A Homily – Pentecost, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)

First Reading, A – Genesis 11:1-9 ©

First Reading, B – Acts 2:1-11

Psalm, A 32(33):10-15

Psalm, B 106(107):2-9

Psalm, C 103(104):1-2,24,27-30,35

Second Reading, A – Exodus 19:3-8,16-20 ©

Second Reading, B - Romans 8:8-17

Canticle - Daniel 3:52-56

Third Reading – Ezekiel 37:1-14 ©

Fourth Reading – Joel 3:1-5 ©

Fifth Reading – Romans 8:22-27 ©

Sequence – Veni, Sancte Spiritus

Gospel Acclamation

The Gospel According to John, First Reading – John 7:37-39

The Gospel According to John, Second Reading – John 14:15-16,23-26

The Gospel According to John, Third Reading – John 15:26-27,16:12-15 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 This reading we are given today is the story of agrarianism. It details one possible understanding about how cities came to be built in the large agricultural centers. The story, as it comes to us through the Church, is the mythologization of a narrative that reaches back into the age of myth, one that moves farther and farther away from the real events that took place in settlement of the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Indus River valleys.

 Wherever agrarian societies were established, larger populations of people came to be supported. These expanding communities fostered greater number of weaker people, they became targets of attack and so to protect themselves against others, as well as to keep their own population confined, they built walls around their cities and placed their granaries, which also served as temples at their center.

 This narrative concerning the construction of the first tower, the tower of Babel, also marks the beginning of cultic religion. In Mesopotamia these towers were called ziggurats, they served a variety of purposes; as granary and temple they were under the management of the priestly cast, and from the top of these towers the astronomers watched and recorded, and developed the mathematics to predict the movements of the stars in the heavens.

 The move from the nomadic life, the life of the herder and hunter, to agrarianism separated the people into castes. We refer to this as the division of labor, people were grouped into categories such as: field workers, merchants and artisans, warriors, priests and royals. As time passed these castes became increasingly more rigid, and movement between them became nearly impossible for ordinary people…with agrarianism came slavery and servitude enshrined in the laws of gods and men a social tragedy the effects of which we have yet to undo, and which all true prophets struggle against.

 Remember this.

 God is a God of law and order.

 God, the creator of the universe, is not a purveyor of magic tricks, God does not dabble in the supernatural or trade in miracles, which means that we must read the narrative from the Acts of the Apostles as allegory and metaphor.

 Here is the meaning:

 At the time Acts was written the Church had grown to include a great number of people from all parts of the Roman Empire, from Egypt and North Africa, From Arabia and Persia, from all around the Mediterranean, from North and South of the Black Sea.

 In the company of believers there were speakers and translators capable of sharing the Good News in every tongue that was known, from Ethiopia to Brittania, from Carthage to India. Thise with the ability to speak in multiple tongues, were consider both blessed by God for possessing these skills, and a blessing to the community for sharing them…this is the simplest and most natural reading of the story.

 Know this. The psalmist is correct.

 It is fitting to praise God, and wise to trust in God’s counsel (should you receive it), it is wise to have faith in God’s mercy; for God’s counsel you may not receive but divine consolation you will…but do not expect God to rescue you from danger, and do not believe that God’s loves any one of God’s children more than another. God does not intervene in worldly affairs.

 God knows all things and understands all things…you have heard this said.

 God’s understanding is not limited to an abstract knowledge of the particular details pertaining to specific events, God understands our person, our choices, our lives; even as we understand them ourselves, only with a clarity that we could never ourselves possess…because God understands all.

 Therefore trust in God’s plan for you, trust in God’s plan for creation, but do not wait for salvation because the salvation that has been promised, by God through the prophets, is already yours…go out and share the good news.

 Praise the divine and affirm through our faith that God, the creator of the universe is good, that God is not a partisan, that God made us in this world, that God made us and the world itself free.

 Know this.

 The eternal God is the first source and center of all things, the infinite God engenders all potentialities, while interfering with none of them. God does not coerce creation, and yet the entirety of what is moves according to God’s wise purpose.

 Remember.

We must always be diligent in our commitment to expose false theology. We cannot let our imagination linger on fables and myths without at the time naming them for what they are…fables and myths, allegories, analogies and metaphors.

If we took these stories seriously and committed ourselves to them literally, we would have to uphold the tradition that human beings need an intermediary like Moses to pass messages back and forth between the rest of humanity and God. We would have to accept as vital and necessary the institution of a priesthood. We would have to accept the idea that God, has chosen one tribe out of the whole world, to represent God’s will to the people. We would have to believe in the absolute necessity of ritual washing before a person could be acceptable to God. We would have to accept the notion that only specific chosen people, priests of various orders are permitted by God to approach a sacred place, and that God endorses the death penalty for those who violate it.

We would have to accept a myriad of beliefs concerning the function and nature of the blood-taboo. We would have to accept the idea that it is unclean to be or touch a woman…these ideas we cannot accept because they are false, and the first thing we are called to be as Christians is servants of the truth.

