One of the beautiful aspects of our liturgical calendar is its parallel couplings. Yesterday and today, we remember Saint Monica and Saint Augustine, mother and son. Less than a month from now, we honor another Mother and Son — the Mother and Son — Our Lady of Sorrows and Jesus in the Triumph of the Cross. In addition we have the dates December 8 and September 8, the conception and birth of Our Lady, as well as March 25 and December 25, the conception and birth of Jesus.

In particular with the coupling of Saints Monica and Augustine over the past couple of days, we have an emphasis on the important role of parenting, in particular parents through their silent lifestyle and prayer being examples for their children. Although Augustine did not embrace the faith in his youth, over the years he did have the example of his pious mother, and eventually, undoubtedly influenced by her, he did give himself over to the Lord.

In our own parish life, it is not until the child is five or six years old that he or she begins formal education in the faith through religious education or parochial school. Those most formative years — 1, 2, 3, 4 years old — are completely under the influence of the family. It is up to parents and uncles and aunts and grandparents and older siblings and cousins to influence the young ones with their pious life, as did Monica influence her son Augustine.

In today’s Gospel reading, we hear Jesus speak about the power of a little bit of yeast to leaven a large amount of flour: “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”

In Jesus’ time and place, people made their own bread and, for that matter, had their own sheep. So when he spoke about such down-to-earth matters as bread-making and sheep-raising in his parables, he was speaking to the people about their everyday life. Most — if not all — of us do not make our own bread, nor do we raise sheep in the backyard. Therefore, we need to use a bit of imagination for the message to have its full effect.

So although we simply go to the local grocery store and buy a loaf of bread, let us remember that it is the little bit of yeast that enables a great deal of flour to rise. Similarly within the Kingdom of Heaven, a little bit of yeast will go a long way. Therefore, let us be that little bit of yeast that goes out into the world to transform it for the better.

Let us end with the opening prayer for the Mass for the Laity, which conveys this idea directly. “God our Father, you send the power of the Gospel into the world as a life-giving leaven. Fill with the Spirit of Chirst those whom you call to live in the midst of the world and its concerns; help them by their work on earth to build up your eternal kingdom.”

Whenever a new political entity, social organization, or some other institution begins, it usually puts forth a mission statement, charter, or constitution. God gave such a constitution to the People of Israel in the time of Moses, in the form of the Law: 600+ laws, rules, and regulations, the first ten of which are the familiar Ten Commandments. The purpose of the Law was for the People of Israel to embrace and internalize the Law and allow it to transform them with God’s grace into Holy People.

By the time of Jesus, many who followed the Law did so in a manner that was not as God had intended. Throughout the Gospels, we repeatedly see Jesus point out how some people were holding the Law at a distance and observing it to the letter, without allowing it to enter into their hearts, without allowing it to transform them.

Therefore, Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. In certain places in Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Matthew (see quotations below), we hear Jesus explain how mere outward observance of the Law is not sufficient to transform one into a holy person.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.”

Here we hear Jesus declare that it is not enough to simply outwardly avoid harming our brother or sister. He wants us to be healed inwardly of that anger that leads us to wish harm on our brother or sister.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Here we hear Jesus point out that it is enough to simply outwardly avoid sexual sins, but we must also strive to curb the lust that leads us to view another as an object.

And, of course, there are other ways and times that lead us to view others as objects. Take for instance, one who is a con man. Not only is he outwardly guilty of stealing from others, but also inwardly, he sees others as objects to be deceived and taken advantage of.

Let us remember that elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus sums up the entire Law as a call to (1) love God and (2) love neighbor.

Anger, lust, viewing another as a mere object to deceive or take advantage of are all obstacles to our entering into a proper relationship with our brother or sister, namely a relationship of charity and Christian love.

As we continue to walk through the Sermon on the Mount during the liturgy for weekday Masses, let us be aware of Jesus’ call that we be transformed through and through — something that we cannot bring about on our own, but only the grace of the Holy Spirit can bring about.

So let us be open to the grace of the Holy Spirit to heal us of anything that can prevent us from carrying out that second great commandment: to love our neighbor.

Most – if not all – of us have certainly heard the story of how George Washington admitted that he did indeed chop down the cherry tree. Now, Washington’s biographer, Mason Weems, in his book entitled “THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON,” said that this MYTH was created as a way to show Washington’s honesty. Regardless of whether the story is factual or not, it does convey an important message, namely that of honesty.

As does this story represent the honesty of a pivotal figure in the forming of our nation, so too do we have a story involving one of the pivotal figures in the writings and administration of our early Church. Let me quote the story you may have already heard.

