More than a book of do’s and dont’s, of memorized commandments or little gems of human wisdom, Sirach puts human life and creation itself in the context of God’s plan. You can see that in Thursday’s reading:
“How beautiful are all his works!
even to the spark and fleeting vision!
The universe lives and abides forever;
to meet each need, each creature is preserved.
All of them differ, one from another,
yet none of them has he made in vain,
For each in turn, as it comes, is good;
can one ever see enough of their splendor?” (Sirach 42:20-25)
The simplest, smallest thing that passes quickly away, like a spark or fleeting vision, is beautiful–like the small pollinators at work now in our garden or the spring fireflies in our night sky, Each thing has its place in the universe, Sirach says. “All of them differ, one from another, yet none of them has God made in vain.”
Sirach sees creation as Pope Francis does in Laudato si’. “For each in turn, as it comes, is good; can one ever see enough of their splendor?” “Creation is given to us, not to be exploited or judged by our needs, but to reveal God’s glory. We live in a world of mutuality and interconnectedness, where the smallest have a place.”
Look at creation that way and look at humanity that way, Sirach tells the next generation, which may be looking ahead rather than seeing the present, especially the humble present. Be humble and don’t miss those who live humbly, the poor, the widow, the suffering, the sick. Be honest and truthful and generous and kind. See God in humanity, especially where God is often in disguise. See God in the smallest things of creation.
An old catechetical work, does Sirach offer a framework for catechesis today, which may be too humanly oriented in its approach? I think it does.
This week we’re reading selections in the lectionary from the Book of Sirach, a 2nd century BC writing. Sirach is a compilation of a Jewish father’s or grandfather’s advice to his son or grandson. Formerly, it was called the Book of Ecclesiasticus, because it was used extensively by the church to teach catechumens and young people about right living and morality.
What’s the advice to the young in this first reading?
In a generous spirit pay homage to the LORD, be not sparing of freewill gifts. With each contribution show a cheerful countenance, and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy. Give to the Most High as he has given to you, generously, according to your means.
My guess is its advice to give yourself generously to society, whether it’s the government, the church, the school, the neighborhood, or the world itself. In times like ours, particularly, the young may pull away from establishments, looking critically at their obvious flaws– many as they are.
Don’t choose isolation. Don’t give up on the world you live in, Sirach seems to say. It’s your world where you’re meant of find meaning and purpose. It’s your world where you’re meant to serve God.
Today we marked the 8th anniversary of Laudato Si’ , Pope Francis’ major encyclical on the environment, by an ecumenical prayer service in our garden, where we blessed our new solar panels. Children from Immaculate Conception Academy sang and offered reflections on the “Cry of the Earth” . Faith Leaders, Fr. James O’Shea, Sr. Teresa Fitzpatrick, Pandit Yoganand Ramnarain, and Fr. Luis Daniel Guivas offered prayers. Our local Congressman James Gennaro was also present and commented on our garden’s privileged place in the geologic development of this area of New York City.
Dan Misleh, from Catholic Climate Covenant and Page Gravely from Mission Energy led the blessing of our solar panels.
The Passionists, responding to Pope Francis’ call, have repositioned our retreat center here in Jamaica, New York – Thomas Berry Place, named for Passionist Thomas Berry, a leading figure in understanding the new story of our environment.
Appropriately, most of those who participated in the event today were young people, who inherit a world now crying out from wars and our poor care of creation and its most vulnerable members. I could not help but think that the trees surrounding us, the fresh green earth, the sparkling sun today was offering the promise of something better and beautiful.
Jesus ascends into heaven and sends the Holy Spirit. Even as we try to grasp who Jesus is and what he has done, we are told the Spirit comes.
God is a mystery and we must respect the mystery of God as it is revealed: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus himself promises that the Holy Spirit will remain with us to “complete his work on earth and bring us the fullness of grace.”
How describe the Holy Spirit? I like this description of the Holy Spirit St. Cyril of Jerusalem gives in his catechetical homilies. Masterful catechist that he is, he adopts concrete language to approach mystery. Like Jesus, he uses two things we know: water and light.
“The water I shall give will become a fountain of living water, welling up into eternal life. This is a new kind of water, a living, leaping water, welling up for those who are worthy.
But why did Christ call the grace of the Spirit water? Because all things depend on water; plants and animals originate in water. Water comes down from heaven as rain, and always the same, it produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the vine, and so on through all of creation. It does not come down, now as one thing, now as another, but remaining essentially the same, it adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receives it.
