LSC-B June B Season of Signs includes Trinity Sunday, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus and the 12th and 13th Sundays of Ordinary Time Year B. Hosted by Patti Brunner with Monsignor David LeSieur. Living Seasons of Change radio show.
Season of Signs radio show reveals the signs of the kingdom that manifest. Revelation of the Trinity—difficult to comprehend but easy to call upon in the prayer at baptism—is a sign of the kingdom. So is the lifeline of the Body and Blood of Jesus—this, for all eternity, brings unity between the Father and his children. As we look outside the Gospel signs (evidence) we pull forth the signs and wonders offered by Paul, Peter and the prophets of old. Each manifestation builds faith. Faith then builds Hope and trust. All lead to the comprehension of God’s love—the goal. As we recognize the love between the Father and the son and the Holy Spirit – we can better understand that the Holy Spirit brings the unity of worshipers, of followers of Christ, with God.
To Listen audio: Season of Signs
June B Transcript Season of Signs; Recorded May 26, 2009 Initial Broadcast June 1, 2009
Patti: Welcome to Living Seasons of Change and the Season of Power. I’m Patti Brunner and my co-host is Msgr. David LeSieur, a priest of the Catholic Church in the diocese of Little Rock. Liturgical readings this living season reveal signs given to help us recognize God’s love and power. Our listeners can find the readings and the references for our show today at PatriarchMinistries.com. Welcome, Monsignor!
Msgr. David LeSieur: Thank you, Patti. We conclude the Easter Season with the feast of the Trinity. We also celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ and we return to Ordinary Time.
Patti: We hear the ‘Great Commission’ on Trinity Sunday in the gospel of Matthew[i] as Jesus commands us to go forth and make disciples, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The word “Trinity” is not actually in scripture, but Jesus reveals the Trinity through these words.
Msgr.: That is the only place you will see Trinitarian formula for baptizing in the New Testament. There are allusions to the Trinity all throughout the New Testament. For example, in John 14 it says “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you always, the Spirit of truth”[ii] Again, the Trinity is revealed.
Patti: I was thinking about the sign of the cross; how we make the sign of the cross and how that is such a sign of our Christianity. You can go to any old movie, and anytime they want to let you to know they are praying they will make a sign of the cross.
Msgr. You see it in sports a lot, too. A lot of boxers are of Hispanic origin or Mediterranean origin, before each round they will make a sign of the cross. It is a Christian symbol. It is particularly a Catholic symbol; some Episcopalians and Orthodox make the Trinitarian sign, too; we all come from the same root. The theological discussion of Trinity was after the New Testament was written. The word first appears early in the Church’s history, during the period of the Church Fathers, during the controversies that occurred after the New Testament period. The Arian heresy, and the various heresies that occurred, caused the Early Church to tighten up its thinking.
Patti: To keep everybody on the same page: any time there was a problem with heresy, we get a lot of documentation and clarification of the beliefs of the Church.
Msgr.: The Arian heresy, for example, denied the eternal divinity of the Word, or the second person of the Trinity, so the Council of Nicea and the Council of Constantinople fought that heresy. If you look at the Nicene Creed today you will see that there is very little said about the Father because there is not much controversy about the God the Father. There is a lot said about the Son and a little bit said about the Spirit. Jesus is “God from God, Light from Light.” The Holy Spirit is the Lord and Giver of Life[iii], who spoke through the prophets. The Church clarified these attributions about each person of the Trinity, especially Jesus.
Patti: True God, True Man.
Msgr.: “Begotten not Made, One in being with the Father”. That is a lot to say about Jesus, the 2nd person of the Trinity. The Creed does not use the word Trinity. It just talks about each person of the Trinity.
Patti: We’re told in the gospel on the feast of the Trinity that the disciples saw the resurrected Jesus but they doubted.
Msgr.: Oh, yes, some of them doubted.
Patti: I looked up that word “doubt” in the concordance. The word used here is the same word “doubt” that Matthew uses when he talks about Peter when he is walking on water and the Lord says, “Why did you doubt?” It means “wavering”.
Msgr.: Yes. Peter was distracted by the waves and the wind as he walked toward Jesus. He let the waves overcome him. “They worshipped but they doubted.” They wavered.
