Fire from Heaven: Feast of the Pentecost. March 19

 Yesterday, we celebrated the birth of the Church. That moment in time when the apostles received not just a commission to go out into the world and proclaim the Gospel to all they meet, but the ability to do so with gifts and talents given to them by the Holy Spirit.  There are many themes around the Pentecost: The Gifts of the Spirit, speaking in tongues, evangelizing.But the principal theme  for me -as you will have noticed by now!- is unity.
 One commentator noted that what's key about Pentecost is recognizing that the unity generated by the spirit is rooted in diversity. If you've ready my previous entry, you'll see that I disagree with that.  Yes there's diversity, but it is not the root of the unity that the Spirit brings us: Faith, hope and love are. The pillars of our Church. With that faith, we are capable of a great love, which can be a source of profound hope for the world. That hope, becomes what unites us, and that unity is the great gift that the spirit continues to bring us every day. 

 Pope Francis had a bit of an insight on unity during his Pentecost homily: " on that day, the unity came, not as God's desire for uniformity, but for harmony."For contrary to what many in the secular world believe, the Church is not about uniformity. God never intended for us to be the same (contrary to what some traditionalists believe!) He intended for us to love as he had loved, and to be in union with God through our love of Jesus, and of the entire world. With that in mind, diversity is almost to be expected. 

  This is why both the first and second reading today speak of many gifts, or many parts of the one body. Each part of our body has a role to play, just as every member of the Church can play a role in building the kingdom of God.  At the heart of that mission however, is contemplation..
 Not only do we need to contemplate God and his works, but we  need to contemplate our gifts, our talents, and to contemplate how they can serve God by committing these talents to the well being of others. That too, is the call we receive on Pentecost. Evangelizing is central. Going out into the world, bringing the Good News of the Gospel to all who desire to hear it. But we need to remember  that a big part of that evangelizing is not just talking to others about Jesus, but being Jesus to others. Being love, compassion, and forgiveness to others, so that we can help build a stronger harmony in our world. This is not always the way of the world. That is why we need the power of the spirit with us at all times. That is why Pentecost is so central to the history of Christ's body, our Holy and Catholic Church.





Acts 2: 1 - 11

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1When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.2And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.3And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them.4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.5Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.6And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.7And they were amazed and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?8And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?9Par'thians and Medes and E'lamites and residents of Mesopota'mia, Judea and Cappado'cia, Pontus and Asia,10Phryg'ia and Pamphyl'ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre'ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,11Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God."

Psalms 104: 1, 24, 29 - 31, 34

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1Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, thou art very great! Thou art clothed with honor and majesty,24O LORD, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy creatures.29When thou hidest thy face, they are dismayed; when thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust.30When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground.31May the glory of the LORD endure for ever, may the LORD rejoice in his works,34May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.

First Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13

³ Because of that, I want to make it quite clear to you that no one who says 'A curse on Jesus' can be speaking in the Spirit of God, and nobody is able to say, 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit;

⁵ there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord.

⁶ There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all.

⁷ The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good.

¹² For as with the human body which is a unity although it has many parts -- all the parts of the body, though many, still making up one single body -- so it is with Christ.

¹³ We were baptised into one body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink.

John 20: 19 - 23

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19On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."20When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.21Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Diversity in/and Unity: Thursday May 16th

I've been a little delayed since returning from Chicago, partly by my own desire to rest, partly by an effort to restore my laptop to full form which is an on going effort.  I've been working on this blog for a longer period of time, because the theme is quite challenging. So these are the readings, and Jesuit saints of this past Thursday.

St Andrew Bobola 

(funny name I know! Even Jesuits have been having fun with it all day in our house of studies!)

As fun as his name may be, his story is not so fun. He's a Polish martyr for the faith who was tortured and killed by Cossacks, who are known to be rather savage  and  brutal in their behavior towards their 'enemies'. 

