True Unity in Mind and Heart

Jesus is the Standard for Love – John 17:20-26

If we were all suddenly a little younger and had a passion for basketball, for example, we might look to Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, or one of the great female basketball stars in order to see how the game should be played. An aspiring writer might read Shakespeare or Hemmingway in order to see how writing should be done. If we want to know how to love, we look to Jesus who is the standard for love. Our focus on that standard brings us together in unity.

In his book, “the pursuit of God,” AW Tozer said this: “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to the standard to which each one must individually must bow. So, one hundred worshipers (meeting) together, each one looking to Christ, are in heart, nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to come in “unity” focused not on God, but on trying to work things out on their own between each other.”

Today we hear the conclusion of Jesus’ prayer at his last meal with the disciples. Jesus prays not only for the disciples, but for those as he says “who will believe in me through their word.” In other words, he prays for us.

The prayer underlines the importance of remaining united to one another in Christ. Only if Christians remain united in Christ, will evangelization be fruitful and enable others to come to believe.

It’s interesting to look at the various commentaries that are available that discuss this Gospel, as it relates to Christ’s plea for unity. Some see it as a call to unify under the mantle of the Catholic Church. Others see it as a kind of charter for the ecumenical movement- bringing together Christians across all denominations.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning”, and that unity “subsists in the Catholic Church”. This vision of unity comes from accepting that Christ is head and that he chose to lead us through Saint Peter and all the popes and bishops who came from his line of ordination. Disunity, in their minds comes from the fraying from the Magisterium and its protection and explanations put forth of the teachings of Christ.
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The ecumenist sees this gospel as mandate for breaking down the divisions which set one group of people against another. They point to St Paul speaking to the Galatians when he says that in Christ there is “no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

Both views are valid, but no matter from which lens we view this gospel, the tone of this prayer from the Son to the Father on the night before his death makes it clear that the avenue to get to unity is simply through Christ’s love. As the Father and Jesus love each other, so does Jesus love his disciples, and so must his disciples love each other.

Only if the disciples, and all of us, remain in God’s love, will we be able to see Jesus’ glory, the glory that he has with the Father. And, it would be natural to project forward that this prayer focused on unity driven through love, is one that Jesus makes to this day in intercession for each of us on our behalf.

Jesus prays for us to come together as one. In fact, he sees us as one already. When Jesus looks at Christians, he does not see us as isolated individuals. He recognizes us as persons, certainly, but as persons in community with one another. He does not see us as apart from each other. His vision is that we are one. If Jesus sees us that way, the implication here is that we should see ourselves the same way.

So, let us contemplate today the Father’s love for the Son, and the Son’s love for the Father, and know that the love they have for each of us can neither be taken away or enhanced because it is love at its fullest. And let us use Christ’s words today to remind us of the pleasure that he undoubtedly gets from our efforts to find common ground, to gather, to unite and to express our love for him through each other. The answer to Christ’s prayer… is us… whenever we ourselves humbly love one another.

So, let us pray for more unity in our families, in our parish, in our local community, in our country, and in our world. Let’s extend the prayer that Jesus offers to the Father, that the world may come to know that the Father loves all of us just as he loved his only Son.

Source: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish

Speaking in Tongues

The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1–4. The apostles shared the gospel with the crowds, speaking to them in their own languages. The crowds were amazed: “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:11). The Greek word translated “tongues” literally means “languages.” Therefore, the gift of tongues is speaking in a language the speaker has never learned in order to minister to someone who does speak that language. In 1 Corinthians12—14, Paul discusses miraculous gifts, saying, “Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?” (1 Corinthians 14:6). According to the apostle Paul, and in agreement with the tongues described in Acts, speaking in tongues is valuable to the one hearing God’s message in his or her own language, but it is useless to everyone else unless it is interpreted/translated.

A person with the gift of interpreting tongues(1 Corinthians 12:30) could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he did not know the language being spoken. The tongues interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues speaker to everyone else, so all could understand. “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says” (1 Corinthians 14:13). Paul’s conclusion regarding tongues that were not interpreted is powerful: “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:19).

