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| Dali's Sacrament of the Last Supper |
During these “stay at home” coronavirus times, which we will hopefully get beyond soon, our regular contacts may have been limited to a smaller number of people. This can be a blessing, if we have the right attitude.
Let me illustrate my point with a true story. Over a century and a half ago, “diamond fever” struck Africa. Some people struck it rich. Others made a long, arduous, disappointing search.
One man sold his farm and began trekking through the continent, never finding diamonds.
Meanwhile, on the land the man had sold, the new owner found a strange-looking stone. A visitor noticed it and shouted excitedly, “This is a diamond! It’s one of the largest I’ve ever seen.”
They discovered that the entire farm was covered with gems.
Some people never take the time to see the “gems” in their own families. So “stop and smell the roses” in your family. Look at God’s love for them. Any gem, of course, may need polishing. But the gem’s there.
So what does Sunday's Word of God have to say to us?In the beginnings of Christianity, a deacon named Philip is traveling to the back-water city of Samaria, proclaiming the “Good News” that Jesus Christ lives. And because Christ lives, we live.
Philip had such remarkable success that the Jerusalem community dispatched Peter and John to Samaria so that they could fire up the newly baptized with the gifts of the Spirit: wisdom (to recognize what truly matters in life), intelligence (to discern what's true), courage (to stand up for what's right), empathy and compassion (for the needy), good judgment, and wonder and awe.
The letter of Peter urges Christians to be patient, especially in adversity, and to speak with “gentleness and reverence.” Like Jesus, if they have to suffer, he asks them to suffer for doing good rather than for doing evil. Jesus is indeed our model. Remember: in the tragedy of the cross is the triumph of Easter.
Jesus in the Gospel announces his departure from the disciples: his close friends. They feel isolated, alone. But Jesus promises that he still will be with them through the Spirit. He alludes to the mystery of the triune God: Father, Son and Spirit. The triune God lives within us and we live within the triune God. This is called the mystery of the indwelling of God. His presence is as real to us now as it was to the disciples then. The challenge is to find God in our daily lives.
The temptation is that we may tend to isolate God to “church” or “temple.” But God is in all of life: in moments of great joy, in periods of dark sadness, in the nitty-gritty of work. The Gospel invites us to look beneath and beyond ordinary appearances and see the reality of God all around us.
Theodore Roosevelt – author, conservationist, historian, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and 26th President of the United States (the youngest president ever at 42) – had some sound advice when he stated, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.”
Roosevelt believed that you found yourself by being involved with everyday life. Like people in the Bible. Yes, let us pray for the grace to find the presence of God everywhere--in ourselves, in other people and in everyday situation-and especially in the nitty-gritty of daily life.