In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple and indivisible, apportions grace to each one as he wills. Like a dry tree which puts forth shoots when watered, the soul bears the fruit of holiness when repentance makes it worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit. Although the Spirit never changes, its effects, by the will of God and in the name of Christ, are many and marvellous.
The Spirit makes one a teacher of divine truth, inspires another to prophesy, gives another the power of casting out devils, enables another to interpret holy Scripture. The Spirit strengthens one’s self-control, shows another how to help the poor, teaches another to fast and lead a life of asceticism, makes another oblivious to the needs of the body, trains another for martyrdom. The Spirit’s action is different in different people, but the Spirit is always the same. In each person, Scripture says, the Spirit reveals his presence in a particular way for the common good.
The Spirit comes gently, known by his fragrance, not a burden, but light, very light. Rays of light and knowledge mark his approach. With the tenderness of a true friend, the Spirit comes, and as a protector saves, heals, teaches, counsels, strengthens, and consoles. The Spirit comes first to enlighten the mind of one who receives him, and then, through him, the minds of others as well.
As light strikes the eyes of those coming out of darkness into sunlight enabling them to see what they could not see before, so light floods the soul of those called worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit and enables them to see things beyond human vision, things hitherto undreamed of.”
I know it’s not 9 days of a novena, but the gospel readings and other prayers for the 7th week of Easter prepare us for the feast of Pentecost very well. From Monday to Thursday they bring us to the Supper Room where Jesus spoke to his disciples. We can hear his promises to them made to us too.
Friday and Saturday they take us to the Sea of Galilee where Jesus, after his resurrection, forgave Peter for his denial and called him to “feed my sheep.” All the disciples shared Peter’s forgiveness and call. Now, we do too.
Monday the disciples say confidently, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.”
Now they know the full plan of God, now they see without “figures of speech.” “Do you believe now?” Jesus says, “Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone.”
They don’t see or know, and we are like them. They needed the Holy Spirit to come. We have that same need. “Come, Holy Spirit, teach us the ways of God and be our Guide.”
In the Supper Room, Jesus promised his disciples peace in a troubled world and told them “take courage, I have conquered the world. “ (John 16:29-32) “Lord, you promise us too.”
Jesus prayed for this apostles in the Supper Room, the readings for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday tell us. He prays for us too. He will always pray for his own who are in the world, and we are his own. Prayer is one of the ways we hear his voice and know his promises. “Lord, teach us to pray.” ( John 17:1-19)
Friday and Saturday, we join the disciples at the Sea of Galilee where they went fishing, yet caught nothing. It was after they had scattered in the hour of his Passion and saw him risen from the dead, but now they had gone home, wondering, cautiously wondering, what was yet to come.
“Do you love me, Simon, son of John,” Jesus said to Peter. “Yes, Lord, you know I love you,” Peter answered. “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep,” Jesus said. (John 21: 1-19)
Jesus gave him forgiveness and called him to follow him. The others received the same gracious gift. We do too. He gave them the Holy Spirit, to renew them and renew the face of the earth.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and renew the face of the earth.
A devotional church before Vatican II depended on novenas, tridua and other prayers to celebrate the great church feasts. The renewed liturgy of Vatican 11 provides a richer preparation for the feast in the days that precede and follow them. It’s our novena for Pentecost.
May 22 Mon Easter Weekday [St Rita of Cascia,] Acts 19:1-8/Jn 16:29-33
23 Tue Easter Weekday Acts 20:17-27/Jn 17:1-11a
24 Wed Easter Weekday Acts 20:28-38/Jn 17:11b-19
25 Thu Easter Weekday [St Bede Venerable, St Gregory VII; St.t Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin] Acts 22:30; 23:6-11/Jn 17:20-26
26 Fri St Philip Neri, Acts 25:13b-21/Jn 21:15-19
27 Sat Easter Weekday [St Augustine of Canterbury,]
28 SUN PENTECOST SUNDAY Acts 2:1-11/1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13/Jn 20:19-23
The readings and feasts of this week are a wonderful preparation for the Feast of Pentecost on Sunday.
Luke in the Acts of the Apostles describes Paul hurrying through the Roman world in answer to the command of Jesus: “Go out into the whole world and preach the gospel. ” He’s inspired by the Spirit, like Jesus.