Is the gift of tongues for today? First Corinthians 13:8mentions the gift of tongues ceasing, although it connects the ceasing with the arrival of the “perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13:10. Some point to a difference in the tense of the Greek verbs referring to prophecy and knowledge “ceasing” and that of tongues “being ceased” as evidence for tongues ceasing before the arrival of the “perfect.” While a possible interpretation, this is not explicitly clear from the text. Some also point to passages such as Isaiah 28:11 and Joel 2:28–29 as evidence that speaking in tongues was a sign of God’s oncoming judgment. First Corinthians 14:22 describes tongues as a “sign to unbelievers.” Using this verse, cessationists argue that the gift of tongues was a warning to the Jews that God was going to judge Israel for rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah. Therefore, when God did in fact judge Israel (with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70), the gift of tongues no longer served its intended purpose. This view is also possible, but the primary purpose of tongues being fulfilled does not necessarily demand the gift’s cessation. Scripture does not conclusively assert that the gift of speaking in tongues has ceased.

At the same time, if the gift of speaking in tongues were active in the church today, it would be performed in agreement with Scripture. It would be a real and intelligible language (1 Corinthians 14:10). It would be for the purpose of communicating God’s Word with a person of another language (Acts 2:6–12). It would be exercised in the church in agreement with the command God gave through Paul, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God” (1 Corinthians 14:27–28). It would also be in accordance with 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

God can definitely give a person the gift of speaking in tongues to enable him or her to communicate with a person who speaks another language. The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the dispersion of the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). Just imagine how much more productive missionaries could be if they did not have to go to language school and were instantly able to speak to people in their own language. However, God does not seem to be doing this. Tongues does not seem to occur today in the manner it did in the New Testament, despite the fact that it would be immensely useful. The majority of believers who claim to practice the gift of speaking in tongues do not do so in agreement with the Scriptures mentioned above. These facts lead to the conclusion that the gift of tongues has ceased or is at least a rarity in God’s plan for the church today.

Author Anonymous & Unknown

Put everything in God’s Hand

St. Matthias, whose name signifies “gift of God,” was selected by the apostles to take the place of Judas Iscariot, who had betrayed Jesus and died, according to the Acts of the Apostles.

Jesus had already ascended to heaven and did not personally make the appointment. Matthias was one of the 72 disciples sent out by Jesus.

Although Matthias is not named among the followers of Jesus in the three synoptic gospels, Acts of the Apostles records that he had been with Jesus from the time of his baptism by John until his Ascension.

After Jesus’ Ascension, the apostles’ initial task was to find a replacement for Judas. Despite the numerous uncertainties and hazards they faced, they decided to prioritize selecting a twelfth apostle.

The significance of this was that the number twelve held great importance to the Israelites, representing the twelve tribes of Israel.

Therefore, in order for the disciples of Jesus to form the new Israel, they required a twelfth apostle.

Peter’s sole requirement for choosing the new apostle was that he should have been a disciple from the earliest days, just like himself, Andrew, James, and John, who had been present at Jesus’ baptism by John and His Ascension. This was because the new apostle needed to bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus.

St Peter gathered around 120 disciples and suggested that two men should be nominated to replace Judas. Joseph called Barsabas, also known as Justus, and Matthias were chosen by the disciples.

Following a prayer, the disciples cast lots and Matthias was chosen, making him the twelfth apostle.

St Matthias is believed to have spread the gospel in different regions such as Cappadocia, Jerusalem, the shores of the Caspian Sea (in modern-day Turkey), and Ethiopia, as per different accounts.

Some sources state that he met his end by being crucified in Colchis (now in modern-day Georgia), while others claim that he was stoned to death in Jerusalem.

The Roman Calendar first included the feast of Saint Matthias in the 11th century, celebrated on the sixth day before the month of March, which usually falls on 24 February, but 25 February in leap years.

However, in the revised General Roman Calendar of 1969, the feast was moved to 14 May to avoid celebrating it during Lent and instead place it in Eastertide close to the Solemnity of the Ascension, which is when the Acts of the Apostles states that Matthias was chosen to be counted among the Twelve Apostles.

Source: Catholic Readings

Taken up into heaven

The celebration of the Ascension used to leave me a bit flat.  It was clear what Good Friday did for me.  And Easter Sunday’s benefits were indisputable.  But as for the Ascension, what’s in it for me?

