Author: Peter McCulloch

Two Kinds of Life

(Zech.9:9-10; Rom.8:9, 11-13; Mt.11:25-30)

The Ancient Greeks recognised two different kinds of life: biological life (they called it ‘bios’) and spiritual life (‘zoe’). Both words were used in the New Testament when it was first written in Greek.

But in English Bibles, these two words were simply translated as ‘life,’ and their differences were lost.

So when we hear Jesus saying, ‘I came that they may have life, and have it to the full,’ (Jn.10:10), most of us aren’t aware that Jesus originally said, ‘I came that they may have zoe, and have it to the full.’

There’s a big difference between bios and zoe. We are all naturally born with physical life – bios, but it doesn’t last. Bios naturally degrades over time, and eventually dies.

The spiritual life of zoe, however, is eternal, but we are not born with it; it’s something we have to cultivate. Zoe begins with our baptism, and it grows in our hearts.

In his book Mere Christianity, CS Lewis says that the movement from earthly biological life to eternal spiritual life is what Christianity is all about. [i] But such change doesn’t just happen; we have to work at it.

In our second reading today, St Paul contrasts the worldly life with the life of the Spirit, and says that if you live according to the world (bios), you will die. But if you live by the Spirit (zoe), you will remain fully alive.

Someone who learnt this lesson well was Walter Csizek. Born in Pennsylvania in 1904 to Polish parents, he was a delinquent child, often picking fights, skipping school and roaming with street gangs. His father became so worried about him that he once took him to a police station and asked them to lock him up.

When he was thirteen, Csizek surprised everyone by announcing that he wanted to be a priest. His family wouldn’t believe it, but he did join the seminary and later, when Pope Pius XI called for priests for the Russian mission, he volunteered to go.

He went to Rome to learn Russian and finish his studies, and in 1937 he was ordained. However, he wasn’t allowed to enter Russia, so he served in Poland instead.

In 1939, when Germany and Russia invaded Poland, Csizek slipped quietly into Russia to see if he could minister there. He found work in lumber camps in the Ural Mountains, but in 1941 he was arrested as a ‘Vatican spy’.

For five years he was imprisoned, tortured and interrogated in Moscow, and then sentenced to 15 years’ slave labour in Siberia.

Despite the wretched conditions, he supported the other prisoners where he could, and he helped them discover the extraordinary strength and joy that comes from the Holy Eucharist.

They took great risks celebrating the Mass, sometimes in remote forests where they worked or in their barracks where they pretended to play cards. Small drops of wine were smuggled in and tiny pieces of bread were saved from their meagre rations. They had to look out for informers, but the Bread of Life was always a great source of comfort to them.

As CS Lewis said, the journey from earthly biological life to eternal spiritual life is what Christianity is all about. In essence, this is the story of Walter Csizek. By being forced to let go of the worldly comforts of bios, he discovered the eternal strength and joy of zoe.

Reflecting on his experience, Csizek said that through these ordeals, God was ‘bending himself’ to him and pursuing him. God had led him to an understanding of life and his love that only those who have experienced it can fathom. He had stripped away many of the physical and religious consolations that people rely on, and had left him with a few simple truths to guide him. And yet what a profound difference they made; what strength and courage they gave him. And he thought the reason God had brought him safely home was so that he could share this understanding with others.[ii] 

Csizek was released in 1955, but forbidden to leave Russia. So, he worked as a mechanic and served openly as a priest until the KGB stopped him.

In the meantime, he managed to contact his family and in 1963 he was exchanged for a Soviet spy and returned home.

Many people tend to think that God is with them when life is good, and that he has abandoned them when things get tough.

But as Walter Csizek learnt, God is with us constantly, and he’s always encouraging us to live the only kind of life that lasts: zoe.

Our only long-term hope is the life of the Spirit. 

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[i] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Fontana Books, London. 1969:135.

[ii] Walter Csizek, He Leadeth Me, Ignatius Press, Fan Francisco, 1973:15.

A Benedictine Welcome

(2Kgs.4:8-11, 14-16; Rom.6:3-4, 8-11; Mt.10:37-42)

In the 5^th Century, the Roman Empire was attacked by the Goths, Huns and Vandals, and eventually collapsed into chaos.

It was at this turbulent time that St Benedict of Nursia (480-547) founded his monasteries in Italy, the first in Subiaco. They were havens of peace and stability, and people from many different backgrounds wanted to join, including peasants, pagans, monks and even royalty. Despite the risks, Benedict always welcomed them.

In his biography of St Benedict, Pope Gregory the Great tells the story of one monk when Benedict was the abbot. This monk had been a Goth, perhaps a soldier or a servant, but it seems he was used to punishment. One day while clearing some thornbushes, he panicked. The blade of his scythe had flown off into the lake and disappeared. He thought he’d be punished.

Hearing about this, Benedict went to see the monk, but he wasn’t angry. He fixed the tool and returned it to him. ‘Here you are,’ he said, ‘now, go back to work. There’s no need to worry.’ [i]

Benedict’s hospitality has long been famous. But what inspired it? It was Holy Scripture.

