FAITHFUL DISCIPLES

XIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 10:37-42

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus presents the demands of discipleship. 

The road to salvation in Jesus Christ is not an easy one. We must enter through the narrow gate: “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life” (Mt 7:14). In everything, Jesus must take the first place. Forced to choose, we must always side with Jesus. He deserves and demands greater love than our parents. It does not mean that we should ignore, despise or hate our parents. The commandment still stands: “Honour your father and your mother” (Ex 20:12). However, not even our parents can take the place of God, and if they become an impediment to obeying God’s commandments and to follow Jesus Christ, then we must choose to walk on Jesus’ way. Our love for Christ has to be greater than our love for our parents or any human being. There is no greatest love than the one bestowed on us by Jesus, who gave his life for us. And that love demands a response of love. The responsorial psalm expresses this recognition of God’s love:

“I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;

  through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.

Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,

  that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.” (Ps 89).

The acceptance of the cross - that is of suffering and death - is part of the discipleship of Jesus. Following Jesus, we may face rejection and even persecution and death. It does not mean that we should be masochists. Pain is always painful, and cannot be a source of happiness. Jesus faced his passion in anguish, but he remained faithful and did not run away from his mission, despite the deadly consequences. At any time in life, we may have to make decisions which will have terrible consequences for us. Then, out of fear, we may avoid the consequences by ignoring our principles, avoiding our duty, forgetting our responsibilities and even trampling on the love that should fill our hearts. However, if we decide to remain faithful at all costs, then we must be ready to carry the cross, thus following Jesus’ footsteps.

We are very much afraid of death because we consider life as our greatest asset and we do everything in our power to keep and extend it. However, Jesus tells us that are things worthy of dying for, and those are the things which give meaning to life. So, it is better to lose life than to turn our backs on what gives meaning to life. Jesus says it clearly:

“Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.”

We must be ready to lose our lives, being sure that we will find them in Christ. Jesus did that and countless people have done the same throughout the centuries. During this pandemic, in many countries of the world, a great number of doctors and nurses have risked their lives, trying to save the lives of others.

Jesus reminds us of being one with him, in such a way that we welcome him whenever we welcome his disciples. We listen to Jesus whenever we listen to the voice of the Church.

Finally, we are reminded that when we do even the least we can do to the littles ones, the Lord will reward us. We are invited to be generous and kind to those who come to us or whom we meet in our daily lives and are in need. A little gesture may go a long way to lessen their sufferings and their pain.

May the Lord help us to become true disciples.

THERE IS NO NEED TO BE AFRAID

XII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 10:26-33

Jeremiah was still very young when he heard God’s call to be a prophet. He tried some excuses (Jer 1:6), but they could not stand before God. Later in life, he would say that God seduced him and he fell for the sweetness of His word. However, faced with big challenges and living in very difficult times, he felt as if he had been wronged and deceived (Jer 20:7), but he would not betray his call and would not turn his back on God:

“If I say, “I will not mention him,

or speak any more in his name,”

there is in my heart as it were a burning fire

shut up in my bones,

and I am weary with holding it in,

and I cannot.” (Jer 20:9) 

When even his friends turned against him and watched for his downfall, Jeremiah put his trust in the Lord: 

“But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;

therefore my persecutors will stumble.” (Jer 20:10-11).

Not only by his word but in his own life, Jeremiah was a prophecy of Jesus Christ. He suffered rejection at the hands of his people, but he put his trust in the Lord and remained faithful, speaking out fearlessly, denouncing the sins of his people and calling them back to God.

When Jesus entrusted his mission to the disciples, he made it clear that they would face opposition and rejection, but, in the middle of persecution, they should put their trust in God. Reassuring them, Jesus insisted: “Do not be afraid.” “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul”.

Faith cannot be reduced to the privacy of one’s heart or even one’s home. The Gospel of Jesus Christ must be proclaimed for all those who are willing to hear. Nowadays, there is a concerted effort to force Christian faith into hiding, avoiding or even prohibiting the display of Christian symbols in the public sphere. However, nothing will remain hidden forever and the light of the Lord will dispel all darkness. If we are afraid of speaking up for Christ and proclaim that he is the Lord, then he will not give testimony for us before the Father.

And Jesus repeats a third time: “So there is no need to be afraid”.

