Cycle C – Pentecoste
FIRST READING: Acts 2: 1-11. When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, “are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
SECOND READING: 1 Cor. 12:2-7; 12-13. No one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God inspires them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. But just as, the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
GOSPEL: John 14:23-26. Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
____________________
What is this ‘Spirit’ which we call holy and a person? In Acts it is called “like the rush of a mighty wind”, “tongues as of fire”, and “a sound”. In the gospel Jesus calls it “the Advocate”. It appears that we are lost for a precise word which might explain exactly what the Holy Spirit is. Maybe it is a force. Maybe energy. Maybe strength. Maybe power. Perhaps all of these and more besides. The Holy Spirit is the life of God in living beings. It is that which forms the Church of God, that is God’s universal community of people embracing Jesus’ values.
Paul insists that the gifts of this Spirit are not for one’s own personal use: they are always communitarian. A Christian spirituality which is not social, and perhaps even political, is not genuine. The Spirit bestowed is always for service and kinship.
Jesus points out two main functions of the Spirit: to teach and to remind; teach and remind the instructions and education of Jesus, and remind of his values.
Showing posts with label John 14. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John 14. Show all posts
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Peace not of this world
Cycle C – Easter 6
FIRST READING: Acts 15:1-2; 22-29. Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according, to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and the elders about this question. Then it seemed good to the Apostles and the elders, with the whole Church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, with the following letter: “The brethren, both the Apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting. Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us in assembly to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
SECOND READING: Revelation 21: 10-14; 22-23. In the Spirit the angel carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
GOSPEL: John 14: 23-29. Jesus said to his disciples, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my word; and the word which you bear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me. “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you: ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.”
The Council of Jerusalem had a thorny question to decide: does love need accessories to be complete? This, deep down, was the main issue with circumcision. The answer was no. Not circumcision and not anything else. Love alone was complete in itself. This was the only requisite of the new Christian communities. Anything else was peripherical to it, derived from it, and directed towards it. No wonder the apostles considered this question to be of fundamental importance and significance. Jesus seems to have taken it for granted. Indeed, the resolution arrived at had enormous consequences for the Church. It not only confirmed the Church’s universal nature, but also that of Jesus’ mission and God’s plan for humankind.
This constitutional nature is expressed by John with the image of the gates of the ‘new Jerusalem’. By stating that it had ‘twelve gates ... on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates’, John gave witness to the accessibility of any person to the grace and dream of Jesus and of God. No Christian community is Jewish as much as it is not of any other nationality or race. Jesus’ and God’s community of love is open to all indiscriminately. It does not have frontiers except those of love.
Such love is what brings peace. As Jesus insists, not the peace which ‘the world gives’, but ‘his’ peace. This is a peace built on love amongst all beings; a peace which embraces justice and a true respect for all. Each and every person who is in line with Jesus’ word is guaranteed that, as Jesus said, ‘my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him’
FIRST READING: Acts 15:1-2; 22-29. Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according, to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and the elders about this question. Then it seemed good to the Apostles and the elders, with the whole Church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, with the following letter: “The brethren, both the Apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting. Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us in assembly to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
SECOND READING: Revelation 21: 10-14; 22-23. In the Spirit the angel carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
GOSPEL: John 14: 23-29. Jesus said to his disciples, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my word; and the word which you bear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me. “These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you: ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.”
____________________
The Council of Jerusalem had a thorny question to decide: does love need accessories to be complete? This, deep down, was the main issue with circumcision. The answer was no. Not circumcision and not anything else. Love alone was complete in itself. This was the only requisite of the new Christian communities. Anything else was peripherical to it, derived from it, and directed towards it. No wonder the apostles considered this question to be of fundamental importance and significance. Jesus seems to have taken it for granted. Indeed, the resolution arrived at had enormous consequences for the Church. It not only confirmed the Church’s universal nature, but also that of Jesus’ mission and God’s plan for humankind.
This constitutional nature is expressed by John with the image of the gates of the ‘new Jerusalem’. By stating that it had ‘twelve gates ... on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates’, John gave witness to the accessibility of any person to the grace and dream of Jesus and of God. No Christian community is Jewish as much as it is not of any other nationality or race. Jesus’ and God’s community of love is open to all indiscriminately. It does not have frontiers except those of love.
Such love is what brings peace. As Jesus insists, not the peace which ‘the world gives’, but ‘his’ peace. This is a peace built on love amongst all beings; a peace which embraces justice and a true respect for all. Each and every person who is in line with Jesus’ word is guaranteed that, as Jesus said, ‘my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him’
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)