My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord: Homily for the Feast of the Visitatioin

Lk 1:39-56

 

Mary’s Visitation to Elizabeth makes the entire gospel more human.  It is the sort of event that could, and does, occur in any of our lives.  Reading between the lines fleshes out the story’s humanity. 

 

Upon learning that she was to be the Mother of Jesus, Mary went to visit her relative Elizabeth who was in her sixth month of pregnancy.  Kinship was understood differently in the Ancient Near East than it is today, thus, we will never know how Mary and Elizabeth were related.

 

Mary did not have an easy time traveling no matter how sentimental painted images are.  It was about 80 miles from Nazareth to Elizabeth's house in Hebron 

as the crow flies.  It was closer to 100 miles when following established routes.

To get an idea of the distance, walk out of the driveway here, make a right and stop in Hartford, CT.

 

Someone traveling unencumbered on foot could cover about 20 miles a day.  Thus, Mary's journey to visit Elizabeth would have taken a minimum of five to seven days. But, given that the dangers of being on the road were as risky then as they are today. she would have traveled with a caravan rather than alone.

The trek could have taken much longer than seven days. 

 

But eventually there they were,  two women, one older than the other.  What did they talk about? Did Mary stay until John's birth as pious legend holds or did she leave before John’s birth?  What did Mary think about on her return trip to Nazareth, a trip that was no shorter than the one from Nazareth to Elizabeth’s home. And Mary was now three months pregnant. 

 

Mary's prayer in response to Elizabeth’s greeting, known as the Magnificat, is recited every evening at vespers.  Over the centuries it has been set to music by many composers.

 

"Magnificat anima meo Dominum

Et exsultavit spiritus meus 

in Deo salutaris meo."

 

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, 

my spirit rejoices in God my savior."  

 

Certain lilies that must never be gilded. Mary's Magnificat is one of them.  The prayer speaks of quiet contemplation and profound understanding of God's will. 

It is meant for the solitude of our souls and the silence of our hearts.  It does not require academic debate, acrimonious argument, or a gender-neutral feminist translation.  The Magnificat requires nothing but daily repetition and frequent meditation. 

 

Mary and Elizabeth demonstrate fidelity even when things don't seem to  fit together.  They are examples fidelity despite dramatic and unexpected life changes.  They are models for those who find themselves in places and situations they never expected. 

 

Reread the Magnificat  later today.  Spend some time sitting with these two women. Watch them go about their tasks.  Listen to their conversation.

Pay attention to their silences as they sat in each other’s presence. 

 

" . . . the Lord has done great things for me."

 

The Lord has done great things for all of us. 

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The Visitation is one of my favorite Marian feasts,, one nof the reasons being the gospel.  Sometimes I am sorely tempted to recited the Magnificat from memory.  But I also know better.  

The photos are from one of the many nighttime walks I took in the city as late as 1 AM and as early as 5 AM.  Total safety. 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Pentecost Sunday

 Acts 2:1-11

Ps 104

1 Cor 12:3-7,12-13

Jn 20:19-23

 

The word Pentecost derives from Greek meaning fiftieth day. The term is not unique to the Church as today’s solemnity is historically, symbolically, and, as it ended at sunset yesterday, calendrically linked to the Jewish celebration of Pentecost, also known as Shavuot. 

 

Shavuot commemorates God's giving the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai fifty days after the Exodus.  It falls fifty days after the first seder of Passover, always falling  between May 15^th and June 14^th.  In the Catholic liturgical year Pentecost is celebrated on the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of the Lord, no earlier than May 10^th or later than June 13^th Just as Moses received the wisdom and teaching of the Torah fifty days after the Exodus, the Church received the wisdom and

teaching of the Holy Spirit on the fiftieth day after Jesus’ exodus from death. The first reading is dramatic. Wind.  Fire.  Speaking in tongues.  An ideal scene for a Cecil B. DeMille movie.  The people were shocked when they heard the unsophisticated Galileans speaking whatever language necessary to tell the city's many visitors the Good News of Jesus.  

