Come Holy Spirit

6^thSunday of Easter Year C 2019:

As our Easter season winds to a close, you will notice that the readings are helping to move us toward the Ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  While this passage from the gospel today comes from the Last Supper, the message seems to be pretty clear for us.  Jesus will ascend to the Father.  But, we will not be without help.  The Father will send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.

We will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in 2 weeks.  But, it’s not too early to start praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  It seems to me that the Holy Spirit is probably the most neglected of the three persons of the Trinity.  We are obviously focused on Christ.  He lived among us.  He died on the Cross.  He was raised from the dead.  Also, he always taught us to look to the Father.  We pray the Our Father.  But, what about the Holy Spirit?  Just recently, Bishop Rhoades was here for the Baccalaureate Masses for both Bishop Dwenger and Bishop Luers High Schools.  In both masses, he talked about how the power of the Holy Spirit should enable us to live the Christian life.  It’s the power of the Holy Spirit, which is the power of God at work within us, that enables us to follow Christ.  Most of the time, the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives without us even being aware. But, how much more powerful might his presence be in our lives if we called on him more frequently.

So, I’d like to reflect on 2 things from today’s gospel to help us in our prayer as we get closer to Pentecost.  First, the name advocate, second, the advocate’s job as described by Jesus.

Jesus says that the Father will send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.  This is an interesting word.  Advocate is the Latin word (advocatus), the Greek word is similar (paraclete).  They both have the same meaning.  Clete comes from the Greek word Kaleo which means: to call. Same with Vocatus: the one called on. So, the word advocate and the word paraclete have the same meaning: one who is called upon.  Now, this word was used primarily in legal settings, and we still use the word advocate today in legal settings.  Advocates help us to make a defense.  But, they have to be called upon.  I find this really interesting.  The word Jesus uses in order to describe the Holy Spirit means: one who will defend you, but you have to call upon him.  God never tramples our freedom.  Yet, the Holy Spirit is our advocate.  He will come to our aid and assistance when we call upon him.  Yet, how often do we call upon him?  I think it might be good for us to memorize the Come Holy Spirit prayer again.  We should never let a day go by where we don’t call on our advocate.  Fill the hearts of your faithful, enkindle in them the fire of your love.  Send forth your spirit and they should be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Who among us can say that we don’t need to be filled with the fire of God’s love in the Holy Spirit?  Let’s call on him daily as a natural part of our spiritual lives.

Second, what was the job that Jesus said would be entrusted to the Holy Spirit: he will teach you everything and remind you of what I told you.  Knowledge and wisdom are gifts of the Holy Spirit.  By living in close contact with the Holy Spirit, by being filled with his gifts, we are enabled to see what is right.  The Holy Spirit will teach us everything.  In my pastoral work, many people find themselves in need of guidance. Maybe it’s a tough family situation, maybe it's a career choice, maybe it’s one of the million other important decisions we might face in a day.  I know I always have decisions that weigh in on my thoughts.  What about praying to the Holy Spirit?  Jesus literally tells us that the Holy Spirit will teach us everything.  So, turning to the Holy Spirit in times of doubt, struggle, or indecision is a necessity. He will teach us everything.  We even saw this on display in the first reading. The early Christians were confused about the role of circumcision and the Mosaic law for Gentile Christians.  But, with the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, they were led into the truth and made the wise decision.  In our own lives, when we face controversy or choice, we too should turn to the Spirit, who will teach us everything. 

So, we have 2 weeks till Pentecost.  Make these 2 weeks a time of prayer asking God to bestow upon us all the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He is our advocate.  We call on him and he will come to our assistance.  He will lead us into all truth.  So, let us pray these two weeks: come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.

I give you a new commandment:

Message in a Minute for May 19:

You may notice that the gospel passages at mass are beginning to make a transition.  On Easter Sunday, and many Sundays after, we heard about resurrection appearances of Jesus.  We listened as the early Church encountered the Risen Lord and went on mission to proclaim the Good News.  Now, we are seeing a transition from the resurrection of Christ to the ascension.  In today’s gospel, Jesus is preparing us for the time of his departure.  What is his lasting advice?  His departing message?  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.

Jesus calls this a new commandment.  But, astute readers of the Old Testament will remember that God has already commanded us to love.  We can remember the greatest commandments, quoted by Christ himself: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.  So, in some ways, the command to love is ancient.  And yet, Jesus calls it a new commandment.  What is new about it?

The new part of this commandment is not the command to love.  But, it’s the command to love one another as Christ loved us.  This commandment is new because Jesus gives us a new example.  When Jesus offered his life for us, when he was crucified, he showed us exactly what love looks like.  Love looks like self-giving, self-sacrificing.  Love gives and holds nothing back.  This has always been what love is all about.  But, Jesus’ command to love is a new commandment because he gives us a new example of how to love.  

As we gather at Mass this week, let’s call to mind the love of Christ.  He continues to pour himself out for us in the Holy Eucharist.  He offers up his body and blood for our salvation.  This is what love looks like.  We hear his command today: love one another.  We see what that love looks like in the Eucharist.  

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The Good Shepherd

4^thSunday of Easter year C 2019:

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.  Know of our prayers for you today.  We will do a prayer of blessing at the end of the mass today.

Jesus says in the gospel today: my sheep hear my voice. Christ is the Good Shepherd.  He lays down his life for the sheep.  We are his sheep.  He is there to defend us and protect us.  Did you know that the oldest artistic depiction of Christ that we have been able to find was the image of Christ as a shepherd?  One of the oldest pictures we can find of Jesus was in a cemetery.  The image was not of Jesus being Crucified or being born.  It was Jesus the good shepherd, carrying one of the sheep on his back.  