Patti: They wavered because it pushes them beyond their belief window. Remember, they didn’t have the Holy Spirit, yet. It points out that we can have a really strong faith, but we still have a weakness until we are filled with the Holy Spirit. If you think about Peter when he stepped out onto the water, he was acting in blind faith. When he saw what he was doing, he just couldn’t believe it. I think the disciples are seeing Jesus but not quite believing it. It is just so overwhelming to them.
Msgr.: “When they all saw Him, they worshipped but they doubted.” Yes.
Patti: It is such an incredible thing.
Msgr.: It’s almost as if it is too much to take in. They worshipped Him because they see Him risen before them. They are amazed.
Patti: “Are our eyes playing tricks on us?” It’s the same thing when there are signs of miracles today or in the past. People just say, “Are you sure it wasn’t someone with a trick?”
Msgr.: It’s rationality.
Patti: Exactly! It causes doubt. You get back in your sarxs nature; get back in your fleshly nature. “This can’t be. This can’t be. This is impossible.”
Msgr.: “This is too good to be true.”
Patti: “This is impossible; yet, there it is!”
Msgr.: That’s an interesting statement “they worshipped but they doubted.”
Just like when Peter had the attention deficit when he was trying to walk on the waves. He kept his eyes on Jesus until he noticed the wind and the waves and he began to sink. He doubted. The point is: we doubt very easily. I think it is because we get distracted because we are so earthbound. We are struggling to rise to that higher level, even though we are on earth.
Patti: And, yet, here is this moment. ‘Seeing’ should be ‘believing’; yet, they are doubting. It is at this moment that Jesus says, “All power in heaven and earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
In our previous show we discussed the power of the name of Jesus. Now, Jesus is giving us not just the name of Jesus, but also the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit to go out with. This is an incredible sign to do what Jesus is commissioning us to do.
Msgr.: There is no fuller sign to baptize someone in than in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. No fuller name; no more complete name. In the Acts of the Apostles anytime someone is baptized, it is in the name of Jesus. They baptize and then the Spirit comes. Luke doesn’t mention baptism in the name of the Trinity or anyone else and neither does John. It mentions baptizing but it is usually John baptizing. I would imagine that Matthew’s community in the first century baptized this Trinitarian way. That was their formula and Luke didn’t know about that formula or he would have probably put it in Acts, too.
Patti Brunner There are at least two different ways of baptizing in the Early Church – one in the name of Jesus only and one in the name of the Trinity. Catholics use the Trinitarian method of baptizing given in the Gospel and Pentecostals and some other churches simply follow Acts. The Church recognizes their baptisms as valid.
Msgr. David LeSieur Jesus then says, “Go forth therefore and make disciples of all nations.” A disciple is a learner. 25-30% of the population of the world is Christian. We have a lot of work yet to do.
Patti: The Trinity is beyond our understanding yet it is so easy to call upon. It is so easy to call upon the power of the Trinity when we make that sign of the cross, the sign of the kingdom; the prayer of our baptism. We don’t have to understand it but we can do it.
Msgr.: We could do it more thoughtfully. We always begin Mass “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen”. We do it very deliberately. But other times, before meals or after meals we just kind of rush through it: Father-Son-and-the-Holy-Spirit-Amen. To me it should be a part of the worshipping. We aren’t doubting, of course, but maybe we are distracted, or we are in a hurry to eat. We are in a hurry to say the prayer and get it over with so we can eat.
Patti: We are making a sign of faith and we need to realize that it is a sign given from God.
Msgr.: Hopefully we do it knowingly and deliberately. I call upon the name of God, Father, Son and the Spirit to bless what I am about to do. We do it ‘in the name of’.
Patti: We also celebrate the feast of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. All the readings that Sunday tie to the blood and the sacrifice. We visit the Passover Meal from Mark chapter 14[iv].
Msgr.: The Last Supper scene, I have used this not only to preach the theology of the Eucharist, the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but also to talk about some of the etiquette around the Eucharist, about respect, fasting and about not leaving early. Catholics need to hear it from time to time just because of who and what it is. Again, we believe but we get distracted. We don’t really center in on what’s going on here—even to the point of casualness about coming or not. That is certainly something that flies all over me when I hear that! In another parish someone told me “We don’t go to Mass in the summer. We take the summer off.” That was a parent that said that, too. What are you teaching you kids when you do something like that?
