Pontifical North American College
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B
Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB
April 29, 2018
As we continue to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord—we come face to face with the mystery of a shared life and a love beyond all telling.
It is nothing less than intimacy with Jesus Christ, our Resurrected Lord—in whom we live and move and have our being.
Seven times in the gospel today, we hear the word remain, and we are confronted with the call from the Lord to remain in Him as He remains in us.
It is a question of the interior life and participation in divine life—or as we read in the Letter to the Colossians: Be intent on things above rather than on things on earth. After all, you have died! Your life is hidden now with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
Remain in me as I remain in you.
I am the vine and you are the branches.
Today, I would like to reflect with you, not on bearing fruit, but on the more fundamental and profound dimension of abiding in the life of God.
Remain in me—I am the vine and you are the branches.
To consider these words of Jesus—leads us to an understanding of the deepest dimensions of the life that we share with him.
The branches are an extension of the vine—and the task of the branch is above all to remain.
And it is a remaining in love. The verse immediately after today’s gospel has Christ calling us again and saying: Remain in my love (Jn 15:9).
To remain attached to the vine—to live in
shared life with Christ—is nothing but shared love—and—to be honest—it can only be expressed in the language of love.
I must say that I have a certain sympathy for Saint Peter—who at the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday says to the Lord: You shall never wash my feet. But when the Lord clarifies things with Peter saying: If I do not wash you, you will have no inheritance with me—then Peter exuberantly says: Not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.
Christ clarifies things with Peter—or corrects him—whichever you prefer—and he does that with you and with me at times as well—saying—Just your feet, Peter.
I also have a certain sympathy with Peter on the mountain of the transfiguration—when after seeing the transfigured Lord, he says: Rabbi, let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And the evangelist comments: He did not know what he was saying.
He did not know what he was saying—in other words, he did not know what to say—what poor love—what paltry devotion—would know what to say—would know what were the right words to use—after seeing the Lord in glory. Stuttering or misspeaking oneself is actually not such a bad response.
What a fraud we would be—and how inauthentic—if we thought that we knew what to say in light of divine love. It is not a matter of speaking but abiding—remain in me. In light of the mystery of God the best response sometimes might well be silence.
I am the vine—you are the branches—remain in my love—remain in me, as I remain in you.
Today, in the gospel, we meet that love—that shared life—of the vine and the branches—sharing the same nature—the Eternal Word through his Incarnation has taken our nature upon himself—that we may become sharers in his divine nature.
Remain in me
Or as we read in Saint Paul: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20). There is really no other way for us to live.
Remain in me.
In a few moments, we will hear the priest say: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.
That is: the priest, before Communion holds the Host and says: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb. The Latin reads: Beati qui ad cenam Agni vocati sunt. Literally, Blessed are those who have been called to the supper of the Lamb. It is a perfect tense in Latin and a perfect tense in the Greek of the Book of Revelation from which it is taken Happy are they who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9)—and I think that it would be only right to keep the obvious strength of the perfect tense. There is nothing futuristic about it. You have already because of your baptism been called to the Lamb’s Supper—to participate here and now—in heaven upon earth—to share in divine life because of nothing less than divine adoption.
You have been called—in these divine mysteries—which we celebrate now—as heaven comes down upon earth—you have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb—which is present here and now—not just in some distant future—and not just in hope—and priests and deacons do not so much distribute Communion—as through their ministry, they give you the Lord’s Body and Blood and thus enable you to consummate sacramentally your participation in the eternal heavenly wedding banquet—here and now—by which Christ is united to his Beloved Bride the Church—and where the fruitfulness of the Bride—the Church—is made evident—and strengthened.
I am the vine, you are the branches—remain in me as I remain in you.
You share in the very life of God—by reason of your baptism—and the Spirit that courses through the life of the Father and the Son courses through your body and your soul as well.
In Christ the fullness of deity resides in bodily form. Yours is a share in this fullness (Col. 2:9).
One thing that the
vine and the branches share is the sap—that is, the vitality, the life, and the
vigor—that runs through them both—for us, it is the Spirit of the Lord.
