• Acts 2:42-47. A portrayal of the first Christian community at Jerusalem. The disciples held their property and goods in common, worshiped together at the temple, and broke the bread of the Eucharist in the privacy of their home.
• 1 Peter 1:3-9. This early hymn celebrates new birth in the sacrament of baptism. A Christian can expect not only to relive Jesus’ sorrows but also to share in the supreme hope of Jesus’ glorious appearances.
• John 20:10-30. Jesus confirms upon the apostles the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins. He also overcomes Thomas’ unbelief by beckoning him to examine the marks of nails and spear on his body.

Thoughts for your Consideration:

The second reading for this week along with the Gospel passage invites us to contemplate the true meaning of the resurrection in our lives. The second reading is an early Christian baptismal hymn that describes the basic article of faith for the newest members of the Jesus community. Through the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection they are invited to share in the glory and hope that Christ has revealed to them. This new vision of hope will give meaning to the suffering that they all endure as they accepts a life of sacrifice and trials as they become a community of the resurrection that shares all things for the benefit of one another. They sacrifice their own self interest and desire in order to share in the glory of the divine community.

Like Thomas these new candidates have not physically witnessed the resurrection of Christ but they are witnesses of the “Kingdom of God” on earth which is described in the first reading. The sacrifice of the Christian community is to live for each other and to demonstrate a sacrificial love to all God’s people in a lifestyle that can only be described as radically countercultural. Even though these candidates have not physically witnessed the resurrection their witness to the radical lifestyle of the apostolic community and the tangible hope of a society that can actually live for one another gives these candidates the ability to hope in the fulfillment of the resurrection in their own lives.

The first reading reminds me of an interesting reflection by C.S. Lewis as he considered the topic of Christian social morality in his book “Mere Christianity”. This book was developed from his radio broadcast that he gave during World War II where he went on to “explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.” C.S. Lewis was an agnostic who came to the Christian faith after his unsuccessful attempt at disqualifying it. This book in many ways represents an outsider’s perspective to Christian doctrine and it is an excellent resource for any Christian to come to a very basic understanding of the Christian faith and its morality. In his description of social morality C.S. Lewis offers the following image of a Christian society which we read about in Acts 2:

If there were such a society in existence and you or I visited it, I think we should come away with a curious impression. We should feel that its economic life was very socialistic and, in a sense, ‘advanced’, but that its family life and its code of manners were rather old fashioned – perhaps even ceremonious and aristocratic. Each of us would like some bits of it, but I am afraid very few of us would like the whole thing.

C.S. Lewis does an amazing job in describing the challenging lifestyle that is being depicted in Acts 2. This social morality is defined by the virtue of charity. His description of charitable giving does not reflect our typical understanding of charity where we are invited to offer to the poor from our own surplus. Instead C.S. Lewis offers us a definition of Christian charity that resembles the deep sacrifice and trials that we read about in this week’s second readings.

Charity – giving to the poor – is an essential part of Christian morality… I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditures on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc.., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away to little. If our charities do not pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small.   

To be part of the Risen community is to uphold a socio-economic lifestyle where we contribute to one another through a radical form of charity. In offering his first social encyclical Pope Benedict XVI centered our Catholic social morality under the rubric of charity.  

Charity is at the heart of the Church’s social doctrine. Every responsibility and every commitment spelt out by that doctrine is derived from charity which, according to the teaching of Jesus, is the synthesis of the entire Law (cf. Mt 22:36- 40). It gives real substance to the personal relationship with God and with neighbor.

The first reading is one that troubles many of us within the American Christian community because, like C.S. Lewis suggest, it seems like a socialist model. Obviously the word “socialist” carries an ideological baggage that strikes at the core of the American ideology but nevertheless we are forced to confront this level of charity whereby we ought to examine economic policies that distribute resources for the benefit of the “communal life”. The sacrifices and trials that Peter describes in the second reading are not in vain. They are trails that “may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

• Acts 15:1-2, 22-29. Luke’s account of the council of Jerusalem.
• Revelations 21:10-14, 22-23. John receives a vision of the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. The city has no temple because now the people will relate directly with God and the Lamb.
• John 14:23-29. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” Jesus explains the sign of peace differentiating it from the peace that the world offers. The Holy Spirit will teach us everything.

Thoughts for your Consideration: By Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, CP  

Today is Mothers Day.  It celebrates the important role that the mother occupies within the family.  She is the heart of the family.