Like so many Catholic Saints, Andrew was born  in a noble family. Born in 1591 in Poland, we get little details about his whole life, but we do know that he entered the Jesuits in 1611. He was described most of his life as someone who worked hard to bring schismatics back to the faith. He is also -either correctly or incorrectly- considered to have labored for a stronger unity between Orthodox and Catholics ( The tradition in the Church suggests he would have been. I have no sources that suggest the contrary, so we can go with that for now!) .Whatever his true motives, he was eventually captured by the Cossacks in 1657, and was tortured for hours (I'll spare my readers the gory details, but some of those can be found on Wikipedia), before he was stabbed in the heart with an ice pick. 

 Readings

 I approach any talk of St Andrew Bobola striving for Unity between Catholics and Orthodox with a little suspicion, because this 'ecumenical' spirit is not usually associated with the mainstream Catholic Church until the 19th and 20th century. That being said, if St Andrew saw that the division between Catholics and Orthodox was the cause of so much bloodshed, then he may have been inspired to find a peaceful unity between the two communities of faith (this is all conjecturing, so don't quote me on that one! I believe certain Orthodox Christians have a very different view of St Andrew, much more negative.) Whatever his motives, when facing his tormentors and killers, he lived out that unity by not condemning them, but by kneeling down and asking God to forgive them of the sin they were about to commit by torturing and murdering him. In this act, he embodied Christ in ways that many of us still can not. He believed so strongly that he was united to these men in Christ, that he would not resist, or condemn them, but love them, despite their hate for him. He understood that although we live in a diverse world, the call to unity in our love of Christ remains central to our faith.

      This theme of unity within a diverse world is an important one for us as well.When we look at our world, we see all nations, all religions, all creeds, "coexisting", side by side, we understand that diversity is  what best defines our world.Our Western world especially thrives on that diversity, where we embrace as many cultures as we can and try to respect as many beliefs as is possible. The question becomes, how do WE find unity in diversity?  It's a challenge. Many will point to the movie/book 'life of Pie' as an example of someone who can find unity in all faiths and who tries to live that unity for himself, but such a fictional account seems a bit far fetched, even for our open minded world. 

  The problem we seem to face is that, eventually, wherever one lives, one set of beliefs might be considered more ' valid ' than others. When this happens, people who hold different opinions and beliefs than those more 'popular' ones could be mocked, and even persecuted for their beliefs and will either be drowned out by the loud majority, or will  be expected to simply disappear from the public sphere.( No specific examples are necessary. We know such intolerance does exist in one form or another  everywhere in the world, without exception. From the most radical of societies, to the most progressive ones, we can find examples of rejection of an 'unpopular opinion' or choice in the media, or in the mindset of the general public.) Because of this tension between opinions and beliefs, there isn't much of a dialog anymore between people on opposing sides in our world. It's more of a shouting match (maybe it's always been this way!). We see it with conservatives and liberals in every aspect of our own Western Society, even in our own faith communities. In short, it seems that our diversity almost becomes an obstacle to unity.

 We should not think this is a 20th/21st century phenomenon. We encounter it in today's first reading. Paul, while making great progress in his mission to pass on the story of Jesus to a new generation of people, still wrestled enormously with his own Jewish world.  The passage begins rather abruptly, skipping the intro that explains how Paul was arrested by the governor before he made more damage by causing riots, and that this same governor wanted Paul to stand trial before the Jewish community. We see that the Jewish world was at least divided  into  2 camps (probably more!), the Pharisees, and Sadduces . We sometimes get the impression from the Gospels that these were very similar groups, but in fact, they did not get along very well, as they believed in very different things. Their main point of contention was belief in the resurrection of the Body.  The Pharisees -many scholars have suggested that Jesus belonged to this group, and that he was formed and inspired by them- believed in the resurrection of the body after death.Their opponents did not. Paul uses this to his advantage rather cleverly, and was probably feeling pretty good about himself because of that, not only being able to reach out to the Pharisees a little more, but also being able to get out of his trial by causing mayhem!
   God uses that particular moment to remind him that there was still work to be done. He sends him on this very special mission that will change the face of History: "you must now also bear witness in Rome."  As we all know, Rome is both where the Faith would be increasingly persecuted, and would eventually find it's greatest expression and support. A very difficult challenge lies in Rome for Paul, one that would shape the history of the Catholic Church and of all of Christianity.

