Spiritus Sanctus

Saint Athanasius, Bishop, Doctor
1 John 5:1-5 | Psalm 36(37):3-6,30-31 | Matthew 10:22-25

His commandments are not difficult,
because anyone who has been begotten by God
has already overcome the world;
this is the victory over the world –
our faith. (1 John 5:4)

This is cold comfort for anyone who’s felt the weight of the world on their shoulders. “<sigh> So many things to do, everyone pressing me for answers, I want to die liao!”

But that’s what happens when we choose, consciously or otherwise, to make the secular world the centre of our lives. I’m now more convinced than ever that reversing our daily priorities is not just a Good Idea, it may also be the only way to retain a measure of sanity, in a world that does its best to suck the marrow of life out of our bones.

Dwelling in the sacred world, then letting the mundane interrupt where necessary, helps put many things in perspective, and helps us maintain a mental detachment from that which will fade away on its own, or is better handled by others, or is simply not important enough to consume us body, mind, and soul.

This shall pass.

This, too, shall pass.

All this shall pass.

In its place…an abiding peace of mind, welling up from the heart-spring that is the love of God in us.

In its place…a resolute conviction that His commandments are the keystone, especially in a world that hates Him bitterly: to love Him with all our being, and to love one another in the same way.

In its place…faith, hope, and love.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

This came into sharp focus yesterday, during our parish’s ministry day of recollection. It ended with elections of office-bearers for all ministries, and I was told point-blank that my fellow long-term conductor and I were not eligible to stand for re-election.

There was a time when I would’ve exploded: “Alamak! How to go forward like that? Sure chaos one!”

This time, though, I was sufficiently detached after the long recollection session (and over a year of daily Lectio Divina) to Think Different: “Cool! That leaves me with the sole task of inspiring my fellow choir members to pay more attention to the sacred words we sing, and to rededicate ourselves to singing God’s praises in mind, mouth, and heart.”

I was never really a good administrator anyway. I’ve generally been much more effective working behind the scenes, watching out for things that needed doing but everyone else was ignoring, and getting those sorted.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

Brothers and sisters, in this daily personal “war” between the sacred and secular worlds, which side have you chosen by your actions and preoccupations?

Lord, You call us every day to live in Your world, the world of easy yokes and light burdens, the universe that is Love. Help us to make our home in You every day, and detach ourselves from the physical, mental, and spiritual contamination of the mundane, for You alone have the message of eternal life. Amen.

St. Joseph the Worker
Colossians 3:14-15,17,23-24 | Psalm 89(90):2-4,12-14,16 | Matthew 13:54-58

Whatever your work is, put your heart into it as if it were for the Lord and not for men, knowing that the Lord will repay you by making you his heirs. It is Christ the Lord that you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)

There was a time when I would go through the motions of serving God, and would sometimes even stop entirely.

At some points during this past week, a tiny part of me longed for those days again, for the serenity of being uninvolved in others’ pain, for the freedom to do my own thing, for the lightness of not caring.

The rest of me wept at my own impotence, arriving too late to coordinate, mediate and advocate for my fellow liturgical ministers as my responsibility dictates, and balancing precariously on a pin-head’s worth of second-hand information.

And then I was smacked in the head with the double sign of Jonah.

Looking back with a certain dispassion, I think I understand now why my week devolved so badly: it was God’s way of getting my attention. It sorta worked before, but I was perhaps too distracted with getting Christmas sorted, to pay attention to the underlying message.

O God, I am truly sorry that I shut out your call all these years. Like Jonah before me, I’ll stop running away now. Lead me to where you want me to do Your will.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

There’s a distinct possibility that I may be called away from the parish of my youth, of decades steeped in love, anger, joy, and pain.

I’d depart with a somewhat heavy heart, but after over a year of opening myself up to Him and all you brothers and sisters, I’ve inadvertently boxed myself in…His love, that is. I don’t see any other option, but to go where He points, and labour in His plan as He commands.

I’ll probably be terrified at how much I’d have to learn and change in the process, but with the grace of God, I’ll still keep faith in Him, and hope always in His love.

I think I’ll be OK.

Amen.

3rd Sunday of Easter (Year A)
Acts 2:14,22-33 | Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-11 | 1 Peter 1:17-21 | Luke 24:13-35

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm. (Psalm 16:7-8)

Two nights ago, I had a rather troubling meeting with my new parish priest, and had to break several bits of bad news to my fellow choir leaders.

As I stood in the shower, trying to relax my tensed muscles, I had a sudden mental image of myself as a modern-day Jonah, about to be swallowed by a whale.

As you might have guessed, I had a rather restless night, wondering whether it was time to move to another parish, as I’m sure some perturbed ministers in my parish already have, and others are seriously contemplating.

Not 12 hours later, I was at St. Teresa’s for a wedding. I was walking to the toilet to relieve myself before the service, when I stopped dead in front of a poster on the church bulletin board. Shaken, I did my business, then came out and stared at the poster again.