IN COMMUNION WITH THE BODY OF CHRIST

THE SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI - John 6:51-58/ 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

It is in difficult times that we reveal our true selves. A friendship that does not pass the test of hardship is not true friendship. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people that God put them to the test to “know your inmost heart – whether you would keep his commandments or not” (Dt 8:2). And the people proved to be unreliable and unfaithful. Face with difficulties, which seemed unsurmountable, they lost their trust in God and became convinced that God hat tricked them and brought them into the wilderness to starve them to death. They forgot all the wonders which God had made in their favour and accused Him of evil intent. Despite that, God heard their complaints and came to their rescue, giving them water to drink and food to eat. God sent them manna from heaven, which would be remembered forever as a sign of God’s care and compassion. As the hope for the coming of the Messiah became more and more intense, people were in great expectancy of being given bread from heaven. Jesus presented himself as the bread of life, the true bread, which “comes down from heaven” for us to get eternal life.

Presenting himself as bread, Jesus offers his body - his flesh and his blood - as the food that makes us alive. Hearing Jesus’ words, people were horrified and question Jesus about that. However, Jesus’ answer was very clear: 

“I tell you most solemnly,

if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you will not have life in you.

Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood

has eternal life,

and I shall raise him up on the last day.”

Jesus invites us to his table and he serves us his food. By eating his body and drinking his blood, we become one with Christ:

“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood

lives in me

and I live in him.”

St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, gives us the first narrative of the Last Supper, as it was celebrated in the liturgy of the Christian communities. Obeying Jesus’ command: “Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Co 11:24), starting with the Apostles, the first Christian communities repeated Jesus’ gestures and words and they were well sure that, by Jesus’ words, they were receiving the body and the blood of the Risen Lord. Paul reminded the Corinthians that “the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ” and “the blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ” (1 Co 10:16).

This communion with Christ has implications for the community: “The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.” (1 Co 10:17).

As we celebrate the “Corpus Christi”, let us give thanks for this great gift and open our hearts to Jesus as we present our open hands to receive him, so that we may be transformed in Him and with Him form one body.

LIVE IN PEACE, AND THE GOD OF LOVE AND PEACE WILL BE WITH YOU.

THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY - John 3:16-18

Since the beginning of time, the Scriptures present God as someone who wants to be in a relationship. We may guess this relationship, since the creation is presented as an outpouring of God’s goodness and we can see how he was well pleased with what came out of his decision: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Gn 1:31). Then, as we come to the creation of human beings, done in God’s image, it becomes obvious that God created somebody who could live in a relationship with Him. It was as if God needed friends with whom to share his goodness and love. This bond of love was broken by disobedience and revolt when the human beings turned their back on God and decided to go their way. However, God could not forget and forsake the one he created in his image. He could not stand by and see that his image being destroyed, without coming to the rescue of the fallen humans. So he put in action his plan of salvation, which should be enacted through human history. To bring his plan to fulfilment, God sent his Son into the world:

“God loved the world so much

that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him 

may not be lost

but may have eternal life.

For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world,

but so that through him 

the world might be saved.”

And the salvation consists in having “eternal life”, a life that we receive in Jesus Christ, because to all “who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (Jn 1:12), and if we are children, then we are given the rights of children (Ro 8:17).

God’s plan of salvation implies a bond of love between God and his beloved children and this is so because God in Himself is love. And love means relationship and communion. That’s what we celebrate today. God has revealed himself as communion (being one with) - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and he calls us to participate in that communion. To the Corinthians, Paul wrote: “Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Co 13:11-13). In Christ Jesus, being one with him, we are accepted as children of God and we will share in the inheritance of Jesus Christ.

May Almighty God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit bless you all. Amen.

COME HOLY SPIRIT, ENLIGHTEN US WITH YOUR WISDOM AND WARM US WITH YOUR LOVE

THE SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST - John 20:19-23

On the first day of the week (Sunday), which for the Christians is the Day of the Lord, that is the Day of the Risen Christ, the disciples gathered together in secret, behind closed doors, “for fear of the Jews”. It was an incipient community, one that would quickly disintegrate and disperse, because the members of that community live in fear. The memory of Jesus - his word, the wonders he performed, his passion and death and the resurrection which they had witnessed - and the fellowship they had experienced with him were still important for them, but they would become irrelevant very soon. To overcome their fear and come out of their hiding place, they need to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Risen Lord, who would push and motivate them to give public witness to Jesus Christ.

The first reading (Acts 2:1-11) tells us that the disciples went through a big transformation: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit emboldened them and forced them out of their hiding place to come into the public eye and proclaim fearlessly the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus had entrusted them with the continuation of his mission: “As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.” The Church has no other mission, but the mission of Jesus: to proclaim the Kingdom of God and Jesus as the way to the Father - that is to life and salvation. This mission entrusted to the disciples goes beyond their ability. Knowing that, Jesus gave them the Holy Spirit: “He breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.” He is the Spirit of life, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of love. He is the power of God present in us so that we are enabled to carry out the mission entrusted to the Church.

