Spirit and Faith conquer Rejection

 

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the evidence we have encountered on our journey that supports the role of the Holy Spirit and Faith in building our relationship with God and Creation.

https://gotourismguides.com/montreal/wp-content/uploads/montreal-st-josephs-oratory.jpg

 

The reading from the First Letter of John asserts that Faith conquers the world.

 

* [5:1–5] Children of God are identified not only by their love for others (1 Jn 4:7–9) and for God (1 Jn 5:1–2) but by their belief in the divine sonship of Jesus Christ. Faith, the acceptance of Jesus in his true character and the obedience in love to God’s commands (1 Jn 5:3), is the source of the Christian’s power in the world and conquers the world of evil (1 Jn 5:4–5), even as Christ overcame the world (Jn 16:33).1

Psalm 72 is a prayer for guidance and support for the King.

* [Psalm 72] A royal Psalm in which the Israelite king, as the representative of God, is the instrument of divine justice (Ps 72:1–4, 12–14) and blessing (Ps 72:5–7, 15–17) for the whole world. The king is human, giving only what he has received from God. Hence intercession must be made for him. The extravagant language is typical of oriental royal courts.2

 

The Gospel of Luke tells of the beginning of the Galilean Ministry and the coming rejection of Jesus at Nazareth.

* [4:21] Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing: this sermon inaugurates the time of fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Luke presents the ministry of Jesus as fulfilling Old Testament hopes and expectations (Lk 7:22); for Luke, even Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection are done in fulfillment of the scriptures (Lk 24:25–27, 44–46; Acts 3:18).3 

Today is the Memorial of St. André Bessette in Canada. Carol Zuegner asks how to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

 

What changes do I need to make? What small changes can I make that will build on love and faith and justice? How can I live my life according to the commandment in the first reading: “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” I can make my revisions to my resolutions small: I can start by praying for those I disagree with along with my prayers for those who are struggling. That can help me remember that my brothers and sisters everywhere are loved by God. I pray today for God’s grace to help me make and carry out my revisions to my resolutions in proclaiming my goal of a year acceptable to the Lord.4

Don Schwager quotes “Christ brings hope of release from spiritual bondage,” by Eusebius of Caesarea, 260/263-340 AD.

"'The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me' (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1). Clearly this happened to those who thought that the Christ of God was neither a mere man nor an unfleshed and unembodied Word who did not take on a mortal nature. Instead they say he is both God and human, God in that he is the only-begotten God who was in the bosom of the Father, and man... from the seed of David according to the flesh (Luke 1:32). Thus, God the Word, who through the prophecy has been called Lord, speaks out this prophecy that is preeminent among other promises: 'I am the Lord, and in the right time I will draw them together'... "Taking the chrism in the Holy Spirit, he, chosen from among all, appears as the only-begotten Christ of God. And the verse 'he has sent me to proclaim good news to the poor' (Luke 4:18), he fulfilled in that time when he 'was preaching the kingdom of heaven' and explaining the beatitudes to the disciples by saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God' (Matthew 5:3)... And for those nations then imprisoned in their souls by the invisible and spiritual powers he preached release to his newly encouraged disciples... Therefore, he preached release to the prisoners and to those suffering from blindness who were those enslaved by the error of polytheism, and he creates a year that is acceptable, through which he made all time his own year. And from the passing years of humanity he provides days of created light for those close to him. He never kept hidden the age that is to come after the perfecting of the present. For that age will be a time much on the Lord's mind, being an age and day of requiting. For he will grant a change of fortune or a year of favor to those struggling in the present life." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2.51.5)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 John 4:19–5:4 comments that the love John is talking about is more than an emotion. It’s a decision.

 

But don’t lose heart! John gives us an essential key to loving: “We love God because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). All love originates from God himself. Remember times when your heart was lifted by going to Mass or seeing a beautiful sunrise. Or when a dear friend called out of the blue and boosted your spirits. These are all signs of God’s love reaching out to you. As you make his love the foundation of your life, your ability to extend that love to the people around you grows—especially when you recall that God loves each of them in the very same way that he loves you.6

Friar Jude Winkler discusses the role of the commandments as guidelines to stay in love. As He reads Isaiah 61, we see the emphasis of Luke on Jesus reaching out to the anawim. Friar Jude reminds us that the people of Nazareth were filled with awe as Jesus began to speak.

 

Franciscan Media quotes Saint of the Day, St Andre Bessette, who was given the humble job of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal, with additional duties as sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. “When I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained 40 years.” In his little room near the door, he spent much of the night on his knees. On his windowsill, facing Mount Royal, was a small statue of Saint Joseph, to whom he had been devoted since childhood. When asked about it he said, “Some day, Saint Joseph is going to be honored in a very special way on Mount Royal!”