‘You shall love the stranger, for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt,’ the Old Testament says (Deut.10:19). The Bible is full of examples of generous hospitality. In Genesis, God welcomes Adam into the Garden of Eden. Abraham welcomes three visitors at the oaks of Mamre (Gen.18:1-10). Elijah is welcomed by the widow of Zarepath (1Kgs.17-18).

And in today’s first reading, a woman warmly welcomes the prophet Elisha to the town of Shunem. In ancient times, strangers were often seen as messengers of God’s blessing (Heb.13:2). This woman knows Elisha is a holy man, and she invites him to stay whenever he’s in town.

Elisha is grateful and wants to repay her kindness. When he learns she has no son, he prophesies that God will reward her with one, and his prophecy is fulfilled.

In the New Testament, too, during his public ministry, Jesus often relies on the hospitality of strangers for his food and stay. He also teaches at mealtimes, and often uses the language of hospitality to describe God and his kingdom.

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus says, ‘I was hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me a drink, a stranger and you invited me in, naked and you clothed me… Truly, whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters you did for me’ (Mt.25:35-40).

And in today’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples, ‘Anyone who welcomes you, welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me… And even a cup of cold water will not go unrewarded.’

Hospitality, then, is central to the Christian life. St Benedict knew this, and that’s why he always insisted that his monks welcome all strangers and guests as if they are Christ himself. [ii]

In the Greek New Testament, the word for ‘hospitality’ is philoxenia, love for the stranger. Its opposite is xenophobia, hatred of the stranger.[iii] We know from history that xenophobia can lead to serious trouble and conflict, which we certainly don’t need. Philoxenia, however, can turn strangers into friends. That, we do need.

Let’s close with a story from Oscar Wilde. He was quite a celebrity when he was sent to gaol, and he found the experience humiliating.

As he was led by two policemen from prison to court, a noisy, hostile crowd had gathered outside. But then a friend of his appeared and made a simple gesture of friendship and respect that silenced the crowd. As Wilde passed by, handcuffed and with bowed head, this man raised his hat to him. It was a very small thing, but it meant a great deal to Wilde at the time.

Reflecting on that simple gesture, Wilde wrote in his letter de Profundis, ‘Men have gone to heaven for smaller things than that. I don’t know if my friend is even aware that I saw his action. It’s not something I can give formal thanks for, but I store it in the treasure house of my heart. I keep it there as a secret debt that I can never possibly repay.

‘…the memory of that lowly silent act of love has unsealed for me all the wells of pity, made the deserts blossom like a rose, and brought me out of the bitterness of lonely exile into harmony with the wounded, broken and great heart of the world.’ [iv]

That simple act of raising a hat made a huge difference to one miserable man.

Even the smallest of kind gestures can change someone’s life.

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[i] Pope Gregory 1, The Life of Our Most Holy Father St Benedict, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, p.13. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/g/gregory/life_rule/cache/life_rule.pdf

[ii] https://christdesert.org/rule-of-st-benedict/chapter-53-the-reception-of-guests/

[iii] https://beingbenedictine.com/category/hospitality/

[iv] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/921/921-h/921-h.htm

Hypocrisy

(Jer.20:10-13; Rom.5:12-15; Mt.10:26-33)

In the days of ancient Greece, the word for actor was hypocritēs. A hypocrite was someone who simply wore a mask and played the part of a character in a play.

But by New Testament times, that meaning had changed. A hypocrite became someone who wore a mask in real life, pretending to be something he wasn’t.

There are lots of examples of hypocrisy in literature, history and life – and dare I say it, in the Church. In Shakespeare’s Othello, for example, Iago appears as an honest and loyal friend, but deep down he’s a nasty man plotting to destroy the prince.  

Do you remember Graham Richardson, the former Australian senator (1983-94)? He was a Minister in the Hawke and Keating Governments, and a ruthless political player. He was sometimes called the Senator for Kneecaps.

After he retired, he wrote his memoirs, Whatever It Takes. In them, he admits the duplicity, dishonesty and trickery he used to achieve political success.

The trouble with such hypocrisy, however, is that you can only hide the truth for so long; you can’t fool all the people all the time. As well, hypocrisy makes you live a double life; it causes you to live in fear; it destroys reputations and relationships; and it leads others astray.

It also draws us away from Jesus Christ.

In last week’s Gospel, Jesus summons his disciples and gives them a mission: to help and heal the lost people of Israel and to proclaim the kingdom of heaven.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives his disciples some good advice. He tells them (three times) that they should not be afraid, and he says that ‘everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear.’

‘What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight;’ he adds, and ‘what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.’

In other words, live openly and honestly in the clear light of day, and most especially – avoid hypocrisy.

Jesus often thunders against hypocrisy; he knows it’s one of the most dangerous of sins. ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!’ he says in Matthew 23. ‘You’re like whitewashed tombs on the outside, but inside you are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean!’ (Mt.23:27).