And as regards the Spirit:
we read elsewhere in the Gospel of John: The One whom God has sent . . . does not ration the gift of the Spirit—or in the Letter to the Romans: We have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry out: “Abba, Father”—or again, when Samuel anointed David as King we read that from that day on the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David (1 Sam. 16:13).
In a mere three weeks, we will celebrate the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost—the Spirit by which we cry out Abba, Father, the Spirit who is not rationed, but given generously, and the Spirit whom, we pray, will rush upon us—all the days of our lives.
As Saint John also says: The way we know that we remain in him and he in us is from the Spirit that he gave us (1 Jn 4:13).
To Jesus Christ who is the true vine, to his Father who is the vine grower, and to the Holy Spirit—who is the love between them both—and who is the love that courses through our bodies and our souls as well—to God, One and Three, be glory now and forever. Amen.
Reflections on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Fr. Kurt Belsole, OSB
September 14, 2008
Today’s feast, which we share with Orthodox Christians, commemorates the finding of the true Cross by St. Helena on September 14, 320 and the consecration of the church of the Holy Sepulcher at Jerusalem.
Just as Holy Thursday is so great a feast with so much to celebrate that it gives rise to the additional solemnity of Corpus Christi, the same is true of Good Friday, there is too much to celebrate for the mystery of redemption wrought through Christ and his Cross to be confined to a single day. So, in a sense, today is a little Good Friday, the day when Christ’s sacrifice on the cross triumphs over the powers of hell, and the devil who had conquered by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is himself conquered by the tree of the cross.
Orthodox Christians in Greece even celebrate this feast by observing the Good Friday fast. A number of years ago, when asked about how they could celebrate a feast by fasting, the Orthodox Archbishop of Volos replied and said that it is a matter of the heart. They could not celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross without entering into the mystery of the cross by the Good Friday fast.
In terms of natural sacredness and Christian liturgy, it is worth noting that we are entering now into a period of autumn, and the days are already becoming noticeably shorter. Good Friday is a feast of springtime when the light clearly triumphs over darkness. Now as we approach the beginning of autumn, the Cross of Christ is raised against the encroaching darkness so that in the radiance of Christ and his Cross even night becomes as day.
It is helpful also to note that first antiphon for today’s Office of Readings: “Ecce crucem Domini; fugite, partes adversae; vicit leo de tribu Iuda, radix David, alleluia” (Behold the cross of the Lord! Flee, ye, hostile powers! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered. Alleluia) is engraved on the base of the obelisk in the center of Saint Peter’s Square; and what was once a sign of pagan worship is now surmounted by the cross.
In fact, the obelisk in the center of Saint Peter’s Square in Rome, after it had been exorcized, was erected on that site on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14, 1586.
“When Days of Pentecost Were Fulfilled”
Reflections on Pentecost
as the Culmination of the Easter Season of Fifty Days
Year C
Fr. Kurt Belsole, O.S.B.
May 15, 2016
“When the days of Pentecost were fulfilled,
they were all together in one place. Alleluia.”
“Dum complerentur dies Pentecostes,
erant omnes pariter in eodem loco, alleluia.”
This great antiphon for the first psalm of Evening Prayer I of Pentecost provides us with the occasion to reflect on what it means for the days of Pentecost to be fulfilled. A simple glance back at the mysteries we have celebrated and the gospel passages that the Church has proclaimed to us in the sacred liturgy during this Easter Season can give us a taste of what it means for the “days of Pentecost to be fulfilled.”
Easter Sunday
- For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
Second Sunday of Easter
- On the evening of that first day of the week, . . . Jesus came and stood in their midst and said: “Peace be with you.” (It is noteworthy that not only the Resurrection, but also the appearances of the resurrected Lord tend to take place on Sunday—except in the Appendix to the Gospel of John. The Resurrection happened with no one seeing it—and, to be honest, the simple fact of the Resurrection had no effect in their lives. They may well have slept through it! It was only when the resurrected Christ appeared to them—with all that that means—that they discovered the meaning and power of the Resurrection. Again, he tends to appear on Sunday.)
