Trinity Sunday

Do you ever notice how we greet one another? We might look one another in the eye or maybe we smile and utter a friendly “Hello,” “How are you,” or “How’s it going?” In Australia, you will often be greeted with an upbeat “G’day mate, how ya goin’?” In parts of Austria and Southern Germany, you will hear “Grüß Gott.” This common salutation literally means greet God. It is another way of saying “God bless you,” a way to acknowledge that the presence of God is with the person who receives the greeting.

Likewise, at the beginning of the liturgy, we are greeted with words that acknowledge the presence of God with and within us as the guidelines for Mass explain:

Then he (the priest) signifies the presence of the Lord to the community gathered there by means of the Greeting. By this Greeting and the people’s response, the mystery of the Church gathered together is made manifest. General Instruction of the Roman Missal #50.

The Roman Missal gives the priest three greetings from which to choose:

A.    The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  

B.    Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

C.     The Lord be with you.

All three greetings can be found in Scripture. Greeting A is the only greeting to specifically mention all three persons of the Holy Trinity. It comes from today’s second reading and is the conclusion of St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. But it is more than a simple “good-bye.” Paul reminds the community that they are to live a new existence, one that reflects “the grace of Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit.” In the same way, this greeting is used at the beginning of our liturgy to remind us that we gather in the name of the triune God who calls us to live in the fellowship and love of the Holy Trinity.

Pentecost

There’s a school cheer that goes like this: 

“We've got spirit, yes we do
we've got spirit, how ‘bout you?”

The word spirit is related to inspire, which comes from the Latin inspirare, which means to breathe upon or into. According to the gospel of John, which is proclaimed on Pentecost Sunday, Jesus breathed his Spirit into the apostles:

He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jn. 20:22

The Spirit inspired those first disciples to do amazing things, things like speak and understand other languages. According to the Acts of the Apostles:

Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Acts 2:43

Notice how the Spirit encouraged them to live with one another:

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life … they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need … they ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. Acts 2:42-46

If we, like the first disciples, allow ourselves to be ignited by the Spirit’s fire, we too can live in awe, perform wonders and create communities where no one is in need. Pentecost is a good time to renew our spirits, to consider how the Holy Spirit inspires us and to respond to the continual cheer of the Triune God: “We’ve got spirit, how ‘bout you?”

One Mass, So Many Opinions

As we were preparing for the liturgies of Holy Week, a colleague came up to me and said, “I think the Good Friday liturgy is so boring, I mean how many times can we sing Jesus, Remember Me?” That same week, a parishioner came up to me and said, “I can’t wait until Good Friday. That’s my favorite liturgy! I could sing Jesus Remember Me all night!” I myself have come out of Mass less than satisfied with the particular preaching that day only to hear someone exclaim to the priest or deacon, “Thank you, the words in your homily were exactly what I needed to hear today.”

As this example illustrates, we all perceive sights, sounds, and the very world around us very differently. With this in mind, we often plan liturgies wondering, what moves people? What engages people? How in the world can we become one body when we are so different?

Then I remind myself of the answers. What moves people? The Holy Spirit moves people. What engages people? The Holy Spirit engages people. How can we become one body? The Holy Spirit unites us. This is why we pray to the Spirit during Mass:

            Grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son

            and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ.

                                                                                                 Eucharistic Prayer III

Only the Spirit of God can unite us. The Spirit moves as it wills, mysteriously over and above the grasp of our intellect or imagination. If we are open to it, this kind of unity moves us beyond our own needs to the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. So the next time you sing your least favorite song at Mass or think that some element of the liturgy was too dry, too long, too boring, too repetitive, too (fill in the blank). Rejoice and trust that the Spirit is at work.

Happy Mother's Day

Very few of us wear a corsage on Mother’s Day. When I was a child I remember going to church on this day and seeing a myriad of women and children wearing either a red or white flower. A red flower meant your mother was alive, a white flower meant your mother had died. My mother passed away years ago, but I still feel her presence whenever I follow in her footsteps and do what she would do: cook one of her recipes, go places that she and I frequented together, spend time with family, send thank-you notes or plant flowers in the spring. Ironically, I can sense my mother’s spirit now more than when she was alive.

Perhaps this is what Jesus was trying to get across to his disciples in today’s gospel, that he would continue to remain with them even after his death. Jesus assured them the presence of his Spirit, but only after his death and ascension to the Father. The disciples didn’t quite understand. They wanted his physical presence to remain close to them. But Jesus promised something greater. Once unbound by time or space, his Spirit could dwell not just with his disciples in a particular time and place, but with the entire human race until the end of time. This is why he said, “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father."

So whenever we follow in the footsteps of Jesus and do the works he would do: feed the hungry, care for the sick, show compassion, be merciful, or give of ourselves, we know the Spirit of Jesus is alive and well, working through and within us.

Alleluia!

The Hallelujah Chorus is traditionally performed throughout the Christian world as part of the celebration of Easter. The Hallelujah Chorus is part of the Messiah, an oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741 with a Scriptural text by Charles Jennens. The Messiah is written in three parts. Part one is the Christmas story. Part two, the crucifixion and resurrection, is the Easter story. Part three covers redemption and Christ’s final victory over sin and death. Part two--the Easter story--culminates with the Hallelujah Chorus.

The Hallelujah Chorus is the part of the oratorio that brings people to their feet. Allegedly this tradition began when King George II came to the London premiere of the Messiah. When the Hallelujah Chorus rang out its first notes, the king rose to his feet and remained standing throughout the entire chorus. According to royal protocol, when the king stands, everyone must stand. So the entire audience stood for the duration of the piece, initiating a tradition that continues today.

The word Hallelujah is a transliteration of a Hebrew word that literally means “Praise God.” The word is found throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, mostly in the psalms. To utter the word Hallelujah is to boast in God, to rise up with resounding praise, to shout for joy.

The word Hallelujah was translated into Greek and then Latin, resulting in the word Alleluia. Like our Hebrew ancestors, early Christians also used this word as an expression of joy, thanksgiving, hope and triumph.

The Alleluia is used in our liturgy as the Gospel acclamation and it is so important that it is only sung—never spoken! During the more reflective season of Lent, the Alleluia is replaced with another acclamation of praise.

The Hallelujah Chorus isn’t the only music that brings people to their feet. The Alleluia, as the Gospel acclamation, bids us to rise to greet the God who lives among us. To sing the Alleluia is to anticipate hope, to welcome joy, to encounter divine grace. Alleluia! Christ is Risen!