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.”
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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 values. Show all posts
Showing posts with label values. Show all posts
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
A continuing reality and call
Cycle C - Easter
FIRST READING: Acts 10: 34; 37-43. Peter opened his mouth and said: “You know the word which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses to all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and made him manifest; not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
SECOND READING: Colossians 3:1-4. If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
GOSPEL: John 20:1-9. On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first, and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
Peter gives the synopsis of Jesus’ public life and mission in Palestine after a crucial eye-opening experience. At the moment he was at the house of Cornelius, a Roman army officer stationed in Caesarea. Peter had had a deep antipathy towards pagans like Cornelius, and had never entered a pagan household. Even after his long acquaintance with Jesus, he nonetheless continued to be victim of the chauvinism and intolerance conveyed to him by the Jewish priests and scribes. His understanding of what ‘People of God’ meant was overpoweringly sectarian. By inviting Peter from Joppa to Caesarea, the pagan Cornelius—a good-living man, and a believer in the God of the Jews as the true God—prompted Peter to recognize the universality of Jesus’ message, death and resurrection, and announce them to him. In a way, through this experience Peter himself ‘buried’ his old prejudices and outlook, and ‘resurrected’ the new life in Jesus.
This ‘burying-resurrecting’ image is taken up also by Paul. He links the image to baptism, which in those days was administered by immersion. Paul proclaims that being ‘buried’ with Jesus meant laying to rest the old values contrary to Jesus’ philosophy and spirituality. Correspondingly, being ‘resurrected’ with Jesus meant taking up Jesus’ new vision, beliefs and attitude. Jesus and the Christian are heralds of a new social and political order.
The gospel narrative proclaims this new order. John presents three equal witnesses to it: Mary Magdalene, Peter and John. Mary represents the dispossessed (as a woman she had no social, political, religious or legal significance whatsoever), Peter the institutional aspect of the Church, and John the prophetic aspect of the Church. The three of them, together and equal unto each other, bear witness to Jesus’ revolution. Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ continuing reality and call to the transformation of the world.
FIRST READING: Acts 10: 34; 37-43. Peter opened his mouth and said: “You know the word which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses to all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and made him manifest; not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
SECOND READING: Colossians 3:1-4. If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
GOSPEL: John 20:1-9. On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first, and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
____________________
Peter gives the synopsis of Jesus’ public life and mission in Palestine after a crucial eye-opening experience. At the moment he was at the house of Cornelius, a Roman army officer stationed in Caesarea. Peter had had a deep antipathy towards pagans like Cornelius, and had never entered a pagan household. Even after his long acquaintance with Jesus, he nonetheless continued to be victim of the chauvinism and intolerance conveyed to him by the Jewish priests and scribes. His understanding of what ‘People of God’ meant was overpoweringly sectarian. By inviting Peter from Joppa to Caesarea, the pagan Cornelius—a good-living man, and a believer in the God of the Jews as the true God—prompted Peter to recognize the universality of Jesus’ message, death and resurrection, and announce them to him. In a way, through this experience Peter himself ‘buried’ his old prejudices and outlook, and ‘resurrected’ the new life in Jesus.
This ‘burying-resurrecting’ image is taken up also by Paul. He links the image to baptism, which in those days was administered by immersion. Paul proclaims that being ‘buried’ with Jesus meant laying to rest the old values contrary to Jesus’ philosophy and spirituality. Correspondingly, being ‘resurrected’ with Jesus meant taking up Jesus’ new vision, beliefs and attitude. Jesus and the Christian are heralds of a new social and political order.
The gospel narrative proclaims this new order. John presents three equal witnesses to it: Mary Magdalene, Peter and John. Mary represents the dispossessed (as a woman she had no social, political, religious or legal significance whatsoever), Peter the institutional aspect of the Church, and John the prophetic aspect of the Church. The three of them, together and equal unto each other, bear witness to Jesus’ revolution. Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ continuing reality and call to the transformation of the world.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Kingdom-Builders
Year B – Sunday 26
Readings: Numbers 11: 25-29; James 5: 1-6; Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48
Jesus makes the famous pronouncement: “He that is not against us is for us,” thereby extending his kingdom-building beyond the confines of any group or category. The builders of God’s Kingdom need not necessarily be Christians or even theists. They may be of any sort and type as long as they believe, work and spread the values of the Kingdom. The same goes for the demolishers of the Kingdom. They may call themselves Christians. Nevertheless, if they do not bear the values of the Kingdom they may not be considered to be part of Jesus’ dream.
Moses makes the same point. The Spirit of the Kingdom is not restricted to any ‘chosen’. All sorts of people consider themselves to be the chosen ones. Just like the Hebrews, today represented by Joshua, their idea of election was exclusive and intolerant. Moses, like Jesus, contradicts any concept of exclusion, intolerance, categorisation or labelling. The Spirit of Jesus, which is the Spirit of God, can never be exclusively ‘Christian’. This is fanaticism not religion.
There are no categories which may claim the Spirit of God. James makes this clear when speaking about those who thought themselves to be better than others, or more worthy of God’s promises. The choice God makes of those whom he might call his own does not follow the us-them divide of human reasoning.
Readings: Numbers 11: 25-29; James 5: 1-6; Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48
Jesus makes the famous pronouncement: “He that is not against us is for us,” thereby extending his kingdom-building beyond the confines of any group or category. The builders of God’s Kingdom need not necessarily be Christians or even theists. They may be of any sort and type as long as they believe, work and spread the values of the Kingdom. The same goes for the demolishers of the Kingdom. They may call themselves Christians. Nevertheless, if they do not bear the values of the Kingdom they may not be considered to be part of Jesus’ dream.
Moses makes the same point. The Spirit of the Kingdom is not restricted to any ‘chosen’. All sorts of people consider themselves to be the chosen ones. Just like the Hebrews, today represented by Joshua, their idea of election was exclusive and intolerant. Moses, like Jesus, contradicts any concept of exclusion, intolerance, categorisation or labelling. The Spirit of Jesus, which is the Spirit of God, can never be exclusively ‘Christian’. This is fanaticism not religion.
There are no categories which may claim the Spirit of God. James makes this clear when speaking about those who thought themselves to be better than others, or more worthy of God’s promises. The choice God makes of those whom he might call his own does not follow the us-them divide of human reasoning.
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