Posted on 04/19/2004 8:33:36 PM PDT by Salvation
Even though I have been offline, you have been in my thoughts and prayers.
I am typing the following reflections, so please bear with me. (Some I am retyping, because this new system is not letting the A drive function properly.)
The first post for each day is different. Topics include the Easter Season, personalities, traditions, customs or the saint whose feast is celebrated on that particular day.
The second post for each day is an excerpt from the Gospel passage for that day during the weekday Mass. Additional reflections are offered on Sundays.
I hope you enjoy these six minute daily reflections during the Season of Easter as much as I am.
How did the ice cream sundae get its name?
Various sites claim to have created this treat. But one of the most popular stories says it was created in Ithaca, New York.
On a hot Sunday in 1892, the pastor of the local Unitarian Church went to a parishioner’s drugstore after the services to discuss his sermon. The parishioner got two dishes of ice cream, a cherry on top of each, and then put cherry syrup on the ice cream.
It tasted delicious. What to call this new taste treat? The pastor suggested “Cherry Sunday” – a gesture towards the Lord’s Day.
From then on, the soda fountain at the drugstore featured “Cherry Sundays.”
The new discovery quickly caught on…and began to spread…and the flavors changed…as did the spelling of its name.
This miracle takes place in Joppa, (modern-day Jaffa), a port city about 35 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Many people have never heard this story – it is read at a Saturday morning Mass. Luke describes it this way:
“Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha…She was completely occupied with good deeds and almsgiving. Now during those days she fell sick and died, so after washing her, they laid her out in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ So Peter got up and went with them.
“When he arrived, the took him to the room upstairs where all the widows came to him weeping and showing him the tunics and cloaks that Dorcas had made while she was with them.
“Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to her body and said, ‘Tabitha, rise up.’ She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and when he had called the holy ones and the widows, he presented her alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord.” (Acts 9:36-42)
It is clear that the power at work is not Peter’s, but that of the Risen Lord. Note the closing line in today’s passage: “Many came to believe in the Lord”
The earliest Christians were practicing Jews who believed that Jesus was Messiah and Lord. It didn’t take long for this to cause strained relations with other Jews who did not hold the same belief. This is evidenced by the stoning of Stephen – a Jewish Christian – and by the description of Saul in the Acts of the Apostles before his conversion:
“Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.”
A major factor, of course, was the fact that in the beginning (and on into the fourth century) Christians were the minority. But when Christians were the majority, they became the persecutors.
The first Christians were all Jewish. What’s more, in those early years they faithfully followed Jewish religious practices. The Eucharist, for example, was something they did in addition to the Sabbath rituals.
Gradually, however, they found themselves at odds with some of the Jewish leaders and were told that belief in Jesus as Messiah and Lord excluded them from the synagogue. (Paul, before his conversion, is an example of those who persecuted early Christians.)
Over the course of 20 centuries, Christians have been persecuted from time to time…and Christians have also done their share of persecuting.
A new day has dawned. The Second Vatican Council explicitly taught respect for those of other faiths, including those of non-Christian faiths.
True ecumenism emphasizes, not differences, but what we hold in common with others. The first goal is to find areas of understanding and agreement.
My time with the Lord today might best be spent praying for unity among Christians.
This simple question is probably the most disputed “calendar” question in the New Testament.
In Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Last Supper was clearly a Passover meal.
But in John’s Gospel, it occurred on the day before the Passover meal. When Jesus is on trial before Pilate, John’s Gospel reads:
”[Pilate] brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. It was preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon.” (19:13-14)
If this chronology is accurate, then the Passover meal would have been celebrated after sunset on the day Jesus died.
The last meal Jesus had with his disciples certainly was in the atmosphere of Passover. This feast was the reason why they came to Jerusalem. And, certain, the day before Passover would have special meaning. Some say this is why Matthew, Mark and Luke refer to it as a Passover meal.