We are all the children of God, and God dwells in every heart, God is present in all times and places, where God is present God is present fully, and there is no place where God is not.

There are no intermediaries, God speaks to us directly, male and female, sons and daughters, Jew and gentile; not as a king or a lord, God does not come with pomp and circumstance, God is not heralded with fire and trumpets, with drums and horns…God speaks quietly to those who will listen…God speaks in the voice of love.

Consider the teaching of the apostle, he misses an important point and makes a grievous error:

Know this.

The spirit of God lives in all people. Do not doubt it; we are all God’s children, and God loves every single one of us. The spirit of Jesus lives in all people because we all exist in relationship to one another, and those relationships are an ontological reality. Our relationship to God and Jesus is a determinative factor in the nature of our being, as all of our relationships are, no matter how remote or distant from us in time and space they might be…do not forget this when you read the apostle and see him misconstruing many things.

It is true that we are free to live spiritual lives, lives governed by our most altruistic hopes and values. We do not have to live as animals do, red in tooth and claw. Everyone is a child of God; from the most disciplined and devout, to the most reckless and devilish, and because we are God’s children no one has need to fear God, we are sisters and brothers all created in the divine image and united in the eternal source of all being.

Some of us may suffer more than others…though everyone suffers; Jesus suffered and we honor the hope gave us even in his moment of agony.

Know this.

God does not require or even desire our praise and exaltations, except insofar as those praises take the form of a merciful and generous bearing toward one other. God does not dwell in a temple (exclusively); God is present in all places, in everyone, to everyone.

If you wish to be a servant of God, turn to the person next to you who is in greatest need and serve God through the love and kindness you show to them.

Be mindful.

It has always been understood that Ezekiel's vision is a metaphor; there is not part of this narrative that should be taken literally, and the message is this:

If you hearken too the words of the prophet, you will be restored to life and wellness.

 If you obey the word of God, you will be rewarded.

 All who call on God will be saved, as Isaiah says: in the end every knee shall bend and every tongue confess the name of God.

 It is wise and good to anticipate the coming of God. It is wise and good to desire to be in the presence of God; anticipate that moment, relish it, cherish it, but remain present to the people and events that are actually occurring in your life.

 When you are in prayer, and your thoughts are unformed, when your feelings are unclear and no words come to your mind, or when the words that do come are inappropriate for prayer; then be silent, quiet your mind, still the murmurs in your heart, let go of the voices; be silent and listen…let your prayer be an act of listening.

 Be mindful.

 The same prayers we pray for ourselves, are the prayers we are called on to pray for everyone, even our adversaries, including our most bitter enemies. If you pray for light of understanding, if you pray for life and peace, if you pray for solace and grace, if you pray for healing and guidance, if you pray for any blessing at all, make that prayer for everyone.

 Consider the Gospel readings for today; follow Jesus along the way.

 The way is life, trust in Jesus and keep to the way.

 Let the thirsty come, serve them and be replenished, your thirst will be relieved.

 Know this.

 Belief is not a coin we exchange for access to God, no-one is at the gate waiting to punch your ticket; there is no gatekeeper, there is no gate, simply come if you are thirsty…drink and be restored.

 Do not muddle around in the rhetoric of John or allow John’s confusion to stop you; when John attempts to qualify the hopeful message he received from Jesus, to narrow the path and put stumbling blocks in your path, John deviates from the way.

 Remember this!

 The spirit has always been with us, all things coming into being by the spirit of God, we are all sustained by God’s spirit and we will return to God just as the rain returns to the sea.

 God abandons no-one. God will leave no orphans, no-one will be left behind or stranded in the world. Not one of us shall be lost…this is the gospel.

 All people dwell within God, without whom not one person, thing or being would exist; this is our faith…God is with us!

 Be mindful!

 Our salvation is not transactional, we are saved because God wills it, God wills it because God loves us…God loves each and every one one of us.

 There is no division in the divine, the infinite and eternal being is inclusive of all reality, no-one is excluded. Every person who ever was, who is, who ever will be, is present within the divine spirit, as such they are present within each of us, for each of us carries the divine with ourselves…and there is not division in the divine.

 Jesus was the son of God, as each of us is a child of God, a daughter or a son; therefore love one another as God loves you and do not be afraid, for life on Earth is merely a passage to another world. We experience it as the unfolding a mystery, when we cross the threshold we will all see clearly the truth that unites.

 Everything and everyone, returns to the creator, in so doing we come to the understanding that we were never one apart.

 Listen to your sister, to your brother, listen because they have something important to say. Each one of us has the potential to speak for God, to be God’s prophet and to advocate for the work of Christ. We all have that potential, at any moment on any day it might rise within us, be prepared to speak to it when it does, and also know this: the potential within us is coiled around our potential to fail.

 God has ordained that we are one and nothing, not even the power of sin can rend asunder what God has joined.

 Listen!

 There is no deception in God, no falsehood, no fabrication, no prevarication. The divine does not lie. Those who claim to speak for the divine must not lie or mislead, cover-up or hide.

 Know this.

