Weekend of June 11/12, 2022

In today’s Gospel Jesus talks about life with his Father and the Spirit. He tells his disciples that what belongs to the Father belongs to him, and that the Spirit will take from what is his and give it to them. Jesus helps us understand that the relationship between Father, Son and Spirit is one of perfect sharing and loving generosity. This shared life is the foundation for what we now understand as part of living life in the Trinity. The abundant generosity of those who are good stewards of the gifts entrusted to them give us a glimpse into the love of the Triune God. Does the extent of our generosity give others a glimpse of God’s life within us?

Weekend of June 4/5, 2022

In today’s first reading we encounter the Holy Spirit who at Pentecost came rushing in over Jesus’ followers like a powerful wind. It must have been a frightening experience for them. But their great acts of prophetic witness began when the Spirit drew them out of their “comfort zones.” Jesus said the Holy Spirit, like the wind, blows where it wills; into the lives of good stewards, empowering them to perform wondrous acts of healing, reconciliation and evangelization; encouraging them to proclaim the Gospel with boldness and confidence. All of that is a little beyond the comfort zone where most of us live our lives. This week, reflect on how the Holy Spirit may be calling you out of your personal comfort zone.

Barnabas comes as close as anyone outside the twelve apostles to being considered an apostle. He is memorialized, in part, for his amazing evangelizing ministry. He was a Jew from Cyprus named Joseph but the apostles affectionately nicknamed him “Barnabas,” which means “son of encouragement.” When he became a follower of Jesus he sold some of his property and donated the proceeds to the apostles (Acts 4:36-37). Most of what we know about Barnabas is found in the Acts of the Apostles. He befriends Saul (Paul), brings him to the apostles and a very suspicious Jewish community in Jerusalem, and describes for them how on the road Paul had seen the Lord and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus (Acts 9:27). When a Christian community begins to form in Antioch, Syria, Barnabas is sent as the official emissary of the church of Jerusalem to catechize its members. Barnabas and Paul taught there for a year, after which they took collections back to Jerusalem. Later Barnabas and Paul, now seen as charismatic leaders, are sent by the Antioch community to preach to the Gentiles where they enjoyed such enormous success that the people even wanted to offer sacrifice to them as gods. Barnabas and Paul would attend the assembly in Jerusalem that settled the question of circumcision for Gentile converts (Acts 15; Gal. 2:1-10). Barnabas supported the Gentile Christians who did not see why they should have to be circumcised and observe Jewish dietary laws. The council decided in their favor. When Paul stood up to Peter for not eating with Gentiles for fear of his Jewish friends, he wrote that “even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy” (see Galatians 2:1-13). And even after disagreements caused Paul and Barnabas to part ways for a time, Paul continued to use Barnabas as an example of apostolic behavior (1 Cor. 9:6). Barnabas is the patron saint of Cyprus. It was there that he established its first Christian community. It was also there, in the Greco-Roman city of Salamis that, according to tradition, he was stoned to death around the year 60. His remains were taken to Constantinople, where a church was built in his honor. Saint Barnabas is heralded as having a single-minded devotion to Jesus Christ. In Acts 11:24, it is written that he was a man “filled with the Holy Spirit and faith” whose ministry insured that “large numbers were added to the Lord.”  His Feast Day is celebrated on June 11.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of our Lord, a feast which, in part, celebrates the confidence he placed in his close followers to continue his ministry. In the Gospel reading Jesus reminds his followers of the purpose of his mission, and commissions them to continue his work by proclaiming his word and by living courageously that which they preached. He also promises them the Holy Spirit who he said would strengthen them for the task ahead. As stewards of Jesus’ life and ministry, a good question for us to reflect on this week might be this: Has Christ’s confidence in the quality of our own witness been well placed?

Saint Luis Batiz Saenz was a Mexican Catholic priest who suffered martyrdom at the beginning of the Mexican uprising against the anti-Catholic regime of Plutarco Elías Calles. Luis was born in 1870 in San Miguel del Mezquital, Zacatecas, then in the Archdiocese of Durango. He was said to have been a devout, prayerful, young boy. At age 12 he entered a minor seminary in the archdiocese. He continued his path to the priesthood and was ordained on January 1, 1894. Soon thereafter, Father Luis gained popularity as a confessor and spiritual adviser and accepted an appointment to be the spiritual director of the seminary where he studied. He also had assignments as a parish priest and became pastor of San Pedro parish in Chalchihuites, Zacatecas. Father Luis was a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 2367 and employed its organizational model to evangelize and call parishioners of all ages to service in the parish and the community. He also established Catholic elementary schools and technical training programs to encourage skill development among the local populace. Promoting a love for the Eucharist was said to be Father Luis’ first pastoral priority, however, and he spent a great deal of his time integrating the theology of the Eucharist in his religious education of children and his adult faith formation classes. He encouraged adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. In 1926, Mexican president Plutarco Elías Calles, an atheist who was determined to eradicate Catholicism from Mexico, enacted several laws to enforce the anti-Catholic articles of the 1917 Mexican Constitution. He severely restricted the activities of the Church and especially its priests. One such law prohibited public displays of piety and devotion. Another outlawed the wearing of clerical apparel by priests outside of church buildings. On August 14, in the Zacatecas town of Chalchihuites, government agents arrested Father Luis on suspicion of violating the “Calles Laws,” took him to an isolated spot and shot him to death along with three young men belonging to the Mexican Association of Catholic Youths. The murders were among numerous assassinations that ignited reprisals and counter reprisals. The resulting “Cristeros War” would exact a heavy toll on Mexico’s priests, where approximately 4,000 of them were either executed, murdered or expelled from the country. By 1934 there were less than 350 priests in all of Mexico. In the Jubilee year of 2000, Saint John Paul II canonized Father Luis Batiz Saenz along with 24 other Mexicans, mostly priests, who suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Mexican federal authorities during the Cristeros War. May 25 is the feast day of Saint Luis Batiz Saenz.

In today’s Gospel we witness the last evening Jesus spends with his disciples before his death. He has already made it clear that his followers will show their love for him by serving others. To live that kind of love, they will need the active presence of God in their midst. Jesus tells his disciples that he and his Father will come and make their home with them. He also tells them that the Holy Spirit will be among them to teach them and remind them of all that Jesus had taught. Good stewards recognize that God is in their midst and that the Holy Spirit is guiding them. How often do we acknowledge God’s presence in our lives? How often do we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us?