- He showed them his hands and his side (The resurrected Christ is raised with his wounds—the wounds themselves are part of his glory—they themselves show his love.)
- The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
- He breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit . . . whose sins you forgive, are forgiven them.”
- A week later (again on Sunday), Jesus came and stood in their midst
- Thomas said to him: “My Lord and my God.”
- These are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
Third Sunday of Easter
- Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberius.
- The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”
- “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
- “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
- “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
- “Feed my sheep.”
- “When you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
- He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
Fourth Sunday of Easter
- “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
- “I give them eternal life.”
- “They shall never perish.”
- “No one can take them out of my hand.”
Fifth Sunday of Easter
- “Now is the Son of Man glorified.”
- “God is glorified in him.”
- “Love one another.”
- “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Sixth Sunday of Easter
- “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”
- “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
- “Peace I leave with you.”
- “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
- “I will come back to you.”
Ascension
- “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
- He raised his hands and blessed them.
- They returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.
Seventh Sunday of Easter
- “Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one.”
- “Father, they are your gift to me.”
- “I wish that they may see my glory.”
- “I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”
And this all crescendos to the great gospel of the Mass for the Vigil of Pentecost:
- Jesus stood up and cried out saying: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. As is said in Scripture, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive.
So these are just some of the marvelous works of God that we have heard proclaimed and that we have celebrated during the fifty days of the Easter season while the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled: resurrection, appearance, wounds, glory, eternal life, indwelling, the Advocate, peace, praise of God, loving one another, and rivers of living water flowing from within.
[P.S.: I realize that the translation in the breviary translates the antiphon as “On the day of Pentecost they had all gathered together in one place, alleluia.” But the translation of the same text in the first reading of Mass for Pentecost Sunday is much more faithful: “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together” (Acts 2:1).]
“When the Days of Pentecost Were Fulfilled”
Reflections on the Solemnity of Pentecost
as the Culmination of the Easter Season of Fifty Days
Year A
Fr. Kurt Belsole, O.S.B.
June 5, 2014
“When the days of Pentecost were fulfilled,
they were all together in one place. Alleluia.”
“Dum complerentur dies Pentecostes,
erant omnes pariter in eodem loco, alleluia.”
This great antiphon for the first psalm of Evening Prayer I of Pentecost provides us with the occasion to reflect on what it means for the days of Pentecost to be fulfilled. A simple glance back at the mysteries we have celebrated and the gospel passages that the Church has proclaimed to us in the sacred liturgy during this Easter Season can give us a taste of what it means for the “days of Pentecost to be fulfilled.”
Easter Sunday
- For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
Second Sunday of Easter
- On the evening of that first day of the week, . . . Jesus came and stood in their midst and said: “Peace be with you.” (It is noteworthy that not only the Resurrection, but also the appearances of the resurrected Lord tend to take place on Sunday—except in the Appendix to the Gospel of John. The Resurrection happened with no one seeing it—and, to be honest, the simple fact of the Resurrection had no effect on the lives of the disciples. They may well have slept through it! It was only when the resurrected Christ appeared to them—with all that that means—that they discovered the meaning and power of the resurrection. Again, he tends to appear on Sunday.)
- He showed them his hands and his side (The resurrected Christ is raised with his wounds—the wounds themselves are part of his glory—they themselves show his love.)
- The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
- He breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit . . . whose sins you forgive, are forgiven them.”
- A week later (again on Sunday), Jesus came and stood in their midst
- Thomas said to him: “My Lord and my God.”
- These are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
Third Sunday of Easter
- Two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus.
- Jesus himself drew near and walked with them.
- “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.”
- “Some women of our group have astounded us . . . they did not find the body . . . they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive.”
- “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
- He interpreted what referred to him in all the scriptures.
- He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.
- With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him.
- “Were our hearts not burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
- “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
- He was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
Fourth Sunday of Easter
- “The sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
- “He walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him.”
- “They recognize his voice.”
- “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”
- “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Fifth Sunday of Easter
- “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”
- “Have faith in God; have faith also in me.”
- “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.”