In 2017, Pope Francis said that Jesus railed against hypocrites because the language of hypocrisy is the language of deceit. It’s the language the serpent used with Eve: it begins with flattery, and it ends up destroying people.

‘It tears the personality and soul of a person to pieces,’ he said. ‘It destroys communities and it hurts the Church.’ [i]

Psychologists tell us that the root of all hypocrisy is the desire to be loved and accepted without judgement.

But there is a better way to earn love and acceptance; it’s by living authentically, by living a life of genuine honesty and humility.

People who are honest and humble don’t need to lie. They don’t need to paint false pictures. They accept who they are, with all their strengths and weaknesses. They understand what they can and can’t do, and whatever’s missing they make up for with faith and love.

Jesus’ message for us today is this: if you are serious about being his disciple, if you are serious about living a good Christian life, then avoid hypocrisy, because there’s no reward in heaven for hypocrites.

Let’s close with a little poem from Grenville Kleiser (1868-1953), a Canadian who taught public speaking at Yale Divinity School:

You can fool the hapless public,
You can be a subtle fraud,
You can hide your little meanness,
But you can’t fool God!

You can advertise your virtues,
You can self-achievement laud,
You can load yourself with riches,
But you can’t fool God!

You can magnify your talent,
You can hear the world applaud,
You can boast yourself somebody,
But you can’t fool God! [ii]

Yes, ‘you can’t fool God.’

And there’s no point even trying to, for he’s already counted every hair on your head.

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[i] https://www.catholicregister.org/faith/homilies/item/25372-pope-s-homily-hypocrisy-destroys-communities-and-hurts-the-church

[ii] https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/you-can-t-fool-god

Never See a Need

(Ex.19:2-6; Rom.5:6-11; Mt.9:36-10:8)

2,000 years ago, the Roman Empire totally controlled the Mediterranean world. All power and wealth were held by the Roman elite and their supporters.

Below them were huge numbers of poor, landless peasants, burdened by high taxes. And anyone opposing the regime was punished, often by crucifixion.

This is the world Jesus lived in. Even as a child, he saw hundreds of people crucified along the road between Capernaum and Nazareth.[i] He knew how desperate the people were. He understood the poverty and injustice, the resentment and the anger.

But Jesus didn’t just feel sorry for these people. He had compassion for them, and compassion is much more than an emotion. To have compassion is to feel someone else’s pain, and then do something about it.

This is the background to Matthew’s Gospel today. Jesus sees a crowd of dejected people; to him, they look like sheep without a shepherd. He knows they are troubled and vulnerable, and his heart is filled with compassion.

So, what does he do about it? He summons his twelve disciples, and he authorises them to go out to help and heal these people. ‘Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,’ he says.

This is a turning point in Matthew’s Gospel, because Jesus commissions his disciples to continue the work he has started. He knows he can’t do it all alone. That’s why Matthew calls them the ‘12 Apostles,’ for an apostle is a messenger sent by Jesus to spread the Gospel and continue his mission of love.

Just like the Good Samaritan who found a wounded man lying by the roadside, Jesus commissions his disciples to meet suffering with compassion.

This is what Caroline Chisholm (1808-77) did when she first arrived in Sydney from England in 1838. Sydney was a convict town then, and she arrived with her husband and children. She was appalled to see so many young women being exploited in the colony. Many had come hoping to start a new life, but instead found themselves unemployed, destitute and living in filthy conditions.

Caroline Chisholm was 30 at the time, and a recent Catholic convert. She was shocked by what she saw. She persuaded the governor to provide accommodation in a ‘Female Immigrants’ Home’ in Sydney. Then she began organising work for these girls, and she started the first free employment agency.

She also took women and girls by wagon and boat to country regions where they quickly found well-paid positions.

By 1846, when she returned to England, she had helped 11,000 people find jobs or settle as farmers in New South Wales. Back in England, she continued to publicise and work for improved emigration to Australia. She raised funds to help families travel to the penal colony, to be reunited with their loved ones, and she worked on improving conditions on the ships.

In the 1850s, her focus moved to Victoria, where she got the government to establish roadside shelters for miners caught up in the Ballarat and Bendigo goldrushes.

When Caroline Chisholm converted to Catholic Christianity, she not only felt a burning love for Jesus Christ. She was also filled with a deep compassion for those who suffered. When she saw a need, she did something about it.

In his book Food for the Soul, Peter Kreeft writes that when Jesus commissioned his disciples to serve as his missionaries and evangelists, he didn’t say ‘These words apply to the clergy only.’ Jesus wants all his disciples to take up his mission of spreading the Gospel of love. But how might we do that today?

Kreeft says that we spread the Gospel not only by our words, but also by our deeds. ‘The Gospel that converted the hard-nosed Roman Empire was not first of all beautiful words but beautiful deeds, deeds of love.’

‘You can argue with words,’ he says, ‘but you can’t argue with deeds, with lives, with saints.’ [ii]

Indeed, you can’t argue with Caroline Chisholm’s remarkable work.

