Mass Readings and Scripture Reflections

THE 6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER

I was finishing dinner with some friends at a local Italian restaurant, waiting patiently for my dessert of Lemoncello cake to arrive, when my attention was drawn to a family gathered around three tables that were pulled together.  They were clearly celebrating a young lad’s reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation.  A waiter asked the parents if they were ready to order their meals.  Before they could respond, their son shouted, “no.”  It seems he was eager to open his presents stacked on an empty chair next to him.  His parents let him.  He opened some cards with money in them and then some packages with clothing.  Then he looked up and asked angrily, “Is that all?”  The family had prepared a surprise.  Grandma at the far end of the table said, “Oh, here’s one more. I forgot to put it on the pile,” and passed a small box down to him.  He ripped open the wrapping without reading the card.  And there it was.  Some kind of electronic handheld gaming device.  And Grandma had thoughtfully charged it.  He screamed “I love it!” and immediately started playing with it.  His mom told him to read the card.  He just kept playing.  She told him to get up and give his grandmother a kiss.  He didn’t listen.  Mom looked apologetically at Grandma, who just waved her hand and nodded softly saying, “It’s okay.  I’m glad he likes it.”  He was still playing with it when we left, his food growing cold in front of him.

 

Today, St. John in the 2nd Reading tells us what love is.  It’s not so much that we love God, but that God loves us.  The Gospel tells us that God chooses us.  We don’t choose God.  And St. Peter in the 1st Reading tells us that the gifts of God come to all who are open to receiving the Holy Spirit, not just a chosen few.  And don’t we need to hear that today, with all the divisiveness encircling and enticing us these days?

 

Grandma gets it.  She gave her grandson the gift. She knows her grandson loves her even if he is too distracted to show it.  She knows the love will be there long after the device is set aside.  I’m guessing she realizes that the oils of Confirmation were still damp and that the Holy Spirit will be there for her grandson in due time.

 

How well are we responding to the gifts of love that the Holy Spirit has given to us?  What distracts us? What are our loving responses to it? 

 

Fr. Dominic Grassi