6th Sunday of Easter - Fr. Leo
“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” (JN)
To keep the word of God is to live in the Holy Spirit. The disciples were being taught this as Jesus prepared them for his leaving. In His physical stead, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit who will be with them and remind them of all He had said. The Holy Spirit will be their powerful guide as an un-questioned presence of Christ in their lives.
A practical experience of the work of the Holy Spirit in the apostles lives, is given in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. To settle a tremendous tension in the early Church, the main disciples met in Jerusalem and decided together that the Gentiles, who were entering the faith community, did not need to be circumcised according to the Mosaic law.
This decision was enormous! Circumcision was such a long standing practice, even for the Jews today, that it’s not being required of Gentiles is a major change. Only the Holy Spirit could have accomplished this with those who were willing be keep the word of God. The disciples discerned what is most important for genuine faith.
It is the Spirit today who continues to guide those who will listen. And because not all will listen, there is always tension. One area this is an issue, and Pope Francis has addressed it several times, is in the use of the vernacular when celebrating mass. The Second Vatican Council mandated the use of the vernacular so that people could meaningfully participate in the Divine Liturgy of the Eucharist.
This makes sense and came from the ground up in the Church. Recently, in discussing this with a proponent of the Latin Mass, I mentioned that Jesus always spoke to his disciples in their own language. In fact, Jesus knew two languages so he could communicate with the people of his time. Jesus never spoke Latin!
The other part of pushing for the Latin Rite is that it greatly mars the collegiality of the Church, when the bishops all gathered at the Second Vatican Council they advocated the use of the vernacular. Behind the movement of the Traditionalist, is a desire to hang on to an old rite that separates them from the larger community of the Catholic Church. Also, the Latin Rite requires the priest to turn his back on the people, and to re-install communion rails separating clergy and laity. While the Latin mass has many beautiful elements, those in the movement tend to be ego driven, and seem to lack genuine spirituality.
Especially of Mystical contemplation of the Scriptures which reveals a Spirit of humble service to humble people, and an obedience to the Chair of Peter.