Many people who call themselves Christian today seem to live by the creed, ‘never see a need.’ In many ways they are quite switched off. But St Mary of the Cross McKillop, Australia’s first saint, often used to say, ‘Never see a need – without doing something about it.’

Never see a need – without doing something about it.

This is compassion. This is Christian love.

There are unmet needs – large and small – all around us.

What might you do about them?

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[i] Frank Andersen, Jesus: Our Story.HarperCollinsReligious, Sydney, 1994:14.

[ii] Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul – Cycle A. Word on Fire, Park Ridge, IL. 2022:520-521.

Highway to Heaven

[Deut.8:2-3,14-16; 1Cor.10:16-17; Jn.6:51-58]

Many people think that saints aren’t relevant today, because they belong to another age.

What they don’t realise is that every age produces its own saints, and right now, many remarkable young people are on their way to sainthood. One such person is Carlo Acutis, an Italian boy who was born in London in 1991.

Carlo was raised in Milan, and his mother described him as a normal boy who was joyful, sincere and helpful, and loved having friends. ‘To be close to Carlo,’ she said, ‘was to be close to a fountain of fresh water.’

He had a generous heart and like many young people today, he especially loved computer programming, video games and the Internet.

But the beating heart of Carlo’s life was Jesus. He discovered Jesus when he was a little boy. His parents were non-practising Catholics, but they had him baptised and did not object to his First Holy Communion and Confirmation. His mother said that after his First Communion he never missed daily Mass or the Rosary, followed by a moment of Eucharistic adoration. Indeed, whenever he saw a church, he wanted to enter and say hello to Jesus in the tabernacle. He could stay for hours, praying in front of the Cross.

Carlo was fascinated by the Eucharist; he knew it was special. When he was 11, he said ‘the more Eucharist we receive, the more we’ll become like Jesus, so that on this earth we’ll have a foretaste of Heaven’.

He called the Eucharist his ‘Highway to Heaven,’ and asked his parents to take him to the location of every Eucharistic miracle. He also started recording the details of all these miracles, cataloguing 164 of them from all over the world, creating a virtual museum on the Internet for all to see. He also helped create an exhibition that has already travelled the world to thousands of parishes. [i]

Despite his young age, Carlo shared many profound thoughts. He believed that every teenager who wants to be ‘normal,’ can still be holy and individually unique. And he said that his life plan was ‘to always be close to Jesus’.[ii]

He also said that all people are born as originals, but many die as photocopies. If you want to die as an ‘original,’ he said, then you need to be guided by Christ and look at him constantly.

Sadly, in 2006 Carlo was diagnosed with an aggressive type of leukaemia and ten days later, he died.

He had suffered terribly, but his faith in Jesus gave him great courage. He offered up his sufferings for the good of the Pope and the Church, and as he requested, he was buried in his favourite place, Assisi.

In 2020, Pope Francis beatified Carlo, and now he is a patron of the 2023 World Youth Day, in Lisbon. He’s expected to be canonised soon.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, ‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.’

Many people struggle to understand these words; they wonder how the bread and wine at Holy Communion can possibly be the body and blood of Christ. But young Carlo understood. That’s why he was so fascinated by Eucharistic miracles. He knew they were signs pointing to God’s profound love for us. He knew they were evidence of the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

Just nine days after Carlo’s death, another Eucharistic miracle occurred in Tixtla, Mexico. A priest noticed a reddish substance pouring from the host he was holding. Scientific examination later found the reddish substance to be blood type AB, the same as that found on the Shroud of Turin. The blood came from inside the host, and the tissue was found to be heart muscle.[iii]

This finding matches the results of three other Eucharistic miracles as described in Ron Tesoriero and Lee Han’s remarkable book, Unseen. These miracles occurred in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1996), Lanciano, Italy (750 AD), and Sokolka, Poland (actually on the anniversary of Carlo’s death in 2008). 

In all three cases, the Eucharistic host was found to contain human heart tissue and the blood type AB. As well, the white blood cells indicated that the heart was alive and had suffered trauma when the tissue samples were taken. [iv]

The Eucharist is God’s remarkable gift to us. But it’s also a mystery, and that’s why every now and then God gives us a sign – a miracle – to demonstrate what’s really happening.  These miracles show us just how much God loves us, and they confirm the Real Presence of Jesus in every Eucharistic host. 

Yes, every age produces its own special saints.

Carlo Acutis is a very modern saint for today’s world, sent by God to point to the truth of his Eucharistic gift.

(To explore Carlo’s Highway to Heaven go to http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/)

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[i] http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/

[ii] https://www.simplycatholic.com/blessed-carlo-acutis/

[iii] https://zenit.org/articles/eucharistic-miracles-shown-to-the-world-thanks-to-carlo/

[iv] https://reasontobelieve.com.au/unseen/     

When Many Are One

(Acts 2:1-11; 1Cor.12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn.20:19-23)

Sometimes our language fails us, and we find it hard to explain things.

Take God, for example. Some scholars say that God is utterly beyond our capacity to understand or imagine, and always more than anything we can ever say about him.

