Today we celebrate another mystery of our faith: The Paschal Mystery, the great gift of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. St. Thomas Aquinas posed this question hundreds of years ago: Why did Jesus give us his Body? We hear Jesus promise that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood “remains in me and I in him.” So: you are what you eat!

​As human beings we rely on the physical presence of loved ones to save us from loneliness and isolation—solitary confinement is one of the worst possible punishments! (And we know that no man is an island…) The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Body and Blood overcomes the “real absences” that besiege us. He is the nourishment that satisfies our hunger and thirst for goodness, mercy and righteousness.

As human beings, everything we know comes to us through our bodily senses. Without the Eucharist, the Body of Christ, we might be tempted to reduce Jesus to an abstract, intellectual or impersonal concept or idea. Our body is our “gateway” to knowledge. In the Eucharist we know the divine person of Jesus. We eat and drink and we are saved because when we truly carry Jesus within us, we will be as living tabernacles in this world.

The bread from heaven imparts to us “eternal life.” When we partake of this bread, we have God within us and we begin to live forever.  All present are fed, all are sustained and nourished. This is a miracle and a mystery; this is our grace and redemption. Lord, You satisfy our hungry hearts!

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

This weekend we acknowledge the truth that the one God is three Persons (Trinity) and adore His unity. This is not a peripheral matter, for “bare monotheism is ultimately barren.” Evidence of this “bare monotheism” is seen in how far too many Christians think that the one God is merely one Person; that Jesus is just a really Great Guy who was created to save us; that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal “force.” Here are four beautiful and liberating implications of the Trinitarian reality of the one God that we’d be missing out on if God were indeed merely one Person:
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• God is one…but not alone.  The doctrine of the Trinity does not destroy the unity of God but reinforces it.  It defines that unity in terms of a richness within the reality of the one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are numerically one in their nature (which is divine); they are distinguished from one another only by their relation to each other.  For this reason we can worship three divine Persons without falling into polytheism.

 

• God is love.  Relationship is the essence of God Himself.  The Father gives, the Son receives, the Holy Spirit proceeds.  God does not love us because Jesus died for us.  Jesus died for us because God loves us.  God is love.

 

• God is free to be gracious.  God’s decision to create and save the world was not motivated by any external pressure, nor by any compulsion to make up for any deficiency.  God is the one who chooses to love in freedom.  God is free to be gracious.

• God is sufficiently sovereign to come as well as to send.  God is not only a revealer (a sender), but a redeemer (He comes) too.  The one God who is totally other has chosen to become one of us.  The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity (Jesus) has descended and contracted His infinite greatness to be present in the mundane realm of our earthly affairs.
  

Let us respond to this awesome reality with the manner in which we live: willing what is best for others, forging wholesome relationships, and serving as witnesses of God’s saving plan for humanity. Following that plan ensures we pattern in our lives the Trinitarian nature of the one God and grow in union with Him.

​David J Conrad

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. We've all heard the various descriptive explanations for it—three persons in one God: like a triangle with three sides, still one triangle. Like a chicken egg, with a shell, a yolk, and a white, still one egg. Like an apple, with skin, flesh, and seeds, still one apple. Like water as ice, as liquid, and steam, still H2O. And, of course, like the three-lobed leaf of a shamrock…thank you, St. Patrick!

​Doctrines like the Trinity develop from an experience of the divine, an original encounter with God about which a person tries to talk. We memorize the doctrine but we can't let the understanding of one person or one time period be the litmus test of our faith. Our faith will falter if we try to rely, or depend, on somebody else's description of their experience of God's presence. It's not enough, maybe, because it's not our own. As our understanding of the world grows, as our time in history changes, as our life situation develops, so must our understanding of God grow and change and develop. What really matters is not how someone else described their experience of God, but how we experience the presence of God. That's not to say that we can't learn from our ancestors in faith—we do. Hearing how they have experienced the divine can help us recognize God in our own personal experiences.