This is what I saw:

If I was a little woozy from lack of sleep before, I was wide awake now.

Another 12 hours later, in nocturnal silence, I’m forced to confront my concerns:

• Am I running away from God’s mission for me?
• What is His mission for me?

I have no clear answers yet, though not for lack of input from many folks around me. Ironically, it was my new parish priest who reminded me that doing God’s work often requires “dying to self”, and that there’s a very small step from getting comfortable in my ministerial role—to becoming stagnant.

What is clear, though, is that there’s no running from the Lord, only ignoring Him. We’re so quick to turn to Him when we’re in pain and when uncertainty abounds, conveniently forgetting that He’s been quietly counselling us every day of our lives, if we choose to listen.

The best option, now and always, is to simply trust in Him, and stand firm on the path of life that He has pointed out to us all the while.

So, brothers and sisters, if you’ve been shaken and stirred by recent events in your life, look back at your last few days. The Lord may already have given you the best advice possible, in ways that you overlooked.

Amen.

Saturday of the 2nd Week of Eastertide
Acts 6:1-7 | Psalm 32(33):1-2,4-5,18-19 | John 6:16-21

They were for taking him into the boat, but in no time it reached the shore at the place they were making for. (John 6:21)

This passage from the Jerusalem Bible actually differs from all the other translations I’ve seen. Everywhere else, it says that the disciples decided to take him into the boat, and they reached the shore in record time—a simple cause-and-effect scenario.

It’s almost as if the Jerusalem translation was intended to conjure in our minds the following conversation amongst the disciples:

It’s the LORD! Should we take Him on board?

What kind of question is that? Of course we should!

But He’s walking on water! What does He need a boat for?

What does it matter? He’s the LORD, He gets to ride with us any time!

But He’s walking! On water! Why would He want to ride with…Oh never mind, we’ve reached the shore.

Hang on, that was way too quick…

I think that the Jerusalem translation, in taking a different tack from all the others, is actually a reminder to be willing to open our hearts to the Lord at all times. When we do, even if we’re so busy fighting for our lives that we can’t focus on Christ, our way will be that much smoother, our minds that much clearer, our resolve that much firmer.

Clearer, stronger, faster. Rather like the speedboat engine that mysteriously appeared in the disciples’ sampan.

Lord, this is my heart, but I ask that it be Yours, too. Come to me, Lord, and dwell in me, that I may always be guided by Your good counsel, and forever do what is pleasing in Your sight. Amen.

Friday of the 2nd Week of Eastertide
Acts 5:34-42 | Psalm 26(27):1,4,13-14 | John 6:1-15

What I suggest, therefore, is that you leave these men alone and let them go. If this enterprise, this movement of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it does in fact come from God you will not only be unable to destroy them, but you might find yourselves fighting against God. (Acts 5:38-39)

2,000 years later, I think Gamaliel has his answer. The “enterprise” that is the Roman Catholic Church has yet to be destroyed, though not for the modern world’s lack of trying.

The sexual peccadilloes of a few clergy have now become a widespread movement to both discredit the Church in its entirety…and possibly profit from priests’ mistakes.

The Theology of the Body runs up against a dark twist of the Lord’s own words: “This is my body, and I’ll do whatever the hell I want with it!”

The old refrain “six days in the world, and the seventh for God” has transformed into “I’m kinda busy, Lord, can I get back to you…sometime?”

The seven deadly sins keep a-calling, and they won’t ever let up.

But neither should we.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

I celebrated Fr. Paul Staes’ 80th birthday with many other folks last evening, and while he reminded everyone present about things that I’d heard him recount many times, he ended his little speech with something I’d completely forgotten, something that he himself wrote in a diary to keep in mind:

Always give to God and others what is right, not what is left.

It’s a timely reminder that even “honoring the sabbath” is too little. There’s something dreadfully amiss, if God-time has to scrounged from our lives’ leftovers.

Rather, it must be the reverse: the bulk of our lives should be consciously offered to the Father. Our rushed “good morning, God” prayer, a quick rosary on the way to work, quietly humming that touching hymn at Sunday mass while on a toilet break, all given to God with “thank You, Lord, for this opportunity to remember You, and celebrate Your presence in my life”.

ABC (Always Be Contemplating) holiness, both in the words of daily scripture and the people we encounter in our daily lives.

And then we let the world intrude, not as an all-consuming monster that takes over our every waking moment, but as a necessarily brief distraction from the center of our lives that is the Creator Himself. As Archbishop William Goh enlightened us all last night, Fr. Paul was famous for orchestrating the most efficient priestly senate meetings he’d ever attended, with strict limits on “talk time”.

Get worldly business sorted tout de suite, then get back to the Lord.

If we can all adopt that philosophy, this “enterprise” of ours will last forever.

Amen.