And yet, some mystic-minded people do have a strong sense of God’s presence. They can achieve a one-ness with God that doesn’t need understanding or imagining or even explaining, because they actually experience him. [i]

Today is Trinity Sunday, and one question that’s often asked is how one God can possibly include three persons.

Sr Lucia, one of the three children who met Our Lady at Fatima, said that we will only really understand the Trinity when we get to heaven. However, if we pick an orange, we can remove the skin and take out the seeds which can be grown, and this leaves us with the sections we can eat.

If in a single orange, then, there are three separate things with three separate purposes, why should we be astonished to find three distinct Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in one God? [ii]

Now, the Bible doesn’t actually use the word ‘Trinity’, but it does recognise each of the three divine Persons. At Pentecost, for example, Jesus says to his disciples, ‘if you love me, you’ll keep my commandments, and I’ll ask the Father, and he’ll give you another Advocate (the Holy Spirit) to be with you always’ (Jn.14:15).  

As well, at Jesus’ baptism, the Father speaks from heaven and the Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove (Mk.1:10-11).

So, we accept the doctrine of the Trinity. But even though we find it hard to fully express the nature of God, we can still learn something of him from the Scriptures.

Our first reading today, for example, tells us that God is ‘a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, and rich in kindness and faithfulness.’ And our Gospel says that ‘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’

Both of these readings remind us that the essence of God is love (1Jn.4:8).

This has immense implications for us in our daily lives, for God is not the cold and distant figure many people think he is.

Indeed, the Trinity is a community of perpetual love, and by reaching out to us, as he has, through the Incarnation of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit, God is constantly trying to draw us into his loving communion.

The Canadian theologian Ron Rolheiser says we don’t need academic books to make God real in our lives, for God is a flow of relationships to be experienced in community, family, parish, friendship, and hospitality. And when we live inside these relationships, God lives inside us and we live inside God.

Rolheiser adds that the most pernicious heresies that block us from properly knowing God are not those of formal dogma, but those of a culture of individualism that invite us to believe that we are self-sufficient, that we can have community and family on our own terms, and that we can have God without dealing with each other. For God is community – and only in opening our lives in gracious hospitality will we ever understand that. [iii]

It’s significant that we’ve all been made in God’s image and likeness, because just as the Father, Son and Spirit are united in love, so we are all meant to come together in our families and communities. Each member of the family or community, like each member of the Trinity, has a different role to play and unique talents to share, but we are all brought together in holy relationship.

We see this in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Jesus didn’t rush about as we tend to do today – he spent 90% of his life living in quiet but loving domesticity. Similarly, when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, she didn’t rush away soon afterwards as so many of us do. Rather, she stayed for months, and in that time they talked, they laughed, they shared and reminisced, and they sat together in quiet reflection.

And when the disciples agreed to follow Jesus, they didn’t add this to all their other responsibilities. They dropped everything else so that they could live together in close communion.

The message of the Trinity is that we are not meant to be alone. We’re all called to live in close connection with those around us – our family, friends, neighbours and co-workers.

Like God in his Trinity, we are all designed for close communion with others.

And the more loving we are, the more Godlike we become

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[i] Brian Gallagher, Taking God to Heart, St Pauls, Strathfield, 2008:59.

[ii] Sr Lucia, Calls from the Message of Fatima, 2008. https://www.amazon.com.au/Calls-Message-Fatima-Mary-Lucia/dp/9728524234

[iii] https://ronrolheiser.com/finding-god-in-community/

Thirst

(Acts 2:1-11; 1Cor.12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn.20:19-23)

Pentecost Sunday marks the end of our Easter season. [i] It’s also the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit entering into our world, filling hearts and transforming lives with power and purpose.

Most people today associate the Holy Spirit with fire. This is a good image, because fire warms, cleanses and enlightens, and we all need these things. As Christians, we like people to be filled with ‘the fire of the Spirit.’

But fire isn’t the Bible’s only image for the Holy Spirit. At Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit appears as a descending dove (Lk.3:22). At Jesus’ transfiguration, he’s a shining cloud (Mt.17.5). In Acts, he’s likened to a rushing wind (2:1-4). [ii] And in John’s Gospel, he’s called a river of living water (7:37-39).

Each of these images is dynamic: flowing water, descending dove, blazing fire, and rushing wind.

But as the Franciscan theologian Richard Rohr points out, the reality for many Christians is that the Holy Spirit is only an afterthought. We don’t really ‘have the Spirit’ at all. We simply go through the motions, formally believing, but without any fire. There’s little conviction and not much service.

That’s why the Gospels clearly distinguish between two baptisms, he says. There’s the baptism with water that most of us are used to, and there’s the baptism ‘with the Holy Spirit and fire’ (Mt.3:11), the one that really matters.

The water baptism that many of us received as children demands little conviction or understanding, Rohr says. But until that water baptism becomes real, until we know Jesus, and we can rely on Jesus, call upon Jesus, share Jesus and love Jesus, then we’re just going along for the ride.

We can recognize people who have had a second baptism in the Spirit, he says. They tend to be loving and exciting. They want to serve others, and not just be served themselves. They forgive life for not being perfect. They forgive themselves for not being perfect, and they forgive their neighbours.