Patti: I’ve heard it said, “You Catholics couldn’t really believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist because of the way you act at Mass.”
Msgr.: You know, that is an indictment.
Patti: It is. It is. Since this is year B we have the readings from Mark telling us about the institution of the Body and Blood in the Eucharist.
Msgr.: “Blood is the sign of the covenant.” In the Old Testament they sprinkled blood on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant,
Patti: The Mercy Seat.
Msgr.: The Mercy Seat, where the angels are bowing down, is directly over the tablets of the Ten Commandments that were inside the Ark. So when you sprinkle blood over the Ark and blood hits the Mercy Seat – its covering up or hiding the Commands.
Patti: The blood of the sacrifice covers up the judgment for our lack of obedience to the commandments.
Msgr.: The Mercy Seat covers up the judgment. That’s what the blood of the Lord does for us. It splatters on it and we are not judged. We are judged by the law but we are not held to it in the sense that it is what makes or breaks us. It is the mercy of God that makes or breaks us and our accepting and receiving the mercy.
Patti: That’s good to know. It’s really wonderful!
Msgr.: In one of the ordinary time Eucharistic prayers, I think it’s seven, it says “that You might see and love in us what You see and love in Christ.” [v]It’s like He’s looking at His Son, Jesus, when He sees us; He is looking at His Son’s blood when He’s looks at our sins and we are forgiven.
Patti: In the Old Testament when the high priest would go in to sprinkle the blood on the Mercy Seat, he first used incense to cover up the smell of his sin so that he could get into the sanctuary to sprinkle the blood without being struck down.
Msgr.: That one time of the year he would go in there with fear and trembling.
Patti: Have we lost a little bit of the sense of awe? Traditionally, Catholicism has had the signs of smells and bells and sense of awe of God. Have we become too lax?
Msgr.: I think there is a casualness that is explicitly shown in the way we dress when we come to Mass. There’s something to celebrate there, too. Some people would say, “Well, the Mass itself has changed so much that it is no longer the awe thing.” I think a beautifully celebrated vernacular Mass could be awe inspiring. It’s not the language; it’s the way it’s done. Our liturgies here at St. Vincent de Paul are very good liturgies.
Patti: I think what helped me to get a lot more out of the liturgy was the intimate daily Mass where people really want to be there. In larger Masses, there are distractions.
Msgr.: When over a thousand gather there are a lot of children; a lot of noises. It’s really hard.
Patti: Yet, I’m sure the presence of God can be strong in each of us at that point, too. The act of receiving communion is very intimate.
Msgr.: The earliest liturgies of the church were tiny. They were held in houses. They were tiny groups; maybe a couple or three families would gather in someone’s house secretly—very intimate. Maybe that intimacy of the early church is what made it grow so much. These people felt like a family, felt joined to one another and that’s what caused it to spread and gave us the bigger numbers. Maybe we have lost some of that intimacy. Even so, it can be there.
Patti: Jesus gives us the Eucharist for unity, for intimacy with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Msgr.: And with each other.
Patti: And with each other! The lifeline of the Body and Blood of Jesus—this, for all eternity, brings unity between the Father and his children.
Msgr.: Think of the Pope’s Masses in Yankee Stadium. 50,000 people are there, outdoors. One million people appeared at some big outdoor Mass the Pope had. The numbers are not necessarily the important thing.
Patti: True intimacy comes in the moment of communion.
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Patti Brunner Welcome back, I’m Patti Brunner and I’m talking with Msgr. David LeSieur. On the 12th Sunday, we have the story of Jesus in the boat calming the storm from Mark chapter 4[vi].
Msgr.: We are back in Ordinary time. ‘Calming of the storm,’ that’s one of my favorite stories. “Quiet! Be still!”[vii]
Patti: The sign Jesus shows us here is power over nature.
Msgr.: Only God can have such power over the wind and the waves.
Patti: He gave this sign to Moses and the Israelites when they walked through the Red Sea split apart; that was control of nature through the power of God.
