5-17-26 Hinge Moments-Seventh Sunday of Easter
The other
evening as I was writing a reflection for our Prison Ministry, that they were
going to be sharing with the prisoners, I noted in my reflection that it
addressed not only the Feast of the Ascension but also the readings that would
be heard for the coming 7th Sunday of Easter. So,
this is what I like to call a “hinge sharing.”
The definition of a hinge is- “a
movable mechanism which connects linked
objects.”1 Thus, this “hinge sharing” carries us from the event
of the Ascension (i.e., commissioning of the apostles to go into the world and
to baptize people in the name of Jesus Christ).
But also, that commission includes a condition given by Jesus, that that
the apostles must wait until the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them, so that
they will be fully able to fulfill this commission. Both parts are needed to work together, the
Ascension and Pentecost, like hinge, in order for the fullness of Jesus’ s
mission to be realized in the world. We
too must be patient in the work of discipleship and rely on the Spirit to
enable us to have the wisdom and the power to share the faith that we have been
given though baptism. So, at times, like
apostles, we must be patient and wait for the Spirit to guide us in our actions
and in growing in our faith. In my thoughts about
the 7th Sunday of Easter, I was struck by
the line from the responsorial Psalm this Sunday which reads: “One thing I ask of the Lord, this I
seek….” Pausing at that line, I wondered,
indeed what would be the one thing that I would ask the Lord to
grant to me as his follower that would enable me to be most effective in
sharing his message? Would it be
physical strength, knowledge, an open and willing heart, sureness of faith in
order to share what I believe? Or would
it be to be more courageous in sharing my faith with other people no matter the
circumstances of where I am called to share that faith? I remember a story a friend of mine shared with me a number of years
ago. He was sitting in a restaurant with his family, and the meal had just been
delivered to the table. He told his family, wife, and children, that before
they could begin to eat, they needed to say grace. Very quietly but very
faithfully he blessed himself as did the children and his wife and he repeated
the words of grace-“Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are
about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.” My friend and his family went on then, to
enjoy their meal. As they were eating an older couple who were leaving the
restaurant approached the family and said to my friend “It is so nice to see a
family saying grace before a meal. Thank you for doing that.” A simple action done faithfully can give
an amazing witness to the world, however
large or small our world is. Whether our
world is in prison or in a hospital, or in a factory or a in a board room or even
in our own family, our God is always with us, through the gift of the Spirit
that Jesus Christ promised the father would send us and is contained in Jesus ’
promise, made at the time of his ascension
“…I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20). Jesus sent the apostles into
the world to witness to his presence and that commission is still among us.
That commission, to witness to his presence in the public arenas in which we
live is still being given to us today as followers of Christ. That commission
is most evident when we show the connection between our faith and the way we
live. In
many ways we all experience these “hinge” moments between what we say we believe and how we act out that
belief in our day-to-day values. Sometimes
in displaying what we believe, we may be mocked by other people or ridiculed or
even physically assaulted. That reality is probably what prompted St. Peter
(see the second reading for this Sunday) to write his first letter to those
early Christians who were also experiencing hostility, marginalization, and
sometimes persecution- “beloved:
rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when
his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly. If you are insulted for
the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests
upon you…. But whoever is made to
suffer as a Christian should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the
name.” (1 Peter 4:13-16) The
gospel this 7th Sunday of Easter is still from the scene of the Last
Supper. “Jesus raises his eyes to
heaven and says, ‘Father, the hour has come.” (Jn 17:1) Jesus knew his moment of suffering was about
to happen. He was about to pay the ultimate price for being faithful to God not
only in private prayer but in public action. In this gospel Jesus says, “I
glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work you gave me to do.” (Jn
17: 4) In those words we see that our
faith is not about holding the right ideas but about living a life base upon
those ideas. It takes time and patience
within ourselves to work out and live out the hinge between what we profess and
what we do. The Holy Spirit will empower
us to be true and consistent to this mission. 2 The early Christians in trying to mirror for the world the
living out of Jesus’ message and their
faith in him, suffered significantly for displaying their faithfulness to the
commission of Christ to spread the “good news.”
Some were ostracized by their community because of their belief in
Christ. Some we martyred by the
authorities because of this boldness to spread the good news that Christ came
to bring. But through the power of the
Spirit, they were able to live lives of unending faithfulness to that
commission and through them the Church grew.
This faithfulness is what enabled the early church (and the church
today) to grow and to impress upon people the message that Jesus has left for
us to share with the world. And even to
this day, that power to be able to tolerate a negative type of response to our
witness is the proof of the spirit living within us. In a little over a
week, May 24th, we shall celebrate the
feast of Pentecost. A feast which is
often referred to as “the birth of the Church.”
This power that the Spirit bring us is the power to endure and be
faithful to Christ by witnessing his presence in our lives. But we can also see that there is at times,
or perhaps often, depending upon our situation and where we live in the world,
where there can be a tension within
ourselves between our faith life and our lived life. There can be a tension within us between what
we profess in private through prayer, and what we are willing to live out in
public life. In the Old Testament the prophet Amos noted this inconsistency,
stating that people would gather in worship, speak the right words, offer the
right prayer- yet ignore the needs of those around them (cf Amos 2:6).
This inconsistency even among believers can lead to a situation whereby:
We hold convictions, but they do not always shape our choices. We speak of trust but hold tightly to what we fear losing. We affirm love, but limit where it is allowed to go.
Not because we are insincere. But because the connection, ( i.e., the “hinge”) between what we profess to believe and how we live is harder to maintain than we expected.2 In the gospel this Sunday, Jesus is aware that he is leaving this world, but his followers will be left in the world to continue his work. This will not be easy for them. They will face many obstacles within themselves and between themselves and the world. And for that reason, he is sending them the Spirit of Truth. The spirit will teach them everything they will need know in order to profess the “good news” Jesus came to bring. But also, the spirit will empower them to be brave, courageous, and consistent. Indeed, the spirit will empower us to handle the tension of “the hinge” between what they profess as our faith and how we live that faith out in our in lives. And the spirit will do this:
"One
decision at a time. One response at a time."3
“The Lord is my light
and my salvation; whom should, I fear?
The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be
afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).
1. 1. Copilot 365
2. 2. Sunday sermmons.com
3. 3. Ibid
4. 4. Ibid