We often pray, ‘Come, Holy Spirit,’ Rohr says, but the truth is that the gifts of the Spirit have already been given to us, because if you’ve been baptised, the Holy Spirit has already come. The only difference is the degree to which we know it, draw upon it, and consciously believe it.

So, if there’s never any movement, energy, excitement, deep love, service, forgiveness, or surrender in your life, you can be sure that you don’t have the Spirit. If you’re just going through the motions without any deep convictions, then you don’t have the Spirit.

In that case, he says, you’d be wise to fan into flame the gift you’ve already received. [iii]

This is important, because we are all born into this world spiritually empty, and deep down, we all thirst for God’s divine presence (Col.2:13). And if we don’t have the Spirit, then we all end up trying to satisfy that thirst with something other than Jesus Christ. 

To satisfy his thirst, Bill Wilson (1895-1971) turned to alcohol. He’d had a very successful career on Wall Street, and for a while he enjoyed drinking, but by 1929 he’d become a hopeless drunk. In 1934, he checked himself into rehab, and took the advice of a friend who said, ‘admit you are licked; get honest with yourself (and) pray… even as an experiment.’ [iv]

Feeling hopeless and helpless, he fell to his knees and cried out ‘God help me!’

‘Suddenly,’ he later said, ‘the room lit up with a great white light. I was caught up into an ecstasy which there are no words to describe. It seemed… that a wind not of air but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man.’

Like St Paul on the road to Damascus, Bill Wilson had a religious epiphany and never drank again. But more than that, he went on to co-found Alcoholics Anonymous, which has since saved countless lives and families.

In 1961, the famous psychologist Carl Jung wrote to Wilson about an alcoholic he had tried to treat in psychotherapy. Jung wrote that his craving for alcohol was the low-level equivalent of the spiritual thirst we all have for wholeness, for union with God. [v]

Of course, drinking alcohol is only one of the many ways that people try to fill their spiritual emptiness. But as Bill Wilson discovered for himself, only the Spirit of Jesus Christ can raise us from death to life.

Only Jesus can satisfy the deep thirst with which we are all born (Ps.23:3).

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[i] The name Pentecost comes from the Greek expression for ‘the 50^th day’, which in the ancient Old Testament referred to the 50^th day after Passover.

[ii] Both the Hebrew word ruach (used in the Old Testament) and the Greek word pneuma (used in the New Testament) can be translated as “wind” or “spirit” (or “breath”), depending on the context.

[iii] Richard Rohr, Daily Meditations 5 June 2022, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/baptism-of-fire-and-spirit-2022-06-05/

[iv] John W Stevens, Bill W. of Alcoholics Anonymous Dies, New York Times, January 26 1971. https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/26/archives/bill-w-of-alcoholics-anonymous-dies-bill-w-oi-alcoholics-anonymous.html#:~:text=Wilson%20recalled%20then%20what%20Ebby,to%20do%20anything%2C%20anything!%E2%80%9D

[v] https://onbeing.org/programs/basil-brave-heart-susan-cheever-spirituality-and-recovery/#transcript

Benefit of the Doubt

(Acts 1:1-11; Eph.1:17-23; Mt.28:16-20)

In today’s Gospel, just before Jesus returns home to heaven, he gives his disciples their Great Commission: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations,’ he says, ‘baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’

This is Jesus’ last command before going home to his Father, and as we know, they do go on to baptise countless new disciples.

There are three words in this reading, however, that many people tend to miss. After reporting that the disciples worshipped Jesus, Matthew adds: ‘but some doubted.’

I love the honesty of the Scriptures: Matthew could so easily have ignored the disciples’ doubts. He could have stressed how ‘committed’ they were to Jesus; but instead, he tells the truth: the disciples didn’t always understand. They loved Jesus, but some still had doubts.

This isn’t surprising, because many biblical saints lived with doubt.

Moses, for example, had doubts when God called him to lead his people out of Egypt. ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ he asked. ‘What if they don’t believe me or listen to me?’ (Ex.3:11, 4:1). But God reassured him, and Moses went on to lead his people to the Promised Land.

The original doubting Thomas, too, couldn’t believe that Jesus was alive after his crucifixion (Jn.20:24-29). John the Baptist wondered if Jesus really was the Messiah (Mt.11:1-15). And Peter started sinking while walking on water . ‘Why did you doubt?’ Jesus asked (Mt.14:31).

Like so many of us, these saints tried to do their best, but they often struggled to understand. Jesus didn’t begrudge any of this, though. He was patient with them.

What all this tells us is that doubt is a natural part of life, especially when something extraordinary happens.

It also tells us that doubt is a natural part of faith. Indeed, it’s an essential part of faith, especially if we want to keep our faith honest and alive.

So, what is doubt? It’s a feeling of uncertainty, perhaps even confusion, that leads us to question things. But asking questions is no bad thing, because it invites us to discover what’s really happening.