 We are human and prone to error, but there is no error in God. When those who have ascended to positions of leadership in Christian communities lie to you, you must reject them.

 Some will commit errors because they are honestly confused, but many others commit errors that are willful. They know they are lying to you and they do it anyway; they do it for wealth, they do it for power, they do it to hide from their shame (whatever that might be).

 These people have abandoned Jesus, maybe not in the whole of their lives, but in their lying they have, and every time they repeat their lies they do.

 Be mindful.

 We have all forsaken God at one time or another, but God has never forsaken us…God never will.

 

First Reading, A – Genesis 11:1-9 ©

The Tower of Babel

Throughout the earth men spoke the same language, with the same vocabulary. Now as they moved eastwards they found a plain in the land of Shinar where they settled. They said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them in the fire.’ (For stone they used bricks, and for mortar they used bitumen). ‘Come,’ they said ‘let us build ourselves a town and a tower with its top reaching heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, so that we may not be scattered about the whole earth.’

  Now the Lord came down to see the town and the tower that the sons of man had built. ‘So they are all a single people with a single language!’ said the Lord. ‘This is but the start of their undertakings! There will be nothing too hard for them to do. Come, let us go down and confuse their language on the spot so that they can no longer understand one another.’ The Lord scattered them thence over the whole face of the earth, and they stopped building the town. It was named Babel therefore, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth. It was from there that the Lord scattered them over the whole face of the earth.

 

First Reading, B – Acts 2:1-11

They Were All Filled with the Holy Spirit and Began to Speak

When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.

  Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely’ they said ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome – Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’

 

 

Psalm, A 32(33):10-15

The Lord provides

Praise is fitting for loyal hearts.

Rejoice in the Lord, you just:

  it is good for the upright to praise him.

Proclaim the Lord on the lyre,

  play his song on the ten-stringed harp.

Sing a new song to the Lord,

  sing out your cries of triumph,

for the word of the Lord is truly just,

  and all his actions are faithful.

The Lord loves justice and right judgement;

  the earth is full of his loving kindness.

By the Lord’s word the heavens were made,

  and all their array by the breath of his mouth.

He gathered the seas as if in a bag,

  he stored up the depths in his treasury.

Let every land fear the Lord,

  let all the world be awed at his presence.

For he spoke, and they came into being;

  he commanded, and they were made.

The Lord confounds the counsel of the nations,

  throws the thoughts of the peoples into confusion.

But the Lord’s own counsel stands firm for ever,

  his thoughts last for all generations.

Happy the nation whose lord is God,

  the people he has chosen as his inheritance.

The Lord looks down from the heavens

  and sees all the children of men.

From his dwelling-place he looks

  upon all who inhabit the earth.

He moulded each one of their hearts,

  he understands all that they do.

The king will not be saved by his forces;

  the abundance of his strength will not set the strong man free.

Do not trust a horse to save you,

  whatever its swiftness and strength.

For see, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

  upon those who trust in his mercy,

hoping he will save their souls from death

  and their bodies from hunger.

Our souls praise the Lord,

  for he is our help and our protector,

for our hearts rejoice in him,

  and we trust in his holy name.

Lord, show us your loving kindness,

  just as we put our hope in you.

 

Psalm, B 106(107):2-9

Let Them Thank the Lord for His Love, for the Wonders He Does for Men

Alleluia.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

  for his kindness is for ever.

Let them say this, the people the Lord has redeemed,

  those whom he rescued from their enemies

  whom he gathered together from all lands,

  from east and west, from the north and the south.

They wandered through desert and wilderness,

  they could find no way to a city they could dwell in.

Their souls were weary within them,

  weary from hunger and thirst.

They cried to the Lord in their trouble

  and he rescued them from their distress.

He set them on the right path

  towards a city they could dwell in.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,

  for the wonders he works for men:

the Lord, who feeds hungry creatures

  and gives water to the thirsty to drink.

They sat in the darkness and shadow of death,

  imprisoned in chains and in misery,

because they had rebelled against the words of God

  and spurned the counsels of the Most High.

He wore out their hearts with labour:

  they were weak, there was no-one to help.

They cried to the Lord in their trouble

  and he rescued them from their distress.

He led them out of the darkness and shadow of death,

  he shattered their chains.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,

  for the wonders he works for men:

the Lord, who shatters doors of bronze,

  who breaks bars of iron.

The people were sick because they transgressed,

  afflicted because of their sins.

All food was distasteful to them,

  they were on the verge of death.

They cried to the Lord in their trouble

  and he rescued them from their distress.

He sent forth his word and healed them,

  delivered them from their ruin.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,

  for the wonders he works for men:

Let them offer a sacrifice of praise

  and proclaim his works with rejoicing.

Those who go down to the sea in ships,

  those who trade across the great waters –

they have seen the works of the Lord,

  the wonders he performs in the deep.

He spoke, and a storm arose,

  and the waves of the sea rose up.

They rose up as far as the heavens

  and descended down to the depths:

the sailors’ hearts melted from fear,

  they staggered and reeled like drunkards,

  terror drove them out of their minds.