- “I will come back again and take you to myself.”
- “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
- “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
- “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
Sixth Sunday of Easter
- “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
- “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.”
- “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
- “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Ascension
- Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
- “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
- Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Seventh Sunday of Easter
- “Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you.”
- “That your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.”
- “This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”
- “They belonged to you, and you gave them to me.”
- “I pray for them.”
- “I have been glorified in them.”
And this all crescendos to the great gospel of the Mass for the Vigil of Pentecost:
- Jesus stood up and exclaimed: “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. As Scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.’” He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive.
So these are just some of the marvelous works of God that we have heard proclaimed and that we have celebrated during the fifty days of the Easter season while the days of Pentecost were being fulfilled: resurrection, Jesus in our midst, peace, Jesus drawing near, he explained the scriptures, their eyes were opened, glory, the Advocate, having life more abundantly, Christ being with us all days, and rivers of living water flowing from within.
May you always be overcome with paschal joy!
Blessed Pentecost.
[P.S.: I realize that the translation in the breviary translates the antiphon as “On the day of Pentecost they had all gathered together in one place, alleluia.” But the translation of the same text in the first reading of Mass for Pentecost Sunday is much more faithful: “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together” (Acts 2:1).]
“When the Time for Pentecost Was Fulfilled”
Reflections on Pentecost as the Culmination of the Easter Season of Fifty Days
Year B
Fr. Kurt Belsole, O.S.B.
May 22, 2015
Revised: May 19, 2018
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all together in one place. Alleluia.”
“Dum complerentur dies Pentecostes,
erant omnes pariter in eodem loco, alleluia.”
This great antiphon for the first psalm of Evening Prayer I of Pentecost provides us with the occasion to reflect on what it means for the time for Pentecost to be fulfilled. A simple glance back at Christ bringing the paschal mystery to fulfillment and looking again at just some of the gospels that the Church has proclaimed to us in the sacred liturgy during the Easter Season this year can give us a taste of what it means for the time for Pentecost to be fulfilled.
Easter Sunday
- “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He has been raised; he is not here.”
Second Sunday of Easter
- Jesus came and stood in their midst and said: “Peace be with you.”
- He showed them his hands and his side.
- The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
- He breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit . . . whose sins you forgive, are forgiven them.”
- Thomas said to him: “My Lord and my God.”
Third Sunday of Easter
- He stood in their midst . . . they were incredulous with joy.
- “Everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.”
- He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
- “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.”
Fourth Sunday of Easter
- “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”
- “I know mine and mine know me.”
- “I have power to lay it down and power to take it up again.”
Fifth Sunday of Easter
- “I am the vine. You are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.”
- “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
Sixth Sunday of Easter
- “As the Father loves me, so also do I love you. Remain in my love.”
- “This is my commandment; love one another as I have loved you.”
- “There is no greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
- “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
- “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go forth and bear fruit that will last.”
- “This I command you: love one another.”
Ascension
- “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”
- The Lord Jesus . . . was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.
- They went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word through accompanying signs.
Seventh Sunday of Easter
- “Heavenly Father . . . may they be one just as we are one.”
- “I say this in the world that they may share my joy completely.”
- “I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one.”
- “Consecrate them in truth.”
- “As you sent me into the world, so I send them into the world.”
- “I consecrate myself for them.”
And this all crescendos to the great gospel of the Mass for the Vigil of Pentecost:
- Jesus stood up and cried out saying: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. As is said in Scripture, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive.
So these are just some of the magnalia Dei, the marvelous works of God, that we have heard proclaimed and that we have celebrated during the fifty days of the Easter season—while the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled—“he has been raised”, peace, the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord, sins are forgiven, they were incredulous with joy, remain in my love, I chose you, love one another, rivers of living water will flow from within him.
Blessed Pentecost!
[P.S.: I realize that the translation in the breviary translates the antiphon as “On the day of Pentecost they had all gathered together in one place, alleluia.” But the translation of the same text in the first reading of Mass for Pentecost Sunday is much more faithful: “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together” (Acts 2:1).]