Christianity is about a kind of love we call agape or charity.  It is love that looks away from itself to another and gives itself away for another.  The Divine Word did not become man or endure the cross because something was in it for Him.

Charity shares in the beloved’s joys and sorrows (Jn 14:28).  The first thing to remember about the Ascension is that it is about sharing in Jesus’ joy.  It is about celebrating his return to the heavenly glory to which he refused to cling (Phil 2:6-11).  It is about rejoicing that his crown of thorns has been replaced with the kingly crown, that the mocking crowd at Calvary has been replaced with myriads of adoring angels.  The Ascension is about Jesus’s triumph and glorification. If we get our attention off ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit’s love of the Son to animate our souls, we’ll experience greater joy than when we see our child hit a home run or graduate from college.

But the Ascension is not just about charity.  It is also a feast of hope.  Yes, there is something in it for us.  He goes to prepare a place for us (Jn 14:2).  We will also one day wear crowns made of gold instead of thorns.

For us to endure until that blessed moment, we need divine power.  That’s another reason we ought to rejoice in his Ascension.  He takes his place at God’s right hand so that he can pour out the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, upon his disciples (Eph 4:10).

As he ascends, he tells the disciples to wait for this power.  But notice that he does not tell them to wait passively for the rapture.  He does not instruct them to pour over Bible prophecies, debating about how and when he will return.  In fact in Acts 1:11, after the Lord ascends out of their sight, the angels ask why the disciples just stand there, staring into space.

The waiting is not to be a squandering of precious time.  It is waiting for a purpose, nine days of prayer (the first novena!) leading to empowerment.  Why empowerment?  Because they have challenging work to do.  “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”   (Matt 28: 16-20).

We used to think that evangelization was something that happened in mission countries far away, carried out by priests and religious.  But the Second Vatican Council told us that our own neighborhoods are mission territory, and that every single Catholic is called to be an evangelist.  Pope John Paul II proclaimed this as the “New Evangelization” because the place is new–right next door–and the missionaries are new since they include all us all.

I’m really not sure that St. Francis of Assisi ever said “Preach the Gospel always; when necessary, use words.”  But if he did, note this–Francis often thought it very necessary to use words.  His words could be heard in marketplaces, on street-corners, in Churches, wherever there were people.  Of course, preaching without an authentic witness of life is certainly counterproductive.  But forget about the idea that just the witness of our lives is enough.  It is not.  You may not called to preach on street corners, but Vatican II and subsequent popes, echoing 1 Pet 3:15, say that we all must be ready  to articulate what Jesus has done for us, what he means to us, and why he is the answer to the world’s problems.

Feel inadequate to the task? You’re in good company. Benedict XVI’s first public statement was an admission of his inadequacy. Do as he did–pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to move in and through you, and take the time to keep learning more about your faith so that you can share it with ever greater confidence.

Source: Catholic Lane

Why do we have clowns when there are good leaders around?

Narcissism. Overconfidence. Low EQ. Why do we persist in selecting for leadership traits that hamper organizational progress—and leave the right potential leaders in the wrong roles?

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Who was Athanasius and Why Was He Important?

Athanasius is the theologian people have always loved, though in recent years it has become fashionable to grudge him. Some of this anger is theologically motivated (he felt heresy in priests was grounds for excommunication) and some is culturally motivated (we sniff at his angry style of writing). Despite these concerns, Athanasius’ tone was not much worse than others in his own day, and so focusing on his theological ideas will yield a better impression of the man.

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How to Understand the Mystery of Jesus Resurrection

Jesus opened their minds: Luke 24:35-48

The Gospel for this Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B, comes from the almost the last verses in the Gospel of St Luke (Chapter 24) and contains an account of Jesus appearing to His disciples on the evening of the Resurrection.

Jesus shows up while everyone is chatting about His encounter with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus.

Even after the accounts of the holy women and the Emmaus disciples, their first reaction to the presence of Jesus is alarm and fright.

It takes some considerable time and patience on Jesus’ behalf before they calm down enough for them to be able to listen to Him.

We see a similar pattern of gradual revelation here as we saw last week with St John’s account.