As Catherine LaCugna (a feminist Catholic theologian and author of God For Us) says, “The nature of the church should manifest the nature of God.” She writes: “The doctrine of the Trinity reminds us that in God there is neither hierarchy nor inequality, neither division nor competition, but only unity in love amid diversity. The Christian community is the image or icon of the invisible God when its communitarian life mirrors the inclusivity of divine love.” So, All Are Welcome! They’ll Know We Are Christians by our love! What a model for all the world and for us!

Each time we read and ponder the scriptures, each time we pray, each time we reach out in love to another person, we see God revealed anew, among and within us, in the here and now. Trinity=Community. Glory be to God, the Creator; Jesus, the Redeemer; and the Spirit, the Sanctifier!

Keep singing!

​Elizabeth Dyc

Just a Note: After today’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity the Music Ministry begins its summer hiatus of rest and recouperation, relaxation and respite after a very busy year of service. Please hug and thank any member for their commitment and love for St. Aidan, evinced in all their dedication and work. They will return to sing in September—blessings on them for their music. Keep singing!

One of the opening declarations of Scripture about us as human beings is that we were not made to be alone. We were made for fellowship with God—walking with him in the garden in the cool of the day is the image we are given before sin broke that fellowship and led to God's children hiding from him. This break in fellowship with God also led to the breakdown of relationship between God's children. So much of the rest of the biblical story is a story of fragile fellowship ending up in fractured relationships as sin further and further isolates people from one another. We see so much of that these days…

​On that first Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection, we shouldn't be surprised that renewed and restored fellowship was one of the great results of the Church being born. As thousands believed and were baptized, the Lord brought them into a new community of genuine fellowship, and life in the Spirit.

St. Luke described this fellowship with these words: “All the believers were together and had all things in common.” This definition still remains the ideal for Christian fellowship today. The early days of the Church's life provide us with a powerful reminder of what we not only need in our church life, but also what we must pursue as a Church. More than people meeting in their isolated silences on Sunday, church must be a place of warmth, inclusion, shared lives, and genuine fellowship and relationship.

We were made for this: real, genuine, shared lives with others. While this fellowship may involve our participation in a big worship experience, it definitely must involve our participation in smaller gatherings where people know us, love us, and we share our lives as well as our meals together. God made us with a need for this, and he has called us into his forever family to have that need met. In the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we have the means for wisdom and understanding in our relationships in order to have community, compassion and forgiveness. We have what we need to fulfill our mission on earth.

It is so very appropriate that we celebrate today this gift of the Holy Spirit given us (in order that we may live together in ways that make sense!). We share the Word, and a meal. We sing and praise God for all good gifts and blessings.

In this season of weddings, the Feast of Pentecost is a celebration of the wedding of the Holy Spirit to humanity—and the birth of our Church. We celebrate our mission, our commission, our joy, our bliss, our life, our faith, our hope and our love! God’s blessings are on us all!

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

Last week in the Gospel Jesus told us He would not leave us alone and today (The Ascension of the Lord) he tells us “I am with you always, until the end of the age.” We are charged with carrying on His message through ministry and the Church. We are commissioned to serve others and are told that salvation is for all.

​As Disciples we depend on the Word, the Paschal Mystery and each other to be the presence of Christ in the world. St. Peter of Damascus wrote that we ascend with Christ to heaven through these real presences of Jesus. We move from “fear to religious devotion, from which springs spiritual knowledge; from this knowledge comes judgment, that is, discrimination (discernment); from discrimination comes the strength that leads to understanding; from this comes wisdom.”

Thanks to the ministry of the Apostles, all believers ascend with Christ into heavenly wisdom. When Christ ascended they had to depend on their faith, believe in their mission, and carry the Gospel to all. (The Holy Spirit at Pentecost makes all this possible!) We are charged with this same mission. We are lost if we only live by what we see and touch, rather than by what we know. Jesus told us, “I am with you always…” Next week we celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, our empowerment here on earth to fulfill our missions!