Fr. Kurt Belsole, O.S.B.
May 29, 2013
Today with Evening Prayer I, we begin the celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, in its full title the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord; and in a sense we are transported back to Holy Thursday as the Church celebrates once again the solemn commemoration of the institution of the sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord.
“Why,” one might ask, “do we have a second feast observing the Lord giving us the Eucharist?” Fundamentally, I believe that the answer lies in the fact that what we commemorate on Holy Thursday is just too much for one day. In a sense, Holy Thursday overflows with grace and blessing too abundant for a single day of celebration. On Holy Thursday, in order of importance, the Church celebrates the giving of the Eucharist, the gift of priesthood, and fraternal service in the washing of the feet. Consequently, the Church today celebrates another feast which focuses specifically on the gift of the Eucharist.
The connection with Holy Thursday is perhaps most evident in the hymn which the Church assigns to Evening Prayer, for both Evening Prayer I and Evening Prayer II, the Pange Lingua including the two final verses that we are most familiar with as the Tantum Ergo sung at Benediction. But as we sing that hymn at Evening Prayer on Corpus Christi, it would be most helpful to recall that we also sing that hymn on Holy Thursday as we process in the transfer of the Holy Eucharist—so closely are these two feasts bound together.
Most likely the Pange Lingua is from the pen of Saint Thomas Aquinas since Pope Urban IV asked him to compose the Office of Corpus Christi when he instituted it in the year 1264. The Pange Lingua is one of the gems of Christian Latin hymnody and remarkable for both the beauty of its melody and the clarity of its dogmatic teaching. Father Matthew Britt, in his book The Hymns of the Breviary, termed it the most beautiful of the great Eucharistic hymns of Saint Thomas, and Father Anselmo Lentini, in his book Te Decet Laus, which provides the text and notes on the hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours as revised after Vatican II, comments that the Pange Lingua made its way into not just several breviaries, but into all of them.
Also as this feast is so characterized by a focus on the Blessed Sacrament and the devotions which accompany it, e.g., Eucharistic Exposition, that it has also appropriately been termed a feast of devotion, and the devotion can be understood in a certain sense in the compositio loci (composition of place). Other devotional practices throughout the liturgical year employ the compositio loci: the Christmas Crib fosters our meditation on the Nativity of the Lord, the Stations of the Cross foster our meditation on the Lord’s Passion, but Eucharistic Exposition on Corpus Christi, in a sense, completes and transcends these. It sets before us not the Nativity nor the Passion, but the very Kingdom of God. With the Lord himself before us in the Blessed Sacrament, the composition of place is of the Kingdom where the Lord reigns triumphant and his People are joined in adoration. Quite properly, the gifts of the Magi are present as well: the gold for the King and the incense for our God, only the myrrh is missing because Christ is risen and dies no more.
.
Pontifical North American College
Feast of Saint Luke
Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB
October 18, 2018
One of the things that they say you should never do—is ask a doctoral student how his dissertation is going—the reason is because he will tell you—and then you will be subjected to information overload—and your eyes will glaze over—and you will bitterly regret your question—and you will wonder how you can change the subject—while all of the time you are trying to look interested—before the whole meal is ruined.
But the reason that the doctoral student will be so excited about what he is researching and writing is because he loves his topic—at least, I loved mine—and still do—the doctoral student—if he is really in to what he is doing, will spend a good deal of his waking hours researching, reading, making connections—and being surprised at times—and then writing about what he has found.
I say that because the feast that we are celebrating today reminds me of the beginning of Saint Luke’s gospel—Saint Luke—who was an evangelist, but not an apostle—not one who spent the years of Jesus’ public ministry with him—Saint Luke who had been a pagan, and was, in a certain sense an outsider, writes at the beginning of his gospel:
Many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events which have been fulfilled in our midst, precisely as those events were transmitted to us by the original eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. I too have carefully traced the whole sequence of events from the beginning, and have decided to set it in writing for you Theophilus, so that Your Excellency may see how reliable the instruction was that you received.
Saint Luke, as he says, carefully traces the whole sequence of events and compiles a narrative of the events precisely as those events were transmitted.