Like Jesus, Paul bids farewell to his followers, the elders from Ephesus, and urges them to continue the ministry given to them by the Spirit. ( Tuesday and Wednesday) “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. So be vigilant.”
Like Jesus, Paul must go up to Jerusalem (then to Rome). “ Compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course.
Paul experiences the passion of Jesus as he clashes with the Jewish leadership and appears before the Roman tribunal where Festus, judging him innocent yet in a quandary over the religious issues that are raised, sends Paul, at his own request, to be judged by the Emperor in Rome. (Thursday and Friday)
In the gospel readings through the week from John, Jesus bids farewell to his disciples and promises to be with them, no matter what. “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have overcome the world.” (Monday) He will send them his Spirit.
“I pray for them,” Jesus says. “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you preserve them from the Evil One.” (Wednesday) “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (Thursday)
Friday and Saturday’s gospel readings from John takes us to the Lake of Galilee where Jesus commissions his apostle Peter to feed his sheep. Peter will stretch out his hands and be led where he did not want to go–“signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.” Paul too will be led to death like Peter. He will follow Jesus.
If we look hard enough we can find ourselves in the readings of Mass. Our first reading today of the Feast for the Ascension from the Acts of the Apostles says that Jesus appeared to his disciples for forty days after he rose from the dead, proving he was alive and speaking about the Kingdom of God. Yet as he speaks of the Kingdom of God, his disciples ask him “Is this time you will restore the kingdom to Israel.” Are you going to kick the Romans out of our land? They hardly appreciate the momentous truth he promises. He is ascending into heaven; they’re thinking only of the earth. (Acts 1:1-11)
Like his first disciples, our understanding of what God reveals to us in Jesus Christ is so limited.
I watched a PBS special the other day: “Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in an Age of Science.” The narrator was Alan Lightman, a theoretical physicist. Lightman began the program by describing an experience he had one night when he was out alone in a small boat on a lake. As he looked up into the stars he suddenly felt as if the world stood still. He became absorbed in something greater than himself. He was part of the universe.
As a scientist Lightman couldn’t explain the experience. Were did it come from? Could he have it again? So he asked some top scientists if something in our brains creates this experience? Can we create a form of life that helps us to hold on to such an experience? How does the brain work; how is formed from matter? How was the universe formed? Could they tell him?
Their answer was they’re studying the question. They promised they would find out the answer– someday.
Instead of looking for the meaningful life through science, some people today look for it in drugs, or sex or in a wholehearted pursuit of worldly success.
That’s why the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord into heaven is so important. It tells us to look for life in Jesus Christ. Our final destiny is heaven. Creation itself looks for its renewal in him.
The Ascension is part of the Easter mystery. On Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead and for forty days, the scriptures say, he ate and drank and met with his disciples to build up their faith. Then, he ascended into heaven.
Rising from the dead on Easter was not the end of his story. He rose from the dead but did not continue to live on earth. No, after rising from the dead he ascended into heaven to “sit at the right hand of the Father”, our creed says. He entered another world beyond this one, a world greater than this one. There, from a place of great power, he fulfills his promise and extends his power to us here on earth. He promises us, as he promised his disciples, not to leave us orphans. He will come and take us to a home he has prepared for us.
Why don’t we know more about heaven? We have God’s promise: “Eye has not seen, or ear heard, or has it entered the human mind, what God has prepared for those who love him.” It’s a mystery we hope for. A poet once said that the happiness of heaven has been concealed from us so that we might endure life.
So often we pursue life solely on earth, and see death ending it all. Death is not meant to be our end. Heaven is our destiny, where tears are wiped away, where sadness is no more, where wrongs are righted, where reunion with those we love takes place, where we enjoy the presence of God and all the saints.
For now, we have only hints of that destiny. We have only the assurances of faith. Listen to those assurances in the prayers we say. We end our creed: “ I believe of the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”
Listen to the prayer we say at Mass after we remember Jesus gives us his body and blood: “Remember our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the peace of your. Christ, and all the dead, whose faith you alone have known, Admit them to rejoice in the light of your face, and in the resurrection give them the fulness of life. And grant also to us, when our earthly pilgrimage is done, that we may come to an eternal dwelling place, and live with you forever.”
