Unity and Peace: Gifts of the Holy Spirit

On the Feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church; an event of grace that first filled the Upper Room in Jerusalem and then spread throughout the world. If only everyone who hears the sound of the rushing wind and sees the flames of divine love would be of one mind and heart! The Holy Spirit is given to us to heal the wounds of division. The Spirit sanctifies, and makes us pure and holy, purges away the dross of sin, error and superstition; and enlightens our minds and gives us knowledge of divine and spiritual things; and fills us with zeal and fervor for the glory of God and Christ, and the good of the Church. It is essential that all Christians agree to love one another; for where brothers and sisters in Christ dwell together in unity, there the Lord manifests His glory and majesty.

For Israel, Pentecost - celebration of the harvest - had become the celebration marking the ratification of the Covenant on Mt Sinai. In wind and fire, God made his presence known to the people and then gave them the gift of the Ten Commandments. In this singular way was the work of liberation, begun with the Exodus from Egypt, brought to fulfillment: human freedom is always a shared freedom, a "togetherness" of liberty. For us, Pentecost constitutes the baptism of the Church. It is the seminal event that gave the Church the shape and thrust of its mission.

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth.

Gathered in prayer, the disciples found themselves in the midst of a driving wind and an all-consuming fire. When we speak about wind and fire, we are talking about vitality, excitement and energy. The Jerusalem Disciples were overpowered by the presence of God. They were consumed by the fire of divine love and were driven out of their comfort zones. Moved by the Spirit, in the bond of love, like them, we are called to bless and praise the God Who created us with our lives. Faith tells us that God is light and in His light we see light because in Him there is no darkness. Through the regenerating water of baptism and outpouring of the life-creating Spirit, we have been grafted into Christ and, with Him, we have been transformed into the Light of the world. We are to be a light of hope for those caught in the destructive vortex of darkness. We are the first fruits of the new creation for people who have lost touch with their humanity and are groping to rediscover the radiant glory that is theirs as the handiwork of God.

My brothers and sisters, we are created from the dust of the earth, and into these earthen vessels God has breathed His Spirit. The Lord Jesus overcomes our fears and calms our anxiety by lovingly and reverently entering into our lives. It is a comfort to know that nothing can keep the Lord from pitching His tent in our hearts. Each of us has been gifted by the Spirit in a unique and personal way. From the one Spirit comes a diversity of gifts and talents. These gifts may differ from person to person, some greater and some lesser but each one is necessary for the building up of the kingdom of God. The message of Pentecost is that we are never alone and no wall is too thick for the Holy Spirit to penetrate or too tall for Him to surmount.

The evangelist John tells us how the vision of the risen Lord brought joy to the hearts of the disciples who had barricaded themselves in the upper room because of fear and sorrow. The Lord came to people who were too afraid to come to Him. Into that space filled with stale and lifeless air, Jesus breathed the breath of the Holy Spirit. Those who had been dead were brought back to life. As they breathed in the Spirit, they were transformed. The Spirit of God made them all that the Father created them to be. It was no longer they that lived, but Christ the Risen Lord was living in them. The members of the Body of Christ should endeavor to build up one another in their faith, both by repeating what they have heard to those that were absent, and by making known what they have experienced. The newness which God brings into our lives is something that actually brings fulfilment, that gives true joy, true serenity, because God loves us and desires only our good.

The Holy Spirit does not leave the disciples comfortable, safe, locked away in a sheltered world. He continues to push them beyond their accustomed boundaries. As He said to Abraham, our father in faith, He says to us: "Go from your country and your relatives and your father's house to a country that I will show you" (Gen. 12:1). We heard earlier that the Holy Spirit unites, breaks down barriers, leads us one to the other. The strength that overcomes isolation and resentment is the strength of forgiveness. Jesus can grant forgiveness and the power to forgive because he himself suffered the consequences of sin and consumed them in the flame of his love. Forgiveness comes from the Cross; He transforms the world with the love that is offered. His heart opened on the Cross is the door through which the grace of forgiveness enters into the world. And this grace alone is able to transform the world and build peace. Nothing can improve the world if evil is not overcome. Evil can be overcome only by forgiveness. Peace can only spring from reconciliation.