He is buried at the Oratory. He was beatified in 1982 and canonized in 2010. At his canonization in October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said that Saint Andre “lived the beatitude of the pure of heart.” Rubbing ailing limbs with oil or a medal? Planting a medal to buy land? Isn’t this superstition? Aren’t we long past that? Superstitious people rely only on the “magic” of a word or action. Brother André’s oil and medals were authentic sacramentals of a simple, total faith in the Father who lets his saints help him bless his children.7 

Brian McLaren suggests how we might find truth revealed in the patterns of the universe.

 

Brian McLaren suggests how we might find truth revealed in the patterns of the universe.Of course, we often struggle to know how to interpret those patterns. For example, if a tornado destroys our house, an enemy army drops bombs on our village, a disease takes away someone we love, we lose our job, someone we love breaks our heart, or our best friends betray us, what does that mean? Is the logic of the universe chaos or cruelty? Does might make right? Do violence and chaos rule? Is the Creator capricious, heartless, and evil? If we had only our worst experiences in life to guide us, that might be our conclusion. Genesis and the Gospel of John dare us to believe that the universe runs by the logic of creativity, goodness, and love. The universe is God’s creative project, filled with beauty, opportunity, challenge, and meaning. It runs on the meaning or pattern we see embodied in the life of Jesus. In this story, pregnancy abounds. Newness multiplies. Freedom grows. Meaning expands. Wisdom flows. Healing happens. Goodness runs wild.8

We may have been stuck by the story of Brother Andre on a visit to Mount Royal or we may have encountered truth in pondering the patterns of the universe through which the Spirit has developed our faith.

 

References

1	(n.d.). 1 John, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/5
2	(n.d.). Psalms, PSALM 72 | USCCB. Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/72
3	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 4 - usccb. Retrieved January 7, 2021, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/4:38
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - Online Ministries .... Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/010721.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2021&date=jan7
6	(n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://wau.org/meditations/2021/01/07/180532/
7	(n.d.). Saint André Bessette | Franciscan Media. Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-andre-bessette
8	(2021, January 5). Theme: A Time of Unveiling - Center for Action and .... Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://cac.org/themes/a-time-of-unveiling/

 

A Spirit for Acceptance

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today anticipate the Sunday celebration of the Epiphany tomorrow by offering reflection on the role of the Holy Trinity in our lives.

Lord, when You were baptized in the Jordan, the veneration of the Trinity was revealed. For the voice of the Father gave witness to You, calling You Beloved, and the Spirit, in the guise of a dove, confirmed the certainty of His words. pic.twitter.com/5rDY20xKco

— Greek Orthodox Metro (@GO_Metropolis) January 6, 2018

The First Letter of John encourages the community in believing in the Son and living in testimony of Divine Presence.

* [5:6–12] Water and blood (1 Jn 5:6) refers to Christ’s baptism (Mt 3:16–17) and to the shedding of his blood on the cross (Jn 19:34). The Spirit was present at the baptism (Mt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22; Jn 1:32, 34). The testimony to Christ as the Son of God is confirmed by divine witness (1 Jn 5:7–9), greater by far than the two legally required human witnesses (Dt 17:6). To deny this is to deny God’s truth; cf. Jn 8:17–18. The gist of the divine witness or testimony is that eternal life (1 Jn 5:11–12) is given in Christ and nowhere else. To possess the Son is not acceptance of a doctrine but of a person who lives now and provides life.

The passage from the Gospel of Mark includes a description of the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus at His Baptism.

* [1:10–11] He saw the heavens…and the Spirit…upon him: indicating divine intervention in fulfillment of promise. Here the descent of the Spirit on Jesus is meant, anointing him for his ministry; cf. Is 11:2; 42:1; 61:1; 63:9. A voice…with you I am well pleased: God’s acknowledgment of Jesus as his unique Son, the object of his love. His approval of Jesus is the assurance that Jesus will fulfill his messianic mission of salvation.

Dennis Hamm, S.J. supplies some of the color of the Old Testament that Mark meant for us to receive in his words.

Mark is continuing his biblical allusions. The one Old Testament reference to the sky being ripped open is Isaiah 63:19, where the prophet prays urgently to God addressed as “father” (see verse 16), “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down.”  In a passage where the Holy Spirit is already mentioned three times (verses 10, 11, 14) as needed for their guidance, this is a powerful plea for the same gift of the Spirit of God expressed in Ezekiel 36. Mark’s assertion that the heavens were being torn open as Jesus entered his public life means that the prayer of Isaiah 63 is finally answered with the advent of Jesus.