This image of Christ the Good Shepherd has been an inspirational message for thousands of years now.  I hope each of us has some time to reflect on this image and to turn to Christ as our Good Shepherd.  The shepherd leads the sheep to green pastures.  We can ask Jesus to lead us to peace and happiness in our lives, especially when we are facing tough times.  The shepherd defends the flock from predators.  When we are facing trials and tribulations, we can invite the shepherd to defend us.  Jesus is caring, kind, and tender: my sheep hear my voice.  The Lord is speaking to us.

I want to focus in on the voice of the shepherd for a moment. How do we hear it?  I can stand up here and tell everyone: we need to listen to Christ’s voice.  But, how? 

First, our life of personal prayer.  We hear the voice of the Lord in our prayer.  Consistent, daily prayer is the absolute foundation of the spiritual life.  If we aren’t praying, we simply won’t make it in this life.  It’s too hard out there.  We have too many problems, too much anxiety, depression, grief, mourning, you name it.  I’m sure each and every one of us could describe some difficulty that weighs us down sometimes.  Well, we need that shepherd.  We need to bring him our problems and our pain.  We also need to thank and praise him for all the blessings.  We need to pray every day.  Not every other day.  Not once a week.  Every day. So, how do you do on that?  I remember a line from Archbishop Sheen that always stuck with me.  He said, everyone in the world needs 30 minutes of prayer every single day… unless you are busy.  If you are busy, then you need an hour of prayer.  How true!  I can tell you that in my own life, the more I’m praying the more smoothly things go. My life is better, I get more done. The more time I spend with God the better I use the rest of the time that I have.  My sheep hear my voice.  So, we need to listen in our daily prayer.

But, I would also like to recommend getting more knowledgeable about the faith as well.  There is so much beauty to our Catholic faith that many people simply miss out on.  We hear the voice of Christ in the Bible and in the teachings of the Church.  I hope everyone out there has a Catechism of the Catholic Church.  This amazing book summarizes just about everything we believe as Catholics.  It’s a tremendous resource.  We hear Christ’s voice when we read it and study it.  Same goes for the Bible.  This book literally has the voice of Christ within it.  Spending time meditating on God’s word will help us to follow Christ. To hear his voice.

Jesus is the good shepherd.  He wants to lead us to eternal life.  But, it only happens if we listen to his voice.  So, let’s make that commitment to daily prayer, to studying the Bible, and Church teaching.  These are wonderful ways for us to hear the voice of our Good Shepherd.  

Yes Lord, you know that I love you

Next Saturday, Bishop Rhoades will be here to celebrate confirmation for our young men and women from the Cathedral.  These young people have been preparing over the course of the year.  They have been learning about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I hope they are all ready when the bishop starts to ask them questions next week.  But, one thing they had to do this year is to pick a confirmation saint.  We have a few St. Francis’s, a St. Norbert, etc.  I really hope that these young people will look up to these saints and rely on them during the course of their lives.

For me, I chose St. Peter when I was confirmed.  So, I have always felt a certain kind of closeness to him.  Now, I would like to say that I chose St. Peter because I liked how he preached the gospel, or the way that he gave his life in service to Christ.  But, I was a teenager after all.  I chose St. Peter because I thought he must be the most awesome Saint around.  I mean: he was the first pope, he has the biggest Church in the world named after him.  I wasn’t interested in any ole saint.  I wanted the best of the best.  So, that’s why I picked St. Peter.  I have to admit that I didn’t really take into consideration all the things that St. Peter did in the gospel.  I didn’t think about the time that St. Peter denied Jesus 3 times. I didn’t think about the time he told Jesus that he shouldn’t offer up his life and Jesus called him satan.  I didn’t think about the time that he was taking the side of the people who said that Gentiles had to be circumcised and St. Paul argued with him.  In other words, I never really grappled with the fact that St. Peter is a person who has his own flaws and imperfections.  I was just thinking about the glorious vision of the great first pope holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Ok, so I didn’t pick St. Peter for a very good reason.  But, I’m so very glad that I have St. Peter for my confirmation patron saint.  The longer I reflect on the gospel, the more I see St. Peter is a truly inspirational person for all of us who are followers of Jesus.  Sure, he is inspirational because of his great job of preaching the faith.  Look at the first reading.  He boldly stood up to the high priest: we must obey God and not you.  He was courageous.  I certainly hope and pray that I can keep growing in my Christian courage to become more like Peter.  But, he is also inspirational precisely because he has a past that is not so great.

On the night before Jesus died, he gathered with his apostles for the Last Supper.  He told them that he would be betrayed.  They all said that they would never do that to him.  Peter even said: if I should have to die with you, I will never deny you. Then what happens, not even a few hours later, Peter denies Jesus 3 times.  But, you know what?  Peter repents, returns, renews his commitment.  I think this is what today’s gospel is all about.  Jesus gives Peter this amazing opportunity.  He knows that Peter denied him three times, so he asks him three times: do you love me?  Peter responds: yes Lord, you know that I love you.  Sure, Peter sinned and denied Jesus.  But Jesus offers him mercy and an opportunity for a new beginning. 

This is one of the reasons that I find the story of St. Peter so inspirational.  It is a great reminder that Jesus will give us the same opportunity.  You and I are sinners.  No denying that.  But, if we turn back to the Lord like St. Peter, Jesus will give us the same opportunity to begin again.  Peter has been my patron since confirmation, but he is a model for all disciples precisely because he is so real.  I would encourage each of you to spend some time praying with this gospel this week. Put yourself in St. Peter’s shoes. Acknowledge that you have betrayed the Lord by your sins.  But, then, listen as Jesus gives you a chance at a new beginning: do you love me?  Yes Lord, you know that I love you.