It also helps clarify what we truly believe, and the answers we get then become the foundations of our faith. They help make that faith our own. 

But if we stop asking questions, if we no longer work through our doubts, then we stop learning and simply end up borrowing someone else’s beliefs. But that’s not faith; that’s just ideology. 

In a New York Times article, Julia Baird writes that if we don’t accept both the commonality and importance of doubt, then we won’t allow for the possibility of mistakes or misjudgments. And she quotes the philosopher Bertrand Russell, who said that the whole problem with the world is that ‘the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.’ [i]

In other words, it’s only the foolish who refuse to doubt.

Some people’s spiritual doubts don’t last long. Thomas the Apostle only waited eight days to see for himself that Jesus really was alive (Jn.20:25).  

St Paul of the Cross

But for others, such doubts can be far more challenging. After many years of spiritual joy, St Paul of the Cross (1694-1775) found himself plunged into a deep sense of spiritual darkness that lasted for 45 years. It was so painful that he described it as sharing in the Passion of Christ, especially the feeling of being abandoned by God.

That long darkness, however, was followed by five years of sweet consolation, when he received visions of the Virgin Mary, St Michael and the Christ Child. He also often experienced spiritual ecstasies, finding himself entirely absorbed by God.

But through it all, it was his faith that kept him going. St Paul of the Cross never let his struggles discourage him. He knew that they wouldn’t last forever, and that they would win spiritual graces for others who needed help.

So, if you find yourself struggling spiritually, there are some things you can do.

Firstly, talk about it with someone, perhaps a suitable friend or spiritual director, or even a saint who appeals to you (Gal.6:2), and search for answers.

Secondly, if you can’t easily find the answers, then ask Jesus for help (Mk.9:23-25). Remember that in Matthew, Jesus says, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you’ (Mt.7:7-8).

Thirdly, be patient, for it’s in the waiting that we learn (Jas.5:8).

And finally: don’t forget Jesus’ promise to us: ‘I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.’

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[i] Julia Baird, Doubt as a Sign of Faith, New York Times, Sept 25, 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/opinion/julia-baird-doubt-as-a-sign-of-faith.html

The DOs and DON’Ts of Jesus

(Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1Pet.3:15-18; Jn.14:15-21)

Do you love Jesus? Yes or no?

If you say that you love Jesus, then how deep is that love? Do you simply have warm feelings for him, or is it something much deeper than that? 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is talking to his disciples. The Last Supper is over, and he has just washed their feet. Jesus knows he will soon be crucified, so he gives them some final, parting advice.

‘If you love me,’ he says, ‘you will keep my commandments.’

But which commandments are these? He can’t mean the Ten Commandments, because he refers to ‘my commandments.’ So, what are they?

What Jesus is talking about here is all the wisdom he has given us through his many teachings. Perhaps his two best-known commandments are these from Matthew’s Gospel: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. And, You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Mt.22:37-39).

As Jesus tells us, these are the two greatest commandments and the foundation of all the others. But what are his other commandments?

The Irish writer Flor McCarthy has put together a collection of Jesus’ commandments in the form of ‘Dos and Don’ts.’ These are not only helpful, he says, but they are necessary – especially if we are serious about living a good Christian life. Let’s begin with Jesus’ Don’ts:

• Don’t return evil for evil. Nothing is achieved by retaliation, except to pile darkness upon darkness (Mt.5:38-42).
• Don’t judge your neighbour. No one knows all the facts in any particular case except God. Therefore, always leave judgement to God (Mt.7:1-2).
• Don’t condemn your neighbour. This follows from the last. If you should not pass judgement on your neighbour, then you shouldn’t pass sentence on him, either (Mt.7:1).
• Don’t worry about food, and drink, and clothes, as if these were the most important things in life. Make it your first concern to live a life worthy of a son or a daughter of God, and all the rest will fall into place (Mt.6:25,33).
• Don’t store up treasures for yourselves here on earth: money, property, goods, and so on. These are like dust in the eyes of God, dust to be blown away in the first winds of judgement (Mt.6:19-20).
• Don’t look back once you have put your hand to the plough, that is, once you have decided to follow my way. And once you have made what you are sure is a right decision in life, go forward trusting in God (Lk.9:62). And
• Don’t give up hope when times are rough. Keep on trusting in me and in the Father. Remember that you are worth more than a thousand sparrows (Mt.10:31).

And here are Jesus’ Dos:

• Let the light of your goodness shine before people. The light you shed around you will help others find their way, and the Father will be glorified (Mt.5:16).
• Love your enemies. Being kind to those you don’t like, or who may have been unkind to you, is hard. But if you do this, you will be the salt of the earth (Mt.5:43-45).
• Give generously. The measure you give to others will be the measure you will receive from God (Lk.6:38).
• Forgive those who sin against you. Then you have nothing to fear in regard to your own sins. God has already forgiven them (Mt.6:14).
• Clean the inside of cup and dish, and the outside will become clean, too (Mt.23:26).
• See that your minds and hearts are clean. Then all your thoughts, words and deeds will also be clean, like water coming from an unpolluted well (Mt.15:17-20).
• Take my body and eat it. Take this cup and drink my blood. Do this in memory of me. In the Eucharistic Banquet you will find the nourishment you need to live as my disciples (Lk.22:19).
• And love one another, the way I have loved you. Then all will know that you are disciples of mine (Jn.13:35).

