My dear parishioners, one of the most evocative benedictions ever expressed in human language is St. Paul's farewell blessing to the Church of Corinth. The presiding priest proclaims it in every celebration of the Mass: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." [Roman Missal; cf. 2Cor 13:14] It is the greeting of Christians to one another, the holy kiss. [cf. Rom 16:16]
Its beauty arises from its simplicity and economy of words. Beginning with a modest litany of three parts, the rhythm of this invocation alerts us to the presence of the Divine and directs us to the marrow of human life. It speaks of a trinity of gifts, the origin of all good things and the destiny for which mankind was created. For our divine lesson today, let us meditate upon these gifts, their origin, and our destiny.
This solemn invitatory, the holy kiss, places us in the midst of a trinity of gifts: 1.) grace, a charism intimately associated with Jesus Christ the Son, who did not come into the world for its condemnation, but offered himself as the incarnate instrument of human liberation from every sorrow and distress; 2.) love, the transcendent charism of God the father who "so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" [Jn 3:16]; and, 3.) communion, the fraternal charism of the Holy Spirit who summons us to experience the life of grace and love in intimate fellowship with one another and our Divine Creator.
St. Paul’s greeting tells us that grace, love, and communion are as much a part of the order of God's creation as the widest ocean, the tallest mountain, the air we breathe, the stars of the universe. Nor can we ever claim power over these awesome spiritual realities. These exalted gifts belong to a "God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness". [Exo 34:6]
They are the proofs of divine will and the fruit of God's beneficence; they offer eloquent testimony to the height and depth and breadth of God's capacious and providential love—a sphere without a circumference, a thought without punctuation, a touch never withdrawn or withheld. Grace, love and divine communion are great lamps kindled by Christ to illuminate his Church in a darkened world.
Because these gifts are of Christ—the giver of the gift is himself the gift—they never are rendered impotent nor will they suffer to be lost or extinguished. Faithful "servants" of God's will, they reflect their divine origin by yielding a harvest thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. [cf. Mk 4:8] The presiding priest offers the kiss of peace to the people not merely for himself but on behalf of Christ and His Church.
This ritual kiss reassures the worshipping assembly that its proper focus should be on the persons of the Holy Trinity and the divine relationship shared among them, not the personality of the priest nor on personifying God with human attributes, still less with human idiosyncrasies. The origin of all good things is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, whom we exalt as the divine persons of the Triune God.
Realize that the holy blessing is the invocation of God who encounters his people in the privileged moments of sacramental worship. Although it is our right to receive the highest gifts, it is our responsibility to work with God in using them. The conditionality inherent in the holy kiss reminds us that we must choose. We must act. And, having decided to participate in the covenant of the cross of Christ, we must choose to live through and with Christ, in the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father, each and every day of our lives. Sincerely in the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Your pastor, Reverend Richard Barker. +++
My dear parishioners, one of the most evocative benedictions ever expressed in human language is St. Paul's farewell blessing to the Church of Corinth. The presiding priest proclaims it in every celebration of the Mass: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." [Roman Missal; cf. 2Cor 13:14] It is the greeting of Christians to one another, the holy kiss. [cf. Rom 16:16]