Msgr.: Interesting thing about our 12th Sunday reading from Mark Chapter 4: most of these guys were sailors. They were fishermen. They knew that lake like the palm of their hand. It must have been a huge storm to scare them like that. I think they were surprised that Jesus, who was a landlubber, could sleep through a storm like that, a tossing boat. They said, “Aren’t You concerned we are going to drown?” I think they were in awe of Him. Maybe a little bit confused He could be so calm in a situation like that.
Patti: The white caps on a lake are pretty scary.
Msgr.: The Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Gennesaret, was noted for its sudden storms.
Patti: And the boat is filling up with water and Jesus is sleeping on a cushion. I’m thinking, “Is He floating in the water?”
Msgr.: It is a hard to imagine. It’s got to be wet unless there is an area of the ship that is kept from the water. It would be hard to sleep in a situation like that, which shows Jesus was totally at peace, totally at ease with the situation.
Patti: “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” Again, there is that doubt.
Msgr.: Yes, Jesus has power over the demons and power over nature. I think the ocean was considered to be the realm of the devil – that wild, untamed water that could be so strong. Jesus had complete control over it. He had control over the world of the spirit and the world of nature.
Patti: It is interesting, too, that He quiets it by speaking to it.
Msgr.: Yes, ‘“Quiet! Be still!’ The winds ceased and there was great calm.”
Patti: Speaking, Jesus shows the power of the Word; just like on the Feast of the Body and Blood, when Jesus says, “This is My Body; this is My Blood.” The transformation takes place. He draws the Holy Spirit but it takes place as He speaks the Word. Here He is speaking the Word to transform the stormy weather into calm.
Msgr.: In Genesis God spoke a word to transform abyss and chaos; He separated land from the sea. His act of creation was with a word. He brought order like He does here. He separates the wind from the water so to speak, and He calms them down. It is a creative act. As you said, the Eucharist is a creative transformation of bread and wine into His Body and Blood. It something that only God can do. Something we can do only with His permission.
Patti: Then on the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time we have the sign of the raising of Jairus’ daughter to life. We have that sign of power over death and life.
Msgr.: We have a double story from Mark, chapter 5[viii].
Patti: Yes, the lady with the chronic hemorrhage: Twelve years, it tells us.
Msgr.: That’s a long time. She suffered greatly at the hand of doctors. She had spent all that she had.
Patti: She just touched the hem of His clothes in her great faith.
Msgr.: He says, “Who touched Me?” And the woman came forth.
Patti: He says, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.
Msgr.: He recognizes the power going out of Him.
Patti: The apostles say, “What do You mean, who touched You? The crowds are pressing in and yet You asked who touched You?” That shows us that the power of God is available for all, if you touch in faith, if you touch in seeking the Lord, there is a difference! It’s like being at the Eucharist. There are a lot of people who go up for communion but how many receive the fullness of what God is offering us?
Msgr.: Yes. She touched Him with full intention. “If I just touch His clothes, I will be cured.” That was her intention. I’m sure He had a lot of people jostling Him. A lot of people touched Him but only she touched Him with intention of faith. When we go to the Eucharist, how often do we forget to have this intention of healing? I was talking to a Presbyterian minister friend years ago. I told him we have Eucharist or communion every time we have Mass, which is every day. He said, “We have it about four times a year.” I asked, “Why so seldom?” He answered something to the effect that “we don’t want to overdo a holy thing”. You know, we have to be careful. Since Communion is available to us every time we go to Mass we should approach it with attention and intention and not to make it routine. What a wonderful luxury it is to be able to think that the Eucharist can be routine for us, every day. Some people starve for it. They can’t get it every week or hardly ever. So, it is that intention, to touch the hem of His garment like she did, in order to be cured.
Patti Brunner We touch the very body of Christ in His sacramental form. What can’t that do for us if she only touched His garment? Something for us to think about!
Msgr.: The Gospel of Mark has a good portrait of the disciples and how they struggled to understand. Jesus teaches us in the story of the little girl. The father, Jairus, came looking for Jesus.
Patti: Jairus left the side of his daughter, who was dying, to go look for help. Jesus put him off while He took care of the women with the hemorrhage.
