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Breaking Open the Word
May 11, 2008
Pentecost Sunday

Readings:

• Acts 2:1-11
• Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34
• 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13
• John 20:19-23

Theme: The Holy Spirit and the Church.  Pentecost is sometimes called the “birthday” of Church because it was then that the company of disciples received the Holy Spirit and began to preach the Gospel with zeal and joy. Just as God breathed his life-giving Spirit into Adam at the beginning of creation (Gen. 2:7), so the Lord filled the Church – the body of Christ - with that same Spirit at Pentecost, thus ‘renewing the face of the earth.’ Pentecost marks the beginning of a new era of God’s activity in the world: It is the “age of the Church.” 

Key verse: “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.” (Psalm 104)

“Catechism of the Catholic Church:” “The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the ‘dispensation of the mystery’ — the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, ‘until he comes.’ In this age of the Church Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way appropriate to this new age.” [no. 1076]

Pope Benedict XVI: “The word of God reminds us that, in faith, we see the heavens opened, and the grace of the Holy Spirit lighting up the Church and bringing sure hope to our world.  “O Lord, my God,” the Psalmist sings, “when you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:30).  These words summon us to ever deeper faith in God’s infinite power to transform every human situation, to create life from death, and to light up even the darkest night.”  [Homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, April 19, 2008]

Application:When the Church was born at Pentecost there were only about 120 disciples (Acts 1:15). From that tiny beginning the Catholic Church has grown to over one billion members!  The Church is endowed with a tremendous diversity of peoples, languages and cultural traditions, and yet all are united in a common faith, bound together by a common Spirit in one body (second reading). The Church is united by the Holy Spirit which is the soul of the Church, who gives life to the whole and to each member. It the same Spirit everywhere.  “The Church is, in a phrase used by the Fathers, the place ‘where the Spirit flourishes.’” [Catechism, 749]. 

Breaking Open the Word
May 18, 2008
Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Readings:

• Exodus 34:4-9
• Daniel 3:52-56 (responsorial)
• 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
• John 3:16-18

Theme: The intimacy of God. By his life, death and resurrection Jesus has revealed the true nature of God: “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). The relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit was first revealed at his Baptism when God said, “This is my beloved Son!” (Mt. 3:17). “Father,” “Son” and “Holy Spirit” are relational terms pertaining to God himself. Relative to us God is one; but in himself God is a communion of persons. “God is one,” the Catechism teaches, “but not solitary.” [no. 254]. The doctrine of the Trinity is a “mystery” in the sense that it not something we could have figured out on our own; God had to reveal it to us. Once revealed, however, it is not beyond our understanding; we know it, though we cannot fully comprehend it.

Key verse: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” (2 Cor. 13:13)

“Catechism of the Catholic Church:” :“From the beginning, the revealed truth of the Holy Trinity has been at the very root of the Church's living faith, principally by means of Baptism. It finds its expression in the rule of baptismal faith, formulated in the preaching, catechesis, and prayer of the Church. Such formulations are already found in the apostolic writings, such as this salutation taken up in the Eucharistic liturgy: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." [no. 249]

Pope Benedict XVI: : “Thanks to the Holy Spirit, who helps us understand Jesus' words and guides us to the whole truth (Jn. 16:13), believers can experience the intimacy of God himself, discovering that he is not infinite solitude but a communion of light and love: given and received in an eternal dialogue between the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit - Lover, Loved and Love, to echo St Augustine.” [Angelus, June 11, 2006]

Application: When we were baptized “in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” we entered into the intimate life of God. Every time we celebrate the Mass, the priest begins in the name of the same, reminding us of this most solemn truth: that “God is love” and that “we abide in him and he in us” (1 John 4:13). The doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity is not puzzle to be solved by the intellect, but a relationship to be experienced with our whole being.