But they cried to the Lord in their trouble

  and he rescued them from their distress.

He turned the storm into a breeze

  and silenced the waves.

They rejoiced at the ending of the storm

  and he led them to the port that they wanted.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,

  for the wonders he works for men:

let them exalt him in the assembly of the people,

  give him praise in the council of the elders.

The Lord has turned rivers into wilderness,

  he has made well-watered lands into desert,

  fruitful ground into salty waste

  because of the evil of those who dwelt there.

But he has made wilderness into ponds,

  deserts into the sources of rivers,

he has called together the hungry

  and they have founded a city to dwell in.

They have sowed the fields, planted the vines;

  they grow and harvest their produce.

He has blessed them and they have multiplied;

  he does not let their cattle decrease.

But those others became few and oppressed

  through trouble, evil, and sorrow.

He poured his contempt on their princes

  and set them to wander the trackless waste.

But the poor he has saved from their poverty

  and their families grow numerous as sheep.

The upright shall see, and be glad,

  and all wickedness shall block up its mouth.

Whoever is wise will remember these things

  and understand the mercies of the Lord.

 

Psalm, C 103(104):1-2,24,27-30,35

Hymn to God the Creator

Lord, My God, How Great You are!

Alleluia.

Bless the Lord, my soul!

  Lord, my God, how great you are!

You are robed in majesty and splendour;

  you are wrapped in light as in a cloak.

You stretch out the sky like an awning,

  you build your palace upon the waters.

You make the clouds your chariot,

  you walk upon the wings of the wind.

You make the breezes your messengers,

  you make burning fire your minister.

You set the earth upon its foundation:

  from age to age it will stand firm.

Deep oceans covered it like a garment,

  and the waters stood high above the mountains;

but you rebuked them and they fled;

  at the sound of your thunder they fled in terror.

They rise to the mountains or sink to the valleys,

  to the places you have decreed for them.

You have given them a boundary they must not cross;

  they will never come back to cover the earth.

You make springs arise to feed the streams,

  that flow in the midst of the mountains.

All the beasts of the field will drink from them

  and the wild asses will quench their thirst.

Above them will nest the birds of the sky,

  from among the branches their voices will sound.

From your palace you water the mountains,

  and thus you give plenty to the earth.

You bring forth grass for the cattle,

  and plants for the service of man.

You bring forth bread from the land,

  and wine to make man’s heart rejoice.

Oil, to make the face shine;

  and bread to make man’s heart strong.

The trees of the Lord have all that they need,

  and the cedars of Lebanon, that he planted.

Small birds will nest there,

  and storks at the tops of the trees.

For wild goats there are the high mountains;

  the crags are a refuge for the coneys.

He made the moon so that time could be measured;

  the sun knows the hour of its setting.

You send shadows, and night falls:

  then all the beasts of the woods come out,

lion cubs roaring for their prey,

  asking God for their food.

When the sun rises they come back together

  to lie in their lairs;

man goes out to his labour,

  and works until evening.

How many are your works, O Lord!

  You have made all things in your wisdom,

  and the earth is full of your creatures.

The sea is broad and immense:

  sea-creatures swim there, both small and large,

  too many to count.

Ships sail across it;

  Leviathan lives there, the monster;

  you made him to play with.

All of them look to you

  to give them their food when they need it.

You give it to them, and they gather;

  you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

But turn away, and they are dismayed;

  take away their breath, and they die,

  once more they will turn into dust.

You will send forth your breath, they will come to life;

  you will renew the face of the earth.

Glory be to the Lord, for ever;

  let the Lord rejoice in his works.

He turns his gaze to the earth, and it trembles;

  he touches the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord all my life;

  as long as I exist, I will sing songs to God.

May my praises be pleasing to him;

  truly I will delight in the Lord.

Let sinners perish from the earth,

  let the wicked vanish from existence.

Bless the Lord, my soul!

 

Second Reading, A – Exodus 19:3-8,16-20 ©

Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God

Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Say this to the House of Jacob, declare this to the sons of Israel:

  ‘“You yourselves have seen what I did with the Egyptians, how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself. From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own, for all the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.”

  ‘Those are the words you are to speak to the sons of Israel.’

  So Moses went and summoned the elders of the people, putting before them all that the Lord had bidden him. Then all the people answered as one, ‘All that the Lord has said, we will do.’

  Now at daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. The mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up, and the whole mountain shook violently. Louder and louder grew the sound of the trumpet. Moses spoke, and God answered him with peals of thunder. The Lord came down on the mountain of Sinai, on the mountain top, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain.

 

Second Reading, B - Romans 8:8-17

Everyone Moved by the Spirit is a Son of God

People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your interests, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.

  So then, my brothers, there is no necessity for us to obey our unspiritual selves or to live unspiritual lives. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body you will live.

  Everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God. The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God. And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.

 

Canticle - Daniel 3:52-56

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestors, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; and blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.

Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all forever.

Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, praiseworthy and glorious forever.

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.

