Call to Holiness

Beloved: May grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power. Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love. 2 Pt 1:2-7

Corpus Christi

As the Easter celebration come to a close, the liturgy adds two special feast days, Corpus Christi and the feast of the Sacred Heart. The last chapters of the gospels give the accounts of Jesus resurrection and the disciples encounter with the risen Lord. In Matthew we read: “And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted.” Mtt. 28.17 Luke tells it this way;  As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them. But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have." And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Lk. 24.36 The key here is REAL. “…See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see;” St. Paul tells us that if Christ is not raised, our faith is useless. This is the real truth upon which the very existence of church stands. The feast of Corpus Christi focuses on this essential truth; Jesus is really and truly present in his Church for all ages. There were three main characteristics that made up the first encounters with the risen Lord, and these continue to be with us today. They are: ·       THE GATHERING IN CHRIST’S REAL PRESENCE ·       THE REVELATION OF GOD’S PLAN ·       THE COMMISSIONING OF THE CHURCH “When two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in their midst. Mtt. 18:20. Jesus is gathering and forming his church around his real presence. He remains with them to lead and guide them in every age to come. The principle sign/sacrament of that “gathering in his presence”, is the liturgy of the Eucharist. Only Jesus himself can cause such a profound personal faith to arise in another. It is essential that we “encounter the risen Christ”.  (The two disciples on the road to Emmaus) returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. Lk. 24:33 The SECOND ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTIC of the Easter encounters is the instruction. Jesus teaches the disciples the meaning of his resurrection; for them and for the whole world. He guides them through the scriptures, showing how he is the fulfillment of all that has been promised, and how he has been sent to lead them into the fullness of all truth.  Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, Lk. 24.46 Now with their hearts refreshed by this "communion" in Jesus presence and enlightened by his instruction, the THIRD ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTIC follows; the commissioning of the Church to go out into the whole world and proclaim this good news of salvation. “Go and announce the gospel of the Lord!” With these words the Mass ends and the work of evangelization begins. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Eucharist to the very existence of the Church. Clearly, as the gathering at the Eucharist declines so does the very existence of the church decline with it.

St. Paul's Shipwreck

During the Easter weeks, the liturgy takes us through a reading of the Acts of the Apostles. We see and hear of the effects the coming of the Holy Spirit has on the disciples of Jesus, and the conversion of many more believers. From chapter nine on, the central character in the story is St. Paul. In the midst of a murderous rampage against the newborn Church, Paul comes face to face with Jesus and abruptly collapses to the ground. Paul is transformed from enemy of Jesus to champion of Jesus, called to bring the message of the gospel to the whole world. Would not such a profound intimacy with Jesus bring Paul a "wonderful life" there after? Let Paul's own words describe the life it brought him.  “… in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.” 2 Cor. 11:23 That beautiful grace of a personal encounter with Christ, that gift of the grace of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gift of Consolation without cause, which can so profoundly change one's life, does not mean the world will not still be the world. There is an old song entitled, "Make the World Go Away ... get it off of my shoulders." But that is not the purpose of the Gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given to empower us to engage the world in all its brokenness and transform it. When we say "the world", it is not the natural world we mean, rather the world of man made systems, by which human affairs are conducted. It is this world that has been corrupted by the evil intentions of people, bringing disorder, pain and suffering into God's good creation. The suffering of good people is the favorite argument used against a loving God. But when the suffering of good and faithful people, experienced in their struggle against the world's corruption, results in a healed and renewed world, it becomes the ultimate evidence of a loving God. "No greater love does one have then to lay down one's life for another." Jo. 15:13  My child, if you aspire to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for an ordeal. Be sincere of heart, be steadfast, and do not be alarmed when disaster comes. Cling to him and do not leave him, so that you may be honoured at the end of your days. Ecclesiasticus / Sirach - Chapter 2:1-3 If one is looking for the "comfortable / conforming life" it is not to be found in authentic Christianity. Christianity is at war in this world. From the moment of Jesus birth the war has been on; the Evil One has sought to destroy Christ and Christianity in every generation since. The nature of the conflict may take on different manifestation in different places of the world but it is on. In the Middle East, the war looks like war. Christians are openly and violently persecuted and killed. But in Western societies, societies that have in the past been described as Christian, the weapon of choice is "words", words that flow from a secular/scientific world view. It is preached that there is only what you see, that alone is what you get. Through a calm, rational, philosophical and scientific voice, the minds and hearts of a new generation are ripped from the arms of Christ and carried off. It may not look like the violent storm on the sea that tried to swallow up St. Paul, but it is no less violent, no less deadly. So if the weapon of choice is words, then so be it. But make no mistake, silence is certain death. Our generation has been called to a New Evangelization. Every believer is to be an evangelist. We are to be visible like the church building that stands visible in the neighborhood. But ask yourself, what message does an empty church send to a community? "Keep your religion to yourself" is the politically correct behavior expected of people today. One does not have to go door to door with bible in hand to be an authentic evangelist. But the principles and values that flow from a Christian conscience, formed by the gospel, in the community of the Church, must never fall silent in any forum, be it social or political. Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s MERCY, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. Rom. 12:1  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 8:35

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Thinking Outside the Box

When Jesus speaks of overcoming the world, the term "world" refers to the collective systems created by man in which people operate day by day; what you see is what you get, nothing more. But man's "big picture" is in fact a very, very small picture of all that is. Bishop Robert Barron explores this in this Word on Fire video.