Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 2, 2019
The one who comes from above is above all.
The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.
But the one who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God remains upon him.
Reflection
Today’s Gospel passage contains a line that leapt off the digital page at me: “He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”
As I ponder this image of the un-rationed Spirit, I recall other Bible stories of lavish excess: leftovers from Jesus feeding the crowds with a few loaves and fishes (Matthew 15); the entire jar of nard Mary Magdalene used to anoint the feet of Jesus (John 12); the heavenly marriage feast of the Lamb from John’s apocalyptic vision (Revelation 19). The scriptures are filled with stories of the excess of God, the excessive love that God bestows on God’s own creation, especially on each of God’s children.
God’s Spirit dwells in all the baptized—how, then, does God’s unrationed Spirit spill out through word and deed in our lives, today? Having just passed through the season of Lent, what lavish acts of generosity, hospitality, and kindness did we witness as works of the Spirit? In my own congregation, I saw increased donations to food distribution centers and women’s shelters through Lenten giving projects. I saw reconciliation offered and gratefully received between individuals and the church community. I witnessed the most excessive gifts of the Spirit in Easter Communion, where Christ’s mystical body was knit together as one.
In this season of Easter, let us look for, embrace, and share Love’s unrationed Spirit!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you love your Son Jesus and give everything and everyone over to him. May you make of us an everlasting gift to you, that we may always be grateful and sing your praises with a joy-filled hearts. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Athanasius applied his heart and mind to articulating Jesus' divinity and humanity and faced exile for his work, which helped shape the way the Church understands this mystery.
He was born in 297 in Alexandria, Egypt, at the end of the Roman persecution of Christians and at the start of the ascension of the Emperor Constantine. His parents were Christians, and he received an excellent education. He learned the Scriptures inside and out, and for a time he followed St. Anthony the Great, who established a life of prayer in the desert.
Athanasius was ordained a deacon at the age of 21 and was assigned as a secretary to the bishop of Alexandria. It was in this role as an aid to the bishop that Athanasius attended the great council of Nicea, which gave us the Nicean creed that we still recite at Mass today.
The council was called because of the rapid spread of a strain of thought—named Arianism, after its first teacher, Arius—which claimed that because Jesus was born as a man, he could not have existed before his birth, and therefore was not fully divine. The council definitively stated that Jesus was, in fact, divine, and had existed as part of the Trinity before the Incarnation. The bishops condemned Arius and articulated the creed as a standard of orthodoxy.
Shortly after the council, the bishop died, and Athanasius was appointed his successor, even though he was not even 30 years old. Arianism, despite its condemnation, was still a popular belief, and Athanasius spent most of the rest of his life dealing with that heresy.
He steadfastly proclaimed the conclusions of the council, even in the face of threats. His Arian opponents accused him of treason and even murder. Because they had connections to powerful people in the empire, they succeeded in having Athanasius removed and exiled. Political maneuvers resulted in his restoration and exile several more times—by the end of his life, he had been banished five times and spent 17 years in exile. He was a constant thorn in the side of the powerful who wanted a more convenient version of Christianity, and for this reason was called the “Champion of Orthodoxy.”
Athanasius was known as the greatest man of his day, and is one of the greatest religious leaders the world has ever known. He defended the faith when everything seemed stacked against him, and without his steadfastness, we would not have received the fullness of the faith that we have today. The Church recognizes him as one of her doctors, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Sacred Heart Basilica on campus. He is depicted there in stained glass windows, including one with an image showing him faithfully handing on doctrine, in the form of a scroll, to the Church.
St. Athanasius, against all odds, you preserved and passed on the fullness of our faith in Jesus—pray for us!