Listen again to what St. Paul writes in his Letter to the Ephesians: “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,”
Looking at Jesus, our King! I used to feel all kinds of sad and negative feelings when I gazed upon our King on the Cross, but this past Lent I meditated intently on Jesus and found some things that had been hidden from me.
Jesus, Our Humble King:
— suffers in silence
—although falsely accused never responds in anger to His tormentors
— He offers His “back to those who beat Him; He does not hide His face from insults and spitting.” (Isaiah 50:6)
—extends His hands to those who crucify Him
— gives Himself freely for those who have rejected Him; including me!
— endures mocking and cruelty of sinful men for sins not committed!
Jesus, Our Merciful King:
— instead of a crown of gold; wears a crown of thorns
—His precious blood flows down from His head, hands, back, feet!
—suffers unjustly, but forgives and prays : “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
—takes away sins of the world, including mine
— forgives even though we do not deserve it.
Jesus, Our Triumphant King:
—faithful to the end
— no one takes His Life; He gives it freely
—gives us Mary, His Mother, as our own, from the Cross
—proclaims His victory: “It is finished.” (John 19:30), and hands over His Spirit, trusting His Father to raise Him up
—gives up His own life so we might live
—returns in triumph in three days. Our Lord. Our Love. Our Savior.
— He makes it possible for us to become sons and daughters of the Father.
— we become His brothers or sisters. He gives us His Spirit to guide us and He promises never to abandon us!!!
As I have continued meditating on Jesus on the Cross I have had a sort of epiphany. The Cross used by the Romans was for torture and death, but because of who Jesus is, the Cross has now become a throne for the King of Kings! Now as I pass a crucifix all I can see is what all leaders should be like. Our leaders should all have Jesus as their guide. They should be sacrificial, caring, generous, kind, compassionate . They should each be an example, a teacher, a healer, and a lover of his or her people.
I hurt when I see a cross because I know what it was originally used for. Now I see Jesus triumphant! I see Him as the King this world needs. I see Him as a Savior! I see Him as my King!
Jesus , Son of the Father, I trust in You!
This meditation was inspired by the reflection for Good Friday 2023 in the magazine The Word Among Us.
The Passionists, are a small and relatively new community in the Roman Catholic Church, but we have a good number of canonized saints and members proposed for canonization. Beginning with our founder, St. Paul of the Cross, who died in 1774, each generation of Passionists has produced men and women recognized for their holiness.
Saints are God’s answer to the poison of their times, and it’s important to see them as they oppose it. Saints are firm believers and examples of heroic virtue. They’re signs of God’s power in a sinful world and God marks them out as saints through miracles performed through their intercession.
For example, St. Paul of the Cross was an antidote to the forgetfulness of the passion of Jesus which followed the Enlightenment, a 17th century movement that denied or minimized the role of faith and religion in human life. We’re still feeling the effects of the Enlightenment today.
St. Vincent Strambi opposed the Enlightenment as it was expressed in the political schemes of Napolean Bonaparte, who tried to subordinate religion to his own dreams of European domination. Vincent was a brave Italian bishop who resisted the emperor and suffered for it. Like him, the Bulgarian Bishop Eugene Bossilkov suffered and died under an oppressive Communist government in Bulgaria in the 20th century.
Gabriel Possenti resisted the lure of the Enlightenment in the 19th century. As a young man, he chose religious life rather than the inflated promises of success that tempted so many of his contemporaries.
Saints like Gemma, Isidore de Loor, Charles Houben seem to be people who fit St. Paul’s description of those called by God. They were not wise by human standards, they don’t have a lot of human power, they’re not of noble birth. They’re “the weak of the world God chooses to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1, 23-28)
Our Passionist saints tend to be ordinary people, of no special note, easily unnoticed and misunderstood, subject to the sufferings, disappointments and failures that come in life. God chooses them to be signs that he does not abandon his people and, in fact, can do great things through them. Charles Houben was a healer. Gemma bore the signs of Jesus’ passion in her body.
It takes awhile to know saints like these. That may be because we often don’t understand our own times and the poison afflicting it.
Photo art by Fr. Victor Hoagland, C.P. and Gloria M. Chang
The Regina Caeli is a 12th century antiphon in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary that is prayed during the Easter season in place of the Angelus. A legend records that during a pestilence in Rome, while the Regina Caeli was being prayed in procession with her image, angels were heard singing along and an end was put to the plague. Let us pray to our Queen with the angels to bring healing to our world.
The Victor's Place 