Holy Ghost PNCC

In the days of Jesus, the people of Galilee came to realize that there was someone special in their midst. A young man had appeared who, it seemed, had special powers of healing, and who spoke in ways that captivated his listeners. This was someone who just had to be seen, and someone that people wanted to listen to. And so the crowds began to gather. The people knew that they were on to a good thing. This man can cure our sickness. This man seems to understand life, and has an air of authority about Him that persuades you that He is the genuine article: not a showman, but a Savior. Jesus himself knew all about the problems of being in the public eye. Your words and your actions will be scrutinized. You will be misreported and misrepresented. Your enemies will seek to destroy you in whatever way they can. King Herod Antipas, a vicious ruler, had just executed John the Baptist, and so Jesus could very well be next in line. He leaves Herod’s territory and moves along the coast, hoping for some quiet time to compose himself. Now Jesus will show us what true power is, and how it should be exercised. They need guidance – Jesus preaches the word of life to them. They are hungry and need food – so Jesus feeds them, and teaches to feed them from the little they have. The issues of health, education and welfare are all addressed here. These are common needs in all of humankind, and we are called to attend to them all, in every person.

Today’s feast celebrates the presence of Jesus in the mystery of the Eucharist, His presence among us under the appearance of bread and wine. How is it possible, nearly 2,000 years after His death, that He is with us in this way? How do we know it is Him?

When Jesus rose from the dead, He was the same as before, but different. He could still talk, eat, walk, teach and work miracles; but now He could appear to His disciples who were cowering in a locked room; now He would hand His mission on to them; now He would ascend to His Father, and give them His Holy Spirit. If we do not immediately recognize Him, we are in good company: Mary thought He was the gardener, early in the morning on the first day of the week; the disciples thought He was a ghost, until He ate a piece of grilled fish; the travellers on the road to Emmaus thought He was an ill-informed stranger. It is here in this last story that we have a clue as to how we will recognize Him. We study the prophecies about Him; we listen to His teachings about His death and resurrection; we ponder the Last Supper when He says, “this is my body” and “this is my blood”; and we hear His words today in St. John’s Gospel where He tells us we are to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man – Himself.

Knowing He is so close to us in the Eucharist gives a focus to our lives that is both here and now and in the future; appearing as bread and wine, this is no ordinary bread and wine but the flesh and blood of the Lord, the risen Lord. This is for us comfort, consolation, hope of eternal life, a constant call to be united with each other, a challenge to be worthy of His presence, an invitation to share with others the news that He is very close. The God who saved the chosen people in the desert is still saving, through Jesus Christ His Son. The risen Lord who appeared to Saul and called Him to be an apostle is making Himself known to us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and inviting us to go out in His name. This memory we hold, we share and we celebrate – today, on this feast, and every time we gather around the altar in His name.

Let us pray for all fathers today that they may be more faithful to their duties in the family. Let us pray God to give them the moral strength and the economic wherewithal they need to become good role models that their children can always look up to. And for all kids who lost their fathers through divorce or death, let us pray that the heavenly Father of us all may show Himself to be their father in such a tangible way so as to fill the vacuum left by the absence of a visible father.

Happy Father’s Day!

Today we celebrate the most astonishiong, mind-bending truth of all: that though there is, and can be, only one God, yet in this one there are three persons. We could never have known that had it not been revealed through Jesus. In the Gospels He speaks of Himself frequently as the Son, sent into the world by the Father; at the Last Supper He revealed that the Holy Spirit would be poured out, as joint gift of Father and Son.

God is mystery; the words we use about God are inadequate. So we speak of three persons in God; they are not persons in just the same way that you and I are persons, otherwise there would be three gods. But it’s right to speak of them as persons because – like us – Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct from each other, and relate to each other. Here at Mass, the Blessed Trinity is at the heart of all we do; here – in, with and through Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit – we tiny creatures are enabled to give all honor and glory to the Father.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus appeared to His disciples, who were overjoyed to see Him. Yet each one of them also saw that Jesus bore the wounds of the crucifixion. They saw the marks of the nails and spear in His hands and side. Most of them remembered their cowardice and desertion of Jesus at a time when He needed their friendship and support. However, Jesus did not blame and scold them. Instead, He wished them peace. What was past was past and could never be undone. He wanted His disciples to have peace of mind, to put their betrayals out of the way and to concentrate on the future. He did not want them so overwhelmed and crippled with their burden of guilt that they became useless to themselves and others. He knew that they bitterly regretted their actions and were ready to make a new start. Yet, as He gave them their mission to preach God’s love to the world, Jesus also knew that their learning process would involve suffering.