Msgr.: Jesus agreed immediately to go with Jairus and took Peter, James and John but it was on the way that this woman touched him. I’m sure people were jostling Jesus on the way to Jairus’ house to see what would happen. When they got there, the little girl was already dead.
Patti: Everyone was outside crying.
Msgr.: When Jesus brings the girl back to life He speaks to her; he spoke “Talitha koum” which means “Little girl, arise!”[ix]
Patti: What signs the Lord will give us! Even bringing people back from the dead! Of course, this was a foreshadowing of His own resurrection but, again, it is showing us that the kingdom of God is outside our norm of thinking.
Msgr.: He is trying to bring the kingdom to bear on this world, to have us understand that and to buy into it, to accept the kingdom. The kingdom is a different reality than what we are used to. It is so hard to think in terms of the kingdom. The Lord wants us to act in faith; to act in belief in a world we don’t see, yet is very real. The kingdom of God is here and it is making its effect on our world but we don’t always grasp it. It is much easier for us to fall back into our old ways and to our familiar ways of thinking like the world does, things we can see and touch. Maybe that was a struggle of the disciples when Jesus commissioned them. They worshiped but they doubted. They wanted to believe and yet their doubt was based upon their familiar ways, the things they were most used to. Jesus tells them to go out into the whole world and make disciples of all the nations. That requires a great amount of leaving your comfort zone. Jesus, in Luke’s Acts, told them to wait there until the gift of the Spirit comes. Just wait in Jerusalem. When the Holy Spirit came to them, they went out.
Patti: The signs and wonder are trying to get us into the same wave length of what God has given us and eternal life. We cannot even comprehend what that means we are so bound in time. So, God has given these miracles, these miraculous signs – the raising of the little girl from death, the healing of the lady with the chronic blood flow, the calming of the storm. He is trying to show us that we have to step past the “seeing is believing” business because even when we are seeing, it is hard to believe.
Msgr. David LeSieur He has given us all these signs so we can embrace with faith what He has given us, so that we can accept that fullness.
Patti Brunner Recently my husband and I went on a road trip and we went to visit non-Catholic church that had a speaker whom the Lord was using for signs and wonders as he taught about Jesus. God has stepped up the signs and wonders in our time. People heard that they could receive miraculous weight loss and lose several dress sizes. People were excited about that. They came because they wanted that, and while they were there they heard about Jesus. The night we were there, eight or nine people came up, including one of my friends, and witnessed about instant weight loss, one said “I couldn’t button my shirt. Now I can button it.” The speaker told us about several other signs too. He said he was in a meeting where someone found five diamonds on the ground after a glory explosion, and other visible signs like people getting gold fillings. One fellow sitting in front of me didn’t get gold fillings but his fillings turned bright shiny silver. I have read that “the signs and wonders seem to explode when the world is in chaos and doubt”. Like the Lord is given us a little shake and saying, “Remember who I am. Remember who I am. Let me show you what I can do.” Yet it is still hard for people to believe. It’s like when He parted the Red Sea, those Israelites were so downtrodden, even when the Lord kept giving them miracle after miracle, they still doubted who God was. Maybe we are living in such a time, that, we do not comprehend the power of Trinity available through the sign of the cross.
Msgr.: The sign of the cross is a frightening sign because it implies suffering. People today do not want to suffer or accept the cross; yet, Jesus has been very clear about that all the way along, “Unless you take up your cross and follow me, you can’t be My disciples.” He doesn’t pull any punches with us.
Patti: In Trinity Sunday’s first reading from Deuteronomy, the sign we are given is that God has taken a nation for Himself. That shows how powerful, how great is our God, that He has actually set aside a nation[x] for Himself.
Msgr.: People hear the voice of God; experience Signs and Wonders.
Patti: The gospel tells us “Fix it in your hearts. Remember these things”[xi]. So many times, nowadays, people try to come up with rational explanations of miracles.
Msgr.: They rob the beauty out of the message because the message is: God is here now with us. He wants to help us and save us. “Has anything so great ever happened before? Was it ever heard of?” When you try to give the rational explanation for it you are totally missing the point.
Patti: Miracles are easy, it is getting people to believe them that’s the hard part[xii].
