Possessed by Truth

Dear Friend,

Our rich history as a parish includes the witness of so many wise teachers -- Father Virgil central among them, with this month marking the 15th anniversary of his death. Father Raimon Panikkar, a dear friend of Father Virgil, is another. A visiting priest here while teaching at UCSB, this renowned philosopher and theologian, fondly remembered by long-time parishioners, died in 2010, age 91.

Father Panikkar’s wisdom lives on in his 1991 book The Dwelling Place of Wisdom, and offers insight as we celebrate the Fifth Sunday of Easter. In a review of the book posted on a website dedicated to his work, we find these words: “The spiritual life is not so much making a conquest as making oneself available and open to welcome and accept its gifts.” The reviewer goes on to say that Panikkar reminds us that “far from possessing the truth, we should learn rather to allow ourselves to be possessed by truth after having pulled away the many veils that hide it.”

In this Sunday’s Gospel Jesus gently chides Philip while inviting him to accept a gift and pull away some of those veils. What were those veils? Attachment to old ways of thinking, for one, fear, for another. The gift, on the other hand, was Jesus’s own presence, disclosing the divine - that is, the life of the Father. The gift is also deliverance from death, as the psalmist sings, and the awareness that we have been “chosen” for a task only we ourselves can complete.  

With so much misunderstanding dominating our world, our wise teachers remind us that, week after week, our primary task is to allow the truth of Jesus to take hold of us, and guide us, as individuals and as a community, into the way of peace.  

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan ofm, Pastor