From the moment we were born, life has been a constant learning process. We have all had opportunities to learn new skills. We make allowances for mistakes – perhaps, for something such as learning to ride a bike, wearing extra layers of protective clothing. God knows that we are learners. Pentecost is the moment when Jesus tells us to be at peace, however battered and bruised we may feel. We are only learning to be like Him and God knows that, making allowances for us and sending us the Spirit of love and encouragement to help us to make a fresh start.

In today’s Gospel we see Jesus in the act of praying. It is just before His arrest; and He prays, not for His own safety, but that God may be glorified. Jesus also prays for His disciples. He sees them as a gift from the Father and commends them for their faith in keeping God’s word and believing that He came from God. Jesus, the divine Son of God, truly enlighten us. It is He who shows what God is like. In Jesus we see the loving and self-giving nature of God. Jesus did not pray only for His disciples but also for those who would come after them. He tells us all that eternal life is to know God, and to know himself as being sent by God.

At this time before Pentecost, we are invited to unite ourselves with the apostles and Mary and to pray for the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to come into our lives. In a world where people can easily fall for the big lie that there is nothing beyond this present life, we are called to have the love of Jesus as our guiding light, and to let that light shine in the world through the way we live our lives.

Remember rockets red glare
bombs bursting in air
gave through the night that our flag is still there.
Our forefathers reminder of a price to be paid and responsibility to inherit the United States.
Rockets red glare bombs bursting in air
Words fallen on ears unwilling to hear.
deaf no more we all know now the price of freedom the price of war.
Freeborn children listen and see a new generation paying for you and me
Don’t be so blind or so deaf to the sights and sounds Americans have left,
Let freedom scream in our ears and minds never forget those left behind.
Freeborn children stand tall and see! does the banner old glory yet wave for thee
God bless America.

We know from the experiences of those first followers of Jesus that keeping His commandments was sometimes costly. In the part of St. Peter’s first letter that we heard as our second reading today, St. Peter reminds us that there is a distinct possibility that following Jesus can bring suffering and even death. St. Peter calls us to keep doing what is right even when it causes us to suffer. If that all makes it sound as if what is being asked of us is difficult, if not impossible, we would do well to remember the other part of Jesus’ message in today’s Gospel. Jesus is not sending us out on an impossible task unaided. Jesus promises His Holy Spirit. He promises that we will not be left like orphans. Jesus calls this Holy Spirit “the Spirit of Truth.” He also gives the Spirit a title that is translated in today’s Gospel as “Advocate;”but in some translations the same title for the Spirit is translated as “Comforter.” This Spirit is a caring, strengthening power enabling us to be the people that we cannot be alone. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can have the strength to be true followers of Jesus.

All of today’s readings have been about building the Church. In the first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear how the early Church began to organize itself by devolving jobs to different people. In our second reading, from St. Peter’s first letter, the man that Jesus called His rock and instructed to be the foundation of the new Church tells us all that Jesus is the cornerstone of the new Church. Jesus is the stone around which the whole Church is aligned and made strong. And our Gospel reading today tells us that Christ is the way to God and that belief in Him will enable Jesus’ followers to do great things. Today’s reading comes from the part of St. John’s Gospel that contains the teaching Jesus gave to His disciples during the Last Supper. It might seem strange to have a reading today, a few weeks after Easter, with words Jesus spoke on Holy Thursday. But the theme of the reading is about what will happen when Jesus leaves His disciples, and so it makes sense to read it in this time of the Church’s year between Easter and the celebration of Christ’s ascension to heaven.