  What would have given Paul the energy to travel to Rome, the heart of the mighty empire, to face new persecutions and inevitable death, was not this idea that he alone could be right in his belief, but that he was united to all people through Jesus. If the people resisted this notion by attacking him, this was of little consequence to him. He believed in Christ, and in the union that Jesus invites us to in the Gospel. That union is very particular: It isn't rooted in pragmatism or prosperity as it was in the Roman empire -with the Pax Romana-  nor is it rooted in respect and tolerance of varying points of views as it is in the West today, but on a deep love. The Father so loved the world, he sent his son to be among us. The son so loved the world, he consented to die in order to take on our sins and be in a deeper union with us. Everything Jesus did, every miracle, every teaching,  points to that desire of a union, that all people maybe one as Jesus and the Father are one. 

 This is not an invitation to reject the diversity of our world, but an invitation to let love unite us to the world. God loves us, no matter what we bring to the table. Jesus loved all people, in their sinfulness, and in their holiness. We are also invited to love unconditionally. Now, it is for us to return that love to all who need it most, all who are to afraid to ask for it, and all who simply give it without asking in our lives. When that love triumphs, we will have union within our diversity. Until it does, our diversity will only build up more walls between people in our world.

  

Acts 22: 30;  23: 6 - 11

30

But on the morrow, desiring to know the real reason why the Jews accused him, he unbound him, and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. 6 But when Paul perceived that one part were Sad'ducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am on trial." 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sad'ducees; and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sad'ducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 Then a great clamor arose; and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended, "We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?" 10 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him into the barracks. 11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also at Rome." Psalms 16: 1 - 2, 5, 7 - 11 1 Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge. 2 I say to the LORD, "Thou art my Lord; I have no good apart from thee." 5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot. 7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure. 10 For thou dost not give me up to Sheol, or let thy godly one see the Pit. 11 Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fulness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore. John 17: 20 - 26 20 "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me. 26 I made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them."

Living in trust: Readings of May 10th

My last entry for the next couple of days is an opportunity for me to rectify a mistake I did 6  months ago. Back then, I blogged ( for the Jesuit Scholastic and Brotohers blog "Ïbo et Non Ridibo" )about a Belgian St, Saint Damien of Molokai. His is a very interesting story, and I wrote about him back then because some sites listed his feast day as being October, which is the day he was canonized. But in fact, his actual feast day was May 10th -so, yesterday!- the day he  first landed in Hawaii to live out his mission.  This is an exert from the blog entry I wrote back in October:

 St Damien (1840-89) was a seemingly ordinary 19th century saint, but he left his own mark on the world due to his ability to go the extra mile and offering his life to those who needed it the most. He didn't do anything extraordinary; he just placed himself in a position that nobody wanted to be in. He left his native Belgium to go live with people suffering from leprosy in Hawaii. He himself would eventually die of it. In that simple offering, he was able to serve this people with his loving presence for a short while. His story is short and simple. His act was not. And the responses to this act are what make the story even more compelling.


One of the first reactions to his life was one of criticism from  a Presbyterian minister in Hawaii. The minister didn't like Damien’s methods and said that his leprosy could only be attributed to his own carelessness! What’s incredible is that two famous people actually took the time to respond to this attack, and to defend the future saint. 

 The first was a direct response to the minister from a fellow Presbyterian,  Robert Louis Stevenson.The Scottish novelist who wrote works such as Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, had visited Hawaii and heard of the attacks on Fr.Damien. He took it upon himself to respond to the minister who criticized the good Padre. In his letter he stated, “But, sir, when we have failed, and another has succeeded; when we have stood by, and another has stepped in; when we sit and grow bulky in our charming mansions, and a plain, uncouth peasant steps into the battle, under the eyes of God, and succors the afflicted, and consoles the dying, and is himself afflicted in his turn, and dies upon the field of honor – the battle cannot be retrieved as your unhappy irritation has suggested. It is a lost battle, and lost for ever. One thing remained to you in your defeat – some rags of common honour; and these you have made haste to cast away.”

