Happy Sunday!
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Acts 1,12-14; 1 Peter 4,13-16; John 17, 1-11a; 7th Sunday of Easter, May 24, 2020)
The first reading indicates that Jesus ascended into heaven and those who were with him on the mount returned to the city, entered the place where they were staying, and devoted themselves to prayer. The apostles were there. Their list corresponds with other lists found in the gospel accounts (Luke 6,14-16) with the exception of Judas Iscariot. Simon is identified as a member of the Zealots, a militant wing of the Jewish independence movement. The women who accompanied those men might be their wives or Jesus women followers who had come with him from Galilee and was attended to his burial (Luke 23,55). It is worth remarking that Mary the mother of Jesus was noted as present. Except in the fourth gospel (and there only twice) she had hardly been mentioned since Jesus’ childhood stories. At the birth of the Church, she appears for the last time in the New Testament, and it is surely deliberate that her prominence was noted: as Mother of the Church (so constituted by her Son's words from the cross to her and the beloved disciple) she must assist at the birth of the Church. Thenceforth, she was no more mentioned, but this does not mean that her role is over; a mother's function does not cease at giving birth.
On this last Sunday before the feast of Pentecost we read again (in the second reading from 1 Peter) of the connection that exists between Christ’s suffering and that of the Christian followers. Those who share in his suffering will also share in his glory. This is the reason for the Christians' rejoicing. The author of the letter is very clear about the reason for the Christians’ suffering. They are either defamed for the name of Christ (v. 14) or harassed, even persecuted, for being Christians (v. 16). The author provides one form of personal injury that fits these categories; reproach (oneidos), to make another the object of disgrace. Since their religious teaching and values, frequently, prevented the Christian believers from engaging in behaviour that was part of pagan culture, they often had to endure misunderstandings, mistrusts, and resentments. Their way of living was considered antisocial at best, treasonable at worst. It is out of question to think that suffering, which is the penalty for wrongdoing, could be associated with the suffering of Jesus. In order to make clearer what he meant here, the author gave some examples of the behaviour that will not earn future glorification for the Christians. They include murder, theft, wrongdoing, and acting as a busybody. These kinds of behaviour do not merit eschatological glory.
This is one of the three places in the Bible where the followers of Jesus were called Christians (cf. Acts 11,26; 26,28). While the term marks one as a supporter or follower of Christ, it may well have been intended as a name of scorn. As the name Christian might be interpreted as Messiah follower (the Christians claimed the Messiah they followed was a man who had been executed as a felon by crucifixion) to call them Christian might have been comparable to calling them felon-followers. In the face of this, the author of the letter told them to bear this name proudly and to endure any misfortune that might befall them because of it.
Today’s gospel reading offers us the beginning of Jesus’ magnificent prayer before his passion, a prayer in which it was possible to glimpse something of the unity existing between him and the Father. Father, glorify your Son…and then again: Father, glorify me before you ... What does it mean? Isn't it proud to ask to be glorified? It might seem so, but it is not because of several reasons. In the first place, because this glorification is realised during/through the passion, and we also know from the Gospel and from the context in which Jesus says these words. Father, the hour has come …: the hour of passion has come, which is also the hour of glorification. In another chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus is troubled, anguished and prays: Now my soul is troubled; and what should I say? Father, save me from this hour? But that's why I've come to this hour! Father, glorify your name! (John 12,27-28). Glorify your name means what we read here: Glorify your son so that the Son will glorify you. His purpose is the glory of the Father, which cannot be separated from his, because the Father cannot be glorified if the Son is not glorified. But the glorification of the Son takes place in the passion, in which the Father acts giving the Son the victory, not a human victory, but divine, obtained through suffering and death: then Jesus receives power over every human being and communicates eternal life. In particular, glorification takes place in the mystery of Pentecost, when the life-giving Spirit renews the Apostles and the whole Church. This is the glory of Jesus. It was not a relationship that remained closed between the Father and the Son, but an open, fruitful relationship, tending to transform every creature. You have given him power over every human being, so that he may give eternal life to all whom you have given him. This is eternal life: may they know you the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ: a life of union with God, Father, Son, in the Spirit. This is the glory that the Father communicates to the Son, the glory that spreads over the whole earth, since all the earth must be re-filled by the glory of God. We ask the Lord to open our heart to this beautiful prayer, so that we, too, can say in every event: Father, glorify your son, your child, that is to say: Implement your plan of love through all difficulties, obtain victory for me and thus I will be glorified and I will glorify you. It is a very beautiful reaction, because it is a reaction of love and trust. Jesus looked at his passion in that manner; let us ask him for the gift of his Spirit, which will enable us to open ourselves to his love in this way.
As we come to the end of the Easter season, we realise that we are in a liminal (liminal means relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process) period, a time in-between, in the situation of already, but not yet. We wait in anticipation for something already in our midst. In a very real sense the unfolding occurs within us. We are the ones who have been already saved but have not yet experienced the fullness of that salvation (this is referred to in theological terms as realised and unrealised eschatology). We have already been transformed into Christ, but this transformation has not yet been complete. The glory of the risen Christ has already been revealed in us, but not yet totally. Already, but not yet is the way we live out our lives in God, not the way God lives in us. The tension is ours, not God's. This tension is at the core of much of our frustration and suffering. We think that we have made some progress in reforming our lives only to realise that with each step forward we discover more steps that needed to be taken. We resolve to eliminate from our lives those attitudes and habits that diminish our character (impatience, resentment, small-mindedness) only to find that, wholehearted, commitment has not yet been eradicated from our lives. Because we live in the tension of already, but not yet we are always in need of salvation; we must always plunge ourselves into the death of Jesus so that we can rise again with him. While in this liminal state we must remember that even if we become frustrated God does not. God is always at our side. Living in-between the times is a special kind of living. It is a combination of rejoicing in the future that has already come and waiting for it to dawn. Though Christ is exalted in the heavens, the glory of Christ shines forth in us through our commitment to the message of the gospel. Today’s readings show us that the radical nature of this in-between living requires the support of the community. After Jesus had ascended into heaven, the apostles returned to Jerusalem as a community, and they gathered as a community in prayer. Knowing the difficulties his followers would have to face, Jesus prayed for them. This prayer was made within the context of his declaration of oneness, oneness between him and God the Father. At this same time, he described the participation of his followers in this oneness. We need community, but not only for help in the ordinary experiences of life. We need a community of believers with whom we can pray, who will understand our spiritual aspirations, support us in our Christian commitment and challenge us when we stray from the right path. We need a community of believers who are companions with us on our journey through this in-between time, who experience the same struggle to be faithful in a world that does not share our values or our insights. We need a community of believers through who shines the glory of the exalted Lord.
In this liminal stage we need the prayer of the community for support as we mentioned above. Nevertheless, we need to cultivate the spirit of personal prayer by turning of our minds and hearts to God, having a heart to heart conversation with him, cultivating an attitude of waiting and attending to him, establishing a personal relationship with him which can be continuous even when we are engaged in other activities. Nothing will also be more beneficial to us in this liminal stage than opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit who will lead us to the complete truth by showing us, in an unforgettable manner, the different aspects and deep nuances of our Christian life in this stage of in between living, thereby leading us into union with Christ and eventually, introducing us deeper and deeper into the life of the Blessed Trinity. +John I. Okoye
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