In today’s Gospel, Saint Luke presents Jesus “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.”  As Jesus proceeds on his missionary path, he invites others to follow him.  Then we hear of many excuses for either delaying or even rejecting the call.  Honestly, we are often reluctant to fully follow Jesus as his missionary disciples. 

From my more than five decades of mission in Asia (Philippines and Bangladesh) I have often searched for the “Why” of mission.  I am sure you have also sincerely asked yourself: What is my mission and how do I fulfill it; what does Jesus want of me?

I have discovered a creative, comprehensive expression of the reasons for engaging in mission in the documents of the Asian bishops (FABC) during their Fifth Plenary Assembly in 1990.  They enunciated five core motives that can respond to the question: “Why evangelize?” 

1. “We evangelize, first of all from a deep sense of gratitude to God, the Father ‘who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing’ (Eph 1:3)….  Mission is above all else an overflow of this life from grateful hearts transformed by the grace of God.  That is why it is so important for us Christians to have a deep faith-experience of the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:39)….  Without a personal experience of this love received as gift and mercy, no sense of mission can flourish.”

2. “But mission is also a mandate.  We evangelize because we are sent into the whole world to make disciples of all nations.  The one who sends us is Jesus….  He sends us on a mission which is part of the epiphany of God’s plan to bring all things together under Christ as head (Eph 1:9-10).  We cannot fulfill this mission apart from him (Jn 15:4-5).”  All Christians strive to take Christ’s mission command to heart!

3. “We evangelize also because we believe in the Lord Jesus.  We have received the gift of faith.  We have become Christians….  Unfortunately for many Catholics, faith is only something to be received and celebrated.  They do not feel it is something to be shared.  The missionary nature of the gift of faith must be inculcated in all Christians.”

4. “We evangelize also because we have been incorporated by baptism into the Church, which is missionary by its very nature….  The Church exists in order to evangelize….  Each member, by virtue of the sacraments of baptism and confirmation has received the right and duty to the apostolate from the Lord himself.”

5. “And, finally, we evangelize because the Gospel is leaven for liberation and for the transformation of society.”  Our world “needs the values of the Kingdom and of Christ in order to bring about human development, justice, peace and harmony with God, among peoples and with all creation.”

Let us frequently reflect on these “core motives” of our call to mission, responding to Jesus’ words: “Follow me.”

James H. Kroeger, M.M.

Prayer for 4^th Sunday

Is it not enough, Lord, for me to follow you?

must I also leave so much

and so many behind?

I would follow you, Lord,

to the ends of the earth

except I know where you are heading:

to Jerusalem, to Calvary and to the Cross.

I would follow you, Lord, but let me first say goodbye

to my past and to the people I hold dear.

Help me, Lord, to come before you

with open hands, heart and mind

that I might receive your grace

and love your presence and

contemplate your teachings

that I might also feed the multitudes

with fragments of your wisdom

and truth.

Let me follow in your Way, Lord Jesus,

mindful of the Cross yet knowing

though I stumble and fall many times

you will raise me up again,

and after my mission on earth has ended

you will lead me to the fullness of life

in your kingdom with all the saints

and all my family and friends

together with you in glory Forever.

Amen

By Fr. Joseph Veneroso. M.M.

Special names are often given to significant feasts within the Church’s liturgical year.  Following Easter we have Divine Mercy Sunday, Good Shepherd Sunday; last week we celebrated Trinity Sunday.  Today is the feast of Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ.  I believe we could also appropriately give today a new title: “Remembering Sunday.”

In today’s second reading from First Corinthians, Saint Paul recalls how Jesus established the Eucharist and twice repeats: “Do this in remembrance of me.”  Paul continues, saying: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”  Indeed, each celebration of the Eucharist is a beautiful act of remembering what Jesus has done for us, for our salvation.

Humanly speaking, remembering is very important; it is a special gift, involving our entire person (mind, heart, will, emotions).  Yes, we can recall specific details of the past; however, if we recall them with our hearts and affections, those events and people will continue to shape and transform us, making us new.  Remembering always links past events into our lives and they become present, operative realities.  This is what is happening in the Eucharist!

When we hear about someone who has lost his memory, we are saddened.  Amnesia or dementia are life situations that are difficult to bear.  This fact points out how we must treasure our memory, both individually and as a community.  Memory allows us to tell our story, to live our lives, both as individuals and as a Christian people.  Today, on “Remembering Sunday,” our collective memory as a Christian people gets special emphasis through the celebration and reception of the Body and Blood of Christ.

As Christians, we continue to sacrament Christ’s presence to one another through our service, just as Christ feeds the people in today’s Gospel.  In this way, the Christian community grows and is reconciled.  As we recall and imitate what Jesus has done for us, we build up (re-member) his body, the Church.  The gift of the Holy Spirit helps and guides us to remember—and to serve others.

The Eucharist is our daily bread, and Jesus reminds us to “Do this in remembrance of me.” He says it, not once, but twice.  Assembled as a community, we remember, we celebrate, we believe. As we fulfill Jesus’ command, we grow in faith, filled with energy, dynamism and enthusiasm for mission, for authentic service.  When we recognize Christ in the Eucharist, broken and given for us, we can more readily recognize Christ in the broken lives and bodies of sick, poor, lonely and needy people. 