The second famous person to react to Fr Damien's selfless act,was Gandhi. He wrote that Damien had been an inspiration for his own social initiatives in India. He continued this way, “The political and journalistic world can boast of very few heroes who compare with Father Damien of Molokai. The Catholic Church, on the contrary, counts by the thousands those who after the example of Fr. Damien have devoted themselves to the victims of leprosy. It is worthwhile to look for the sources of such heroism”.

forums.catholics.com

                                                     Father Damien on his death bed

Readings: 


As we continue our 3 week journey through Acts and John, 3 themes really stand out today: Doing God's will as opposed to ours; Accepting pain as a necessary part of Joy; Trusting that if we genuinely ask God, we shall receive. That 3rd one is a little more tricky and needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but let's see how they all fit in with Friday's Saint of the day and the readings.
 You'll remember that in my last entry, -for Thursday's readings- we read about Paul losing patience with the Jews and Greeks of  Corinth. I guess Paul had taken the decision that his work was done here, there was no sense in wasting any energy on this stubborn people that wanted nothing to do with Jesus or Paul's message of the resurrection.. he EVEN turned to instructions of Jesus (related in Matthew 10:14 and other passages i'm sure!) to make his point, by shaking the dust of his feet, as he intended to move on from Corinth and go to the Gentiles. However, God makes it clear to him in a dream that this is not to be.. He lays it out for Paul, saying that he can't be afraid to continue speaking despite the hostility, because there are still people who will receive the message. We even saw it in Thursday's readings, that the leader of the Synagogue was converted  by Paul's testimony.
  So, not our will...but God's will be done. Sometimes, we may think that there's nothing left for us to do, and we're ready to give up on something, or we think it's not really our place to be doing whatever ministry we're doing...but if it helps people...even just one single person, then who are we to say that we're not doing God's will? The problem for some Catholics, is that they look at the likes of St Damien, or St Theresa of Avilla, and they say 'who can ever live up to that?'  It's true, not many could, but why would anyone assume that this is the only thing God wants us to do in order to do His will? As one priest said in a homily today, we need to ask for the grace to recognize our own strengths, and to realize that therein lies the way in which we can accomplish God's will. So we're not all called to be self sacrificing Saints...does that mean we can't fulfill God's will? Of Course Not!!!  Although Not saints, there is much we can do in God's name, if we only ask for the strength to do so!!
 This ties in somewhat with Jesus words from the book of John, around Asking, and we shall receive. I never quite knew what to make around this passage and the various variants of it throughout the Bible - including Mark 11:23 which speaks of our ability to move mountains if we ever so willed it-.Anyone who expects that God will provide anything we ask for is not really understanding that this passage is really about Trusting in God, not getting all that we desire. So I've wrestled with this passage for years, until I went on my pilgrimage.