This is a significant social position, that is, a public prominence, and it works in tandem with the private task so often associated with the mother of the family, that is, the care-taking and well-being of her children.  We probably regard this latter concern as the more important of the two, but the church, especially in recent times, suggests that we should think in broader terms about the family, namely, as the basic building-block of society at large. The family is not just a private endeavor, but is a social enterprise. And so the mother of a family is a contributing factor in the betterment of society, contributing substantially to the establishment of social elements extending beyond the family itself. This comes about primarily through the children with whom she and her husband enrich other, larger, elements of society.

In recent times at least one organization of socially attuned mothers has emerged on the public scene, appropriately designated MOMSRISING. They bring to the public forum issues to which they are especially sensitive precisely because they are MOMS with oversight over children, which prompts their activism in the media and in legislation that have helped brought attention and oversight to the social problems associated with noxious elements on furniture imported from abroad, and with the leakage of harmful chemicals into the milk and other beverages children drink from plastic bottles. These are improvements benefiting society at large, not just the little ones.

For this reason linkage can be found between Mothers Day and the Easter Season during which it occurs. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was no more a private event than the work of the mother in the family. The resurrection was a renovating episode that shook the foundations of society. It occurred in the person of Jesus, Whom today’s gospel recognizes as the Word of God the Father. The title Word is frequently applied to Jesus—not just to specific words He spoke to us—but to Himself as a Person, One of the Three within the Trinity of Persons, Another of Whom is the Father Who speaks to us, the “Word of God”.  Jesus as this Word unites the Speaker (God the Father) and the listener, ourselves. In doing so He is a harmonizer of the divine and the human.

Harmonization is a major concern of JPIC activities: Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation.  And harmonization of God and ourselves is the hallmark of Easter. By rising from the tomb Jesus obliterates the wall of sin and death between us and God, bringing us together.

It’s on the basis of this conviction that we can listen to the Book of Revelation’s vision of a new Jerusalem—the poor city that had been the victim of attacks, destruction and defeat over the centuries—and envision a different kind of Jerusalem, no longer to be trampled underfoot by trespassing armies, but now a gloriously gleaming place no longer in need of a sun or a moon for brightness, because it basks in the light of glory bestowed on it by the resurrection.  It is new creation, which is a mainline JPIC concern: a different and better kind of social structure that typifies harmony and peace, not divisiveness and war.

The church concretely illustrates concord emerging amid disagreement dividing the early church over the need of continuing certain Jewish practices, like circumcision, in the lives of Jewish converts to Christianity. This was a religious rite that had embedded itself deeply in Jewish society.  The day’s scriptures describe a peace delegation sent from Jerusalem to Antioch to straighten out this matter, by suggesting other social/religious exercises (abstaining from meat sacrificed to idols, from the blood within meat of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage). Here we see social/religious practices current in a setting unaffected by the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb, giving way to new arrangements in a society thriving in the light of the resurrection. Once again, harmony replaces discord in a specific social setting—truly an exercise in JPIC.

The resurrection is a powerful bonding force capable of restructuring society. It is a social event, as well as a religious occurrence. When we celebrate Mothers Day under the glow of Easter, we see the impact of both on society at large, and recognize their potential for addressing issues that can better society.

• Acts 14: 21-27. Paul and Barnabas complete the first missionary journey and report to the community at Antioch which had commissioned them. They relate all that God had helped them accomplish and repeat the need to undergo many trials perseveringly.
• Revelations 21: 1-5. John sees a vision of the new heavens and the new earth, also the new Jerusalem, beautiful as a bride. Every tear will be wiped away.
• John 13: 31-33, 34-35. Jesus will soon depart and recommends love for each other, “such as my love has been for you.”

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

The Gospel reading for this weekend offers us the final instruction of Jesus to his disciples before being glorified through his own Passion, Death and Resurrection. The instruction is to “Love one another as I have loved you.” In fulfilling our Sunday obligation of attending Mass we are in fact fulfilling our obligation of remembering Christ as we listen to his Holy words in Sacred Scripture and by participating in the last supper during the liturgy of the Eucharist. But the act of remembering is not an historical exercise. We are not merely role playing with an event that happened sometime in the past. A great Passionist scripture scholar, Fr. Carroll Stuhlmueller, reminds us in his commentary on this passage that “remembrance is re-living now what was done then. …Remembrance combines past, present and future, suffering and glory, hopes and fulfillment. The liturgy of the Eucharist enables us to do much more than we ever anticipated, for it brings the mirabilia Dei, the wondrous deeds of God, from the past right into our contemporary actions.”    

