Word to the Wise
Monday, May 25, 2009 - Monday in the Seventh Week of Easter
[Acts 19:1-8 and John 16:29-33]"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They answered him, "We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
Given the diversity of theology to be found in the New Testament and the few anecdotes that the Acts of the Apostles provides, it is a marvel to me that any consistent vision of Christian theology emerged from all the confusion that followed the death and resurrection of Jesus. The conversation between Paul and the disciples at Ephesus is an example of this, and also an example of how the vision of Paul and Luke found its way to becoming one of the dominant strands of belief. Since Luke is the author of Acts, we could go back and read the first few chapters of the Gospel of Luke to see how the conversation in today's scripture has its origin. John the Baptist had a lot of disciples (including Jesus, apparently, at some point). These disciples were busy preaching his message as well! The diversity reflects not just a multiplicity of beliefs but also a lot of ignorance as well! In my own years of campus ministry, I found myself saddened often by the sheer lack of knowledge of Catholic faith possessed by students coming from Catholic schools or religious education programs. One Catholic student once sincerely asked me if it is true that Catholics have to go to Mass every Sunday. (We're supposed to, but recent polls show that this is beginning to decline considerably even in the USA - the most church-going nation in the world!) We have such a rich heritage of belief and most of it impinges very little on the daily lives of our average pew-person except in the area of popular piety (where the theology is not always quite clear). Many very fine people labor mightily in religious education programs and Catholic schools to educate young Catholics in the faith! I pray they will continue their efforts because the secular world we live in has a way of erasing religious belief from everyday life. At least I hope their young pupils will be able to say that they have indeed heard that there is a Holy Spirit! AMEN
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