It sounds a bit like writing a doctoral dissertation, which ideally is loved. Saint Luke must have loved very much that Jesus Christ whom the met and to whom he was converted—enough not only to have written his Gospel but also the Acts of the Apostles. It was an incredible amount of work.
This evening, I would like to take a look at just one small part of the gospel that we heard today from Saint Luke and reflect on it:
In the gospel this evening, we heard that the Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.
I would propose for your reflection that the place that Jesus intends to visit is not geographical—but personal. He visits—not just villages in Judea or Galilee—rather, and more importantly, he intends to visit the human heart and because of the indwelling Trinity that we receive at baptism—he intends not just to visit, but to dwell there.
It is the heart that he visits and it is in the heart that he dwells—in the Jewish sense—where we think—and where we exercise our will—it is the heart that Jesus intends to visit and, indeed, to dwell within.
At the end of the story of the birth of the Messiah, and after the shepherds return to their flocks, St. Luke writes in his gospel that Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart—and the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen (Lk 2:19-20).
And when Jesus was found as a twelve-year old boy teaching the teachers in the temple, he went down to Nazareth and was obedient to Mary and Joseph—and again, Luke writes that Mary kept all of these things in her heart (Lk. 2:51). Mary thought a lot about her Son—and frequently.
Or as the Lord calls us to live in what the Fathers of the Church call purity of heart, St. Luke reminds us that a good man produces goodness from the good in his heart; and evil man produces evil out of his store of evil. Each man speaks from his heart’s abundance (Lk. 6:45).
And finally, there is the parable of the Good Samaritan, which begins with the Lord saying that you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself (Lk. 10:27).
And then immediately after that, we have the parable of the Good Samaritan. When I hear this parable, I can only ever think of the great interpretation of Christ himself as the Good Samaritan—which was used in the Church already in the second century—and which Saint Ambrose in his Commentary on the Gospel of Luke writes—when he asks about who showed himself to be neighbor to the man who fell among robbers—and he answers: the one who came close to him—in Latin, the one who made himself the traveler’s proximus—the proximus—his neighbor—the one who came close to him—referring to the Son of God who came into our world—to make himself close to us—even in our difficulties as the Psalmist says: The Lord is close to the broken-hearted, and those whose spirit is crushed, he will save (Ps. 34:19).
Returning to today’s gospel: Jesus sent out the seventy-two—and we pray that he send us out as well—and we pray for an increase of vocations to the priesthood—that the Lord send out more laborers for his harvest—that he may not only visit—but that he may dwell in the hearts of all.
St. Luke, pray for us.
Pontifical North American College
Saint Lucy, Memorial
Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB
December 13, 2018
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Lucy, a virgin martyr of the early Church from Syracuse in Sicily and whose incorrupt remains are found today in Venice in the church of San Geremia e Santa Lucia. She was probably martyred during the reign of Diocletian and is venerated as the patroness of people who have trouble seeing and those who are poor.
Today’s feast and today’s readings give us two realities to reflect on:
First of all, and I am not usually one to recommend that people go and check out things on the internet, but today you might just want to Google: Sunset in Rome on December 13th. I say that because in this season of Advent as the days are getting shorter, and as the darkness surrounds us more and more, we proclaim, in the Vespers hymn, Christ, the Light of the World, as the Creator of the Stars of Night—Cónditor alme siderum.
The reason that you should Google for sunset today is that on the feast of Saint Lucy, sunset stops getting earlier and slowly, within four days, it begins to get later. In other words, already beginning with today’s feast, the afternoons are starting to get longer. At the same time, sunrise continues to get later until on December 25th when it is one minute earlier than on December 24th.
Saint Lucy may well have been martyred on this day, but if she was not,
I do not know how the astronomers, at the time that Saint Lucy’s feast was assigned to today, knew that sunset would start getting later—but they did—and her name is a living symbol, amidst the season’s darkness—of how Christ, through his saints—brings light into the world. Her very name echoes the Latin word for light: lux, lucis. We celebrate Lucy, because we celebrate Christ who is the Light who has come into the world—a Light that darkness does not overcome.
