The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer encouragement that the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives will alert us to make choices for the path of the Prince of Peace on our life journey.
Conquer the world
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles shares Paul’s experience in Ephesus.
* [19:1–6] Upon his arrival in Ephesus, Paul discovers other people at the same religious stage as Apollos, though they seem to have considered themselves followers of Christ, not of the Baptist. On the relation between baptism and the reception of the Spirit, see note on Acts 8:16.1
Psalm 68 offers praise and thanksgiving to God.
* [Psalm 68] The Psalm is extremely difficult because the Hebrew text is badly preserved and the ceremony that it describes is uncertain. The translation assumes the Psalm accompanied the early autumn Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth), which included a procession of the tribes (Ps 68:25–28). Israel was being oppressed by a foreign power, perhaps Egypt (Ps 68:31–32)—unless Egypt stands for any oppressor. The Psalm may have been composed from segments of ancient poems, which would explain why the transitions are implied rather than explicitly stated. At any rate, Ps 68:2 is based on Nm 10:35–36, and Ps 68:8–9 are derived from Jgs 5:4–5. The argument develops in nine stanzas (each of three to five poetic lines): 1. confidence that God will destroy Israel’s enemies (Ps 68:2–4); 2. call to praise God as savior (Ps 68:5–7); 3. God’s initial rescue of Israel from Egypt (Ps 68:8), the Sinai encounter (Ps 68:9), and the settlement in Canaan (Ps 68:10–11); 4. the defeat of the Canaanite kings (Ps 68:12–15); 5. the taking of Jerusalem, where Israel’s God will rule the world (Ps 68:16–19); 6. praise for God’s past help and for the future interventions that will be modeled on the ancient exodus-conquest (Ps 68:20–24); 7. procession at the Feast of Tabernacles (Ps 68:25–28); 8. prayer that the defeated enemies bring tribute to the Temple (Ps 68:29–32); 9. invitation for all kingdoms to praise Israel’s God (Ps 68:33–35).2
In the Gospel of John, Jesus assures with ‘But take courage; I have conquered the world!’.
* [16:30] The reference is seemingly to the fact that Jesus could anticipate their question in Jn 16:19. The disciples naively think they have the full understanding that is the climax of “the hour” of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension (Jn 16:25), but the only part of the hour that is at hand for them is their share in the passion (Jn 16:32).3
Carol Zuegner comments that there is much sorrow and pain still as the pandemic continues to rage in parts of the world. In all of that darkness, we look for a ray of light and for hope.
Jesus tells the apostles they have to have courage. We need that courage, too, to make it through our daily lives. What I think I must do and we all must do, is to look for those moments of peace. When life threatens to overwhelm me in all of the troubles and stress and sorrow, I have to take a step back, perhaps even physically. I have to take a deep breath. And I have to pray. That connection with God, with myself can bring a moment of peace. I can pray for myself, my family and friends. I can pray for people suffering from disease. I can pray for everyone struggling with needs and woes that we often don’t see, even among those we are closest to.4
Don Schwager quotes “In Christ we have peace,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"When [Jesus] says, 'These things have I spoken to you, that in me you might have peace,' he refers not only to what he has just said but also to what he had said all along, either from the time that he first had disciples, or since the supper, when he began this long and wonderful discourse... He declares this to be the object of his whole discourse, that is, that in him they might have peace. And this peace will have no end but is itself the end of every godly action and intention." (excerpt from TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 104.1.15)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 19:1-8 comments that the Ephesian disciples knew that the Spirit had come upon them because they were able to prophesy and speak in God-given tongues (Acts 19:6). Such manifestations were a sure sign of the Spirit’s presence in the early Church, and even today there are believers who experience these “charismatic” gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). While these are two of the more obvious signs of the Spirit, Scripture tells us about other gifts that we might experience (Isaiah 11:2-3).
• When you pray for guidance and receive wisdom, that’s the Spirit.
• When you are tempted to do or say something rash and you resist by saying a quick Hail Mary, God’s Spirit of counsel is giving you restraint.
• When you are looking for credit for your accomplishments, fear of the Lord reminds you that all your talents come from God.
• When you are confused about Church teaching on a moral issue and you stumble across a podcast that gives you insight, the Spirit is granting you knowledge and understanding.
• When you are at the end of your rope but keep persevering in faith, you are being filled with fortitude.
• When you are feeling restless at Mass but a hymn fills you with a sense of God’s love, the Spirit is giving you piety.Pentecost is approaching, so let’s ask the Lord to fill us with even more of his gifts so that we can better serve him and his body.6
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the Ephesians who did not know Baptism with the Holy Spirit. The Baptism of Jesus in the synoptic Gospels reveals entrance into the Life of the Trinity. Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus conquered hate in the world with love.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that both Thomas Aquinas and C.S. Lewis taught, for evil to succeed, it must disguise itself as good, which is apparently much easier to do than we imagine. [2] What previous generations called “the devil” is still quite active, though disguised in the banality of evil. The devil isn’t going to appear in red with horns and a tail and entice us to follow him. When Paul talks about the devil, he uses words like “powers,” “principalities,” and “thrones” (see Colossians 1:16). These are almost certainly his premodern words for what we would now call corporations, institutions, nation-states, ideologies of supremacy, and organizations that demand our full allegiance and thus become idolatrous—not just “too big to fail,” but even too big to be criticized. Suddenly, the medieval notion of devils comes very close to home.
We must first convict evil in its glorified organizational form. When we idolize and refuse to hold such collective realities accountable, they usually become demonic in some way. We normally cannot see it until it is too late. [3] Hannah Arendt wrote, “The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.” [4] While evil may reside primarily in “corporate” form, the resistance to it begins with us as individuals.7
Even as we are made more aware of the evil in the world by the Spirit, we have peace in living the love of Jesus for all people.
References
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