‘One day while walking along the seashore, Augustine came upon a child dipping water from the sea and pouring it into a hole in the sand. Curious, the bishop inquired, “What are you doing?” The child replied, “I’m going to pour the ocean into this hole I dug.” Augustine smiled: “You’re wasting your time. That’s impossible!” To which the child said, “I will accomplish this before your finite mind can comprehend the infinite Godhead,” and then vanished.’

Augustine lived some 1,600 years ago, so we have no way of verifying whether the story actually took place. However, as with the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, it does convey an important truth. The infinite Godhead or Trinity cannot possibly be comprehended by our finite minds.

And yet, although we cannot comprehend the Trinity, we still invoke and pray to the Trinity.

How do we begin most of our prayers? “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” In the very act of my beginning a prayer, we invoke the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And how does the Mass begin? After the opening hymn, we make the Sign of the Cross, saying “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Trinity. Then the priest says: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” Again a mention of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then comes the Penitential Rite, followed by the Gloria. And what do we hear in the Gloria? “Almighty God and Father… Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father… You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father…” Again the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I will be the first one to admit that the story of Augustine at the seashore, whether factually based or not, conveys the truth about the incomprehensibility of the Trinity. And yet, that does not stop us from invoking and praying to the Trinity.

This is a fundamental reality of our faith that, if we do not grasp it, we can truncate our own spiritual development.

We can love our God wholeheartedly, even though we cannot understand him with all of our mind. We can invoke the Trinity, even though we cannot comprehend the Trinity. We can pray and priests and deacons can carry out sacraments with the power of the Trinitarian formula – “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” – even though we cannot comprehend the power of the Trinity.

The very essence of our faith, the very reason we need to rely on faith, is that our limited understanding cannot grasp the unlimited God, which can lead to a great danger.

In our culture with so much emphasis placed on rational thought and learning, and with the reward and prestige showered over the smart among us, we may only venture as far as we can comprehend.

But that cannot be. We need to make the leap of faith to go beyond where our mere brains and rational thought can take us.

In so many areas of life, it is dangerous and foolhardy to lead with the heart, but with respect to the Trinity it is the only way. Our progress in the spiritual life will be stalled shortly after it begins if we only allow ourselves to journey as far as we can see and comprehend.

Let us lead with our hearts and leap into the communion of love that makes up the relationship of the Trinity: Father and Son and Holy Spirit all loving one another.

That being said, although the Trinity is beyond our comprehension, there are some things that we can know about it.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1. “The Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith… known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

2. “In the Father and with the Father, the Son is one and the same God.”

3. “With them, the Sprit is one and the same God.”

4. “We are called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity, here on earth in the obscurity of faith, and after death in eternal light.”

5. The Catechism goes on to tell us how the Trinity is one God, while made up of three distinct persons.

But how can they be one and three at the same time? Sorry, but if Saint Augustine – one of the doctors of the Church, and sometimes dubbed the father of the Western Church – could not comprehend and explain it, then how much less can … little old me.

That being said — this much I can say: While being one God, the Trinity also remains three divine persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is most central to our faith. It is who God is. While here on earth we are called to share in the Trinity while in the obscurity of faith. These basic facts are found in the Catechism.

But I hope that we can go beyond merely memorizing and reciting basic facts and embrace the opportunity we have to make a leap of faith directly into the very heart of the Trinity, so as to lead with love and go beyond what our minds can comprehend and find ourselves drawn into that community which is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loving one another.

The first reading at daily Masses has lately been marching through the Acts of the Apostles.

At today’s Mass, we hear St. Paul make the connection between the events of the Old Testament and Jesus.

In our day and age, when Hollywood puts out numerous films that have sequels and prequels, we can see that this idea is nothing new.

Two thousand years ago, St. Paul argued for his audience to see a continuation from the “sojourn in the land of Egypt” of the People of Israel to their journey into the promised “land of Canaan,” to the coming of the judges, Samuel the prophet, Saul and eventually King David.

The chronology of salvation history continues to John the Baptist and finally to Jesus Christ himself.

With this in mind we can appreciate the many references to Jesus’ future coming in the Old Testament, as well as the many references from the Old Testament that appear in the New Testament.

For example, the people of Israel are sustained on Manna — bread from heaven — while in the desert. This suggests Jesus’ future action of providing us with the true Bread from Heaven, namely the Eucharist.

With respect to the New Testament looking back to the Old Testament, Net.Bible.Org claims that there about three hundred references to the Old Testament found in the New Testament.

With this in mind, how much richer will our experience of the New Testament be when we see it coming out of the Old.

The Christian Life can be summed up in two words: Imitate Jesus.