A second reality to reflect on is the person of Saint John the Baptist—and as the season of Advent continues, it is not just the person of John the Baptist himself, but Christ’s own testimony to John that comes more and more to the fore. This evening, we heard the Lord saying: Among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist . . . and; All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
John is the last of the prophets, and in his own person he summarizes, so to speak, the whole of the history of the People of Israel that is about to come to completion in the Messiah. In a sense, John incarnates the spirit of Advent. He is the sign of God intervening on behalf of his people. He calls the people to prepare the way of the Lord. And he offers to Israel the knowledge of salvation that consists in the forgiveness of sins—the work of the loving kindness of our God—or to put it more literally—per viscera misericordiae Dei nostri—through the bowels of mercy—the splankna theou.
John wants always to give Christ the first place—he is the friend of the Bridegroom and is happy when he hears the Bridegroom’s voice—he himself testifies that Christ must increase and he must decrease—and to look at natural symbolism and Christian liturgy again, it is not without reason that the feast of John the Baptist’s birth is set on June 24 when sunrise in Rome moves from 5:35 AM on the 24th to 5:36 AM on the following day—which, therefore, becomes one minute shorter than the preceding day. In that sense, the Baptist is always a model for us in respect to Christ. He must increase, I must decrease.
In a deeper sense though, the amazing greatness of John the Baptist is that one cannot speak of John without speaking of Christ—and would that this might be said of us—that people could not speak of us without speaking of Christ!
All glory be to him now and forever. Amen.
Pontifical North American College
Monday of Holy Week
Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB
April 15, 2019
Yesterday, with Palm Sunday, we entered into what has been called the kairós par excellence—the true time of the Lord’s intervention in history.
And yesterday, in the gospel, we encountered the city of Jerusalem in a sort of uproar—greeting the Lord who enters into his own city astride a colt—people spreading their cloaks on his path—and then the whole of the Lord’s passion and death taking place in the Holy City.
Today is much different—and much calmer. The gospel places us in the intimate and friendly atmosphere of the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in Bethany.
But before we get there, it might be good to reflect on the reading that precedes it:
- In the first reading, we hear the voice of the Father
supporting and sustaining his Son—not
saving him from his Hour, but confirming him in his mission:
- From the Prophet Isaiah we heard: Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my Spirit . . . I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice . . . To bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
- And then, as in a dialogue, the Son responds in the
Responsorial Psalm—in a sense he repeats his fiat—not my will, but your
will be done—as Christ conquers the fear that is due to the fragility of
the human nature that he has taken upon himself:
- From Psalm 27: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?. . . Though war be waged against me, even then will I trust . . . I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.
- The fear of the enemy and the anxiety of the imminent Passion—are actually ours not his—they are a result of the Incarnation—and he asks for help and comfort—because that is what we need in the many challenges of our human condition.
Finally, in the gospel, we enter into the warmth of friendship—and Jesus takes part in the final supper offered by his friends, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Beyond the supper, however, is the exquisite finesse of true hospitality. Mary anoints and perfumes the Lord’s feet—and the fragrance fills the house. That is certainly nice. But between friends, something was more important than the perfumed oil that filled the house. Much more precious than the genuine aromatic nard was the presence of the Lord—their close friend—and his presence filled the house. What seemed to the traitor Judas to be too much—between friends was really too little.
Sadly, in the midst of this gathering of intimate friendship was the presence of that disciple who was a thief and a traitor. For Christ, his passion has, in a certain sense, already begun, in what should have been the warmest of gatherings, and one might call this his First Station on his Way of the Cross.
For us, we all are poor in our love of Christ—and we may have even betrayed him. Nonetheless, he comes to us constantly, even now, in order to find a Bethany where he can rest among friends –even though he accepts the risk of being refused or betrayed.
He always wants to be more intimate to us than we are to ourselves—and his motive is always to fulfill the mission that comes to him from the Father—even if it means betrayal and the cross. It is that mission that we commemorate this week—with gratitude beyond all measure.
All glory be to him now and forever. Amen.