We Christians believe in the “true presence” of Christ in the Eucharist; likewise, we must become the “true presence” of Christ to the poor and suffering.  Try to spend some personal time today “remembering.”  Open your heart to God’s love and grace.  Make today Remembering Sunday!                            

James H. Kroeger, M.M.

Corpus Christi

We remember your words, O Lord,

to remember your love for us

and your mercy toward us

and your life with us.

We remember your death, Lord Jesus,

and how you died to save us

from our sins and from ourselves.

We remember your rising from the dead

and sending us your Holy Spirit

so we never forget to remember you.

Most of all, when we eat the holy bread

and drink from the sacred chalice,

we remember you are always in our midst

to help us on our way through life

till at last we go home to you

to remain with you forever.

May our partaking of each Eucharist

help us always to remember

to seek and find you among your people

calling them together to pray

praise and remember you

who will never forget us.

Amen.

By Fr. Joseph Veneroso. M.M.

Today, as the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday, we are invited to reflect upon a great truth of the Christian faith: we believe in a Trinitarian God: one God in three persons.  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, living a life of communion and perfect mutual love.

We can look to the Gospel of John the Evangelist to hear what Jesus says about the Trinity.  “No one can come to the Father, except through me.  If you know me, you know my Father” (14:6-7).  “You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (14:11).  “I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth” (14:16-17).  “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” (14:26).  “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” (15:26-27).

Throughout history the Church has consistently affirmed and proclaimed its belief in the Trinity. Yes, it is a profound mystery of our faith.  This doctrine leads us to the profound truth that our God is fundamentally a communion of love.  Again, turning to Saint John, we hear: “God is love, and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him” (1Jn 4:16).  “We can know that we are living in him and he is living in us, because he lets us share his Spirit” (1Jn 4:13).

You may ask: How does one come to know our Trinitarian God of love?  The answer is actually quite simple: live in love. A person who loves others for the joy of loving is a reflection of the Trinity.  A family in which each person respects and helps the others reflects Trinitarian love.  A parish in which people love and share their spiritual and material gifts is also a reflection of the Trinity.  In fact, Vatican Council II, quoting Saint Cyprian, asserted: “The Church is seen as ‘a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit’” (LG 4).

Various writers have given us analogies and illustrations of the Trinity, although all have limitations.  Jacqueline (an internet source) tries to illustrate the Trinity for children, noting that the Trinity is like an egg (having shell, white, and yoke); like an apple (it has skin, flesh, and seeds); like water (liquid, solid [ice], and steam); like a shamrock (three-leaved clover).  Such images engage our mind and imagination.

Finally, I can even see myself as a “Trinitarian missionary,” combining my native American culture with values and insights from the cultures of the Philippines and Bangladesh where I have served in mission.  Whatever images may attract us, let us celebrate God’s great love given to us through the three persons of our Trinitarian God.

James H. Kroeger, M.M.

Pentecost Prayer

We bow before you
O most sacred mystery:
so pure, so holy, so powerful
is the love of the Father for the Son
and the Son for the Father
that you generate the Holy Spirit
eternally.

O Triune God, you dwell in a loving
community of blessed relationships.
You who created us in your image
and became one of us in Christ
and fill us with your Holy Spirit
call us to live your divine life
of love with one another.

A mystery to be lived
a mystery to be worshiped
a mystery to be loved
all the days of our life
till at length you draw each of us
to yourself and become one with you.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord is One
God in Three Divine Persons:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
May we live your mystery here on earth
till that endless day when we join
with all the angels and saints in saying:
“Holy, Holy, Holy!”

By Fr. Joseph Veneroso. M.M.

Today, Pentecost Sunday, is an opportune moment to deepen our appreciation of the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church.  We can be guided by the profound thought of our Spirit-filled Pope Francis.

Early in his pontificate, Pope Francis gave a three-part catechesis on the Holy Spirit, in conjunction with the feast of Pentecost.  Among the Pope’s many insights, he emphasized that the Holy Spirit is the “Giver of Life” (Vivificantem).  Christians accept that “the Holy Spirit is the inexhaustible source of God’s life in us.  People of every time and place desire a full and beautiful life, just and good, a life that is not threatened by death, but can still mature and grow to fullness.”  To attain this quality of life, we need “God’s gift” of the Holy Spirit!

The dynamic presence of the Holy Spirit radically transforms the entire Christian Church, beginning on the first Pentecost.  The life-giving, powerful, personal presence of the Spirit is dynamically present and active today; missionaries have countless stories to tell of how the Holy Spirit has worked in their lives.  God’s Spirit continually transforms individuals and communities, teaching us “to see with the eyes of Christ, to live life as Christ lived it, to understand life as Christ understood it.” 