I Gordon looks at how the prayer of Isaiah 63 leads us to Christian Testament truths about the Holy Spirit.

Here-in is a biblical principle that runs the length and breadth of the Bible. It is a principle that is shown in countless stories from Genesis to Revelation. It is a principle that sets Christianity apart from all other pursuits and is probably best summed up by a short verse in Zechariah – ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.

Don Schwager quotes Hippolytus, 170-236 A.D. description of the Holy Theophany in the appearance of the eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together at the baptism.

"Do you see, beloved, how many and how great blessings we would have lost if the Lord had yielded to the exhortation of John and declined baptism? For the heavens had been shut before this. The region above was inaccessible. We might descend to the lower parts, but not ascend to the upper. So it happened not only that the Lord was being baptized - he also was making new the old creation. He was bringing the alienated under the scepter of adoption (Romans 8:15). For straightway 'the heavens were opened to him.' A reconciliation took place between the visible and the invisible. The celestial orders were filled with joy, the diseases of earth were healed, secret things made known, those at enmity restored to amity. For you have heard the word of the Evangelist, saying, 'The heavens were opened to him,' on account of three wonders [appearance of the eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together at the baptism]. At the baptism of Christ the Bridegroom, it was fitting that the heavenly chamber should open its glorious gates. So when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and the Father's voice spread everywhere, it was fitting that 'the gates of heaven should be lifted up.'" (excerpt from THE DISCOURSE ON THE HOLY THEOPHANY 6)

The Catholic Culture website summarizes the life of St Brother Andre

He was given the humble job of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal, with additional duties as sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. "When I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained forty years."
In his little room near the door, he spent much of the night on his knees. On his windowsill, facing Mount Royal, was a small statue of Saint Joseph, to whom he had been devoted since childhood. When asked about it he said, "Someday, Saint Joseph is going to be honored in a very special way on Mount Royal!"
When he heard someone was ill, he visited to bring cheer and to pray with the sick person. He would rub the sick person lightly with oil taken from a lamp burning in the college chapel. Word of healing powers began to spread.

and shares the Trinitarian Collect Prayer to follow his example of a life of prayer and love.

Lord our God, friend of the lowly, who gave your servant, Saint Andre Bessette, a great devotion to Saint Joseph and a special commitment to the poor and afflicted, help us through his intercession to follow his example of prayer and love and so come to share with him in your glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Friar Jude Winkler examines the development of the texts concerning witness to Jesus and the eternal status of Jesus as Son of God. John points to Jesus and the Spirit, symbol of Love that descends on Jesus as a proclamation of what has always been that Jesus was always the Son of God.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, offers contemplative practice as we seek openness to the image and likeness of God.

Once I can see the Mystery here—and trust the Mystery even in this piece of clay that I am, in this moment of time that I am—then I can also see it in you. I am eventually able to see the divine image in all things. Finally, the seeing is one. How you see anything is how you will see everything

Father, Son and Spirit in the Mystery of the Trinity give life and are the Source of the Love we are missioned to share.

References

(n.d.). 1 John, chapter 5 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 6, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/5

(n.d.). Mark, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 6, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/1

(n.d.). Bible Study Isaiah 63 The Holy Spirit - Grieving or pleasing?. Retrieved January 6, 2018, from http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/studies/online/Isaiah63.htm

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 6, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Optional Memorial of St. Andre Bessette, religious ... - Catholic Culture. Retrieved January 6, 2018, from https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?id=6

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved January 6, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/

St Andre and the sign of Cana

Brother Andre’, the Millennium Generation and practice of faith

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today features texts with surprising twists. The Book of Exodus tells of Israel’s success over an enemy army by the apparently unrelated act of Moses holding up his arms as he sought the intervention of God. The letter of Paul to Timothy exhorts him to use Scripture for teaching and to be persistent rather than being caught up in scheduling, strategizing and planning. Persist in the action is the message in Luke’s Gospel as the persistent widow finally gets justice for the corrupt judge. Jesus comments on the relationship of this persistence to faith. Faithfulness is evidenced in persistence. Who “practices the faith”? The faithful grow in faith and understanding through persistent practice. The amazing story of Brother Andre, the door keeper of St Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, who today is canonized as St Andre Besette, sought to enter studies with the religious order at St. Joseph’s Oratory and they “showed him the door”. From this place at the door, he brought healing, compassion and love to thousands. The great diversity, openness and social ability of the Millennium Generation as they move through their education to the work force generates hope that the problems of the world will fall to capable hands. The model of Brother Andre will offer the patience and faithfulness to complement the energy of youth.