Observing Love and Life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us be open to the nudges of the Holy Spirit that connect us to opportunities for gratitude and action in accord with God’s will.

Open to nudges

In the passage from Acts, Paul and Barnabas are misunderstood by people at Lystra.

* [14:8–18] In an effort to convince his hearers that the divine power works through his word, Paul cures the cripple. However, the pagan tradition of the occasional appearance of gods among human beings leads the people astray in interpreting the miracle. The incident reveals the cultural difficulties with which the church had to cope. Note the similarity of the miracle worked here by Paul to the one performed by Peter in Acts 3:2–10.1 

Psalm 115 is a hymn to the glory of Israel’s God.

* [Psalm 115] A response to the enemy taunt, “Where is your God?” This hymn to the glory of Israel’s God (Ps 115:1–3) ridicules the lifeless idols of the nations (Ps 115:4–8), expresses in a litany the trust of the various classes of the people in God (Ps 115:9–11), invokes God’s blessing on them as they invoke the divine name (Ps 115:12–15), and concludes as it began with praise of God. Ps 135:15–18 similarly mocks the Gentile gods and has a similar litany and hymn (Ps 135:19–21).2 

The Gospel from John promises the Advocate who will be our guide to remaining aware of the Love of God.

 * [14:17] The Spirit of truth: this term is also used at Qumran, where it is a moral force put into a person by God, as opposed to the spirit of perversity. It is more personal in John; it will teach the realities of the new order (Jn 14:26), and testify to the truth (Jn 14:6). While it has been customary to use masculine personal pronouns in English for the Advocate, the Greek word for “spirit” is neuter, and the Greek text and manuscript variants fluctuate between masculine and neuter pronouns.3

Beth Samson is reminded of the reciprocity of love through the Gospel, and she suggests for herself and anyone else who may feel a similar invitation in their own lives to pray the Examen.

The Examen is one of the greatest gifts left for us by St. Ignatius of Loyola. It is a prayer to be prayed daily – one so important to Ignatius that he told his earliest companions that if there is only one thing they do every day, that they pray the Examen. This form of prayer invites us to look with gratitude on our day as we notice when we experienced the closeness of God’s love and/or when we felt distant from God’s love. By praying it with it over time, we cultivate awareness of how God is revealing God-self in our lives.4 

Don Schwager quotes “God is pleased to dwell in us,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

 "God is not too grand to come, he is not too fussy or shy, he is not too proud - on the contrary he is pleased to come if you do not displease him. Listen to the promise he makes. Listen to him indeed promising with pleasure, not threatening in displeasure, "We shall come to him," he says, "I and the Father." To the one he had earlier called his friend, the one who obeys his precepts, the keeper of his commandment, the lover of God, the lover of his neighbor, he says, "We shall come to him and make our abode with him." (excerpt from Sermon 23,6)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 14:21-26 comments that statues, rosaries, mosaics, and stained glass windows in our churches and cathedrals are physical reminders of God’s work in our spiritual history. They remind us of God’s faithfulness, and they help us to stay faithful. As baptized Christians, though, we have something even more powerful than physical monuments. We have the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised would be our own personal reminder of all that he had said and done.

God knows that when life gets tough, we might need a reminder of his great love. Or we might make a big mistake and need the reassurance of his forgiveness, not just once, but many times. In moments like these, the Holy Spirit is there to comfort us and redirect us.
How does he do this? Well, his reminders don’t usually come as a thundering voice in the heavens. More often, they come in very quiet and simple ways—through a comforting Scripture passage that you hear at Mass, through a favorite hymn, or through a hug from a friend that assures you of how much Jesus cares for you. Any time you feel a nudge to remember what God has done in your life, it is probably the Spirit offering you his grace, power, and comfort.6 

For today’s Optional Memorial, Franciscan Media shares that Saint Bernardine of Siena was a human dynamo who simply took on the needs of the world. He was the greatest preacher of his time, (September 8, 1380 – May 20, 1444), journeying across Italy, calming strife-torn cities, attacking the paganism he found rampant, attracting crowds of 30,000, following St. Francis of Assisi’s admonition to preach about “vice and virtue, punishment and glory.”

 Especially known for his devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, Bernardine devised a symbol—IHS, the first three letters of the name of Jesus in Greek—in Gothic letters on a blazing sun. This was to displace the superstitious symbols of the day, as well as the insignia of factions: for example, Guelphs and Ghibellines. The devotion spread, and the symbol began to appear in churches, homes and public buildings. Opposition arose from those who thought it a dangerous innovation. Three attempts were made to have the pope take action against him, but Bernardine’s holiness, orthodoxy, and intelligence were evidence of his faithfulness.7

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Coat_of_arms_of_Franciscus.svg/150px-Coat_of_arms_of_Franciscus.svg.png

Friar Jude Winkler observes the almost comical situation of Paul and Barnabas being mistaken for Hermes and Zeus at Lystra. The word for Advocate in Greek is vague and most of the the meanings can be attributed to the Holy Spirit. Friar Jude concludes that we are invited to share in the Holy Spirit as the Trinitarian Love between the Father and the Son.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, doesn’t want to diminish how much we still have to do to create an equitable world, however, it’s become almost impossible for privileged folks to deny the ongoing marginalization of people of color, gender diverse individuals, the poor, and those with disabilities.

He quotes theologian Jürgen Moltmann (b. 1926) who writes:
In the experience of the Spirit a new community of rich and poor, the educated and the uneducated comes into being. The Spirit of God is no respecter of social distinctions; it puts an end to them. All Spirit-impelled revival movements in the history of Christianity have taken note of these social revolutionary elements in the experience of the Spirit and have spread them. They became a danger to the patriarchy, the men’s church and the slave-owners. [2]
And Fr. Richard continues:The Spirit is like a homing device put inside of us, and all creation, too. For all of our ignorance and mistakes, there is in everything this deep, internal dignity convinced of its own value. This divine indwelling keeps insisting, “I am what I am seeking!” This is surely what Jesus means when he says that all true prayers are already assured of their answer (see Matthew 7:7-8 and 1 John 5:14-15).8 

Fr Richard provides the concluding thought it is God in us that loves God. This is Trinitarian spirituality and it is all now, and not just later. We are already home.

References

1	(n.d.). Acts, chapter 14 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 20, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/14
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 115 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 20, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/115
3	(n.d.). John, chapter 14 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 20, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/14
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved May 20, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/05/20/
7	(n.d.). Saint Bernardine of Siena - Franciscan Media. Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-bernardine-of-siena/
8	(2019, May 20). The Age of Spirit — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://cac.org/the-age-of-spirit-2019-05-20/