This week's readings Week of June 1 - 7 Sunday, June 1, 2003 Reading I: Acts 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26 Reading II: 1 Jn 4:11-16 Gospel: Jn 17:11b-19 Ascension of the Lord (Sunday, June 1, 2003) Reading I: Acts 1:1-11 Reading II: Eph 1:17-23 Gospel: Mk 16:15-20 Monday, June 2, 2003 Reading I: Acts 19:1-8 Gospel: Jn 16:29-33 Tuesday, June 3, 2003 Reading I: Acts 20:17-27 Gospel: Jn 17:1-11a Wednesday, June 4, 2003 Reading I: Acts 20:28-38 Gospel: Jn 17:11b-19 Thursday, June 5, 2003 Reading I: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 Gospel: Jn 17:20-26 Friday, June 6, 2003 Reading I: Acts 25:13b-21 Gospel: Jn 21:15-19 Saturday, June 7, 2003 Reading I: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31 Gospel: Jn 21:20-25 Week of June 8 - 14 Sunday, June 8, 2003 Pentecost Sunday Reading I: Acts 2:1-11 Reading II: 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 Gospel: Jn 20:19-23 Monday, June 9, 2003 Reading I: 2 Cor 1:1-7 Gospel: Mt 5:1-12 Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Reading I: 2 Cor 1:18-22 Gospel: Mt 5:13-16 Wednesday, June 11, 2003 Reading I: Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3 Gospel: Mt 5:17-19 Thursday, June 12, 2003 Reading I: 2 Cor 3:15--4:1, 3-6 Gospel: Mt 5:20-26 Friday, June 13, 2003 Reading I: 2 Cor 4:7-15 Gospel: Mt 5:27-32 Saturday, June 14, 2003 Reading I: 2 Cor 5:14-21 Gospel: Mt 5:33-37 Pope's Prayer Intentions June General Intention Respect of human values: That the faithful in public life may be guided by the Gospel and the Church's social teaching to promote respect for human values. June Mission Intention Testimony of full unity in the various Christian traditions of India: That those who belong to various traditions may be drawn together to offer a testimony to full unity and communion in the one Spirit.

The Church of Jesus:
The Church we are part of

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

Little by little, through the Scriptures and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus proclaimed by the Church, we see the birth of that Church in the words, acts, and gifts of Jesus.

At the very first moment of Jesus' life in his mother's womb, when no human being on earth other than Mary yet knew of the gift of God announced to her by the angel, the Church had its first inkling of life. She, Mary, whom we know as the first disciple, held within her the promise of the ages, the Son of God to be born a man among us.

During the life of Jesus that lay hidden in Nazareth, he grew faithful and strong under the care of Mary and Joseph, learning how to live as a faithful believer in Judaism, how to labor as a carpenter, how to pray and to know God.

In his 40 days in the desert, his retreat from the world so as to enter again the world for its salvation, Jesus fasted and prayed. By his example he showed us, as he rejected the temptations of the devil, that he would empower his Church with the possibility of turning away from temptation and sin. He showed us that God alone is worthy of our worship, that worldly possessions and even food must take a distant second to our love for God.

Readings for The Ascension of the Lord (June 1, 2003) Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 Ephesians 1:17-23 Mark 16:15-20

While he preached and healed during his three year mission, Jesus gathered disciples around him, some of whom he named apostles. These he taught and prepared for when he would suffer and die, to rise again and return to his Father's right hand. These, the Twelve, along with Mary, his mother, became the tentative beginnings of the Church.

When all but a few deserted him while he suffered on the Cross, Jesus thought of his future Church. He had given his Body and Blood as the everlasting covenant. He carried the Cross to show us that our suffering can have salvific value. He entrusted the Church, in the person of the disciple he loved most, into the care of his mother, our mother. And when he died, blood and water flowed from his side, a river of salvation for all who believe.

After the first Easter he showed his disciples that he was alive. They looked at his hands and his side, they ate with him, they recognized him in the breaking of the bread - the great sacrament he gave to nourish his Church.

When he ascended to the Father's right hand, he promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit, and he commanded them to preach to all the nations, and to baptize people in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And "they went forth and preached everywhere" because they were starting to become the Church that Jesus knew they could be.

"One body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism," Saint Paul wrote. We, the body of Christ, are filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, under the headship of the Lord Jesus, who has given us the gift of the mystery of faith, and who has washed us clean by waters of baptism - waters he made holy by his own baptism in the Jordan.

"Go to the ends of the earth," he told them before he ascended from their sight. And so they have, those few members of the earliest Church. And he will return in the same way, the angel reminded them.

Now we, the Church, await his return in glory!

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.

It takes a lifetime in the Spirit:
To become like a child

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

The great artist Pablo Picasso once said, "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." He also said, "It takes a very long time to become young."

From a man who contributed so much to the development of art in the modern era, these are words of wisdom which speak to the soul, which longs to find a place in the beauty of God's creation, and to make a contribution by cooperating in God's plan.

For us, who are Christians, the key to learning to look at life like a child, the key to becoming innocent and open like the young, is the gift of the Holy Spirit from Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit which gives us the gift of transformation from being children of the world to children of God.

If we remain children of the world, we are in danger of giving in to all that the world gives, all that Saint Paul decries in his letter to the Galatians: immorality, impurity and lust; idolatry and sorcery; hatred, rivalry, jealousy, occasions of envy; outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissension, factions; drinking bouts and orgies "and the like."

Readings for Pentecost Sunday (June 8, 2003) Acts 2:1-11 Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Gal 5:16-25 Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15

Those who do such things, warns Paul, will not inherit the kingdom of God. They do not allow themselves to be guided by the Spirit into a God-centered way of looking at life, a child-like approach to receiving the gifts of the Lord.

If, by our participation in the sacramental life of the Church - through which flows the power and energy of the Holy Spirit - we allow God's divine life to touch and transform us, we can become children of God. We can allow the seedling of the Spirit's anointing to grow and blossom within us.

Such a project takes a lifetime indeed - it takes a very long time to become young. If we persevere, we will know the fruit of the Spirit which Paul tells us about: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. "Live by the Spirit," teaches Paul. Not for a few days, not for a few years, but a very long time: a lifetime.

One more quote from Picasso can illustrate a final point. "Every child is an artist," he says. "The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

If we look at the world and the universe as God's studio, in which he creates the most beautiful works of art imaginable, we will see ourselves there. As we sing in the psalms, "How manifold are your works, O Lord . . . May the Lord be glad in his works."

We are God's most prized works, his most cherished. He has taken infinite care to mold us and fashion us. He has modeled us after himself, and we see this most clearly in the life of Jesus, the life we should strive to lead.

We too can participate in the work of God's hands - we are all artists in the world. For God and for one another we can have the ability to make the world a more beautiful place, life a more wonderful adventure. At our baptism we start out washed clean of sin and filled with the Spirit. The hard part is how to remain that way through a lifetime in a world that tries to move us in the opposite direction.

The Spirit which descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost is the key. Without the breath of the Spirit within us, we perish and return to dust. With the life and breath of the Spirit inspiring our lives, we are created for God, and he renews the face of the earth for his children.

Do not settle for what the world can give, which only takes away the child within you. Put your trust in the Lord, and you may be surprised at how much like a child you can be, how young and vibrant your soul can be once again, and how the more you grow up, the more you grow towards God.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.