Sunday Readings

By Msgr. William Carr
Acts 2:1-11; I Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; and John 20:19-23
The word “pentecostes” means “fiftieth.” It was a Jewish festival of the ingathering of the harvest 50 days after Passover; it became a festival of covenant renewal also. In the Exodus, the Hebrews arrived at Mt. Sinai 50 days after their departure from Egypt.
There they received the Torah and they made their covenant with God. This was accompanied by signs of fire and quaking. Fifty days after Easter (our Christian Passover), the Holy Spirit comes in power to ratify the new covenant. The new covenant is not restricted to the blood descendants of Abraham; it is for everyone of every nation.
The Spirit gives a variety of gifts and ministries in the Church, but all gifts are for the building up of the Church in the unity of truth and of love. In the Gospel, Jesus confers the Holy Spirit on the apostles as a sign that he sends them forth, just as he had been sent forth from the Father. As he came to forgive and to reconcile, so he sends them to do the same things. The Holy Spirit is the life of the Church; let us resolve to live this life perfectly and to be faithful witnesses of the Lord to this world.

By Msgr. William Carr
Acts 1:1-11. Psalm 46; Ephesians 1:17-23; and Mark 16:15-20
Heaven is not “up;” hell is not “down;” earth is not in the middle. Often, however, we visualize a “three storied” universe. In many ways this is a problem: If we imaging Jesus going “up,” we may think of him as far from us, as billions of light years away. It’s hard to imagine him as close to us with such an idea.
The ascension of Jesus is not his being “taken away” from us. Rather, the ascension means that he enters the dimension of the Father’s glory. His sacrifice is accepted by the Father, who takes him to “his right hand.” At the “right hand” of the Father, Jesus is our Mediator, our Intercessor with the Father. We can have perfect confidence in the love of the Father, for Jesus is “at his right hand.” At the same time, Jesus has not departed from us. He has entered the Father’s glory in order to be closer to us than he was in his visible, physical body. He is right here with us. We can, therefore, have confidence in our prayers which are heard by the Father “through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We can have confidence that Jesus, who is with us, knows us, cares for us, loves us, and will see us through every crisis.
Our first reading describes the ascension. Jesus is taken into the cloud of the Father’s glory. It is the same cloud we saw in the Exodus, in the dedication of the temple at Jerusalem, and in the Transfiguration. While the apostles gaze at the scene, angels tell them — and us — to get busy. We must not rest until we proclaim the “Good News” to every creature.
The second reading reminds us that we are truly the Body of Christ. If Christ is in heaven, then we, too, have “one foot in heaven.” He prepares a place for us. Meanwhile, here on earth, we must strive with all our heart and soul to preserve the unity of the Church, Christ’s body, and to live as members of Christ. Use every gift and talent for this purpose.
The gospel is Mark’s brief description of the ascension. Jesus sends us, his followers, forth to proclaim “Good News.” The “signs” which accompany the proclamation are symbolic. We won’t handle snakes or drink poison. But we should never fear anything that this world dishes out to us: The Lord is with us. He empowers us to overcome all evil.

By Msgr. William Carr
Acts 10:25-26,34-35,44-48; I John 4:7-10; John 15:9-17
All the great religions of the world have some form of the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”) But the moral code of Christianity goes infinitely beyond this. Jesus commands us to treat others as he treats us! In today’s gospel he says, “Love one another as I have loved you!” We should not ask whether others deserve our forgiveness or understanding or mercy; we must simply offer them the love which Christ offers us. Jesus calls us his friends, not his servants; if we are his friends, then we must be friends of all who belong to him.
The second reading expands on this theme: “Love one another, because love is of God …God first loved us and sent his Son as an offering for our sins.” Love means that we place another’s needs above our own. It means that we sacrifice unselfishly. Love is a desire to do good, to honor and respect, to build up another person. The Christian motive for this is “because God has first loved us…. because Christ gave his life for us.” Christian love enables us to overcome our natural inclinations and prejudices.
The first reading describes the conversion of the first Gentiles (non-Jews); this was very hard for the apostles (steeped in Jewish tradition) to accept. But Peter proclaims that God shows no partiality — and we can’t either!
Human nature cannot live up to the high moral calling of Christians; we can only love as Christ loves with the help of his grace. Let us daily work to become more like Jesus.

By Msgr. William Carr
Acts 9:26-31; I John 3:18-24; and John 15:1-8
The Church should be a community of faith and love. The community should make use of all the talents and abilities of its members. But often converts find it otherwise.
Converts may have great abilities which are never used. They can easily become discouraged because they can’t seem to “break in” to the community. Perhaps Sunday’s Mass might be a lesson in maturity for us all.
St. Paul was highly educated; he was zealous; he had tremendous abilities. Yet, after his conversion, the Church was suspicious of him. The community wondered if he really was converted, or was he a spy?
The apostles sent him off to Tarsus where he remained in seclusion for more than 10 years! What a waste of talent. But all that time, Paul was building up the church by his prayer and virtue, even though he could not build it up by his external witness.
The second reading tells us to love in deed and not merely in word. We often talk a good game of community and stewardship. But our faith is shown by what we do.
If our talents are not used immediately, let us still please God in every way we can. We know that we are keeping his commandments by our peace of soul.
Jesus is the vine; we are his branches. All grace and virtue comes from him. Regardless of any other “branch” on the Christ vine, let us remain united with him. Let us seek to reflect his glory in all we do. He promises that whatever we ask in his name, he will do. Let us place our gifts and talents at his service.