Because of the laws of nature humanity is limited by the dimensions of space and time. However God exists beyond these confines and spiritually we too transcend these natural limitations. That is why it is nearly impossible to describe supra-natural concepts that John witnesses in the book of Revelations such as the new heaven, the new earth and the New Jerusalem. The relevance that the second reading has for us is to remind us of our Christian goal which again transcends time and space. Heaven does not become a personal future reward for us if we successfully live a good life. Heaven becomes a liberated form of existence, an existence where we live in a complete holistic relationship with God and each other. What this existence will look like in the end we do not know, but from what John was able to observe “there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” Our Christian hope is for a new culture of life that will replace the current culture of death. The social culture that placed Jesus on the cross will give way to a new culture that will transform the crucified Jesus into the risen Christ.

We are called to share in that liberated existence now. We remember this existence when we recall the life that Jesus lived and the incarnate relationship he had with God and humanity. We re-live that relationship now as Christians building the Kingdom of God by our very example and by advocating for the society based on the culture of life, a life that compassionately walks with all who suffer, a life that stands in solidarity with all who are mourning, wailing or in pain.

The Passionist community takes a vow that remembers the passion and death of Jesus Christ. This act of remembrance calls us to re-live that suffering by serving and standing with all who continue to face the pains and injustice of our contemporary society. The Passionist Constitutions describe it in this way: “His Passion and death are no mere historical events. They are ever-present realities to people in the world of today, “crucified” as they are by injustice, by the lack of a deep respect for human life, and by a hungry yearning for peace, truth, and the fullness of human existence.”

This path of remembrance is described by St. Paul in the first reading when he instructs the disciples to persevere in the faith. “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” God’s Kingdom is not something we wait for, it is something we build together as a community of faith that believes and hopes for a fuller existence. We remember this vision through the life and love that Jesus shared with all humanity. We re-live this vision today when we reach out and relate to all our brothers and sisters and especially those who need us the most. Finally we also hope that these efforts will help build a new society that is founded on the love and life that God wants to share with all of creation.

Christian eschatology calls us to live in the present by looking to the past and remembering tomorrow.

• Acts 13:14, 43-52. Many converts and persecution at Pisidian Antioch. Many Jewish people joined in accepting Jesus as the Messiah, others resisted, even vigorously. The apostles Paul and Barnabas turn all the more firmly to the gentiles.
• Revelations 7:9, 14-17. In vision John sees a huge crowd from every nation and race, gathering before the throne of the lamb. “The lamb will shepherd them” and these will never again hunger and thirst.
• John 10:27-30. My sheep know me, says Jesus, and no one can snatch them out of my hand.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

This week’s lectionary readings describe a powerful historical turning point for the development of Christianity. The first reading describes for us an innovative moment where St. Paul and Barnabas take a distressful challenge from the Jewish population and turn it into a golden opportunity. Being reproached by members of his own Jewish community St Paul declares: “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.” With this singular event the great apostle takes the Jewish Jesus movement and shifts it from a Jewish to a Gentile audience.

To understand the great historical and social significance of this moment is it important to consider the context from which this shift takes place. It would not be fair to characterize this passage from St. Paul as a condemnation of the Jewish people. St. Paul is preaching a new and powerful message during the twilight of the Jewish Temple worship. Until 70 AD the mainstream Jewish community is defending it Temple tradition as they see themselves as a challenged group with their authority crumbling from a variety of internal and external factors. St. Paul’s missionary activity is during the 50’s AD and his message of forgiveness and eternal life for all is exciting for the God-fearing Gentile community but it is also challenging the established and defensive Jewish community. In this case the Jewish community in Antioch reacts much the same way any institutionalized and established organization would react if it is fiercely trying to defend its own precepts and doctrine. St. Paul is a marketing genius. In the midst of push back from an established religious community he takes the calculated risk to bring the Gospel message to a new community.  

In the Gospel and in the second reading we are assured by Christ that those of us who follow him will recognize the Good Shepherd and will enjoy eternal life. However, the fact of the matter is that many of us are not sure if we are on the right and narrow path that has been prescribed by Christ. This is a legitimate concern for many of the parishioners or retreatants that we encounter. It is also a legitimate concern for those of us who minister in the Church. We are conditioned by our own society and even though we may recognize that the wisdom of God is beyond and superior to social wisdom we become confused because we are constantly living within the social moment.

The Christian message is founded on Love and forgiveness. A message that is divisive and judgmental is not authentically Christian. The Christian faith has a prophetic message and as such it will have principles and positions. Because sin abounds in our world we continue to offer a message of individual and social repentance from the social idols that is pervasive in our culture but here again the Christian methodology is to compassionately offer people every opportunity to share in the Christian message not to carelessly shove it down their throats. The Christian social principles begin with the dignity of the human person and respecting the rights and responsibilities that flow from this inherent dignity. The other principles include the important role of the family, the promotion of the common good, the preferential option for the poor and the responsible care for all creation.