The readings of the Pentecost celebration present the action of the Holy Spirit that makes the Church possible.

• He leads us to faith in Jesus Christ. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to recognise Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God: “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:3)
• It is the power of the Holy Spirit that gives us the boldness to proclaim the gospel and to be public witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:1-11).
• It is the Holy Spirit who congregates us in one community forgiven and reconciled in Christ. Through the Spirit, we become one body - the body of Christ.
• Born of the Spirit, we are children of God. All of us drink of one Spirit so that before God there is no room for discrimination. All have the same dignity and all are offered to share in the same inheritance - the inheritance given to the children.

Let us call on the Holy Spirit to come upon us to strengthen us in faith, hope and love:

Light immortal, light divine,

Visit thou these hearts of thine,

And our inmost being fill:

If thou take thy grace away,

Nothing pure in man will stay

All his good is turned to ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew

On our dryness pour thy dew

Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will

Melt the frozen, warm the chill

Guide the steps that go astray.

     (from the Sequence of Pentecost)

YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

SOLEMNITY OF ASCENSION - Acts 1:1-11

Luke introduces the book of the Acts of the Apostles as a continuation of the gospel, which he wrote before. He begins with a summary of the experience of the Risen Lord: “He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God.” The forty days period was a very special time during which the disciples felt the living presence of Jesus, thus recognising him as the Lord. The passion and death on the cross had left the disciples hopeless with a big sense of loss. How could a man dead on a cross be the Messiah? The people of Israel waited for a powerful king that would take back the throne of David, conquer the world and govern it with God’s righteousness. However, in the end, all seemed to be nor more than an illusion. That’s why the forty days experience of the living Christ was of paramount importance. Despite that, the misunderstandings persisted and they questioned Jesus about the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel: “Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Up to the last moment, they were dreaming of earthly power. And Jesus’ answer was clear: “It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority”. Instead of looking for power, wealth and glory, they must prepare themselves to receive the Holy Spirit, who will enable them to become true witnesses of Jesus Christ: 

“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus entrusts his mission to the disciples - a worldwide mission - “to the ends of the earth”, which will be possible through the guidance and the power that comes from the Holy Spirit.

Then “as he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight.”

In the responsorial Psalm (Ps 47), we find these words, which are applied to the Ascension of Jesus:

“God goes up with shouts of joy;

  the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.”

The cloud is also a sign of God’s presence and glory. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul explains the dimension of Jesus’ glory:

God’s power was made manifest “when he used it to raise him (Christ) from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church” (Ep 1:20-22)

Let’s trust Jesus’ promise: The Holy Spirit will come upon us so that we may become true disciples and witnesses of Jesus. Let us prepare ourselves to the great celebration of the Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit.

THE FATHER WILL GIVE YOU THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

VI EASTER SUNDAY - John 14:15-21

The disciples were worried about the future. What would happen to them after Jesus’ departure? Jesus reassures them saying: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come back to you.” Here, Jesus is not referring to his second coming at the end of times, but to a continuous presence among his disciples. How is it going to happen? He is going to send the “Paraclete” (παράκλητος), that is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, who will be with us forever. He will work within us and within the Church, being a “Counsellor", "Helper", “Advocate”, or “Comforter”. He will guide, protect and defend the Church so that she is a faithful witness to Jesus Christ and carries out the mission entrusted to her. It is not surprising then that, after the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, we find continuous references to the presence and the action of the Holy Spirit. The big decisions, like the opening of the Church to the gentiles (Acts 10), the mission of Paul and Barnabas (Act 13) and the council of Jerusalem (Act 15) were taken under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who makes the community possible. The first reading (Act 8:5-8,14-17) indicates that. After the persecution in Jerusalem, the deacon Philip went to Samaria, preaching the gospel there. Many people believed and were baptised. In Jerusalem, the Apostles heard about it and sent Peter and John to confirm them in the faith. “Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Act 8:17). The receiving of the Holy Spirit made them one community with the Church in Jerusalem, united under the same leadership. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no Church. He is the one who takes us to Christ, leading us to recognise Jesus as the Son of God who came to save us. He is the one who transforms us from within so that the image of Christ becomes more and more visible and present in us. He is the Spirit of love, who kindles our hearts with the fire of his love, thus cementing the communion which makes us the body of Christ. He is the one who gives us the courage, the strength and the wisdom to be true witnesses of Jesus Christ.

In his first letter (1 Peter 3:15-18), Peter advises us to “always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you all have.” That is only possible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who teaches us what to say.

Let us prepare ourselves to celebrate the great feast of the Pentecost, preparing our hearts to welcome the Holy Spirit.