Our own personal ascension depends upon our knowledge of the truth of Christ, (keep studying scripture!) our life in the Spirit (keep the commandments!), the Word and Eucharist (keep coming to Church!), and our service to one another as the body of Christ (keep loving and forgiving!). This is the way we too, ascend and attend the eternal banquet.

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

During the remaining weeks of the Easter Season, we hear more readings about the Holy Spirit that will lead us to the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, and to the Feast of Pentecost. The first reading today directly refers to the “laying on” of hands to receive the Holy Spirit! (Do you remember your Confirmation?)

​This Sixth Sunday of Easter Jesus promises that he will not leave us orphans. He will send us an Advocate, the Spirit of Truth. The person of the Holy Spirit is with us always to empower us to love and to fulfill the personal law of God: the commandments and the Love Law.  Jesus reminds us to keep His commandments, for those who observe them are the ones who love him, and they will be loved by the Father.

St. Peter tells us to “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.” If you have life in the Spirit, you have “a reason for your hope.” Living in the true spirit of our faith, St. Peter advises us to be gentle and reverent and to keep a clear conscience; and to suffer for good rather than evil, as did our Lord. You do not have to do this alone, however, because we are never alone. By our baptism we have put on Christ, His presence is within us to empower us with hope and love in difficult times.

When we are filled with the light of this Spirit of Truth, and armed with the blessing of the Lord’s Commandments to help make our choices apparent, we have “the freedom to love, to choose what is good in every situation, even when to do so is a burden” (Pope and Saint John Paul II). The commandments of the Lord free us from the deception and dishonesty in which the world conspires to ensnare us, and the Holy Spirit strengthens and carries us past the temptation and glamour of sin.

Last week we heard Jesus say, “I am the way, the truth and the life…” As the Psalm today says: “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. Sing praise to the glorious name!” That, certainly, is the Truth.

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

Today we hear Jesus tell us “You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” We are called to commit our whole self to God, yet He knows how we are swayed and side-tracked by our feelings. (Remember last week when we were warned not to follow other voices?) The Psalm today says: “Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.” We know that sometimes trusting is so very difficult, and so we may be comforted this Fifth Sunday of Easter by Jesus’ words: “Let not your hearts be troubled.” He tells us that He goes to prepare a place for us, and he will come back and take us to himself.

​Faith takes us beyond our limited understanding. We are constrained by human logic and reason, and faith helps us to curb our mediocre , human impulses and our compromises with “The Way.” Jesus is clear today: “I am the way and the truth and the life.” If we live in His way, we will know the truth, and we will live our human and eternal lives with him. This is the challenge! St. John Eudes expresses it this way: “All that is Christ’s is yours: his spirit, his heart, his body and soul, and all his faculties. You must make use of all these as of your own, to serve, praise, love, and glorify God. He longs for you to use all that is in you, as if it were his own, for the service and glory of the Father.” This is “The Way.” This is our call as disciples of Christ.

St. Peter reminds us today that we “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Wow! What a responsibility it is to live as a Christian! But, remember: let not your hearts be troubled!

We know that if we live “The Way” we are living the truth; we are living the life that God wants for all his children; we are living up to our potential and God’s plan for us all. The reward is a heavenly dwelling place and communion with Christ, here and now, and always. Yea!

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

Today, this Fourth Sunday of Easter is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” I am an urban girl—I have always lived in the city or suburbs. The closest I have been to a shepherd is the pie named for it…  So I looked up “shepherd” in Websters’ (I just love the dictionary) and the definition was about caring and keeping sheep safe; or about moving a group of persons (ie: children) from one place to another; a pastor. So how do I, or may I, relate to this image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd when I have no actual experience with shepherds or sheep?

​If I focus on the first part of the definition from Webster’s—caring and keeping safe—I can understand this, as I trust that God guides me, and cares about how my choices shape the person I am. God wants the best for me, God wants me to be the best me He created me to be. I can follow that…

I also can understand, too, the part of the definition that talks about moving us from one place to another. God works at moving us from fear to love, from hatred to generosity, from selfishness to sacrifice, from sorrow to joy—if we let Him lead us. How may we be led? We need to listen to His voice in the Word, to eat at the table of the Lord, to pray constantly in all our moments, to open our eyes and ears to grace.