These principles come from the Gospel message and are interpreted through the tradition of Catholic social teaching. The principles have evolved in order to address contemporary issues of social concern but they are founded on the core message that the Apostles preached. This week, for example, we observe the Christian value of being responsible stewards of God’s creation as we contemplate Earth Day with our global human community. Many Catholic religious communities are doing what we can to continue promoting this principle along with the entire Gospel message and thus following in the footsteps of St. Paul and Barnabas. Jesus reminds us that the holistic words and examples of the Gospel will resonate with those who in truth aspire to follow the Good Shepherd. The message and ministries of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation is a sacred message that we will continue to preach even in the midst of oppositions from established organizations that are defensively protecting the status quo. Like St. Paul we will try to be innovative with marketing the Gospel message to those who can recognize the consistent and eternal message of the Good Shepherd.

• Acts 5:27-32, 40-41. The Apostles respond to the High Priest and the Sanhedrin: God has raised up Jesus whom you put to death. The Sanhedrin, after being consulted by Gamaliel, dismissed the apostles after having them whipped.
• Revelations 5:11-14. In a vision about heaven, John heard the voices of many angels, crying out “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom, strength, honor and glory and praise!”
• John 21:1-19. Miraculous haul of fishes. Jesus prepares a meal and eats with his disciples. Peter is commissioned and Jesus predicts that he will die a martyr.

Thoughts for your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

The lectionary readings continue to offer us the situation of Peter, John and the Early Christian community. The first reading touches on an important theological principle but unfortunately the reading will skip over this. I encourage the reader to take up their own Bible and read the omitted verses of Acts 5:32-40. Having had Jesus put to death the Sanhedrin are now confronted with the community of disciples who are now preaching in the name of Jesus and who refuse to be silent. At first it seems that the Sanhedrin is contemplating putting them to death, but then a wise Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel offers this rule “if their purpose or activity is human in its origins, it will destroy itself. If on the other hand, it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them without fighting God himself.” It was based on his wisdom that the Sanhedrin opted to flog the apostles instead and then having them released.

The situation of the early Christian community may give us the false romantic impression that the early Church boomed with great enthusiasm, success and undivided focus. But the fact of the matter was that this community faced all the challenges of identity, leadership, and even mission. The Sanhedrin and the Apostles saw themselves as one common family of faith; it was not until the temple was destroyed in 70 AD that saw the ultimate rift with the Jewish followers of Jesus and the evolving rabbinic form of Judaism. In the first reading Gamaliel’s rule is based on his openness to the possibility that God works in mysterious ways. He humbles himself to think that perhaps this Jesus movement may have an authentically divine mission and if this is the case how does one go about defeating God Himself? Gamaliel suggest that the Jewish leadership apply tolerance and patients to another vision of hope for the Jewish community.

Many times we can get lost in placing all our hopes on a specific theological of social school of thought. We may become so ardently attentive to a specific ideological framework and point of view that we close our minds to any other creative possibility. Tolerance and patients are social virtues that are sorely lacking in our own contemporary society. Recently I offered a workshop on a structure for globalization based on the Catholic principles that were outlined in the Pope’s recent encyclical “Caritas in Veritate.” Because the principles were outside the norm of economic liberalism and national sovereignty some people found this structure much to challenging to accept. Sometimes Christian values may seem utopian and lofty. They are nice and all but they are simply not considered pragmatic. These are the times when we have to think outside of the box and apply Gamaliel’s rule. The former social and economic ideologies pose many issues with regards to a globalized society, perhaps it is time to be open to a new vision based on a powerful faith tradition.

People usually want leadership that is decisive and immediate. The values of tolerance and patients are usually not prized characteristics for leaders. But in the Gospel the risen Jesus challenges Peter to adopt the difficult commission of leadership that is tolerant and patient. While the final words that Jesus offers Peter is seen as a prediction of his own martyrdom there is another dimension to this passage. On his own Peter had the right and freedom to choose where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do. But in leadership this freedom is not his own. He has subscribed to a Will that is greater than him. Peter is to lead not based on his own will and interest but based on the Divine Will. Furthermore he has the challenging responsibility of nurturing a community towards a vision that will contradict social wisdom. Peter must employ tolerance and patience to lead a community that will express the creative vision of the Body of Christ. Peter, like Gamaliel, is humbled and open to the possibility of what God’s divine plan might be, even if it forces him to sacrifice everything.  

Gamaliel’s rule has much to offer our own society. Social movements are developing that are not showing any tolerance or patience with creative possibilities for a future vision. We need not get stuck with dead end movements that can only react by endorsing yesterday’s secular vision and ideologies. We need to be creative and open to new possibilities and we also must employ tolerance and patients to other ways of seeing things.

• Acts 5: 12-16. A third portrait (see “A” and “B “ Cycles for the other two) describing the life of the early church. The power of healing is prominent in this account.
• Revelations 1: 9-13, 17-19. John is called to write down his visions by Christ, the Son of Man, once dead and now alive. John shares in the distress, endurance and hopes of his readers.
• John 20: 19-31. Jesus confers upon the apostles the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins. He also overcomes Thomas’ unbelief by beckoning him to examine the marks of the nails and spear on his body.

Thoughts for your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

The first reading immediately following Easter Sunday presents to us an image of the early Christian community. The lectionary of readings are done in three cycles (A,B, and C) and this year we are reading from cycle C. however on the Second Sunday of Easter the first reading for each cycle comes from Acts and the readings all demonstrate a characteristic of the fledgling community that follows Jesus. The term Christian actually does not apply because at this point they still see themselves as a Jewish community that follows the ways of Jesus Christ so until St. Paul the Apostle develops the term “Christian” their earliest tag is actually “The Way.” The characteristics that each cycle presents are as follows:

• Cycle A: Acts 2: 42-47 – dedication to prayer, common worship and communion
• Cycle B: Acts 4: 32-35 – All goods are held in common, communal living
• Cycle C: Acts 5: 12-16 – The power of healing to those that are sick and disturbed

I received a comment once that Jesus was not an agent of social change. To challenge society usually evokes an image of rebellion or some form of civil disobedience. In the Passion narratives that we just reflected on during Holy Week we are told about a social response to the threat that Jesus posed against the ruling classes of his day. Jesus lived with integrity to an alternative social vision. But to live with integrity meant that he had to be public in promoting and advocating for this other vision (the Kingdom of God.) If he had simply lived a personal vision in isolation he would never have been seen as a threat. His methodology for social change was not typical and that is what throws us off. His was not the standard of society so he did not employ violent insurrection (which may have disappointed some of his followers, especially Judas Iscariot) nor did he organize some form of direct action. Instead he was a public example and what he did organize was an alternative community. In the first reading we witness this public community (Peter, John and the Apostles are out in streets healing and preaching) engage in promoting this social transformation through this methodology of community organizing. They are organizing a community that prays, shares, and heals the greater society.

The second reading along with the Gospel passage remind us that any institution, including the Christian Church, needs to always re-evaluate itself from the dangers of corruption and the adoption of social rather than divine values. In the second Chapter of Revelations Jesus has John address the seven early Christian church communities. With many of these churches however Jesus points out forms of social deviation that has crept into them.  Ephesus and Sardis have lulled in their works of mercy, Pergamum has accepted heretical teachings, Thyatira has engaged in sexual misconduct, and Laodicea has been corrupted by its own affluence.

The formula for reform is suffering. In Revelations and in the Gospel Jesus demonstrates that purification comes through suffering. What is amazing to me is that the Resurrected Christ continues to bear the wounds of his suffering. This is the constant reminder that is needed to keep us on the social vision that we have been set out to build. Like Thomas we are reminded that the way to live our baptismal calling is to be ever present with the ongoing Passion and suffering that continues to be in our world. We are called to be in solidarity with all who suffer. If we stray from the suffering in our society, if we become lax in performing our works of healing and sharing then we will fall victims to corruption, then we will be the ones that will have to be purified.

In reflecting on the “signs of the times” it certainly feels that our Church is passing through such purification. This is an opportunity for us as it was for the seven churches of Revelations. Let us reflect on the vision of God’s Kingdom as lived and expressed by Christ and early community, then let us reengage with our community of faith to be heralds of reform for this vision.

• Acts 10:34, 37-43. The Apostles are personal witnesses that Jesus rose from the dead, for they “ate and drank with him.” They are commissioned to preach Jesus, to whom the prophets testify and through whom there is forgiveness of sin.
• 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. The risen Christ is the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth by which we rise from the dead.
• John 20:1-9. Mary Magdalene, Peter and John all arrive at the tomb, one with wonder, the others at first with perplexity, all eventually with faith that Jesus is risen.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, CP

Easter brings a sense of freshness and newness to life around us that has the unusual capacity of evoking the familiar, while injecting a note of strangeness. It is almost as if we celebrate a new life at Easter in combination with the old, to form an amalgam peculiar to Easter.