 

The speaking in tongues is sometimes referred to as “the reversal of Babel,” the undoing of the event that caused the earth's multiplicity of languages, a symbol of disunity.  At Pentecost, that which had been split apart by human pride at Babel

was reunited through Jesus’ obedience to the Father.  That which had been shattered by hubris, was reassembled by Jesus, who sent the Holy Spirit as He had promised.  As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”  He listed some of those gifts in his Letter to the Romans. Today we celebrate the giving of those gifts.  Each of us receives unique gifts that are not identical with those given to another. Our task is to discover and develop our unique gifts throughout life.  

 

In some parts of U.S. society it is fashionable, indeed it is a form of virtue signaling and wokeness, to deny even the possibility-- to say nothing of the reality--of differences and distinctions, of abilities and inabilities, of truth and u truth.  This bizarre thinking has now affected medicine.  The price will be high indeed. The risk of not hewing to, teaching, or preaching the narratives du jour

may result in job loss, demands for public mea culpas, or cancellation, the American version of Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag.  Perhaps the stocks will be resurrected on Cambridge Common to punish those who disagree with gender ideology. Many choose to deny fundamental biological differences 

with a delusional intensity.  Apparently the mantra “follow the science” 

is acceptable only under certain conditions but optional under others. 

 

Denying differences fuels a heightened sense of specialness in which each individual or faction insists that his, her, or the group's specialness must be recognized as the most special of all forms of specialness, even to having a day, week, or month dedicated to trumpeting that specialness.

 

One of my physiology professors at Penn State shared a parody about the body in which the general outline was an argument among organs and body parts as to which was the most important,  which was the supreme controller, which was the MOST critical to the body’s function, its comfort, and its ultimate survival.

It was long, hilarious, and cannot be repeated in sacred space. However, the main point was that there is no most important organ. All of the body's organs and organ systems are equally necessary to life.  Each has unique functions 

that cannot be replaced or substituted by another.  The lungs cannot do the work of the liver,  the liver cannot do the work of the heart,  and the pancreas definitely cannot cover for the kidneys.  

 

One of the most dangerous lies ever is: "You can be anything you want to be." 

No one can become anything he or she wants to be simply by wanting to be that thing, or, in current terminology, by self-identifying as it.  All of us have certain immutable limits determined by chromosomal and genetic makeup, anatomy, and physiology neural development and many other factors and inherent talents. 

 

Strengths are balanced by weaknesses.  Native abilities are enhanced by inabilities,  Potential in some areas is balanced by a complete lack of same in others. The only equality among humans is that all are sinners loved by God. 

 

Comparing the account of Pentecost in Acts and the account of the Holy Spirit’s descent as narrated in John's Gospel may be confusing. "When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together." The descent of the Holy Spirit in Acts was clearly fifty days after Jesus' resurrection.

 

"And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,  "Receive the Holy Spirit."  John's Gospel seems to indicate that the disciples received the Holy Spirit soon after the Resurrection while Jesus was present among them.

 

How does one reconcile the two accounts?  There is no need to do so. 

 

Yesterday's gospel ended with the final verse of John's Gospel, indeed with the final verse of the Book of the Gospels:  "There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written."

 

We cannot and must not isolate discrete moments or episodes from what is one integral event, the event of Jesus' revelation of the Father. As the late Jesuit Father Stanley Marrow explained, "He who dies on the cross, is he who rises from the dead, returns to the Father who sent him, and sends his Holy Spirit on all who confess him as Lord and Son of God.”  There is no discontinuity.

 

The gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit have been bestowed on us. That is all we need to know. The logistics and pneumatology are unimportant.  Our task is to cooperate with those gifts and graces in the manner to which each of us is called. Our mandate is to share the news of Jesus with those whom we meet in whatever language necessary.

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Got a late start at posting.  Spent all of last week until mid-morning yesterday in Germantown NY giving a retreat to the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm at their motherhouse.  The house is in an exquisite setting on the banks of the Hudson River overlooking the Catskills.  Had hoped to do more shooting but the trees were so lush that there wasn't much in the way of a view of the mountains.  Below are a few that I did get.  