Pope Francis asks: “Are we open to the Holy Spirit; do I pray to him to enlighten me, to make me more sensitive to the things of God?  And this is a prayer we need to pray every day, every day: Holy Spirit, may my heart be open to the Word of God, may my heart be open to good, may my heart be open to the beauty of God, every day.”

Pope Francis continues: “Let us ask ourselves: what steps are we taking so that the faith directs our whole existence?  Do not be a ‘part-time’ Christian, at certain moments, in certain circumstances, in certain choices; be Christian at all times!  The truth of Christ, that the Holy Spirit teaches us and gives us, always and forever, involves our daily lives.  Let us invoke him more often, to guide us on the path of Christ’s disciples.”  Undoubtedly, the Holy Spirit is the “Giver-of-Life,” Christ’s life within us!

We pray: Come, Holy Spirit, you bring rest and relief in the midst of toil, in the midst of the work of human hands and the labor of the mind.  Come, Holy Spirit, you bring rest and ease in the midst of the heat of the day, in the midst of the anxieties, struggles and perils of every age.  Come, Holy Spirit, you bring consolation when the human heart grieves and is tempted to despair.  Come, Holy Spirit, what is hard, you soften; what is frozen, you warm; what is wayward, you set anew on paths of salvation and mission.

Enjoy a Blessed Pentecost, the Feast of the Giver-of-Life, God’s Holy Spirit!    

     James H. Kroeger, MM

Pentecost Prayer

O Holy Spirit of the living God,

who filled the Temple with radiant glory

and overshadowed the Virgin Mary

with the Word-Made-Flesh and

set the Apostles ablaze with the flame of Truth,

come set our hearts on fire

with the life-giving love of God.

You, who hovered over the chaotic

Waters of Creation, come renew

our war-weary world with that peace

only Christ can give.

You, who change bread and wine

into the Body and Blood of Christ,

come and transform us into

that image of God in which all people

are created.

May the fire of divine love

purge all sin and evil from our hearts.

Lead us to Christ that Christ might bring

us at length into the life of the

Most Holy Trinity, to whom be all worship,

power, and glory now and forever.

Amen.

By Fr. Joseph Veneroso. M.M.

Today’s Gospel for the feast of Christ’s Ascension notes that after Jesus “was taken up to heaven,” his disciples “returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”  They had experienced many remarkable events, ranging from Jesus’ public ministry, his passion and death to his resurrection.  Now, just before his ascension, Jesus tells them: “you are witnesses of these things.”  Yes, they are to be “joy-filled witnesses” of the entire Christ-event.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), describing the Church’s mission in the world today, includes the entire panorama of human experiences as the focus of evangelization.  Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope) on the Church in the Modern World asserts in its opening sentence that the “joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of people of this age” are intimately shared by Christ’s followers.  The profound connection that exists between joy and missionary evangelization has very deep roots. 

In 1975 Saint Pope Paul VI wrote two apostolic exhortations for the jubilee year.  His well-known Evangelii Nuntiandi (EN) [Evangelization Today] is probably the best document he ever authored; his little-known Gaudete in Domino (GD) [Christian Joy] was written for Pentecost 1975.  Paul VI affirms the “joy-evangelization” dynamic.  He asserts that “the Gospel must be proclaimed by witness” (EN 21), “the witness of an authentic Christian life” (EN 41); and, this task must be done “with ever increasing love, zeal and joy” (EN 1).  The pope identifies various obstacles which “impede evangelization”; the most serious is “lack of joy and hope” (EN 80).

Paul VI speaks personally to all evangelizers: “Let us preserve the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow” (EN 80).  “May the world of our time … receive the Good News, not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have received the joy of Christ…” (EN 80).

Saint Mother Teresa asserts: “Joy is prayer.  Joy is strength.  Joy is love.  Joy is the net by which you catch souls….  A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.  Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of the risen Christ.”

Pope Francis’ first document bears the title Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel); in it he mentions joy well over 100 times.  I reserve a discussion of his numerous rich insights on joy for another occasion.

Personally, from my 52 years of overseas mission experience, I am convinced of the intimate

connection between Christian joy and effective evangelization.  If people today do not receive the Christian message from “joyful evangelizers,” I doubt they will receive it at all.  I totally agree with Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., who said: “Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God.” 

How deep is your Christian joy—even in the midst of life’s numerous challenges?

     James H. Kroeger, MM

Prayer for the Ascension of the Lord

By your most wonderful Ascension,

Lord Jesus, you raised up humanity

To the glory of your divinity,

Wedding earth to heaven

And raising the human race

To new dignity in your presence.

We stand on your promise

That you would never abandon us

Nor leave us orphaned in this life.

May everyone who calls out to you

In faith feel the power of your presence

Within us and moving us ever outward

And upward to higher levels of love

And life together with all your saints.

You who have now ascended

Out of our sight, open our hearts

To search and see you here

Among us still: in the poor, the oppressed,

Those who mourn and all who thirst

For justice and peace in our day.

At length when our time on earth

Has ended and our life here is done

Grant us all a place in your Father’s house

Where we might live forever

Praising you who called us and took us

Home with you.

Amen

By Fr. Joseph Veneroso. M.M.