  Every Jesuit novice, during their first year of studies, around the end of that year, is asked to make a pilgrimage to anywhere they wish -within limits.- The way it works, is that you're given 50 $, and a one way ticket to or from some place. You have a month to get to that place and to come back to the novitiate -this is how we're doing it in Canada. I'm told it's not like that in every Jesuit province!- For my pilgrimage, I opted to hike across the Appalachians for 2.5 weeks, and after that time, I slowly made my way to Boston, which would be my last stop before heading home. That meant I would have to ''raise" money in Boston to secure my bus ride back to Montreal -where the Novitiate is-.  The superior of the Jesuit community that was hosting me in Boston, encouraged me to go begging in the streets of Boston, and that whatever money I hadn't raised during that period, the community would supply the rest.  Oddly enough that day, the gospel passage was the one from Mark, the whole bit about moving mountains. Again, my reaction to it was one of skepticism ("We all know God doesn't work that way!"). So I went around to some Churches in Boston and I sat on a street corner with my  " jesuit on pilgrimage. Need to get home"sign. At one point, sitting on that street corner, I revisited that verse.  What is the thing I wanted more than anything else at that point in time? At least half the price of my bus ticket home, would have amounted to about 50$.  "so offer it up"said a little voice within.  So i did...that figure became my immovable mountain, and I trusted that God would provide with all my heart. With time, I had raised about 30$ with all the money I had left over. It wasn't a super productive day, but I had done my share. And as for the prayer I had made about 50$, I felt validated in my skepticism, but still at peace with God who had provided so much for me during the whole month. At around 4pm, I was getting ready to pack it in...and a couple from Texas stopped to talked to me. They looked like hippies, so I really wasn't expecting anything at all from them, but I also understood that part of my ministry there was to be present to people. And so I chatted with them for a bit. After a while, the gentleman pulled out his wallet, and gave me a 20$ .I now how exactly 50$
  I still get teary eyed sharing this story. I don't understand any of it. All day long, people had never given me more than 5. Why at this moment, when I was ready to quit, did God grant me this prayer? Even more painfully, why did he fulfill what I desired at that point in time,  but he let my sister die at the age of 32 after an 8 year battle with cancer -despite my vigorous prayers for her healing-?. It's a mystery. But Jesus does provide us one of the answers in today's Gospel: We will suffer.
But in our suffering, we will journey to a joy that is unparalleled to any joy we've ever known in our entire lives.  A joy rooted in God, and in our understanding of Jesus's mission in this world.
 But in the meantime, we grieve. And as has been mentioned in the readings for two seperate days, we grieve while the world rejoices. When Jesus hung on a Cross...many probably were very relieved that this man bent on turning the established order on its head had finally met his end and rejoiced. Just like today, many in the secular culture rejoice at Churches closing down, at religion being taken out of public schools etc...but in our grief, we are brought closer to God, and made stronger in our journey. And our Lord continues to care for us, but not on our terms. On his. Which means, there will be loss, and there will be agony. But these only pave the way for the greater joy that is to come when we finally meet our Lord, face to face.

Acts 18: 9 - 18
9	And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent;
10	for I am with you, and no man shall attack you to harm you; for I have many people in this city."
11	And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
12	But when Gallio was proconsul of Acha'ia, the Jews made a united attack upon Paul and brought him before the tribunal,
13	saying, "This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law."
14	But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, I should have reason to bear with you, O Jews;
15	but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I refuse to be a judge of these things."
16	And he drove them from the tribunal.
17	And they all seized Sos'thenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to this.
18	After this Paul stayed many days longer, and then took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aq'uila. At Cen'chre-ae he cut his hair, for he had a vow. Psalms 47: 2 - 7 2 For the LORD, the Most High, is terrible, a great king over all the earth. 3 He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. 4 He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. [Selah] 5 God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. 6 Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! 7 For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! John 16: 20 - 23 20Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.21When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world.22So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.23In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name.

Readings for May 9th

A late entry for yesterday's readings. This is partly caused by me not having a laptop- currently in the shop for repairs- and developing a routine around the community computer. Another note is that today and tomorrow will be my last 2 entries for the week. Until Next Wednesday, I'll be in Chicago, and will not be blogging from there. I'll be back in the full swing of things by next thursday! As for today's entry on Yesterday's readings...another Bishop