The readings above from the gospel of John, especially the expanded section, show Mary Magdalene experiencing this combination of the old and the new in her encounter with the risen Lord Jesus.  The new is evident in her being nonplussed at seeing someone she took to be the gardener; the old makes a comeback at the sound of her name on His lips: “Mary”. It triggered instant recognition amid mystery.

Mary’s conundrum has remained part of the Easter, indeed, the entire Christian, experience down through the ages, a version of “now I see you, now I don’t”. The authentic Christian is every bit as human as everyone else: plus. This can be exasperating, not only for those trying to understand Christians, but also for Christians trying to understand themselves.

The Easter message is one of “surplus”. It presents the risen Christ to us as He was: plus. And this spills over into the entire existence of a Christian person. An area of life where it abounds with tantalizing bothersomeness is justice. Everyone, Christians included, likes to think he or she is committed to justice. We often understand that to mean: restoration, returning something to its original condition. “I want justice” usually means: “I want something returned or restored to me, because it’s mine, it belongs to me, and I have a right to it.”  Sometimes this attitude even seems tinged with an element of revenge, or getting even: “I want to restore a level playing field” on which to compete in life.

Catholic social doctrine on justice, especially under Pope Benedict XVI, would amplify this attitude with a bit of Easter quality.  It indeed supports justice, restoring the way “it was”.  But it adds: plus.  That is to say, access to decent housing, minimal health care, adequate education, suitable environmental conditions, domestic and international security and peace  needs to be restored to those lacking such housing, medical attention, education, ecological surroundings, and security. They are not “add-ons” to being human; they are constituents of being human.  Without them, one is inhuman.

This is not just a Christian position.  This is a reasonable, commonsense appreciation shared across the board of what it means to be a human person.  There is, however, a special Christian addendum to the above: it’s the Easter addition of plusness.  Pope Benedict calls it the sense of care and concern that accompanies the provision of these things.  It is one thing to provide a school building in a deprived neighborhood.  It is another thing to staff it with competent, concerned faculty.  This latter element is the “plus” element that a Christian sense of justice brings to the process.  It is the “personal touch”.

It was one thing for a perturbed Mary Magdalene to identify a gardener before her at the tomb; it was another thing to see the “Rabbouni” before her. That was the bonus element, which Easter is all about: the risen Christ. The sound of His voice personalized the sight of the gardener’s features.  What she was about to receive was more than information. She was getting back a friend, moving beyond the impersonal to a delightfully personal encounter.

Elsewhere, today’s readings suggest it is one thing for Paul to alert the Christian to the familiar dough about to be baked; but it’s another thing for him to call attention to an element of plusness: a wee bit of unleavened sincerity and truth.  Likewise, it is one thing for St. Peter to proclaim what Jesus had done during His time of preaching; it is another for Peter to pass on additional good news: he has been commissioned to do the same. This is a spillover effect from the resurrection event: an extra.

To understand Easter as, among other things, a justice event, is to enrich its standard significance as a restoration, as all justice is, with a potent addition.  It celebrates justice in terms of the restoration of Christ—the RISEN Christ—much like What and Who He was, but a smidgeon different.  It’s that difference making Easter a special event for justice.  Easter enables justice to achieve the highly personal quality Mary experienced in being recognized for who she was: “Mary!”

• Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7. In his first song of the Suffering Servant within the prophecy of Isaiah, God summons his chosen one to bring forth justice to the nations, quietly, considerately.
• Acts 10:34-38. To instruct one of the first gentile converts, Peter began with Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist when he was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.
• Luke 3:15-16, 21-22. Luke’s account of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist and confirmation by the Holy Spirit.

Thoughts for your Reflection:  by John Gonzalez

The readings for today initiate the public ministry of Christ with the baptism by John the Baptist followed by the public confirmation of his union with God. The Gospel and second reading remind us of the historical beginning of Jesus’ public ministry while the first reading by the Prophet Isaiah functions as a “job description” for the Suffering Servant.

After having celebrated the Incarnation throughout the Advent and Christmas season we now take some time to contemplate what this mystery is about. Jesus’ ministry is the public example of what it means to live in God. By his teachings and example Jesus will consistently demonstrate what it truly means to be human. This will culminate with His Passion, Death and Resurrection. In our Christian theology, the ultimate expression of freedom for humanity occurs when it exists in the service of God and humanity. This week Isaiah provides a glance of what this expression looks like — which Jesus, who is the suffering servant, will exemplify, and which we are called to follow. 