John, on the other hand, has Jesus condemned to death at noon on the day before Passover – the very time when the priest began to slaughter the paschal lambs in the Temple area.
On this date, Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was born in 1920.
When Jesus says, “It is better for you that I go.” He is talking about his dying/rising/ascension. But why wouldn’t they be just as well off if Jesus stayed? Because it is the Spirit that is the source of divine life in human beings, and it is the Risen Jesus who will send the Spirit upon them. (In John’s Gospel, that is the very first thing the Risen Lord does when he appears to them on Easter morning: “He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
So, it’s true. It is better for us that Jesus dies.
Let’s turn that around. Is it better for me that I die?
It’s not a matter of seeing this life as useless. It’s a question of how I look at death…putting death in perspective.
Could I say (and mean it): “Ultimately, it is better for me that I die?”
A lot of the truths of my faith come together when I seriously ask myself that question.
This isn’t a matter of being morose. Just the opposite. It’s a matter of a deeper faith and most of all, hope.
Is it better for me that I die? It’s a different way of looking at death. Is it ever!
People are sometimes puzzled when they hear a scripture passage that says, “Jesus was raised” from the dead. Didn’t he raise himself?
The Gospels were written in Greek. Toward the end of the fourth century, St. Jerome translated them into Latin. Until the 20th century, it was this Latin text that was used to make translations into other languages.
In modern times, translators have gone back to the early Greek texts of the New Testament in order to render a more exact translation. In the Greek text, some passages speak of Jesus rising from the dead. But most (19 in all) clearly say that he was raised.
Both are true. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says on the one hand: “The Father’s power ‘raised up’ Christ his Son.” It also says later on: “As for the Son, he effects his own Resurrection by virtue of his divine power.”
It is a question of whether Jesus is being looked at from the point of view of his humanity or from the point of view of his divinity. On the one hand, Jesus was not simply God masquerading in a human body. In his humanity, he became truly one of us – “tested in every way, but without sin” (Heb 4:15). As one of us, Jesus placed himself in dependence on the Father, trusting that the Father would bring him through death to glory.
On the other hand, it was the Second Person of the Trinity who took flesh, and Jesus could say, “The Father and I are one.”
Picture someone holding up a Bible and saying, “It’s all in here! Everything you ever need to know about living your life as a disciple of Jesus Christ is given to you in this book.”
Well, not exactly. The Scriptures give us God’s revelation, and we believe that there will be no new revelation in terms of a change in what Jesus taught. On the other hand, there is a continual unfolding of the implications of what Jesus did and what Jesus said.
For one thing, there are new situations that every generation has to face – nuclear weapons, medical procedures, global economics, a radically different view of the universe…
Scripture gives us timeless truths, but the Bible is not a “how to” manual with detailed directions on how to live those truths.
We desperately need the gift of the Spirit that Jesus promised his disciples. We need to let the Spirit shape our understanding of those timeless truths as they are applied to the circumstances of our lives.
Which is to say, to be a disciple of the Lord, I need to pray.
Today, 40 days after Easter, has been the traditional date for Ascension Thursday. (Some countries and some U. S. dioceses have moved it to this coming Sunday.)
Before the post-Vatican II restoration of the liturgy, a small ritual took place at the Ascension Thursday Mass. The server went over and snuffed out the paschal candle immediately after the Gospel was read – the passage in Mark saying that the risen Lord “was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.”
Since the paschal candle is a symbol of the presence of the risen Christ here on earth, this ritual could give the impression that Christ was no longer present among us.
The candle isn’t snuffed out anymore. It continues to burn as a sign that Christ is, as he promised, with us always, until the end of time. The paschal candle remains lit for the rest of the Easter Season…and it is lit throughout the whole year at baptisms and funerals.
The shadow of the cross again darkens the supper table. Jesus talks about his departure: “A little while and you will no longer see me.” His death is hours away.
Jesus says that they will weep and mourn at his cruel death, which will appear to be a failure for him, and a victory for his enemies.