St. Pachomius

ABBOTT AND BISHOP

Feast: May 9

Information: Feast Day: May 9 Born: 292, Thebes, Egypt Died: 9 May 348, Egypt		St. Pachomius was the first who drew up a monastic rule in writing. He was born in Upper Thebais - Egypt- about the year 292, of idolatrous parents, and was educated in their blind superstition, and in the study of the Egyptian sciences. Being about twenty years of age, he was pressed into the emperor's troops. He was, with several other recruits, put on board a vessel that was falling down the river. They arrived in the evening at Thebes, or Diospolis, the capital of Thebais, a city in which dwelt many Christians. Those true disciples of Christ sought every opportunity of relieving and comforting all that were in distress, and were moved with compassion towards the recruits, who were kept close confined, and very ill-treated. The Christians of this city showed them the same tenderness as if they had been their own children; took all possible care of them, and supplied them liberally with money and necessaries. This made an impression on the mind of Pachomius. When he heard that they believed in Jesus, and that because of  their belief, they labored continually to do good to all mankind, he found kindled in his heart a great love of so holy a law, and an ardent desire of serving the God whom these good people adored. Once his military service ended, he returned to Thebais and entered his name among the catechumens,( back then, this referred to those seeking to receive baptism. Today, it''s a term more widely used for anyone receiving any kind of religious education. From that time on, he developed in his heart a desire to dedicate his life to doing God's will. After a while, he sought out Palemon, a hermit living radical simplicity in the desert. With him, he would learn to pray for  perfect purity of heart, that being disengaged from all secret attachment to creatures, he might love God with all his affections. Pachomius used sometimes to go into a vast uninhabited desert, on the banks of the Nile. While he was there one day in prayer, he heard a voice which commanded him to build a monastery in that place, in which he should receive those who should be sent by God to serve him faithfully. He received, about the same time, from an angel who appeared to him, certain instructions relating to a monastic life. It was in Tabenna, in 325, that  he would build a little cell,about twenty years after St. Antony had founded his first monastery.   By Pachomius'  rule, the fasts and tasks of work were proportioned to every one's strength; All his monks were occupied in various kinds of manual labor: no moment was allowed for idleness. The saint, with the greatest care, comforted and served the sick himself.  His rule was translated into Latin by St. Jerome, and is still extant.

Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/P/stpachomius.asp#ixzz2Soesb7xk

Readings:

 One of the themes in our dialog with modern secular -border line atheist- culture, is that it's getting harder for people without faith to see the presence of God in the world. They would read  the first line of Psalm 98 " (God) has done marvelous things" and angrily ask " Is it a marvelous thing that that building collapsed on those workers in Bengladesh, or that wars rage in the middle east and Africa???" The problem with this line of questioning is that the angry person in question assumes that belief in God means belief in someone who will preserve us from absolutely all evil. Someone who will protect us against anything bad ever happening to us. This is a little naive. We do not believe that God created evil, but nor do we believe that he prevents anything bad from ever happening to good people. God gives us the strength to deal with evil so that we could be stronger people in our lived experience. But this is not a popular idea.

 The other problem with that line of questioning is that the person asking it is simply not looking at any of the good in the world. Only at the evil. So in their unspiritual minds,the good we see in our world exists because humanity is so clever and has created many things to make us happy, but the evil is God's fault. Even the evil that comes from the hands of humanity becomes if not God's fault, then proof that God does not exist, for how could a good and loving creator allow such evil to happen to his people? There's no easy answer for this line of questioning, but what it boils down to for me is that, if God is willing to let his own son become human, suffer and die out of love for us, I believe God would be  willing to allow us to bear our own crosses in our journey of faith. He will weep with us, and suffer with us, but will not take away the pain. Such a God is difficult for many to believe in.
  What we need to understand is that Jesus did suffer, not so that people would stop suffering, but so that -as I've already said-they would be given strength in their faith in their own hour of darkness, and even more importantly, so that they could be aware of the suffering of others around them and do their best to ease that suffering.  We see a beautiful example of this in the account of today's Saint, where the Christians of a certain community, moved by compassion, did all they could to relieve the suffering of strangers.  Yes, it is possible for non Christians to have that compassion. But to this day in the city of Toronto, and many cities around the world, it is Catholic Charities that are the most giving, the most generous and the most caring. It's in our blood. We can not remain silent in the face of suffering of others.
 Likewise, we should not remain silent about the importance of Jesus to our world. Have you ever asked yourself 'what is it that drove Paul and the early Christians so much?' Don't forget, the book of Acts takes place in a period when the Gospels had not been written -although the Book of Acts and the Letters of Paul come after the Gospels, they were probably written a decade or 2 before Mark, which is considered by some to be the first of the Gospels (not Matthew! It's complicated, and that's why not all scholars agree, but generally speaking, it's assumed that Mark was the first Gospel written, and that Matthew and Luke were shaped by Mark and other sources!)- so there were not too many written sources to inspire the early Christian. All they had was their oral tradition, and their memories of who Jesus was. Well, that and the fact that the holy spirit WAS working in them. In his Wednesday general audience this week, Francis talked about the Spirit being that living Water that Jesus promised us, as the strongest connection we have to the divine. There is no doubt that the Spirit was hard at work in the early Christians, as they performed many miracles, converted many hearts and many thousands of converts everywhere they went.
 And once again, as we've seen this week, they also received tremendous opposition, not just from Jews, but from Greeks as well. In yesterday's first reading, Paul finally comes to the conclusion that he's had enough of their opposition, and that he will now begin to preach to the gentiles -Greeks and Jews are mentioned in one single sentence...one assumes that they're referring to the Jewish diaspora living in Greece-. Of course, just after Paul expresses his frustration towards his brethren and practically gives up on them, we hear of how the Synagogue leader is himself converted. So, even when we're ready to give up, God continues to work!