 

Third Reading – Ezekiel 37:1-14 ©

A Vision of Israel's Death and Resurrection

The hand of the Lord was laid on me, and he carried me away by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley, a valley full of bones. He made me walk up and down among them. There were vast quantities of these bones on the ground the whole length of the valley; and they were quite dried up. He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘You know, Lord.’ He said, ‘Prophesy over these bones. Say, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says this to these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live. I shall put sinews on you, I shall make flesh grow on you, I shall cover you with skin and give you breath, and you will live; and you will learn that I am the Lord.”’ I prophesied as I had been ordered. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a sound of clattering; and the bones joined together. I looked, and saw that they were covered with sinews; flesh was growing on them and skin was covering them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, “The Lord says this: Come from the four winds, breath; breathe on these dead; let them live!”’ I prophesied as he had ordered me, and the breath entered them; they came to life again and stood up on their feet, a great, an immense army.

  Then he said, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They keep saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope has gone; we are as good as dead.” So prophesy. Say to them, “The Lord says this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.”’

 

Fourth Reading – Joel 3:1-5 ©

I Will Pour Out My Spirit on All Mankind

Thus says the Lord:

‘I will pour out my spirit on all mankind.

Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men see visions.

Even on the slaves, men and women, will I pour out my spirit in those days.

I will display portents in heaven and on earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.’

The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord dawns,

that great and terrible day.

All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, for on Mount Zion there will be some who have escaped, as the Lord has said, and in Jerusalem some survivors whom the Lord will call.

 

Fifth Reading – Romans 8:22-27 ©

The Spirit Himself Expresses Our Plea in a Way that Could Never be Put into Words

From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free. For we must be content to hope that we shall be saved – our salvation is not in sight, we should not have to be hoping for it if it were – but, as I say, we must hope to be saved since we are not saved yet – it is something we must wait for with patience.

  The Spirit too comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.

 

Sequence – Veni, sancte Spiritus

Holy Spirit, Lord of Light,

From the clear celestial height

Thy pure beaming radiance give.

Come, thou Father of the poor,

Come with treasures which endure

Come, thou light of all that live!

Thou, of all consolers best,

Thou, the soul’s delightful guest,

Dost refreshing peace bestow

Thou in toil art comfort sweet

Pleasant coolness in the heat

Solace in the midst of woe.

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.

Thou, on us who evermore

Thee confess and thee adore,

With thy sevenfold gifts descend:

Give us comfort when we die

Give us life with thee on high

Give us joys that never end.

 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John, First Reading – John 7:37-39

'If Any Man is Thirsty, Let Him Come To Me!'

On the last day and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood there and cried out:

‘If any man is thirsty, let him come to me!

Let the man come and drink who believes in me!’

As scripture says: From his breast shall flow fountains of living water.

  He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive; for there was no Spirit as yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

 

The Gospel According to John, Second Reading – John 14:15-16,23-26

The Holy Spirit Will Teach You Everything

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘If you love me you will keep my commandments.

I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you for ever.

‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.

Those who do not love me do not keep my words.

And my word is not my own:

it is the word of the one who sent me.

I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.

 

The Gospel According to John, Third Reading – John 15:26-27,16:12-15 ©

The Spirit of Truth Will Lead You to the Complete Truth

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness.

And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset.

‘I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now.

But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come.

He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.

Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said:

All he tells you will be taken from what is mine.’in my power to take it up again; and this is the command I have been given by my Father.’

A Homily – Pentecost, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)

 

The Feast of Saint Justin the Martyr, Christian Philosopher

Today is the feast of Saint Justin the Martyr, a Christian philosopher of the second century who was put to death, together with his students, at the very beginning of the Christian era, around the year 165 CE.

Few of his writings have survived, but the work we do have demonstrates the broad influence Saint Justin had in shaping our understanding of Jesus as the second person of the trinity, the Son of God, an incarnation of the divine logos.

Justin established the theology that Jesus of Nazareth, Joshua bin Joseph, was the embodied manifestation of God’s rational aspect, the principle of divine reason alive in the world.

His work established the notion that all people carry a seed of the Word within them, insofar as all people are created in the divine image and thereby share in the being of God. This doctrine is referred to as the Logos Spermatikos and it stands in stark distinction to the much more pessimistic theology of Saint Augustine of Hippo developed three hundred and fifty years later, at the beginning of the Church’s imperial era.[1]

Justin’s theology suggests that when God breathed life into Adam, God imparted to his creature God’s own self…like a seed of the divine, God planted within Adam, and the descendants of Adam (humanity writ large), a yearning for the truth and the ability to become transformed by the truth, through the agency of the divine logos as we encounter it in ourselves and see it reflected in our fellow human beings, thus making humankind into the creatures that Aristotle referred to as “the rational animal.”

Justin also taught that the divine is indivisible, that wherever God is present God is present fully, in person and in attribute.

In other words: he taught that human beings, who bear a seed of the word within themselves, must therefore bear the fullness of God within themselves.