Msgr.: Like the time ‘He could work only a few miracles there because of their lack of faith.’[xiii]
Patti: How much are we like that? The Romans’ reading on Trinity Sunday says “the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the adopted children of God, and those led by the Spirit are the sons of God” What do you think that means – “the spirit itself bears witness with our spirit?”[xiv]
Msgr.: Maybe what it is saying is our spiritual nature knows deep down that we are God’s children. We were intended to be all along but we lost it in the fall. The Spirit is reminding us of something we already know. The Greek word for truth is aletheia[xv] and the root word of that word is lethos[xvi], which means forgetfulness. The “a” part of lethos means the opposite of lethos. Aletheia means that we have remembered again. So, truth is really something we already know—in the Greek understanding. We are simply remembering what is deep down in there – the truth. The Spirit is reminding us, or bearing witness with our spirit, that we are indeed God’s children, reminding of something that should have been there all along but was lost and now is coming back through Jesus.
Patti: We are created in truth. We are created to be a child of God but we have lost it. The Spirit awakens that part of our being to reconnect us. Once we get that back, we can cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Msgr.: Yes. We have this deep awareness that we are indeed God’s children through baptism and through faith.
Patti: The spirit to spirit connection is the key. That is what salvation, our baptism does: to connect our spirit with the Spirit of God.
Msgr.: The Spirit tells us we are God’s children. He gives us this deep truth that was once there and lost and now regained but He has to remind us of it.
Patti: And the Eucharist reminds us of that in a physical way. As we take His Body He becomes a part of us and then we also can become a part of Him; it’s our lifeline to be connected.
Msgr.: It says elsewhere in Romans that the Spirit prays within us in words only God understands. He is praying within us in our spirit, witnessing with our spirit in our prayer in a way we couldn’t pray by ourselves. It is the Spirit’s prayer within us that speaks to the Father directly. What a tremendous thing. Even if you don’t speak in the gift of tongues, the Spirit’s prayer is still going on in us even if we cannot express it in tongues.
Patti: It draws us to recognize the love between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is a scripture in 2nd Corinthians, chapter 5, on the 12th Sunday that says, “He indeed died for all, so that those that live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”[xvii] I really like the way these readings teach stewardship; the Body of Christ seeing about each other.
Msgr. David LeSieur: That theme continues on the 13th Sunday in a later chapter of 2nd Corinthians when Paul says that Jesus was rich but that “For your sake He became poor so that by His poverty you might become rich. Not that others should have relief while you are burdened but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their needs, so that their abundance may also supply your needs, so that there might be equality.”[xviii]
Patti Brunner: As we accept the fullness of the Lord, we can, from our abundance, give to others and share what we have; then they are raised up and their abundance enriches us.
Msgr.: That’s stewardship.
Patti: The signs of abundance can be material but certainly includes spiritual abundance. Scripture says it is not a burden; it’s not that I am giving you everything that I have and now I don’t have any. As I give you, I am built up even more. I have found that to be true in tithing
Msgr.: You retain what you need but you still give and that enriches me, then I can enrich someone else.
Patti Brunner: When we started understanding that principle of giving what you have, and more will be given to you, we started tithing; as we continued that, it was like the Lord saw that we were trustworthy of the real wealth of the kingdom, which is the spiritual wealth.
Msgr.: Giving of the material wealth probably was the way the Lord opened you up to receiving and giving the other kind. Money is a sensitive subject with so many people, but until you are willing to give it in faith, then maybe you can’t understand the other treasures. That opens the door to it.
Patti: Right. Then each manifestation builds faith. Faith builds hope and trust.
Msgr.: Hope brings joy and peace.
Patti: Peace and trust; and it all helps us comprehend God’s love.
Msgr.: Which is incomprehensible.
Patti: That’s what these signs are all about. All of the signs lead to comprehension of God’s love for us.
Msgr.: All the gifts are about love. And the fruit that we bear is the fruit of love.
Patti: Understanding signs, especially the sign of the cross, is the comprehension of God’s love for us; that He would send His Son to die for us, and the power of the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As we recognize the love between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit– we can better understand that the Holy Spirit brings the unity of worshipers, of followers of Christ, with God. Monsignor, would you give us your blessing?