          Paul in Corinth  with Aq'uila and Priscilla

Acts 18: 1 - 8
1	After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.
2	And he found a Jew named Aq'uila, a native of Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them;
3	and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers.
4	And he argued in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
5	When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedo'nia, Paul was occupied with preaching, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
6	And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be upon your heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."
7	And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue.
8	Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. \ Psalms 98: 1 - 4 1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory. 2 The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God. 4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! John 16: 16 - 20 16"A little while, and you will see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me."17Some of his disciples said to one another, "What is this that he says to us, `A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and, `because I go to the Father'?"18They said, "What does he mean by `a little while'? We do not know what he means."19Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him; so he said to them, "Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, `A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'?20Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

 

Journeying to the heart: Readings for May 8th

Another Canadian Blessed, ignored by the American sites so the formatting is a little different! . This one would have been a contemporary of Bishop de Laval, and is nicknamed '"co-foundress of the Catholic Church in Canada."  I also liked the color of they used  to highlight certain sections, and  have incorporated it here! 

Marie Catherine of Saint Augustine (Catherine of Longpré) was an Augustinian Hospitaller Sister of the Mercy of Jesus of the "Hotel Dieu" in Quebec City.

Born on May 3, 1632, at St. Sauveur le Vicomte in Normandy, France. 

 Barely three and a half years of age, the child already burned with an ardent desire to accomplish the Will of God in all things. She did nothing without asking permission from a picture of the Blessed Virgin and she reveals in her journal that this Good Mother answered her prayers, and that she played with the Child Jesus.

On October 24, 1646, she took the religious habit, at the same time as her grandmother who, having been widowed, went to join her in the monastery. She took the name of Sister Marie Catherine of St. Augustine. Mesmerized by the same accounts that had inspired Blessed Francois de Laval, She signs her engagement to go to Canada on April 12, 1648. The crossing to the new world is dangerous and long, it lasted 3 months. Illness causes many deaths. Sister Marie Catherine herself falls ill to the incurable disease. She was going to die;However, God wants her in Canada, He watches over her and the Blessed Virgin cures her.

Having arrived in Quebec, Sister Marie Catherine courageously goes to work, sharing the hard work of the forefathers and learning the Indian languages and coping with the elements.  

Because of her grace and charity, our young hospitaller nun swiftly wins the friendship of the Indians. 

Bishop de Laval already understands the holy treasure that the "Hotel Dieu" has in the person of Sister Marie Catherine; he consults her often and recommends to her prayers the most important affairs of the diocese. Unfortunately her life was cut short, and she dies at the age of 36 in 1668, on May 8th

Reflections on Readings:

 There’s a story by a French author named Emanuel Scmidt that explores the presence of the divine in human history. He tries to look at it from God’s perspective: In the early days after all of creation had been set in motion, there was still so much of himself that God wanted to give to creation, but this was a sacred, and holy part of himself that he knew was so beautiful, that he wanted it to be kept secret. He wanted humanity to have to seek and to discover this in order to understand it’s true beauty. But where to put it? God sought high and low. It didn’t make sense for him to put it in a cave that no one would ever visit, or a high mountain that only few would ever climb. He wanted this to be a secret, but to be accessible to all. After a few days of reflections, and of searching, God decide, I will place it in one of the most unexplored, yet easily accessible places in the world: The heart of the human being. That way, when humanity is ready to uncover this secret, it will be there for them to uncover.

