Sunday Readings & Reflections
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Reflection for Sunday, June 15
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Nothing is more pricelessThis Trinity Sunday, our second reading comes from Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome. As part of his larger explanation of the new reality brought into the world through Jesus (i.e., the new covenant between God and man forged by Christ), Paul draws together a kaleidoscope of truths to make his point. It is almost overwhelming to try to get our minds around it!
Paul tells them, “…since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.”
Those are a lot of rich words: faith, peace, grace, hope, and the glory of God.
At its heart however, Paul is teaching a simple truth--that Christ came to dramatically heal the relationship between humanity and God. How? By extending a new gift that both heals and unites us to God. That gift is God’s very life, which we call grace. The word for grace (charis) is literally “gift” in Greek.
We accept this gift of God’s life when we freely assent in faith. This faith is not just a one-time mental decision, but a whole-life turn towards God. It allows God to pour his life into us at Baptism. Paul spells it out for us: “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
God, himself, is the gift. Grace is God’s Spirit. In other words, the very life of Christ--his very Spirit--has been given to us! God’s love is gratuitous and incredibly generous. We have a share in God’s trinitarian family life through the adoption extended to us in baptism.
There is nothing in the universe more priceless.
by Dr. David Glasow
Director of Evangelization
Readings for June 15
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Reflection for Sunday, June 8
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Moving closer to GodOur second reading this Pentecost Sunday is enigmatic, and yet so very Catholic!
Paul shares with the Corinthians on how we all, united in the one Christ, fit together. The image Paul uses seems to undermine the way the world works, with its competitive “either you or me” world view.
Paul explains, “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.”
It is because we have one energizing Holy Spirit that we are united in Christ. We become the Single Body of Christ. This is not just an image. We really are united to Christ intimately, via our Baptism. Without this unity we are not “in Christ”.
But this might seem a bit too united! Wait a second (we might say) I like being who I am and who God made me. Am I being asked to be a clone? Made into a cookie cutter shape?
But here is the genius of Paul. In Christ we are uniquely ourselves. Just like a body has parts and jobs to do, so do we. Unlike the eastern philosophical world like Buddhism and Hinduism, when we move closer to God, we do not loose our individuality. The closer we get to God we become more radically ourselves. God loves variety.
So as a member of Christ’s body the Church, Christ invites each of us into a deeper transformation that rejoices in our gifts, humbles us to be truly who we are, but also recognizes the fact that we were made for God. This is a mystery: how we can be individually free and unique, but also deeply united to God in his Church. Moving closer to the God who loves us does not make us less--only more.by Dr. David Glasow
Director of Evangelization
Readings for June 8
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