Flor McCarthy says these Dos and Don’ts aren’t really commandments; they’re more like guidelines for how we should live. ‘What we are really dealing with,’ he says, ‘is a new spirit, new values and attitudes towards God, towards our neighbour and towards life.’ [I]

Loving Jesus isn’t just a nice thing to do. It’s actually a way of life that has profound meaning and purpose. Jesus’ teachings give shape and direction to the Christian life, and they are essential guideposts to our final destination – heaven.

So, as Jesus says, if you truly love him, then follow his guidelines.

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[i] Flor McCarthy, New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies, Year A – Dominican Publications, Dublin, 2013:141-142.

Deacons

(Acts 6:1-7; 1Pet.2:4-9; Jn.14:1-12)

In the early days of the Church, the apostles couldn’t meet the demand for preaching, prayer, care for the poor and breaking bread.

So, as today’s first reading tells us, they appointed seven good men to help them. According to Tradition, these were the very first deacons and among them was St Stephen, the first Christian martyr. He was stoned to death in 36AD because he was just too good at preaching.

In the following 20 years, the diaconate became well established. We know this because St Paul wrote to Timothy in c.57AD about the character of the ideal deacon. Deacons, he said, need to be chaste, not double-tongued, not given to too much wine, and not driven by profit (1Tim.3:8-13).

Deacons soon became prominent in the Church. They served as bishops’ assistants and ambassadors, and looked after the temporal goods of the Church. They also took the Gospel and Holy Eucharist to where the bishops couldn’t go, and many deacons themselves became bishops and popes.

Over the years, however, the priesthood grew in prominence and the diaconate declined. By the fifth century, deacons no longer worked for bishops; they assisted priests instead. And eventually, in the Latin Church, the diaconate became a mere stepping stone to the priesthood. Even now, a man must become a transitional deacon before his priestly ordination.

After 800AD, permanent deacons were rare, however Pope Gregory VII (1020-1085) was a deacon, and so was St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226).

In the 16^th Century, the Council of Trent (1545-63) decided to restore the permanent diaconate, but didn’t follow it up. In the 1800s, some German theologians recommended that the diaconate be restored to promote the servanthood of the church. (The word ‘deacon’ comes from the Greek diakonos, which means servant.)

And during WWII, when thousands of priests were imprisoned in Dachau in Nazi Germany, they too discussed how the Church might more effectively serve the world after the war. They also proposed the return of deacons as ministers of charity, and in 1963 Vatican II resolved to reintroduce the order.

The first of the new deacons were ordained in the 1970s, and today there are some 47,000 worldwide, compared to about 380,000 priests. The United States has about 18,000 deacons, while Australia has around 200.

We only have 6 deacons in our diocese today, however another ordination is expected very soon and we also have several men discerning their call.

Along with bishops and priests, deacons are ordained members of the clergy. Their role can be summed up by the term Diakonia, because the deacon is called to serve the Church in the name of Jesus Christ who said ‘I am among you as one who serves’ (Lk.22:27). In other words, Jesus himself was a deacon.

St John Paul II once wrote: ‘By the standards of this world, servanthood is despised, but in the wisdom and providence of God, it is the mystery through which Christ redeems the world.’ [i]

How, then, do deacons serve? Through the three core ministries of Liturgy, Word and Charity. In the Liturgy, deacons assist bishops and priests at Mass and in other ceremonies. They conduct baptisms, weddings, funerals and benediction, and take Viaticum to the dying.

In the ministry of the Word, they proclaim the Gospel, and preach and teach.

And in the ministry of Charity, they do many different things, including pastoral counselling, spiritual direction, supporting the sick and dying, military and hospital chaplaincy, working with young people, families and the homeless, parish administration, prison ministry and so on.

In 100AD, St Ignatius of Antioch said that it would be impossible to have a church without bishops, priests and deacons, because their role is nothing less than to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ.[ii]

Deacons contribute significantly to the life of the Church because of their community connections. Through their families, careers and real-world life experiences, they are aware of local needs and they are well-placed to take Jesus Christ to the margins. This is why deacons often work in social justice and outreach.

In 3^rd Century Rome, St Lawrence the deacon distributed alms to the poor, but Emperor Valerian did not approve. He had Pope Sixtus II beheaded and demanded that Lawrence deliver the church’s treasure to the state within three days. Lawrence then gathered the poor of the city and presented them as the treasure of the Church. As punishment, he was roasted on a gridiron.

Thankfully things usually aren’t quite so desperate these days.

But with their humble hearts and filled with sacramental grace, deacons make a meaningful difference to our world today.

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[i] Pope John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, 1980. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30111980_dives-in-misericordia.html

[ii] https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2016/june/documents/papa-francesco_20160610_conferenza-internazionale-diaconato.html