First He is present, then He speaks to them, then He invites them to inspect His body, and then to touch Him. Jesus then uncovers His hands and feet for them. Then He shows them that He is still capable of eating.

Despite their zombie-like reactions, this is a crucially important encounter. They are seeing their Jesus for the first time as the Crucified and Risen One. It is to this reality that they are to become witnesses to the whole world.

Again, just like in St John, Jesus shows His resurrection before He reveals the evidence of His crucifixion. We know ourselves how much easier it is to talk about Jesus as the Risen One compared to talking about Him as the Crucified One. We all want to partake in His resurrection; we are definitely not so keen on sharing His path of suffering, agony and death. Yet until we know Him both ways, we cannot be effective witnesses.

Once the disciples have calmed down enough for their higher brain functions to kick back in, Jesus comes to the second part of His purpose for this visitation.

It is only now that they have encountered Him as Crucified and Risen that Jesus can unfold the whole wonderful plan of God to them. It is through Jesus, Crucified and Risen, that all of salvation history makes sense. Without this lens we cannot understand the fullness of God’s eternal purpose.

How Jesus does this with the disciples is very different to how He did it with the Emmaus disciples. He deliberately and miraculously opens their minds to fully understand the Scriptures. Can you see that it is important that they receive this revelation directly from Jesus, and not indirectly from the Emmaus disciples, so that we can have confidence that our faith is founded on the power of God and not on human reasoning?

Yet the Emmaus disciples are still a gift to the other disciples, because with all this knowledge to crunch through and make sense of, having them as memory keepers of the best scriptural starting points for understanding these mysteries is a very big blessing.

Jesus tells them to look for all the times in the Law of Moses, in the writings of the Prophets and in the Psalms that prefigured and prophesied about Him, to be amazed at how the Crucified and Risen plan of God permeates the Scriptures, and to see the ultimate reason: inviting people back into full relationship with God through repentance.

We know the Church has taken these words and actions of Jesus seriously because Sunday by Sunday the readings and the psalms are chosen to shed light on each other, with the Old Testament prefiguring the New, and the New fulfilling the Old.

This means that we cannot know Jesus fully unless we know Him Crucified and Risen, AND we also know Him through all of the Scriptures.

This also means that there are levels of understanding the scriptures that can only be opened up to us by the power of God. We should diligently ask for these graces.

We can also see that Jesus knew that it would take the disciples time to unpack and digest all the infused knowledge He gave them. That is the purpose of that first season of Easter weeks. It was a vital preparation for Pentecost. Without this process they could never have preached effectively and authoritatively. We know it worked, because on Pentecost morning Peter gets up and quotes from Joel, 2 Samuel, Isaiah, and Psalms 16, 110 and 132 with great confidence.

Let’s pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, where we do not know Your Son Jesus in His resurrection, crucifixion, and Holy Scripture to the extent that You want for us, please grant to us that precious revelation. It doesn’t matter to us whether You use the Emmaus method, the Upper Room method, or a combination of both; only that we come to know Jesus in the fullness that You want for us. Please make that happen so that we can become more effective witnesses to You and to Your wonderfully grand plan of salvation. Amen.