In today’s first reading at Mass, we are presented with the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen. Let us see how, in his death, he imitated Jesus. As with Jesus, himself, the motivation behind Saint Stephen being condemned to death was his preaching the message of faith: Jesus is God. While Jesus hung on the Cross, two of the “last words” he spoke were: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” and “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” While Saint Stephen is being stoned, he calls out to God, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

As we can see from his words, he was able to adopt the same mindset that Jesus had. There is no cursing his persecutors. There is no anger. Instead we find a loving turning over of oneself to God, and a loving concern for others, in particular, that they be forgiven.

It is unlikely that we will face martyrdom ourselves. However, there are other ways in which we can imitate Jesus in our lives. So let us pick one aspect of Jesus’ life that pertains to our own mission in life and let us live it out fully. We need to keep in mind that Jesus was and is Jesus and we would be foolish to think that we could imitate him in all of the aspects of his life. Even for the great saints, we generally find that they were able to grow and highly develop only one aspect of imitating Jesus.

Let each one of us take a close look at our own life. Let us see where the Lord is calling us. Let us see what responsibilities we have. And then let us embrace one aspect of Jesus’ life that applies and let us develop it and live it out.

In today’s first reading we hear the words: “If this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5)

After trying without success to put a stop to the spreading of the early Church by threats of death and imprisonment, the authorities of the day are at a loss as to how to stop the early followers of Jesus from spreading the news of his Resurrection and bringing new members into the Faith.

In a meeting, a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel offered the above words, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. They ring true with respect to the early Church, for some two thousand years later the Church is thriving with an estimated 1+ billion Catholics.

From time to time, we need to remind ourselves of the thought behind Gamaliel’s words. How often — without any consideration of what God wants of us, and how God wants us to carry out his will in our lives — do we dream up our own ideas and seek to carry them out and either congratulate ourselves if our idea turns out to be a success or ridicule ourselves if our idea turns out to be a failure? When we find ourselves falling into this trap, we would do much better to take a step back and employ something that is very much a part of our Christian spirituality, namely “discernment.”

Discernment takes time. It takes prayer. It is trying to determine through the guidance of the Holy Spirit what God wants and how God wants it to happen.

So let us make a conscious effort to prayerfully consider what God wants us to do and how he wants us to carry it out.

And let us look not only to the words of today’s first reading from Acts, but also to Galatians 3:3. “After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”

Not only do we discern what God wants us to do, but we rely on God to see it through to completion.

How well the words spoken by a bishop in bringing someone into ministry convey this idea: “May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.”

In the first reading at Mass over the past weekdays, we have seen the early followers of Jesus live out one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely fortitude or courage. Let us remember that after Jesus’ ascension into Heaven they were afraid. He had left them. They knew that authorities who had put him to death would possibly seek to punish his followers as well.

Before the Pentecost event recounted in Acts 2, we find the early followers of Jesus not out preaching the resurrection of Jesus, but rather indoors together. It is not until the Holy Spirit, as tongues of fire, descended upon them that full of newfound courage they went out and publicly proclaimed that Jesus had risen.

In today’s first reading, we find that the authorities had threatened the early followers of Jesus to no longer proclaim his resurrection.

Yet, with great courage and suffering imprisonment and threats of death, they state: “We must obey God rather than men.”

Chances are that our witness to the faith will not face such direct opposition. We will most likely face more subtle opposition from family members who think it well and good for us to attend Mass once a week, but if we get caught up in the Spirit and more fully pursue our Christ Life, we might find them beginning to object. Similarly with friends, who might take offense that we are no longer willing to participate in the wild revelry that was once a regular part of our Friday and Saturday evenings. The work place is another place where we might find subtle opposition. I recall my own days of working in New York City, and facing the disapproval of co-workers who went out for a nice lunch at a NYC restaurant, while I spent my lunch hour attending Mass.

Let us look to the gifts of the Holy Spirit to assist us in our journey. The early followers of Jesus needed great courage or fortitude and so they were given it. My own personal favorite gift of the Holy Spirit is wonder and awe.

What is your favorite gift of the Holy Spirit? Wisdom, Understanding, Right Judgement, Courage, Knowledge, Piety, Wonder/Awe. Perhaps you have more than one favorite gift of the Holy Spirit.

As the early followers of Jesus received courage at Pentecost, let us look to the experience of our own Confirmation as the time when we received the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

And let us look to today’s Gospel reading, John 3, where we hear that God does not ration the gifts of the Spirit.

The early followers of Jesus needed great courage and they received it in abundance. We too should open our arms and hearts wide to receive an abundance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Today’s first reading at Mass gives the account of how the Angel of the Lord freed the early followers of Jesus’ from prison. “But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, and led then out, and said, ‘Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.’”