Sequence — Veni, Sancte Spiritus


Come, Holy Spirit, come! And from your celestial home Shed a ray of light divine!
Heal our wounds, our strength renew; On our dryness pour your 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.

--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO

How Much Does God Love Us?

While giving a retreat one day to a Confirmation Class, in Antrim, Ireland, a priest put a leading question to them ‘How much does God love us? This much, maybe…’ and  he opened my hands until they were about shoulder-width apart. ‘No! – more!’ they chorused. The hands went wider, and again the same answer. At last the hands were outstretched as if on the Cross, and they answered ‘Yes, that much!’ As he stood there with the hands still outstretched, one girl over on his left spoke up: ‘But you can’t even begin to describe how much God loves us!’   They were all stunned into a silence, with the wisdom and truth of what she had just said- ‘you can’t even begin to describe how much God loves us!’

If I had just one verse of the Scriptures to take with me to a desert island, it very probably would be John 15:9, ‘As my Father has loved me, so I have loved you!’, but more like this: ‘The way my Father has loved me, that is how much I have loved you!’  ‘As much as my Father loves me and has always loved me, that is just how much I have loved you, and have loved all of you!’,- that is, with a love that has no limits at all. When we ponder and contemplate the first part, and wonder at just how much the Father loves His Son Jesus from all eternity,- as the awesomeness of this fills us, then we hear what Jesus is saying to us in the second half, about his relationship with us,- one of love without limits, like the Father’s.  And then he says: ‘Live in my love’,- or ‘Abide in my love’, or ‘Make your home in my love’,-  or maybe, like a fish in the sea, we swim in the ocean of God’s love that knows no shores nor horizons. 

And then, as we awaken to ‘as I have loved you’, in all its depth and width and height and length, he tells us to ‘love one another’ with the same depth and width and height and length.  And to help us to do this, he says (in the same chapter) ‘make your home in me as I make mine in you’. What a relationship, what an intimacy! He invites us to live in each other.

Love is a word which is often over used and misused in modern western culture. God’s love is unconditional love, Divine Love is only possible in a person who has been baptized with water and the Holy Spirit. A soul that is maintaining its ability to love with agape love is a soul that remains in the state of grace. Jesus tells us, “If you love me, keep my Commandments”. We cannot say we love God and continue to walk in the darkness of sin. And should we confess our sin, we must wish with all our hearts never to commit such sins again--this is true repentance and contrition. 

Jesus truly demonstrated his love for us in the cruel agony he suffering in the garden, in the betrayal of Judas, in the Scourging at the Pillar, in his carrying of his Cross, in his crucifixion and death. For God, who is the greatest lover, so loved the world so that the greatest number (that whosoever believes in him which is the greatest invitation) shall have ever lasting life, the greatest gift. What are we willing to do do manifest our love to Him?

 ‘I am alive, or rather it is not I who am alive, but it is Christ who is alive in me! I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.’ (St. Paul, to the Galatian disciples, in Galatians 2:20)

--Rev. Deacon Mr. Joseph Pasquella

The Greatest Commandment

The people God had freed from slavery and brought to the land of promise were never to forget the manifest blessings they had received from the hands of the Lord. Because the Israelites experienced God’s compassion when they were slaves in Egypt and throughout their trek in the desert, they were to show compassion to those they met who were in desperate straits. Because they had once been oppressed as aliens, they were not to oppress aliens in their land. Because God had shown them kindness and mercy, they were to show kindness and mercy to others. The grace of God teaches us, that as the Lord is our portion, there is enough in him to satisfy all the desires of our souls.