Justin held to the nation that by Adam’s sin our connection to the divine within us became corrupted, occluding our experience of grace, causing the seed within us to become dormant, like grain buried in a dry field. He taught that that the reality of sin functions as an existential barrier within us that cuts us off from our inherent potential and the ability to live our lives in the fullness of God’s promise. Suggesting that sin, to the extent that we are engaged in it (and all of us are) undermines our capacity to understand the truth, perceive beauty and do good, sin interferes with our desire for justice and our capacity for mercy; though it does not obviate our connection to the divine, Justin taught that it is due to sin the connection enters a stage of latency for which baptism was the cure, nourishing and enlivening the dormant seed with us, as ordinary water is to the ordinary seed, baptism confers grace and activates our potential. Baptism confers grace, facilitating the germination of the seed, which opens us to the real presence of God that has always been within us.

[1] Augustine devised the doctrine of original sin, arguing that humanity does not share in the being of God (individually or corporately) because we are created ex nihilo, out of nothing.

A Homily – The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year C)

First Reading – Acts 7:55-60 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 96(97):1-2,6-7,9 ©

Second Reading – Apocalypse 22:12-14,16-17,20 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:18

The Gospel According to John – John 17:20-26 ©

 

 (NJB)

 

Listen!

 The good Saint Stephen did not need to die that day; Christians we are not called to be fanatics.

 When Stephen had his vision he did not see Jesus at the right hand of God, we know this because God and Christ in heaven are not embodied beings, they are not visible to the eye, they have no hands...Stephen was either speaking metaphorically, or he was ill.

 It is a tragedy that he died for speaking in these allegories, there was much more good work for him to do along the way; his martyrdom cut that short.

 Be mindful.

 God is not concerned with earthly title and honors, or the fawning obsequiousness of human beings. It is we who are obsessed with questions of kingship, not the divine.

 God is Abba, father; Jesus is brother, teacher…he came to us in friendship, and to show us the way.

 God is the keeper of a garden, not the king of kings, or the ruler of empires. Rejoice in this, we are all children of God, and God has no enemies. God is the creator of all things, and without a single note of coercion, in the end all things conform to the will God, who is humble and just, merciful and loving.

 In the presence of God there will be no dismay, as Isaiah promised: God shall wipe the tears from everyone’s face, and everyone is invited to share God’s table.

 Be mindful.

If you have never worshipped a graven image, do not think you are superior to any who have, because idolatry can be found in more than the worship of objects; idolatry is most insidious when presented in the form of doctrine and dogma, creeds and decretals that condition out ideas and beliefs.

 Know this:

 The promise of John’s revelation is that every person will receive what they deserve…as  children of God we will receive God’s love and be forgiven, just as Jesus prayed when he was dying on the cross; we will all receive mercy, we will be cleansed and made well, healed and made happy.

 We will be whole.

 The hungry will be fed, and the thirsty will drink; God will sustain us as God always, has and the  gift of divine sustenance is free. This is the gospel, it is the promise of God.

 Understand this!

 There are passages in which the Gospels provide the reader with only a tangled set of words and confused concepts that do little to shed light on anything good or meaningful; the Gospel for today is such a passage, therefor you must consider it carefully.

 It is nearly impossible to get an accurate bead on the meaning from today’s reading; set aside for a moment that of the four Gospels, the Johannine Gospel has the least concern for historical accuracy. The Gospel produced by John’s community was written more than one hundred and twenty years after Jesus’ death. It is likely that the event portrayed here never happened, that Jesus never spoke these words in this way; he may have said something like it, but that is neither here nor there. This meandering passage represents the thoughts and feelings of John’s community at the end of the first century CE, not the thoughts and feelings of Jesus of Nazareth as he was engaged in his ministry…they had different missions and different concerns.

 Jesus opened the way for all, while John narrows the way for most. This Gospel represents the mystical and mysterious way in which Christians had come to see the life of Jesus, and Jesus’s relationship to God, the creator of the Universe. It represents this in terms that have a connection to the prevailing philosophical beliefs regarding the metaphysical structure of reality, but does nothing to explicate the system of beliefs it is specifically engaging…much less does it teach the way as a lived reality.

 It is poor theology.

 This type of thinking has been a burden on the faith; it should be struck from the cannon. It is impossible for us to know what the Gospel writers meant, or what the limits of their thinking were, never mind the fact that the metaphysical systems of the ancient world were false…wrong…errant, there is little in these thought systems that can help us understand ourselves, the world we live in, or our relationship to the divine.

 Know this.

 Jesus prayed to God on behalf of his followers, he prayed that they would understand both his mission and the mission that he was passing on to them.

 He prayed for their unity, he prayed that they love one another, and that the message they carried forward in his name be a message of love and hope.

 This Gospel passage has the appearance of being directed specifically to Christians, and that is unfortunate because the mission of Jesus crosses all boundaries; sectarian, national, ethnic and gender.

 Furthermore, this Gospel passage is overly concerned with the message regarding the identity of Jesus; it is dogmatic, it pushes the message of who John’s community believed Jesus was, over the mission had assigned to his disciples to preach the love of God. In this way the Gospel deviates from the faith.