Msgr. David LeSieur [blessing]
Patti Brunner Thank you Monsignor. To get a copy of the references in today’s show or to read the Liturgical readings please check the website patriarchMinistries.com and to listen to this show or previous broadcasts click paduamedia.com [spell padua media .com] and Living Seasons of Change.
Outline of Season of Signs
Intro
Signs of the kingdom that manifestTrinity Sunday Matthew 28:16-20 Great commission by Jesus to 11(go beyond doubt) : to make disciples and baptize in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit
Revelation of the Trinity—difficult to comprehend but easy to call upon in the prayer at baptism—is a sign of the kingdom.
Sign of the Cross/sign of Trinity. Sign of baptism. Sign of commission.
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 Passover: “This is my Body”, “This is my blood of the covenant”; a sign of the kingdom; so is the lifeline of the Body and Blood of Jesus—this, for all eternity, brings unity between the Father and his children. Real presence; reconnection; blood is a sign of covenant
12th Sunday, Mark 4:35-41 Calming of the storm; Jesus asleep; rebuked the wind, said to the sea “be still/quiet!” A sign of the kingdom: power over nature by speaking to it
13th Sunday in Ordinary, Mark 5:21-43 Jairus’ daughter raised from the dead; woman with hemorrhage touches Jesus; A sign of the kingdom: raising the dead; healing the chronic by desiring touch; Look outside the Gospel signs [evidence] pull forth the signs and wonders offered by Paul, Peter and the prophets of old. Each manifestation builds faith. Faith then builds Hope and trust. All lead to the comprehension of God’s love—the goal.
Trinity Sunday, Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 Signs & wonders, How great is our God! Taking the nation of Israel for Himself; Romans 8:14-17 “Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit” that we are the adopted children of God “Those led by the Spirit are sons of God”
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, lifeline blood connection
As you recognize the love between the Father and the son and the Holy Spirit– you can better understand that the Holy Spirit brings the unity of worshipers, of followers of Christ, with God.
12th Sunday in Ordinary, 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 “That those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him” Christ died for all; is now a new creation; live for him; “old things have passed away; behold, new things have come”
13th Sunday in Ordinary, 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15 our abundance supplies their needs; not be burdened to relieve others, tithing
References and Resources for Season of Signs [see below for references in transcript]
New American Bible (NAB) readings are referenced from the Lectionary for Mass, for use in the dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition ©1997, 1970 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. [see link]Matthew 28:19-20a Great commission by Jesus to 11 to make disciples and baptize in the name of the Father Son and Holy SpiritJohn 14:16-17a “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you always, the Spirit of truth” “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.” Nicene CreedMark 14: 16, 22-24 Passover: This is my Body, This is my blood of the covenant
“That You might see and love in us what You see and love in Christ.” Eucharistic Prayer Sunday Ordinary Time Eucharistic Prayer # 7
http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/eucharistic_prayers.htm, May 27, 2009 “At the present time there are 13 Eucharistic Prayers approved by Rome for use in the United States. In the Sacramentary (altar missal) there are nine (9) Eucharistic Prayers. These include: 4 universal Eucharistic Prayers (the Roman Canon and 3 others), 3 Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children, 2 Eucharistic Prayers for Masses of Reconciliation” Mark 4:35-41,12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the story of Jesus in the boat calming the storm.
Mark 4 39b ““Quiet! Be still! The wind ceased and there was great calm.”
Mark 5:21-43, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jairus’ daughter raised from the dead; woman with hemorrhage touches Jesus
Mark 5:41 “spoke “Talitha koum” which means “Little girl, arise!”
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 Signs & wonders, How great is our God! Taking the nation of Israel for Himself
Deuteronomy 4:9 Fix it in your hearts. Remember these things. “9 “However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
“Do you want miracles? They are easy. What is hard is to get people to accept/believe them.” Of the Lord Journal. Patti Brunner 5/18/1998
Mark 6: “4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” 5 So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. 6a He was amazed at their lack of faith”
Romans 8:16 “Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit” that we are the adopted children of God.