C. S. Lewis wrote: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” Faith provides a context in which we can look at the world we live in. Because we have been loved by God, we have the capacity to love the people and things God loves. Mindful of God’s superabundant love for us, let us ponder these words taken from Psalm 18. "I love you, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer" (Ps.18:2). Because the promises of the Lord are strong enough to support us at all times and in all places, we have reason to claim Him as our cornerstone, our strong defense and our companion in all life’s challenges. We are in this world as a ship at sea, tossed up and down, and in danger of being cast away. We need an anchor to keep us sure and steady. The love of God, the grace of Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, are our sure anchor and the reason for our hope. Because our citizenship is in heaven, we must keep our gaze focused upon the things that are above, where Christ is seated in glory at the right hand of the Father.

We, who turn our gaze towards God, exist because God keeps His gaze fixed on us. We love Him because He first loved us and His love compels us to love others in the same way we have been loved. We cling to God with childlike abandon, knowing that we are His beloved children. There is nothing more affirming and life-giving than this reciprocal relationship of love. Because God has loved us, we can rest assured that He will always be there for us as our rock, our refuge and our fortress whenever we are in distress. We have reason to hold firm because we have received from God’s loving abundance grace upon grace (Cf. Jn. 1:16). All fullness is in Him and from Him we hope to receive all that makes us wise, happy and holy. The faith that accepts mercy blossoms into the joy that is unspeakable and full of heavenly light. Saint Peter wrote of this in his first epistle. "Although you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an indescribable joy that has been touched with glory, because you are receiving the fullness of your faith, the salvation of your souls " (1 Pet. 1: 9).

We have been grafted into Christ through baptism and are called to live in the obedience of faith. Like Him Who fulfilled the will of the Father we are to lay down our lives for the life of the world. We imitate Christ, not only in proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom but also in enduring persecution for the sake of the Gospel so that the power of God might be manifested in our weakness. In times of adversity we are anointed with the oil of gladness with which Christ was anointed priest, prophet and king.

When the teacher of the Torah asked Jesus to pick greatest commandment from among the 613 laws of the biblical Torah, Jesus quoted the central commandment of the Jewish faith: “Hear O Israel. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Deut. 6:5). The love of God is the first and foremost of the commandments. The substance of the law, therefore, is love. Our love for God cannot be mere words. It must be an all-consuming fire that transforms us into a sacrifice of praise that is acceptable before God the Father. As scripture says: if you want to love God Whom you cannot see, love the human being whom you see standing in front of you. We manifest our love of God through our love of neighbor because, as scripture tells us, “God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him” (Gen. 1:27). Every human being is a dwelling place of God and we pay homage to God by reverencing the sanctuaries in which He dwells.

The Talmud recounts the martyrdom of Rabbi Akiva. As the executioners were torturing him, the renowned rabbi recited the Shema, concentrating on fulfilling its words: to love God "with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might." His students were surprised when they heard him recite this final Shema. When they questioned him, "Master, even to this extent?" He gave this reply: “All my life I have been troubled by this verse, ‘you shall love God... With all your soul.’ As I have explained its meaning: ‘all your soul’ -- even if they take your life. I have always wondered if I would have the privilege of fulfilling this mitzvah. Now that the opportunity has arrived, shall I not seize it?" He handed over his spirit as he pronounced the final word of Shema, "God is one." At the hands of the Romans, he accepted the reign of Heaven while sacrificing his life.

May we live our lives totally united to God and find our final resting place in Him when our life's journey is ended.

Father Jerome Machar, OSCO

Jesus Raised the Bar

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment;
and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin;
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’
will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said,
You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin,
tear it out and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

“It was also said,
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.
But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife -  unless the marriage is unlawful -
causes her to commit adultery,
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do not take a false oath,
but make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But I say to you, do not swear at all;
not by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Do not swear by your head,
for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,' and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the evil one.” (Matthew 5: 17-37)

Head of Christ by Rembrandt

We hear this Gospel and we go, “Whoooooa,” because, man, I’m in trouble. This Gospel is about me. Jesus is explaining what the commandments mean, and he is doing such an important thing in this preaching.

