May 2, 2010
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Passionist JPIC E-Bulletin
Greetings!

Passionist JPICThis week the Passionist JPIC office reflects on the Christian's task to remember the love of Christ and to re-live this love in our own lives. We invite you to read the reflection below and to visit the lectionary reflection blog and engage in this reflection with your own thoughts and considerations. Feel free to post these reflections at your parish bulletin or retreat center's bulletin board. If you would like a microsoft word copy of the reflection plase contact me at jdgonzocpp@yahoo.com.
 
Please visit the Passion for Justice Blog for post and resources for information on Christian simple living and caring for the integrity of creation.
 
Below you will see some current action alerts that we invite you to also act on and add your voice to the social issues that concern our Church community and faith. Also, if you are on any of the social networks listed below I invite you to join us.  
 
Peace,
John
 
 
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Lectionary Readings:
 
  • Acts 14: 21-27. Paul and Barnabas complete the first missionary journey and report to the community at Antioch which had commissioned them. They relate all that God had helped them accomplish and repeat the need to undergo many trials perseveringly.
  • Revelations 21:1-5. John sees a vision of the new heavens and the new earth, also the new Jerusalem, beautiful as a bride. Every tear will be wiped away.
  • John 13: 31-33, 34-35. Jesus will soon depart and recommends love for each other, "such as my love has been for you."
Calendar:
May 1: St. Joseph the Worker
May 1: Kentucky Derby
May 1: International Workers Day
May 3: Feast Day of the Apostles Philip and James
May 3: World Press Freedom Day
May 5: Cinco de Mayo
May 8: World War II Remembrance and Reconciliation day
May 9: Mothers Day
 
 
Quotes:
To suffer with the other and for others; to suffer for the sake of truth and justice; to suffer out of love and in order to become a person who truly loves-these are fundamental elements of humanity, and to abandon them would destroy man himself.
-Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, #39
 
Working for the common good requires us to promote the flourishing of all human life and all of God's creation. In a special way, the common good requires solidarity with the poor who are often without the resources to face many problems, including the potential impacts of climate change. Our obligations to the one human family stretch across space and time. They tie us to the poor in our midst and across the globe, as well as to future generations. The commandment to love our neighbor invites us to consider the poor and marginalized of other nations as true brothers and sisters who share with us the one table of life intended by God for the enjoyment of all.
-USCCB, Global Climate Change: A Plea for dialogue, prudence and the common good, #25
 
If someone who has the riches of this world sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 Jn 3:17). It is well known how strong were the words used by the Fathers of the Church to describe the proper attitude of persons who possess anything towards persons in need. To quote Saint Ambrose: "You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his. For what has been given in common for the use of all, you have arrogated to yourself. The world is given to all, and not only to the rich.
-Pope Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, #23
 
crossMan is worth so much to God that he himself became man in order to suffer with man in an utterly real way-in flesh and blood-as is revealed to us in the account of Jesus's Passion. Hence in all human suffering we are joined by one who experiences and carries that suffering with us; hence con-solatio is present in all suffering, the consolation of God's compassionate love-and so the star of hope rises.
-Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, #39
Thoughts for Your Consideration: By John Gonzalez
 
The Gospel reading for this weekend offers us the final instruction of Jesus to his disciples before being glorified through his own Passion, Death and Resurrection. The instruction is to "Love one another as I have loved you." In fulfilling our Sunday obligation of attending Mass we are in fact fulfilling our obligation of remembering Christ as we listen to his Holy words in Sacred Scripture and by participating in the last supper during the liturgy of the Eucharist. But the act of remembering is not an historical exercise. We are not merely role playing with an event that happened sometime in the past. A great Passionist scripture scholar, Fr. Carroll Stuhlmueller, reminds us in his commentary on this passage that "remembrance is re-living now what was done then. ...Remembrance combines past, present and future, suffering and glory, hopes and fulfillment. The liturgy of the Eucharist enables us to do much more than we ever anticipated, for it brings the mirabilia Dei, the wondrous deeds of God, from the past right into our contemporary actions."    
 
Because of the laws of nature humanity is limited by the dimensions of space and time. However God exists beyond these confines and spiritually we too transcend these natural limitations. That is why it is nearly impossible to describe the supra-natural concepts that John witnesses in the book of Revelations such as the new heaven, the new earth and the New Jerusalem. The relevance that the second reading has for us is to remind us of our Christian goal which again transcends time and space. Heaven does not become a personal future reward for us if we successfully live a good life. Heaven becomes a liberated form of existence, an existence where we live in a complete holistic relationship with God and each other. What this existence will look like in the end we do not know, but from what John was able to observe "there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away." Our Christian hope is for a new culture of life that will replace the current culture of death. The social culture that placed Jesus on the cross will give way to a new culture that will transform the crucified Jesus into the risen Christ.
 
We are called to share in that liberated existence now. We remember this existence when we recall the life that Jesus lived and the incarnate relationship he had with God and humanity. We re-live that relationship now as Christians building the Kingdom of God by our very example and by advocating for the society based on the culture of life, a life that compassionately walks with all who suffer, a life that stands in solidarity with all who are mourning, wailing or in pain.
 
CP-World logoThe Passionist community takes a vow to remember the passion and death of Jesus Christ. This act of remembrance calls us to re-live that suffering by serving and standing with all who continue to face the pains and injustice of our contemporary society. The Passionist Constitutions describe it in this way: "His Passion and death are no mere historical events. They are ever-present realities to people in the world of today, "crucified" as they are by injustice, by the lack of a deep respect for human life, and by a hungry yearning for peace, truth, and the fullness of human existence."
 
This path of remembrance is described by St. Paul in the first reading when he instructs the disciples to persevere in the faith. "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." God's Kingdom is not something we wait for, it is something we build together as a community of faith that believes in and hopes for a fuller existence. We remember this vision through the life and love that Jesus shared with all humanity. We re-live this vision today when we reach out and relate to all our brothers and sisters and especially those who need us the most. Finally we also hope that these efforts will help build a new society that is founded on the love and life that God wants to share with all of creation.
 
Christian eschatology calls us to live in the present by looking to the past and remembering tomorrow.
Actions-Links
 
Fair Trade my Home: bring Fair Trade into your home and community Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and their friends at the Fair Trade Resource Network have put together a tool kit of resources. Take the CRS Fair Trade my Home Pledge, engage in purchasing fair trade products, and you will be entered into a raffle to win a Haitian artwork.
 
capitol2Network Catholic advocacy: Visit the Network Catholic advocacy site to promote the following two issues of economic justice:
Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Arizona passed the harshest anti-immigrant legislation in the country. This is the time for the federal government to bring about Comprehensive immigration reform that addresses the immigration issue in our country from the perspective and values based on Christian ethics. Join the Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and tell your senators that we need Immigration reform now.
 
Remember, you will never please God if you do not love another. Let there never be any dissension among you, and, if ever any sharp words should pass among you, be quite at once and do not keep talking. Let no disdain take possession of your hearts. So I repeat to you with Saint John: love one another, love one another, for in this is the love of God known. Show great love towards God's poor.
- St. Paul of the Cross
North American Passionist JPIC Office