The words of the hymn “O King of Love My Shepherd Is” (#690 in our hymnal) speaks of all the things a good shepherd does: we lack nothing, goodness never fails, when we stray we are sought and cared for and (ultimately) brought “home” to a eat and drink our fill.  I can follow that, too. The last definition given for shepherd is pastor—a spiritual overseer—and this is just what I need God to be for me. So, is God your Good Shepherd? Food for thought.

Keep singing!

​Elizabeth Dyc

Nudity in Renaissance Art

​Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves after the fall, to hide the nakedness of which they were ashamed. Christ, by His saving work, restores to humanity the Robe of Glory we forfeited through sin, so we will have no more need to hide, to cover ourselves with matter.

Genital display is thus a deliberate and meaningful motif in Renaissance art (e.g. Michelangelo’s statue of David, or his statue of the Risen Christ). In light of Christ, we are properly ordered in our person; lust-free; perfected. This is our ultimate destiny, and thanks to Renaissance art we get a glimpse of that which are destined for, if we but remain with Christ and allow Him to transform us in this life.

Disappearing From Sight

In our Gospel reading this weekend, we hear of the encounter the disciples on the road to Emmaus had with the Risen Christ, not recognizing who He was until at day’s end they were with Him at table. There Christ took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. As soon as Christ’s disciples recognize Him, He disappears from sight; they strain ahead to meet the Lord in the Breaking of the Bread (what we today call the Mass), for by It we are made Christ’s Body and undergo re-creation. Once we know who we are, Christ disappears, because if we are His Body we can’t see Him elsewhere.

Christ Defeated Death

Christ's defeat of death makes the entire “upside-down” of God’s kingdom viable. If there is nothing beyond this life, why should the last be first? Why should we love our enemies? How could one possibly say that we gain our lives by losing our lives?

But acknowledging this truth does not insulate us from grief, or serve as a break wall against fear. There is still pain and separation in death. Christ wept at the death of His friend, Lazarus. Christ did not say to us, “do not mourn, for there is no reason,” but rather, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

And of fear, there is nothing quite like facing a real threat. Fear wells up involuntarily and we ask ourselves, “What do I really believe?” It is only because of faith and hope that we can move forward. Yes, there is pain and mystery ahead in this life. There is separation for a time in death. But is death the end? No. Thanks be to God, that is a lie.

​David J. Conrad

So, what guides you? What are you guided by? We hear Scripture today about paths and roads, and journeys. Many people today travel using a GPS system─a Global Positioning System─a satellite based navigation system in order to reach your destination, guiding you safely and with the assurance of arrival. How great would it be to have a GPS for the paths and roads that we travel in our life’s spiritual journey?

​Today we hear the Gospel story about two of Jesus’ disciples who meet Jesus (without recognizing Him) as they travel on the road to Emmaus. He explains the Scripture to them, but they only recognize Him later in the breaking of the bread. “Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

St. Peter today reminds us to “conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning (this stopover life in our travel back to God)…” He tells us that to realize and understand that we have been saved by Christ’s blood means to act/speak/think/profess a Godly life. Our conversion is our GPS─our “Godly Positioning System.” If you are guided by God’s Word, fueled by the Eucharist, started up and driven by Worship for service of people, then you will arrive at your eternal destination. You will be guided on the paths and roads that we travel in life.

Like all systems, your GPS must be used on a regular basis in order to function for you as intended. It needs diagnostics and tune-ups in order to keep working well. The Psalm (#16) today says: “Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge…I bless the Lord who counsels me…I set the Lord ever before me; with Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. You, O God, will show me the path of life…” Turn on and use your Godly Positioning System─your spiritual GPS─and you will arrive safely, and with assurance, at the heavenly banquet.

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc