COMMENT ON THE LITURGY OF THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER
Collect
O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; Grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Readings
Gc 1:17-21; Gv 16:5-15
Comment
The gift of the Spirit is the subject of the readings proposed by today's liturgy, which precedes the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost.
Jesus' words indicate that his withdrawing from us is not without fruit. He leaves us, for a short time, to return to the Father, so that he can give us the Spirit who will guide us to all truth (Jn 16:13). For this reason the apostle James, in his letter tells us that "Every good and perfect gift is from above," (Jas 1:17).
The word of God, which we find in the Scriptures, must be at the center of the Christian life. But the word of God is not a dead letter, ours is not "the religion of the Book". Listening to the Scriptures passes first of all through the liturgy, where Jesus is present among us and speaks to us, not from a distant past but with living words that are confronted with today's reality.
God always speaks us familiarly. Thus the word of God transcends the story of the historical Jesus and presents himself as the eternal Logos, but not detached from our earthly life; indeed capable of transcending the inevitable spatial and temporal limits to which Jesus' preaching was subject during his earthly life.
The image evoked by the Collect of today's liturgy - which asks God to keep us steadfast amid the upheavals of the world - seems to be directly borrowed from the Carthusian order's motto: "Stat crux dum volvitur orbis" (The cross remains steadfast while the world turns). It is not unlikely, because Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who is the direct author of this prayer, had in his library a life of Saint Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order, as well as a commentary on the Psalms of the Carthusian Ludulf of Saxony.
In his letter James also reminds us that the Father "does not change like shifting shadows." (Jas 1:17). This is the gift of the Spirit: a word capable of governing our souls, which otherwise would be like boats without a rudder and at the mercy of the storm. They are images that recall the Gospel episode in which Jesus rebukes the winds and commands the waters, bringing back the calm, after the disciples had feared the shipwreck.
Let us, therefore, draw close to the word of God with faith so that the Spirit may lead us to the safe harbor of life in grace.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