Aletheia is the Greek word for “truth”, and like the English word implies sincerity as well as factuality or reality. wikipedia.org/wiki/Aletheia Mar 4, 2009
letho-, leth- + (Greek > Latin: lie hidden, secret; forgetfulness, forget, inactive through forgetfulness; also sleepy, drowsy, dull, sluggish) http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/1176. May 21, 2009
2 Corinthians 5:15 “He indeed died for all, so that those that live might not longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”
2 Corinthians 8: 9b, 13-14 “for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” “not that others should have relief while you are burdened, but that as a matter of equality 14 your surplus at the present time should supply their needs, so that their surplus may also supply your needs, that there may be equality.”
Liturgical Scripture Readings for Season of Signs
Trinity Sunday
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 Signs & wonders, How great is our God! Taking the nation of Israel for HimselfRomans 8:14-17 Spirit bears witness that we are the adopted children of God Matthew 28:16-20 Great commission by Jesus to 11(go beyond doubt) : to make disciples and baptize in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
Exodus 24:3-8 Formal blood covenant between God & the people. “We will”Hebrews 9:11-15 New blood covenant. Jesus High PriestMark 14:12-16, 22-26 Passover: This is my Body, This is my blood of the covenant
12th Sunday in Ordinary
Job 38:1, 8-11 God’s response to Job, setting the limit on his suffering “calming the waves”
2 Corinthians 5:14-17 Christ died for all; is now a new creation; live for him; new things have come
Mark 4:35-41 Calming of the storm; Jesus asleep; rebuked the wind, said to the sea “be still/quiet!”
13th Sunday in Ordinary
Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24 God did not make death; God formed man wholesome & imperishable; death came through envy (devil’s sin)
2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15 our abundance supplies their needs; not be burdened to relieve others; excel in this
Mark 5:21-43 Jairus’ daughter raised from the dead; woman with hemorrhage touches Jesus
References for transcript–see below
[i] Matthew 28:19-20a Great commission by Jesus to 11 to make disciples and baptize in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit
[ii] John 14:16-17a “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you always, the Spirit of truth”
[iii] “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.” Nicene Creed
[iv] Mark 14: 16, 22-24 Passover: This is my Body, This is my blood of the covenant
[v] “That You might see and love in us what You see and love in Christ.” Eucharistic Prayer – Sunday Ordinary Time Eucharistic Prayer #7
See also: http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/eucharistic_prayers.htm, May 27, 2009 “At the present time there are 13 Eucharistic Prayers approved by Rome for use in the United States. In the Sacramentary (altar missal) there are nine (9) Eucharistic Prayers. These include: 4 universal Eucharistic Prayers (the Roman Canon and 3 others), 3 Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children, 2 Eucharistic Prayers for Masses of Reconciliation”
[vi] Mark 4:35-41,12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the story of Jesus in the boat calming the storm.
[vii] Mark 4 39b ““Quiet! Be still! The wind ceased and there was great calm.”
[viii] Mark 5:21-43, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jairus’ daughter raised from the dead; woman with hemorrhage touches Jesus
[ix] Mark 5:41 “spoke “Talitha koum” which means “Little girl, arise!”
[x] Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 Signs & wonders, How great is our God! Taking the nation of Israel for Himself
[xi] Deuteronomy 4:9 Fix it in your hearts. Remember these things. “9 “However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
[xii] “Do you want miracles? They are easy. What is hard is to get people to accept/believe them.” Of the Lord Journal. Patti Brunner 5/18/1998
[xiii] Mark 6: “4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” 5 So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. 6a He was amazed at their lack of faith”
[xiv] Romans 8:16 “Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit” that we are the adopted children of God.
[xv] Aletheia is the Greek word for “truth”, and like the English word implies sincerity as well as factuality or reality. wikipedia.org/wiki/Aletheia Mar 4, 2009
[xvi] letho-, leth- + (Greek > Latin: lie hidden, secret; forgetfulness, forget, inactive through forgetfulness; also sleepy, drowsy, dull, sluggish) http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/1176. May 21, 2009
[xvii] 2 Corinthians 5:15 “He indeed died for all, so that those that live might not longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”
[xviii] 2 Corinthians 8: 9b, 13-14 “for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” “not that others should have relief while you are burdened, but that as a matter of equality 14 your surplus at the present time should supply their needs, so that their surplus may also supply your needs, that there may be equality.”