 Who Jesus was in the world and what we believe about him, those matters are not germane. Such beliefs have no bearing on the way that is meant to be foundation of Christian life.

 As followers of the way, rather than concerning ourselves with who we believe Jesus was, we need to concern ourselves with how Jesus was in the world, and with how we may be able to live a loving life of humble service according to the standard Jesus set.

First Reading - Acts 7:55-60 ©

The Stoning of Stephen

Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’; and with these words he fell asleep.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 96(97):1-2,6-7,9 ©

The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.

Alleluia!

The Lord is king, let earth rejoice,

  the many coastlands be glad.

  His throne is justice and right.

The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.

The skies proclaim his justice;

  all peoples see his glory.

  All you spirits, worship him.

The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.

For you indeed are the Lord

  most high above all the earth,

  exalted far above all spirits.

The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Apocalypse 22:12-14,16-17,20 ©

Come, Lord Jesus

I, John, heard a voice speaking to me: ‘Very soon now, I shall be with you again, bringing the reward to be given to every man according to what he deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Happy are those who will have washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city.’

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to make these revelations to you for the sake of the churches. I am of David’s line, the root of David and the bright star of the morning.

The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ Let everyone who listens answer, ‘Come.’ Then let all who are thirsty come: all who want it may have the water of life, and have it free.

The one who guarantees these revelations repeats his promise: I shall indeed be with you soon. Amen; come, Lord Jesus.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:18

Alleluia, alleluia!

I will not leave you orphans, says the Lord; I will come back to you, and your hearts will be full of joy.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 17:20-26 ©

Father, May they Be Completely One

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:

‘Holy Father, I pray not only for these, but for those also who through their words will believe in me.

May they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.

I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one.

With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one that the world will realise that it was you who sent me and that I have loved them as much as you loved me.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Father, Righteous One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.

I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.

 

A Homily – The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year C)

A Homily – The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)

First Reading - Zephaniah 3:14-18

Responsorial Psalm – Isaiah 12

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 1:45

The Gospel According to Luke 1:39-56

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God is not a warrior and God does not intervene in human affairs, either to pass judgement, pardon or grant reprieve. God has no enemies, because the divine being is love.

There is wisdom in the words of the prophet: be patient; salvation flows from the wellspring of eternal being; enter the living stream, step into the way, let it carry you from this life into the arms of the God the infinitely compassionate.

Consider the Gospel reading for today.

The writers of Mark began their narrative when Jesus of Nazareth, otherwise known as Joshua son of Joseph, was an adult, at the beginning of his public ministry, but the early Christians wanted more, and so the authors of Luke brought their narrative back in time, making a fable of his conception and birth. In their story they attempted to tie-up and cinch-off a variety of loose threads in the stories that were being told about Jesus in their own day, and in so doing they hoped to unite different factions of the Christian movement who had already begun to diverge in their beliefs about Jesus, the meaning of the Gospel and the mission of the Church.

The narrative we are give today was meant to appeal to the followers of John the Baptist by bringing forth the notion that Jesus and John were actually cousins, and that even though John was older, he was a follower of Jesus from the time he was in the womb. It subordinates Johns to Jesus in the same way that John’s mother was subordinate to Mary…the whole thing is a fiction.

That today’s reading made it into the cannon is unfortunate, because a great deal of theology and doctrine has been hung from these exercises in make believe, and are little more than naked political calculations meant to manipulate the burgeoning Church

The succeeding Gospels each in their turn employed the same literary technique, reaching farther back further in time; the writers of Matthew inserted a confusing genealogy; tracing Jesus’ heritage back to Adam, through David on his father’s side. And yet, at the same time we are asked to believe that Joseph was not his biological father…it is nonsense, and has been criticized for being nonsense from the moment it was penned.

Regardless of these failures of the human imagination, rejoice in the divine, rejoice that we who are infinitely less than the infinite being who created us, the universe and everything in it, rejoice in the reality that we have received the blessing of God, that we are children of the divine, animated by the same spirit that animate Jesus and Mary, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Rejoice in God’s mercy and do not fear.

First Reading - Zephaniah 3:14-18

The Lord, the King of Israel, is in Your Midst

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud!

Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!

The Lord has repealed your sentence; he has driven your enemies away.

The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst; you have no more evil to fear.

When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem:

Zion, have no fear, do not let your hands fall limp.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior.

He will exult with joy over you, he will renew you by his love; he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Isaiah 12

The Rejoicing of a Redeemed People

Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Truly, God is my salvation,

  I trust, I shall not fear.

For the Lord is my strength, my song,

  he became my saviour.

With joy you will draw water

  from the wells of salvation.

Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name!

  Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!

  Declare the greatness of his name.

Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Sing a psalm to the Lord

  for he has done glorious deeds;

  make them known to all the earth!

People of Zion, sing and shout for joy,

  for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Luke 1:45

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke 1:39-56

The Almighty Has Done Great Things For Me

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

  And Mary said:

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.

Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.

Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart.