The people of Israel followed the law by the letter. But they did not let it enter their hearts. They were following the letter of the law. We can explain it this way. Think of a teen who has just gotten his driver’s license and now has the keys to the car. He thinks, “Whooee! Freedom!” Mom gives him the keys, and he hops in the car with his friend and, as he’s about to close the door, she calls after him, “Be home by 9 o’clock!” “OK,” he hollers back. Then he closes the door, revs up the motor, and says to his friend, “She didn’t say a.m. or p.m. I’ll be back by 9 o’clock for sure.”

That teen is worried about keeping the letter of the law and not about the spirit of the law. Technically he is correct, but only by the letter of what Mom said. Mom is interested in teaching the teen responsibility, how to be a responsible person. And all he is concerned about is how can I do what Mom says and still do what I want?

God tries to reorder our hearts. He is concerned about our hearts that are ripped apart by sin. We might be fulfilling the law. But where are our hearts? We tend to get trapped by our society that is so confident that Jesus wants us to just do what is good and it’s okay. It’s okay to break a couple of laws as long if you are really hurting anyone, never mind what the Bible says. People who say that have never read the Bible. They have never read these words that Jesus preached. I have people come to the sin bin and tell me, “Father, I’m not so bad. I never murdered anyone.” What type of measure of righteousness are we living by if the bar you measure your life by is murder? Jesus came to raise the bar.

I have to say that I am guilty of this for that sin in my life. The fifth commandment says, “Thou shall not kill.” Jesus raises the bar. Jesus says that anyone who is angry with his brother commits a sin against the fifth commandment. We don’t refrain from killing just to maintain life. We need to realize that human life is a gift from God, and we are all children of God. We do not degrade a child of God. We treat that person as God’s child, with love and respect.

The seventh commandment says. ”Thou shalt not commit adultery.”  Jesus raises the bar. He says that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart. Jesus is saying, “Don’t even go there in your thoughts, in your hearts.” God made marriage so that we can experience unconditional love for another person. The marriage bond is a sign of the union between God and his Church. Marriage is a sacrament in which men and women can come to be like Christ for each other and for others. Marriage is more than just having children. Marriage helps us to know the love of God, the faithfulness of God, and who He is.

See, Jesus is making each of the commandments deeper. We need to understand the spirit behind the commandments as well as the letter of the commandments, the letter of the law. We need to fear hell. This is not a popular topic. We like to talk about entering the kingdom of heaven, and that is our goal. But we can exchange heaven for doing things our own way on earth. Christ is not going to force heaven on us. Hell is a reality. Not only those who kill are going to go to hell. At Fatima Our Lady showed the children a vision of hell, and people were falling into it like snowflakes into a fire. The Blessed Mother was weeping because of this. We need to take heed. We have nothing to fear, because God has a remedy for hell. If we are receiving the sacraments, Confession and Eucharist, these are the remedies to going to hell and to help us attain salvation.

What was the main sin of the scribes and Pharisees? They were keeping the law. They said, “Look at me. I am the keeper of the law. I do everything right.” The scribes and Pharisees were righteous. The Lord says to us that we cannot be prideful about keeping the law. Righteousness is not enough. He wants us not to be prideful. Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you cannot get to the kingdom of heaven.” Now how am I going to surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? They were keeping the law perfectly. But we need to surpass them. How? Are we doomed?

Not at all. We need to humble ourselves enough to say, “I know what the law is, and I still messed up. I need God’s mercy.” We need to get beyond the idea of the teenage Pharisee and follow after the Lord with an undivided heart. A few thoughts of a fiery hell can go a long way, not that God wants to intimidate us but that we understand that God is serious. Jesus is telling us how serious God is in these Gospel passages. Do I want to go to heaven? No one is above being damned to hell. Are we trying to follow God by our own version of the law? Or are we trying to follow the law that God gave us?

– Father Jacob Meyer, Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents