will answer all our questions. Yet, today’s Gospel indicates that we will have questions on our mind until the second coming of Jesus. “[Only] on that day you will have no questions to ask me.” We might expect such a statement from the early parts of the New Testament, say from the gospel of Mark, or still earlier in the Epistle to the Thessalonians. It
The Scriptures accept and record the quick transitions which can come into all our lives. Paul left behind the capital city of Athens with its sophisticated audience and proceeded to Corinth. Here he ran into severe opposition
Paul recognized in the Areopagus at Athens the wonderful, even ecstatic beauty of God’s creatures, as carved out of marble. The Greeks exulted in the perfect expression of the human form and carved some of the most exquisite statues of male and female as created by God. Further, their
Let Mary’s soul be in each of you… Let her spirit be in each to rejoice in the Lord… Christ has only one mother in the flesh, but we all bring forth Christ in faith… Whoever does this proclaims the greatness of the Lord, just as Mary rejoiced in God her Savior.
Paul’s relationship with the Philippians is one of exceptional peace and harmony. He fell in love with his newly founded Philippian church and his epistle to them is among the most emotional of his writings. He wrote: “I give thanks to my God every time I think of you, which is constantly, in every prayer I utter, rejoicing, as I plead on your behalf, at the way you have all continually helped promote the gospel from the very first day … I hold all of you dear … God himself can testify how much I long for each of you with the affection of Christ Jesus! (Phil 1:3-8).
Philip’s spirit of joyful hope in today’s scene from the early church suggests one possible line for today’s homily. He was bursting with a message that he wants to share with the African traveller he met on the road. Many in our world have largely lost their sense of the sacred, in conventional church terms, but they may be open to a hopeful message, if it is well presented. If we ignore the reality of God, all our other relationships suffer as a result. We should reverence God’s guiding providence, and show courteous respect to all.
Adversity continues to exert its important role in the apostolate. Persecuted in one place, the disciples moved on to another town; and so the gospel moved onward and continued to spread across the Roman Empire. When local conditions threw roadblocks in Paul’s way and kept him from preaching in the name of Jesus, St Luke explains that “They were prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message.”
All will agree that martyrdom must be inspired by the Spirit of God, but we often think of compromise as slightly immoral and almost always as a decline in personal ideals. Yet the letter of the Jerusalem Council begins: “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and ours too, not to lay any burden beyond that which is strictly necessary. …” The word strictly indicates some kind of minimalist interpretation.
A spontaneous interchange of life, love and joy flows between God the Father and God the Son. This force which bonds and unites them is so personal and real as to be God the Holy Spirit. Jesus desires that this same bond exist between ourselves and his own person. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Live on in my love. Let my joy be yours that your joy may be complete.”