He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy – according to the promise he made to our ancestors – of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

 

A Homily – The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)

A Homily – Feast of the Ascension, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)

First Reading – Acts 1:1-11 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 46(47):2-3,6-9

Second Reading - Ephesians 1:17-23©

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 28:19,20

The Gospel According to Luke – 24:46-53 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 Place yourself into the mindset of the disciples, and following them the authors of the Book of Acts, men and women who cling to the notion of Jesus came to establish a messianic kingdom in Israel. Jesus directs their attention away from Jerusalem to the broader world, a world beyond Palestine and the power of empires…then he left. The disciples taught that they and all of his other followers, that everyone who witnessed the event were filled with a pro-found hope in the expectation of his return…they possessed the vanity of a psalmist.

 Know this.

 It is right to praise God, the creator of the Universe, but it is not right to assume that God favors one people over another, and that God makes one nation the subject of another, that God puts any people under God’s feet, or under the feet of another…the disciples were not given the authority to rule the world, and because they never had it they did not pass it on to those who inherited their work….the church today does not possess it either.

 God, the true God, the God of love and mercy, the God of Jesus shuns war and abhors violence. The Christian God is not king; Jesus imagined God as a understanding parent and a caring friend who mourns for Jacob, is saddened by Israel and grieves for the church.

 Nevertheless, do as the psalmist asks and sing praises to the divine and give thanks for the grace we receive. Praise God, but do not look for God to be seated on a throne in the palace of a walled city; look for God in the garden, find God’s spirit in the face of your neighbor.

 Be mindful.

 If the armies of the world truly belonged to God, God would disband them in an instant, and send all of the soldiers home to their families.

 Remember the life of Jesus, and God; whom he called abba…meaning papa.

 Is God glorious?

 Indeed, God is the creator of the universe, and yet in God’s view the most exalted place to be is in relationship to us, each one of us as children of the divine.

 Therefore, we pray that each and every one of us comes to the full knowledge of God, to love the wayward among us as a parent loves their child.

 There is hope in the knowledge of God, and the hopes we have for ourselves, the hopes we have for those we love are to be extended to everyone, even those we do not love…this is the way.

 If you think that God has promised riches and glories, as the inheritance of the saints, bear in mind that the first will be last and the last will be first, and that spiritual riches are not counted in gold and silver and precious things.

 Understand this.

 There are good intentions in these words from the apostle, but poor execution; God and Jesus are not merely above all other powers in the world. The divine is beyond all such conventions.

 Know this:

 Matthew says that the “Great Commission” grants authority to the group of disciples that survived Jesus’ arrest and execution…this is a piece of propaganda.

 It is likely that the event itself never happened, but the authors of Matthew’s Gospel, writing over one hundred years after Jesus was killed, thought it necessary to establish their authority to speak and act in Jesus’ name (exclusively) into the sacred text.

 This is a con…predicated on a fabricated narrative, which is a problem

 Besides this little detail of foolishness, the message itself is reasonable; it articulates the basic mission of the church, to turn all-people of all-nations into followers of the way, into seekers of justice and servants of truth, people who care for the stranger, the widow and the orphan.

 Consider the Gospel reading for the day:

 It is mythology and metaphor…the message here is not “see, how it is written,” as if these events had been foretold, but see here what I am writing in his name, that Jesus, the anointed one of God (the Christ), has begun the ministry of repentance, which began with his cousin John and is now to spread from Jerusalem to every nation. It is a command: to preach the good news, the forgiveness of sins, the liberation of the captive and the salvation of all people.

 Jesus then encourages his followers to stay in Jerusalem until the time is right, to increase in number and grow in strength…then he was gone. 

First Reading – Acts 1:1-11 ©

Jesus Was Lifted Up While They Looked On

In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. 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. When he had been at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. ‘It is’ he had said ‘what you have heard me speak about: John baptised with water but you, not many days from now, will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’

  Now having met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but 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.’

  As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky when suddenly two men in white were standing near them and they said, ‘Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 46(47):2-3,6-9

The Lord is King

Cry to God with shouts of joy.

All nations, clap your hands;

  cry out to God in exultation,

for the Lord, the Most High, is greatly to be feared,

  and King over all the earth.

He has made whole peoples our subjects,

  put nations beneath our feet.

He has chosen our inheritance for us,

  the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

God ascends amid rejoicing,

  the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.

Sing to God, sing praise.

  Sing to our king, sing praise.

God is king over the whole earth:

  sing to him with all your skill.

God reigns over the nations;

  God sits on his holy throne.

The nobles of the peoples join together

  with the people of the God of Abraham,

for to God belong the armies of the earth;

  he is high above all things.

 

Second Reading - Ephesians 1:17-23 ©

Brothers and sisters:

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might:

which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,

which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 28:19,20

Alleluia, alleluia!

Go, make disciples of all the nations.

I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke – 24:46-53

He Withdrew From Them and Was Carried Up Into Heaven

Jesus said to his disciples:

  ‘You see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.

  ‘And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.’

  Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God.

 

A Homily – Feast of the Ascension, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)