 With this statement, Schmit is really saying that the potential for a religious experience lies in ALL PEOPLE. Perhaps, without even knowing it, some of our brothers and sisters in the world are already experiencing God, but are uncomfortable with this traditional ‘label of God’. This is all too often one of the many challenges to evangelization that we face today, which is very different from the challenges Paul and the Early Christians faced.  We’ve seen that some of the Gentiles were more receptive to the Good news than many of their own Jewish brethren, but it was still an uphill battle for this early Christian community. First off, as we know, the Gentiles already had Gods. Paul wasn’t going to just be able to waltz in there and say ‘forget your statues, I have something way more interesting for you’ and expect that to work. As we’ve experience in the history of the world, you don’t just throw away centuries of tradition just because some guy has a few compelling arguments or some neat tricks up his sleeves.  Another challenge faced was quite simply that the Greeks and Romans did not believe in the resurrection of the Body. So for Paul to come along and speak of Jesus’ resurrection, this was something people would have scoffed at.

 Thankfully, this early community seemed to be rather gifted at communicating the Gospel. This came to me as a bit of a surprise to tell you the truth. Paul usually comes off as someone that can be a bit  standoffish, and I’ll say it,  a bit of a jerk…as much as having so much confidence that you’re right and the other guy is wrong can make one a jerk! But as we see in today’s first reading, Paul was actually much more complex, subtle, and clever than that. In speaking to the Greeks, he recognizes their ‘spirituality’ their propensity for faith and builds up on it ( what you worship as unknown, I proclaim to you). He’s not intimidated by their unbelief in the resurrection of the body, instead he focuses on the faith they have in Common,  (i.e. this belief that it is God who created the world). So  rather than seeing them as Pagans, he sees them as seekers of God’s divine presence, people groping in the darkness of the world to try to understand God. Furthermore, at least in this passage, this suggestion that there can only be one truth, and all who reject are condemned, is not present. It’s as if Paul understood this is not the time to simplify our complex faith to a mere act of judgement. And he does in verse 31 mention the judgement of the world, but this is not accusatory, but simply an invitation to contemplate the possibility of the existence of a God that interacts with us, not a God who is unknown and distant, but one who is close…in fact, he’s so close, he lies within all of us.

 This is a lot to process, and  I’m sure that the early Greek Converts were not convinced of the entire doctrine of the Church after one single speech. Jesus himself acknowledged that it was all too much.  This to me has been the most moving theme of the week: Christ carries the message to us, but he knows we can’t wrap our heads around it so quickly, and that in fact, we too would be groping around in the dark for a few centuries until we would fully comprehend the depth of the truth he was proposing to us.  THIS IS WHY the Spirit must be sent among us. Christ h as shown us the way, but the Spirit will be our Guide. And while our eyes are often set on the road ahead, the spirit will be there to remind us that the journey is also to that road within, the one that leads us to that seed that God planted so long ago in our hearts. 

Acts 17: 15, 22 - 34
15	Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
22	So Paul, standing in the middle of the Are-op'agus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
23	For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, `To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
24	The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man,
25	nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything.
26	And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation,
27	that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us,
28	for `In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your poets have said, `For we are indeed his offspring.'
29	Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man.
30	The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent,
31	because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead."
32	Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, "We will hear you again about this."
33	So Paul went out from among them.
34	But some men joined him and believed, among them Dionys'ius the Are-op'agite and a woman named Dam'aris and others with them Psalms 148: 1 - 2, 11 - 14 1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights! 2 Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host! 11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! 12 Young men and maidens together, old men and children! 13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven. 14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the LORD! John 16: 12 - 15 12 "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.