But then Jesus says they will see him in a little while.
Jesus isn’t talking about his resurrection appearances. These are of only short duration. Nor is Jesus talking about his coming at the end of time. Jesus is talking about a more permanent reunion.
“Seeing” Jesus is understood to mean “experiencing" his real presence after his death and resurrection – a presence accomplished through the Holy Spirit.
In John’s Gospel, when Jesus appears to his disciples on Easter Sunday evening, the first thing he does is breathe the Holy Spirit upon them – the same Holy Spirit that I have received.
What Jesus is saying in today’s Gospel passage is intended also for me: He says, “You will ‘see’ (experience) my real presence.”
Take some quiet moments and experience the Lord’s presence.
Pentecost began as a Jewish celebration of the wheat harvest in the late spring. No specific date was set – it took place when the harvest was ready.
Gradually it became customary to celebrate the feast 50 days after the Passover. This gave it additional meaning. Jewish scholars had calculated that when their ancestors left Egypt, they arrived at Mount Sinai approximately 50 days later. It was there that God gave the Law and made a Covenant with them: “I will be your God, and you will be my people.
Thus, Pentecost became a time to celebrate the covenant that made them God’s chosen people.
Luke’s description of the Spirit coming upon the disciples on the very day of this Jewish feast emphasizes the understanding of Christianity as a “new covenant.”
The word “Pentecost” is Greek for 50th day.
Jesus uses a homey parable to help his disciples understand that his departure will ultimately bring them joy.
We can use that parable to help us face the “dying” we have to go through in life.
Dying is a law of life. To go to another level we have to die to the level we are at. The infant has to give way (“die”) to infancy in order to become (“be born”) the child. The child has to die to childhood to become the teenager. And on it goes – the teenager has to become the adult – and the adult has to become the “old person” – and the old person has to die to be born into the fullness of life.
There is continuity (we are the same person before and after) but also discontinuity (we have to let go of the previous life”).
Did God set things up this way just to make it difficult? No.
If we are to be free human beings (not robots or animals acting on instinct)…destined to become god-like…it could be no other way. Think about it. Talk it over with the Lord.
The Pentecostal movement began in the United States toward the end of the 19th century. It places strong emphasis on the phenomena described in the Acts of the Apostles at the “first Pentecost”. Among these phenomena would be sudden conversion, a dramatic experience of the Spirit (referred to as “baptism in the Spirit”), and speaking in tongues.
This movement gave birth to a wide variety of churches that are generally described as “Pentecostal”.
Other characteristics of Pentecostal churches include: Faith healing, a literalist interpretation of the Bible, emphasis on the second coming of Christ, vigorous missionary efforts, and a free-flowing liturgy rather than a set ritual.
Now, just a minute. This just plain is not true: “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” How many examples of honest-to-goodness requests – and good ones, not simply trying to win the lotto – do you want me to cite that were flat out turned down by God?
The key here is, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name.” To pray in Jesus' name doesn’t mean to invoke a magical formula (like “abracadabra” which was thought to be a secret formula to force the gods to do something.) Rather, it means to pray in union with Jesus.
If what I pray for is in tune with what will ultimately help bring about what is good for me and for all creation, it will always be granted…for these are requests that further God’s good work.
God wants what is good for me and for all creation. That is an absolute. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is quite clear on this: “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish…If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Now that deserves some conversation with the Lord.
The word “ascension” is used in two different senses:
(1) The Resurrection Ascension
At the moment Jesus was raised from the dead he went not back to earth, but to the Father. He ascended to the Father, and it is from there that he appeared to the disciples. (Just as his Resurrection was not witnessed by anyone, neither was this Ascension.)
(2) The End of the Special Appearances
Jesus, after his Resurrection/Ascension was no longer limited by time and space. He was and is present to his followers even more closely than before. In the days after his Resurrection/Ascension, Jesus manifested himself to the disciples at various times and places in an extraordinary, visible way.