Source: Society of Saints

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son

Source: Catholics Striving for Holiness

• “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son’ for its salvation. All our religion is a revelation of God’s kindness, mercy and love for us. ‘God is love’ (1Jn 4:16), that is, love poured forth unsparingly. All is summed up in this supreme truth, which explains and illuminates everything. The story of Jesus must be seen in this light. ‘(He) loved me’, St Paul writes. Each of us can and must repeat it for himself— ‘He loved me, and gave himself for me’ (Gal 2; 20)”(St. Paul VI, Homily on Corpus Christi, 13 June 1976).
• Christ’s self-surrender is a pressing call to respond to his great love for us:
  • “If it is true that God has created us, that he has redeemed us, that he loves us so much that he has given up his only-begotten Son for us (Jn 3:16), that he waits for us — every day! — as eagerly as the father of the prodigal son did (cf. 1.k 15:11-32), how can we doubt that he wants us to respond to him with all our love? The strange thing would be not to talk to God, to draw away and forget him, and busy ourselves in activities which are closed to the constant promptings of his grace” (St. Josemaria, Friends of God, 251).
  • “Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This…. is why Christ the Redeemer ‘fully reveals man to himself’. If we may use the expression, this is the human dimension of the mystery of the Redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity…. The one who wishes to understand himself thoroughly… must, with his unrest and uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into him with all his own self, he must ‘appropriate’ and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deep wonder at himself. How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he ‘gained so great a Redeemer’, (Roman Missal, Exultet at Easter Vigil), and if God ‘gave his only Son’ in order that man ‘should not perish but have eternal life’…“Increasingly contemplating the whole of Christ’s mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the Cross has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin. And for that reason, the Redemption was accomplished in the paschal mystery, leading through the Cross and death to Resurrection” (St. John Paul II, Redemptor hominis, 10).
• Jesus demands that we have faith in him as a first prerequisite to sharing in his love. Faith brings us out of darkness into the light, and sets us on the road to salvation. “He who does not believe is condemned already” (v. 18).
  • “The words of Christ are at once words of judgment and grace, of life and death.For it is only by putting to death that which is old that we can come to newness of life. Now, although this refers primarily to people, it is also true of various worldly goods which bear the mark both of man’s sin and the blessing of God… No one is freed from sin by himself or by his own efforts, no one is raised above himself or completely delivered from his own weakness, solitude or slavery; all have need of Christ, who is the model, master, liberator, saviour, and giver of life. Even in the secular history of mankind the Gospel has acted as a leaven in the interests of liberty and progress, and it always offers itself as a leaven with regard to brotherhood, unity and peace” (Vatican II, Ad gentes, 8).

Great teachers always learn from Jesus

By Laura Kazlas

Jesus told Nicodemus that, “You must be born from above. The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ~ Jn 3: 7b-8

Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus continues in today’s reading.  He doesn’t understand the meaning of what Jesus said, so he asked him, “How can this happen?”  Jesus chided him, by saying, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?”  But really, we should give Nicodemus credit for trying to learn from Jesus and understand his teachings better.  The teacher of Israel willingly became a student of Jesus Christ.  He had sense enough to do that, at least!

How also, can we teach other people about our faith, if we don’t know it or understand it ourselves? This is a double edged problem. Ignorance of our Catholic faith and ignorance of scripture, means we are ignorant of Christ. We can’t teach other people, like our children or non-Catholics, what we do not know, or rightly understand ourselves.

Great teachers are always learning more themselves though.  This is what Nicodemus is doing in today’s gospel.  He is questioning someone more knowledgeable than himself, in order to understand things better.  This is an excellent example of how the scriptures can provide guidance and advise for situations in our own lives sometimes, too.

Jesus set a clear distinction in today’s gospel between earthly matters and spiritual concerns though. “If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”

Did you notice that Jesus did go on to tell Nicodemus, about heavenly things, in advance before they happened though? Jesus explained his own crucifixion to Nicodemus, on purpose, before it happened, so that when it did happen, Nicodemus would truly understand that Jesus told him the truth. He really is the son of God. If you remember, it was Nicodemus who went with Joseph Arimathea to prepare the corpse of Jesus for burial after his crucifixion. (Jn 19: 39-42) You can’t help but wonder if Nicodemus remembered this conversation while Jesus was being crucified.

One last interesting bit of information is that Nicodemus is now known as Saint Nicodemus. Yes, a prominent Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin actually became a saint in the Catholic church. It just goes to show you, that anyone can become a saint, irregardless as to their background. Nicodemus became a saint because he stood up and defended Jesus when he was accused before the Jewish authorities (Jn 7: 45-51) and also because he helped Joseph Arimathea prepare Christ’s body for burial after his crucifixion.

Source: A Catholic Moment

What Is the Annunciation and Why Is It Important?

The Annunciation is the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would bear the Son of God, Jesus Christ. It also marks her acceptance, her “Fiat,” of God’s will. This is the beginning of the Incarnation when Jesus took on His human nature.

Mary is the willing instrument of God.Without her approval to bear Jesus in her womb, there is no telling what the state of our salvation would be. God willed to entrust His plan of salvation into the hands of a woman.

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