What we have here is a marvelous miracle. The authorities attempted to silence the message of Jesus’ resurrection and the spreading of the faith by imprisoning those who preached. But God intervened. Yet, it is more than a marvelous miracle story about something that occurred some two thousand years ago. It can be seen as a model for how God works in our own lives.

How many times do we find that we are metaphorically in prison — owing to the hold that a sinful habit (or a bad habit that is not necessarily sinful, but nonetheless is not good for us) has on us? We seek to free ourselves from this bad habit, but our will power is not strong enough. We need to rely on the grace of God. And God willingly, metaphorically, comes to us in the night and frees us from the prison of this bad habit.

Oftentimes it includes a conversion of heart as well. Looking back on how God may have worked in our own lives, we find that such a conversion of heart takes a personal unique form in the circumstances and details of each of our lives, but in general, a conversion of heart of any form can often be noticed by those who know us well. Whether family members, close friends, or co-workers, these people have come to know certain things about us. And now there is a certain something about us that is different. We are no longer held prisoner by a bad habit. We are caught up in the love of God, who has acted in our lives. They might wonder how and why things have changed in our lives. And when they learn that it is through the work of God, we have become witnesses to the faith.

Perhaps we have not stood in the temple area and proclaimed, “Jesus rose from the dead,” as did the early followers of Jesus in today’s first reading. Yet, we are still acting as silent witnesses as others come to know that it is through God’s intervention that we have been freed from whatever prison we have been held in.

The theme of light is so important in the Gospel of John that narrative asserts that the Word is the Light as soon as verse four of chapter one. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” Then in chapter eight, Jesus echoes this idea by declaring in his own words, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.”

We are called to follow Jesus and walk in the light, but the problem is that owing to the original sin that we inherited from our first parents Adam and Eve, there are times we prepare to hide in the darkness, as did Adam and Eve themselves. Their first action after eating the forbidden fruit is to hide. “[they] hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” In response to God’s asking them “Where are you,” Adam explained to God, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid… so I hid myself.” Genesis, Chapter 3.

Part of our spiritual growth will be to make a conscious effort to give up those times when we retreat into darkness. And what are some of the reasons why we retreat into darkness? So that we can sin under the cover of darkness. So that we can hide in shame after we have sinned (as did Adam and Eve, as mentioned immediately above). So that we can secretly have a prayer relationship with Jesus, without risking losing anything that we might lose if it were known publicly that we are serious believers in Jesus.

As we grow and mature, most of us wish to be seen as “good” by others, and therefore we strive to project an image of being “good.” We seek the secrecy of darkness, either literal darkness under the cover of night or symbolic darkness where we can sin in private and not have it known by others. Even though we may do this as adults, this in reality is childish foolishness, for God sees and knows all. Although we may pay lip service to the fact that God knows and sees all, a major turning point in our life of faith is when we open up and acknowledge that God indeed does see and know all of the secret areas of our lives. It is at this point that we can acknowledge our guilt and pray that God heal us in those areas of our lives that we held secret.

As mentioned above, Adam and Eve sought darkness after their sin, and so can humankind in general from time to time — an inherited tendency to hide ourselves. As the Gospel of John (chapter 3) points out: “Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light.”

With respect to seeking darkness either when we sin or after we sin, let us look to Jesus’ offer of forgiveness. Let us stay in the light and allow him to heal us.

But how about the times that we seek the darkness, not because of sin, but rather because we do not want to risk losing something.

Let us consider Nicodemus, who is a character in today’s Gospel reading (John, chapter 3). “Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night…”

Being a prominent and respected leader of the people, if he were to openly come to Jesus, he would risk his status. So he comes secretly by night. He is rewarded with the opportunity to converse with Jesus, in which Jesus teaches him about the importance of being born again, alluding to the Sacrament of Baptism. But we do not see Nicodemus later take this message and go public with it. We do not see him sharing with others what Jesus had shared with him.

Do we have some of Nicodemus in us? Do we keep our faith life with Jesus secret out of fear that we might lose some of our public standing and respect whether within a group of friends or whether in a more institutional setting? Are we afraid that people might think less of us, or might think that we are a religious fanatic if they come to know that we have a deep love for Jesus and pray on a regular basis?

A week ago we celebrated the greatest event in human history: Jesus conquered death. We are an Easter people. We have the answer to the greatest fear that humankind experiences: that of death. Let us tell the whole world. Let us show the whole world of our love for and gratitude to Jesus for what he did for us.

Yes, we are to spend time in private. But it is to be private time for prayer with Jesus (as Jesus did at night with his Father). We are not to seek privacy (or darkness) as a cover for sin, or as protection so that we do not risk our social standing by becoming known followers of Jesus.

Let us pray to Jesus in private, to strengthen ourselves for going forward and being witnesses to our faith.