Sunset reflected in the Hudson.  This was view from my room.

Taken a few moments after the one above as the sun went below the Catskills

Crucifix and tabernale

A little tricky to open. 

My quarters were attached to this house.  The sisters have significant acreage. 

Koi in the duck pond

Ducks in the duck pond. 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

The Spirit of Truth: Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Ps 66

1 Pt 3:15-18

Jn 14:15-21

 

Acts of the Apostles is a primer of Church History 101. Today’s first reading continues to narrate the Church’s rapid growth and spread during its first years. Two weeks ago we heard,  "It was at Antioch that they were first called Christians."   

Several days ago we heard Gamaliel's analysis for the enemies of the Church regarding how to respond to the Apostles' proclamation of the Good News of Jesus, risen from the dead for our sins.  That analysis holds the same weight today. 

 

"So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go.  For if this endeavor is of human origin, it will destroy itself.  But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” 

 

"But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy it." 

 

Despite attempts throughout the centuries to destroy and harm the Church --

despite ongoing attempts in many places today, both internally and externally, the Church continues because, and only because, her provenance is from God. The Church’s growth during the time of Acts was astonishing.  The persistence of the Church over the past millennia proves that it is of God. 

 

We heard in the First Letter of Peter, "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame."

 

That the Church heeds this advice was evident in Boston in May 2014 when a student group at Harvard planned a public "Black Mass," a reenactment of satanic rituals meant solely to mock the Catholic Church and her liturgy.   One could only take pride in the response of the Boston Catholic Church and its communities to the planned blasphemous actions at Harvard as well as its response to the pathetic defense of those who wished to sponsor or approve of the sacrilege among whom was the Boston Globe.   which published a whiny letter by a Miss Sarah Wuncsh, staff attorney for the Massachusetts coven of the ACLU. 

 

The letter criticized Harvard's president for censoring the abomination. 

She used the tired free speech argument.   Today free speech  only exists

theoretically and is applied only selectively, if it supports perversions such as approving puberty blockers for confused brainwashed young children.  Don’t try to argue publicly that it is immoral.

 

The Church's response included a holy hour of adoration at St. Paul's in Harvard Square.  It was attended by over 1000. Sacrilege was countered by prayer.

Blasphemy was neutralized by adoration.

 

Harvard’s desire to stage a sacrilegious anti-Catholic ceremony 

was not entirely surprising.  It, and similar actions throughout the world, represent  the fear of the revelation of the Spirit that Jesus promised in the Gospel. 

It represents fear of truth.  

 

Jesuit Father Stanley Marrow wrote in his commentary on this Gospel, that “the world cannot receive the Spirit of truth because it cannot tolerate the revelation.  

The revelation calls the world's values into question, inverts its hierarchies, 

and overturns its cherished idols.”  

 

Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko the Polish priest martyred by commies in 1984 also commented on the nature of truth.  Gamaliel was aware of a similar dynamic 

when he addressed the haters:

 

‘Truth contains within itself the ability to resist and to blossom in the light of day, 

even if its opponents try to hide it.  Those who proclaim the truth need not be numerous. Falsehood is what requires a lot of people, because it always needs 

to be renewed and fed. Our duty is to abide in the truth, even if it costs us dearly.’

Abiding in the truth cost Father his life at age 37.  He would have been 75 this year.

 

The Gospel has a parentheses framing its message:  At the beginning: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments . . ." 

 

At the end:  "Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me."  

 

Obedience to Jesus’ commandments is the only available means we have of manifesting our love for Him. Only by obeying His commandments 

can we manifest to the world that we live in Christ and He dwells in us. 

 

As the past abominable behavior of the Harvard students illustrates, and as current behaviors confirm, we live in troubled and troubling times.  We can only understand and respond to those times, if we do so in the light of the Christ's birth, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension and His love for us.

 

Father Marrow wrote elsewhere in his commentary on John something that is worthy of meditation: “Loving with utmost generosity and utter selflessness, even to laying down of one’s life, is not uniquely Christian.  What must distinguish, Christians is, when they love, they love as Christ loved them and because he loved them.” 