According to Isaiah the suffering servant’s mission is to: “bring forth justice to the nations.” He is expected both to teach and establish justice. Verse 2 and 3 explain his methodology. He will not be a soapbox preacher or a shouting protestor. Instead he will be pastoral in his approach, “A bruised reed he shall not break.” In the language of the Church, the servant will be both “Mater et Magistra” (Mother and Teacher) in that on the one hand the servant will teach God’s justice by word and example (Magistra) but the servants’ methodology will be pastoral (Mater), and build up, rather than divide, the human community to embrace God’s justice. As we consider the public ministry of Jesus let us consider how he is our consistent teacher of God’s justice while he employs a pastoral and compassionate methodology. This is the example which we are called to live out.

In verse 7 and 8 Isaiah will describe what God’s justice will look like: “To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”  God’s justice is truth and hope. It is a truth and hope that will heal our broken humanity. It is a truth and hope that will physically liberate us from injustice and spiritually liberate us from an isolated and empty existence. Jesus, in his role as teacher, will expand on this later on in Luke’s gospel in his beatitudes (Luke 6:20-26) and in his discourse to the scholar of the law (Luke 10: 25-37) and the rich official (Luke 18: 18-23).

According to the prophesy of Isaiah and the life of Christ this interpretation of justice is at the heart of the Gospel. While the methodology of Jesus is compassionate and pastoral and our call to bring about God’s justice must also be compassionate we are not called to compromise the truth of God’s justice in any way. Any injustice that violates the integrity of human life and creation is an injustice that demands our gentle but firm reproach. Jesus was both pastoral and prophetic. A Christian is called to be both. To seek social justice is not an option for ministry. It is an essential element of our vocation and ministry. This was summed up very well in the 1971 Synod of Bishops when they declared that:

Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.

• Acts 2:1-11
• 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Galatians 5:16-25
• John 20:19-23 or John 15:26-27; 16:12-15

Thoughts for your Consideration:

If you happen to be in the new St. Gabriel’s church in Toronto (Canada) and turn towards those reading the Scriptures during the liturgy you will always look beyond them into the large garden exposed by the passive solar curtain wall.  That vista could be important for understanding an important meaning of Pentecost for contemporary generations, old and (especially) young.

In ancient times, long before the apostles, this was a Feast in early Judaism that was completely sensitive to what was happening on the land.  What it signaled was the harvesting of food, a gift of the land and a gift of the Creator.

Other layers of meaning were grafted onto this basic religious awareness. First the gift of the Law, allowing for inner growth of righteousness, then celebrating the further gift of being chosen to make God’s presence evident among the nations.  But the on-going context of Pentecost was harvest time, feasting on the nourishing crops — and tasty, even heady wine adding to the spiritual celebration.

There are indicators of these layers of meaning in the texts of our own liturgy today.  The responsorial psalm is a paean to the mystery of on-going Creation:  “The earth is full of your creatures … When you take away their breath, they die…When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth”.  In our day we readily translate “face of the earth” as a global image, usually meaning human habitat.  But in ancient times, it meant the “face of the soil” — that kind of earth. That is precisely where God does the creating.  To feast on the harvest is also to acknowledge that God’s Spirit is active in the soil.  It is not by accident that St. Paul refers to the “fruit of the Spirit”.  Fruit arises from the very dynamism of a plant or tree’s growth.  It is the continuing dynamic of the gift, not some product of our discipline or invention.  St. Paul also uses the interesting phrase: “we were all made to drink of one Spirit”, maintaining the context of harvest feasting, while grafting yet another dimension to this liturgical celebration.

What is predominant for Christians, of course, is the coinciding of this ancient observance and the spectacular emergence of the apostles and disciples on the Jerusalem scene, drawing the interest of peoples from everywhere in the known world to a new creativity of God’s Spirit.  On that Pentecost a new community was born that recognized and honored the gifts of God’s creativity within human relationships:  Saint Paul says “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”.  This is a whole new vision of human life, breaking down the barriers of race, slavery, sexism, even languages.  And it was bold.  This little group had been closeted away in fear, but now, experiencing a kind of tsunami of Divine creativity, went about very publicly proclaiming that creativity.

St. Paul immortalized the generativity of this fruit of the Spirit’s creativity:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

While these could be recognized by anyone as positive virtues, now they are identified as the way in which the Spirit is generating the very presence of Christ in the human community.  “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit”

The special hymn for today’s liturgy (the Sequence) describes the very down-to-earth ways we can detect and respond to that Spirit:

Father of the poor; of consolers — wisest, best; in our labor, rest… pleasant coolness in the heat; light…shining with grace in our heart’s most secret place.

And the hymn points to specific targets of the Spirit’s creativity in our lives:  “Arid souls refresh within; Wounded lives to health restore… Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the wayward home once more!”

The Feast of Pentecost we have inherited is rich with all these meanings.  It can be celebrated in a restrictive way, however; rejoicing in the earliest moments of the community we call the Church, and the promise that in the Holy Spirit we have an Advocate who will guide the it through the ages, while neglecting the myriad dimensions of the Spirit’s creativity.

But what if we really pay attention to the garden back-grounding these scriptures?  Today can be a day of heightened sensitivity to all aspects of Divine creativity. Through the awe-inspiring insights of today’s science, we can observe the new spring growth for the miracle that it is. In our contemplation we can savor so much more of what we imply when we ask the Spirit to “take up rest” in our hearts. That “rest” is imaged much better by fire and fierce wind than by repose. Like the first disciples, we might be able to shed our fearfulness and exhibit a bold attitude of trust in the Spirit who renews the face of the soil.  That attitude will fortify us for the demanding work of healing the wounds we have inflicted on the Earth.  Pentecost then, regaining its ancient authentic link to the sacredness of the land, will demonstrate its creativity in hope for future generations.

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• When have you been surprised by the creative work of the Spirit in nature?
• Recall a moment when you open yourself to the creative power of the Holy Spirit in your own life and in relationship with others?
• What happened? What were the results? What did you learn?

• Acts 1:15-17, 20-26
• 1 John 4:11-16
• John 17:11-19

Thoughts for your consideration:

This week’s scriptures takes us through that transitional period between the Ascension and Pentecost. In Acts we find the Apostles attempting to redefine themselves in the midst of this transition. One of the great Passionist scripture scholars, Fr. Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP, tells us in his commentaries on these readings the significance of maintaining the apostolic number at 12. The early disciples struggled to maintain their Jewish identity as representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel in connection with the new Covenant that was established by Christ. At this point of the early Christian history the Apostles and disciples of Jesus saw themselves more clearly as a renewal movement of their Jewish faith versus a new religion altogether. Keep in mind that it wasn’t until St. Paul really engaged the Gentile community into this movement decades later that the term Christian is first coined.

Our early Christian ancestors had quite an identity struggle and a challenging transition, especially from the moment that Christ ascended into heaven till the time that the Holy Spirit fortified them with wisdom and courage. While the first reading offers us an account of at least one significant event that took place at this time the other reading from the epistle of St. John offers us a core value to how the early community members were expected to treat each. Consistent with the central message of the Gospel St. John reminds the community that they are to live with each other in a way that models the love that God has with them and the love that they have to each other. This of course is based on the special relationship that we have in being witnesses to the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The Gospel passage from John offers us an amazing prayer that Jesus recites requesting God to protect these disciples of his who are to remain in this world after he is gone. He is praying for divine protection and wisdom, especially during this transition.

Transitions are hardly ever easy. Momentous transitions such as this are earth shattering. This group needed to redefine themselves completely in the context of their relationship to each other as well as in their relationship to the greater society. Our own society is in a great period of transition. One of the significant marks of this period is the phenomenon that is called globalization. This phenomenon is forcing us to make some significant changes in our lives, especially with regards to how we conduct our various social relationships including politics, culture and economics.

The three readings offer us some insight into how to handle these transitions as a community dedicated to a God who calls us into relationship. The Gospel offers us the insight of truth. In Jesus’ prayer to God, it is truth more than anything else that will fortify us. We must be open to the truth of how God’s creation is being affected by the decisions that are made. We are called to this even if the truth will turn the world against us. The epistle of John offers the insight of love. In the midst of these transitions we are called to be supportive of each other through the powerful expression of a love that is compassionate to one another. And with the reading from Acts we are given the insight of collaboration. The way forward is going to come about as we make decision based on mutual collaboration with one another. We may not agree with every opinion that exist and every decision that is being made but if we can collaborate in a way whereby we respect each other and in turn we are being respected then we honor the prayer that Jesus offered to God where he hopes that we “may be one” just as he and the Father are “one.”

Questions for Reflection with your faith sharing group:

• Identify some personal transitions that have occurred in your life. How have you successfully addressed some of these moments? How does your faith assist you in times like these? Do you see your own moments of transition related to the greater social changes that are taking place?
• How do you think Joseph called Barsabbas felt about losing the opportunity to become the 12^th Apostle? How have you dealt with difficult decisions? How challenging is it for you to accept the will of the group if it goes against your own interest?