At some point, these special appearances came to an end. Luke dramatizes the end of these extraordinary visible appearances by describing Christ visibly ascending to heaven.
Actually, Christians are used to connecting the Ascension with the Resurrection. The Nicene Creed says: “(He) suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
In some diocese, the Feast of the Ascension is celebrated today.
(Many people may not be familiar with this Scriptures passage – it is not read at any Sunday or weekday Mass.) On his way home from his final missionary journey, Paul spends a week at Troas, a coastal city in what is today northwest Turkey. He is apparently presiding at a Sunday Eucharist. (It is probably a Saturday evening – by Jewish reckoning, that is when Sunday begins.)
”On the first day of the week when we gathered to break bread, Paul spoke to them because he was going to leave on the next day, and he kept on speaking until midnight.“There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered, and a young man named Eutychus who was sitting on the window sill was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. Once overcome by sleep he fell down from the third story and when he was picked up, he was dead.
“Paul went down, threw himself upon him and said as he embraced him, “Don’t be alarmed; there is life in him.” Then he returned upstairs, broke the bread, and ate; after a long conversation that lasted until daybreak, he departed. And they took the boy away alive and were immeasurably comforted.” (Acts 20:7-12)
This is a fascinating story, filled with graphic details – the oil lamps, Paul talking “on and on,” the boy sitting on a window sill, falling from “the third story.”
Luke clearly sees the boy as really dead. When Paul says “there is life in him,” this is the miraculous effect of Paul taking the boy in his arms. It is another example of the Risen Lord’s power over death.
There is only one week left in the Blessed Season of Easter.
Each day there are two posts, the first maybe dealing with a personality, the day, something from church history, miscellaneous subjects.
The second post (other than Sundays where "people coming back from the dead" has been the topic of discussion) pertains to the reading of the day.
It only takes a few minutes -- very insightful reflections.
May you continue to grow as we pray, "Come, Holy Spirit!"
Samuel Morse was a professional artist who distinguished himself as a portrait painter. In 1832, while returning by ship from studying art in Europe, Morse overheard a conversation about the newly discovered electromagnet. This set him think about what would come to be called the “telegraph.”
Morse began devoting more and more time to this project. In 1838 he developed a system of dots and dashes that would represent language (and which would be named after him).
In 1843 Congress appropriated $30,000 for Morse to construct a telegraph line between Washington, D. C., and Baltimore. The line was successfully installed and on this date 160 years ago, Morse telegraphed a message from the U. S. Capitol to Alfred Vail at a railroad station in Baltimore: “What hath God wrought?”
Within 10 years, over 20,000 miles of telegraph cable crisscrossed the country. Just as the railroad train revolutionized travel, so did the telegraph revolutionize communication.
Morse’s message was taken from the Book of Numbers (23:23) which continues the story of the Exodus from the end of the encampment at Mr. Sinai, to the arrival at the border of the Promised Land.
At one point, Balaam, a prophet, speaks a promising message from God about the Israelites: “It shall be said of Jacob, ‘See what God has done!”
At the supper table, Jesus looks ahead to the flight of the disciples when he is arrested in Gethsemane. He even says that for a time they will be scattered and return to their homes.
They won’t entirely lose their faith. But for a time it would be weak, imperfect.
John will describe this in the last chapter of his Gospel. Seven of the disciples are back up north near the Sea of Galilee. Not only have they gone back to their home territory but – at least in the case of Peter, Andrew, James and John – back to their previous profession as fishermen. There will be a miraculous catch of fish, and eventually they will recognize the Risen Lord standing on the shore.
There is something of a parallel here to the experience of the death of someone we love – especially a tragic death. We don’t lose our faith, but for days after the funeral we are in a fog. Gradually, through prayer and the word of God, we realize the truth of what Jesus promised.
Ever experience a death like that?
This is nice Salvation.
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