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The photos are from the Cistercian monastery in Stična, Slovenia.  It is an ancient building that has had the usual remodeling and repair of damages.  I was helping with a retreat there.  

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

How Can We Know the Way: Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter

Acts 6:1-7

Psalm 33

1 Ptr 2:4-9

Jn 14:1-12

 

Many  readings during the Easter Season come from the Acts of the Apostles  which tells the earliest history of the Church.  On Tuesday we heard, “And it was at Antioch that they were first called Christians.”  Today we hear more of that history: complaining, perceived slights, and everything else.  

 

Being part of the Christian community has never been easy.  Our status as sinners reveals itself again and again, century after century, sometimes in the smallest things. The Greeks complained that the Hebrews weren’t fair when distributing food.  It is likely that the Hebrews had their own complaints against the Greeks that didn't get written down. But something had to be done. That something was the beginning of the order of deacon, ". . . select seven reputable men whom we shall appoint to this task." The task was to serve at table.  A casual reading of Acts reminds us that what we have in the Church today-- the Eucharist, a hierarchy of leaders, as well arguments, rivalries, and disagreements-- has been with us from the beginning.  Human behavior has not improved much over the past two millennia.  It will not improve much over the next two millennia either.

 

The second reading from the First Letter of Peter is taken from a section subtitled, ‘The Dignity of the Christian Vocation.’ “Like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house . . .”  The Church is always under construction, it is always being rebuilt and remodeled, in the same way  that our lives are always changing and being renewed.  Think about building or remodeling a home.  Some of the work is obvious, repainting, new flooring, or adding a room.  Other work, however, remains unseen.  Who notices new wiring or a new hot water heater?

 

Like us, like our homes, and like our society, the church changes and renews itself, yet it remains timeless.  It changes in response to external factors--we are certainly seeing that today.  It remains timeless in the Eucharist.  It changes through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  It changes in ways that may take a long time to appreciate and understand  but the Eucharist endures and will always endure the Real Presence, ever Ancient and ever New. 

 

The exchanges of Thomas and Philip with Jesus are revealing.  Thomas asked, “how can we know the way?”  Jesus answered with a triple I AM statement.

 

It is important to recall that  whenever Jesus begins with "I AM" 

He is making a statement of exclusivity. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”   

 

Jesus is the only Way in a world of blind alleys.  

Jesus is the only Truth in a world of politics and lies.  

Jesus is the only source of Life in a culture Saint John Paul II called a “culture of death.” 

Jesus is the cornerstone who bears the weight of the entire edifice.

 

Philip’s request reflects the inability of the disciples to truly recognize Jesus; “Show us the Father, that will be enough for us.”  Their incomprehension would change when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost

 

One can sense Jesus’ irritation in His answer to them:  “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”  The only access to “seeing” God is through the Son, the Son who took on human flesh, the Son who took on human concerns, the Son who lived life the same way we do, the Son who endured temptation but who, unlike us, did not sin.  All that Jesus is for us He is by reason of His obedience to the Father’s will.  Therefore, His works, His signs, His words, and His revelation 

are all the work of the Father.  They are all windows through which to know the Father. 

 

Later in John’s Gospel we will hear a beatitude to add to those from the Sermon on the Mount:  “Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe.”  It may be the most important beatitude of all.  Only as we remain the living stones of the Church, only as we allow ourselves to be held in place by Jesus, the cornerstone, only as we believe that Christ is truly and substantially present in the great gift and mystery of the Eucharist, only then can we say, as we will in a few moments: 

 

"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the Highest."

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Off to give a retreat to about ten or eleven priests beginning on Monday to Friday.  Good weather forecast.  Spring may have made an appearance.  Thus, photos of flowers though they are from the past not recent.  And from a few different places. 

The Jesuit novitiate in Lyon, France.  It was a monastery of Visitation Nuns.  I was told it was the place Francis de Sales died.

The tulips planted annually at BC in BC colors.  They are being replaced now with pink things on a bush. 

A monastery a few weeks ago.  

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD