Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 30, 2024)

Today’s Gospel offers us two examples of Jesus reaching out to the poverty of human beings and giving them the richness of life.

Both Jairus and the woman sufferings from a blood-flow come to Jesus with great hope and faith and humble themselves before him on their knees. Jesus receives each of them with great gentleness. When he speaks to the woman, he calls her “daughter” and publicly recognizes her as cured by her faith and now restored to cleanness in the community.

Then, Jesus comes to the home of Jairus and takes him and his wife out of the din of the mourners into their daughter’s room. There, Jesus speaks gently to the young woman, takes her by the hand as she is restored to life, and instructs her parents to give her something to eat.

Both the unclean woman and the young girl now share in the richness of life that Jesus gives.

While you and I realize that our God has made us in his image, we also recognize our poverty when left on our own. We have come to know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ: though he was rich, he became poor like us, so that by his poverty we might become rich. By Baptism, we were washed clean and restored to the fullness of God’s life and love. By God’s favor, we have that richness within us.

Each day we share more fully in God’s life here in the Eucharist. Jesus takes us by the hand and walks with us as we journey with him to our Father’s home. He invites us to take the hand of others and share this richness of life together, as sisters and brothers.

Whenever we find ourselves tempted to dwell on our poverty as human beings, Jesus invites us to kneel before him and ask him to touch us with his mercy and love. Jesus will remind us of the riches of healing and redemption that are ours. Then he will take us by the hand and enable us to walk with him as his enriched brothers and sisters.

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 23, 2024)

St. Francis de Sales, the “doctor of love,” had his own perspectives on judgment. Specifically, he cautioned against rash judgment. He observed: "Fear, ambition, and similar mental weaknesses often contribute to the birth of suspicion and rash judgment" when it comes to our perspectives of other people.

He continued: People “who have drunk in pride, envy, ambition, and hatred think that everything they see is evil and reprehensible. To be cured...I say, drink as deeply as you can of the sacred wine of charity. The sin of rash judgment is truly a spiritual jaundice that causes all things to appear evil to the eyes of those infected with it.”

Put another way, judgment is ultimately in the eye -- or the heart -- of the beholder. “If your reflections are kind,” remarked Francis, “your judgments will also be kind. If your affections are charitable, your judgments will be the same.”

Obviously, if our affections are neither kind nor charitable, our judgments of other people will be, at best, unkind and uncharitable. Such a practice is incompatible with anyone who is trying to be a “new creation” in Christ.

Unfortunately, we know from our own experience that it is all too easy to waste our time judging the motives and intentions of other people. If this weren't bad enough, we seldom keep such opinions to ourselves, but often share such judgments with third parties, leading to “uneasiness, contempt of neighbor, pride, self-satisfaction, and many other bad effects, chief among them being slander.”

Perhaps Francis de Sales really put his finger on the issue and summed it up when he wrote: “It is the mark of an unprofitable soul to amuse itself with examining the lives of other people.” The old ways of looking at other in terms of mere human judgment have passed away: what are we doing to keep it that way? Besides, on any given day, we probably have more than enough to do when it comes to examining our own lives, don’t we? Why spin our wheels, then, by dissecting the lives of others for our own amusement…and to our own shame?

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 16, 2024)

Today’s readings help us to keep things in perspective. Make no mistake – we are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. While we are charged with a tremendous duty - advancing the kingdom of God - the most effective means to accomplishing this great calling is to pay attention to detail – that is, by doing little things with great love.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales made the following exhortation:

“Put your hand to strong things, by training yourself in prayer and meditation, receiving the sacraments, bringing souls to love God, infusing good inspirations into their hearts and, in fine, by performing big, important works according to your vocation. But never forget…those little, humble virtues that grow like flowers at the foot of the cross: helping the poor, visiting the sick, taking care of your family, with all the responsibilities that accompany such things and with all the useful diligence which prompts you to not stand idle.”

“Great opportunities to serve God rarely present themselves, but little ones are frequent…you will profit greatly in God’s sight by doing all these things because God wishes you to do them.”

God gives us a rich abundance of means proper for our salvation. By a wondrous infusion of God’s grace into our minds, hearts, attitudes and actions the Spirit makes our works become God’s work. Our good works - like planting miniscule mustard seeds here or like scattering small seeds there - have vigor and virtue enough to produce a great good because they proceed from the Spirit of Jesus.

As it turns out, little things do really mean a lot in the eyes of God. In fact, they mean everything!

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 9, 2024)

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales does not equate happiness with self-centeredness, self-absorption or self-obsession. However, Francis does equate happiness with what he calls self-possession. The Gentleman Saint writes: “It is man’s great happiness to possess his own soul, and the more perfect our patience the more completely do we possess our souls.”

What happiness it is to know and accept yourself for who you are in the sight of God! What a delight it is to be comfortable – without being complacent – in your own skin! What joy it is to be essentially at home – to be at peace – with the person that God made you to be! Why, it’s the next best thing to Paradise.

Tragically enough, the ability to be at home with ourselves became the first – and the most fundamental – casualty of The Fall. No sooner had Adam and Eve eaten from the fruit of the tree of knowledge than their natural state – their nakedness, their transparency – became a reproach. They were embarrassed – they were ashamed – of who they were. Literally, they were no longer comfortable in their own skin. Suddenly sullied by self-alienation and self-loathing, Paradise was lost…and life became a burden.

As we know all-too-well, so much of the misery, sin and sadness that plagues the human family to this very day comes from either (1) the inability to be who we really are, or (2) the fruitless attempt to become someone we’re not.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales exclaimed: “God has signified to us in so many ways and by so many means that he wills all of us to be saved that no one should be ignorant of this fact. For this purpose, through Creation God made us ‘in his own image and likeness’, whereas through the Incarnation God has made himself in our image and likeness.”

The redemptive grace of the Incarnation makes it possible for us to experience once again the happiness that comes from possessing our own souls. The restorative power of the Incarnation makes it possible for us to experience once again the joy of being essentially at home with who we are in the sight of God. Wounded as we are by sin, our practice of devotion – our quest to possess our own souls – no longer comes effortlessly as it originally did in Paradise. It requires perpetual practice; it demands tremendous patience. That said, God not only promises us the joy and peace born of this heavenly self-acceptance; God also shows us how to achieve it on this earth in the person of his Son.

Jesus embodies the power of self-possession. Jesus exhibits the joy of self-acceptance. Jesus exudes the peace of self-direction. Who better than Jesus shows us what it looks like to be comfortable in one’s own skin? Who better than Jesus demonstrates what it looks like to invite - and to empower - others to do the same?

Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (June 2, 2024)

Today the Church celebrates the fulfillment of God’s great desire to be one with his people –to establish an everlasting covenant with us – a covenant which guarantees our forgiveness and reconciliation. Jesus’ body is broken, and his blood poured out for us on the Cross. Jesus’ willingness to sacrifice himself so that we can be reconciled to God and to one another completes his Father’s loving plan – a new covenant is made permanent. Today’s Gospel account reminds us that Jesus gave us a continuing memorial of his loving sacrifice – a way for us today to share in his saving death and resurrection. Each time we come together to celebrate Eucharist, we break bread and share a cup that signifies the Body of Jesus broken and his Blood poured out for us. The Blood of Christ reminds us of an earlier covenant between God and his people. Like Israel of old, Jesus’ Blood forms us into a new people of God – the Church. During each Eucharist we proclaim, as they did, “All that God has said, we will do.” As we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, we enter a deeper communion with Jesus and with one another. We become the Body of Christ present in our world. Like Jesus, we must become willing to do our Father’s will, opening ourselves to accepting a share of the sufferings that may entail. We are never alone in our efforts because sharing in Eucharist makes us a covenant community. Our oneness in Eucharist must lead us to oneness in daily living. Today’s feast is a strong reminder of the realities of our Christian life:

• Our God desires to be intimately one with us and the Eucharist is the place where that happens most clearly. As we eat Jesus’ Body and drink his Blood, he becomes one with us and we with him.
• Our sharing in Eucharist also draws us into deeper communion with all the members of the Church. We become more fully the Body of Christ.
• As the Body of Christ in our world, we continue the mission of Jesus to announce the good news of God’s love to all our brothers and sisters, especially those who need to hear that God loves them.

As we give thanks today for the great gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus in Eucharist, let us re-dedicate ourselves to living out our oneness in Jesus as we go about the daily tasks of living this week.

The Most Holy Trinity (May 26, 2024)

Ask yourself, as Moses did: “Did anything so great ever happen before?” We hear Moses remind the Israelites that our God has revealed the Divine Presence in many wonderful ways: from creation through the great signs of divine power done for God’s people during the Exodus. God lovingly gave the chosen people commandments by which to live and the promise of a land where they would live long and prosperous lives.

Our Triune God continued to love his people. The Father sent the Son, Jesus, to dwell among us. And Jesus died and rose to save us from our sins. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit as God’s abiding Presence in us and among us. God sought us out in love and made us adopted children, brothers and sisters of Jesus. We have “received the Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” In prayer, Jesus taught us to approach God and call him “Father.”

As adopted children, co-heirs with Jesus, we have the right to inherit the promised reign of God. The Spirit of God is always with us, enabling us to bear our sufferings with Jesus, so that we may also be glorified with Jesus.

St. Francis de Sales describes for us our promised eternal inheritance.

“We will see face to face and very clearly the Divine Majesty, the essence of God, and the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. There we will understand and participate in those adorable conversations and divine colloquies which take place between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” (Sermons for Lent, 1622, p. 63)

Ask yourself again: “Has anything so great ever happened before?” De Sales encourages us:

“Note well how ardently God desires us to be His, since to this end He has made Himself entirely ours. He gives us both His death and His life; His life so that we may be freed from eternal death; His death so that we can enjoy eternal life. Let us live in peace, then, and serve God to be His in this mortal life and still more so in life eternal.” (Treatise on the Love of God, 3. 5)

All praise and honor to you: Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 5, 2024)

Today’s Scripture readings call us to embrace the great reality: God is love.

God has loved us eternally. Even when the human family chose to reject God’s love and sinned, God’s eternal love for us sent his Son Jesus among us as expiation for our sins. God’s love does not change; God does not love us because we love him.

Jesus reminds us of this wonderful news in the gospel today: “You are slaves no longer. I call you friends because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” Through of our baptism into Jesus’ saving death and resurrection, you and I share in the life and love of God. Jesus has made it possible for us to love one another as he has loved us. Through the grace of faith, you and I are begotten of God and know God. God gives us the ability to love and he desires us to use that ability for the good of one another.

God makes his enduring love surprisingly evident in today’s first reading. When Peter enters the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, the Holy Spirit is poured out on this pagan family even before they are baptized. Peter is shocked that non-Jews are speaking in tongues, but he accepts the wonder of God’s love working in these foreigners and baptizes them in the name of Jesus. Peter is forced to acknowledge that God shows no partiality in loving. That will become the practice of the Church community.

We are to love all as Jesus has loved all. There can be no strangers or aliens in our community. We must be open to the many ways that God’s love will manifest itself among us. Sometimes the working of God’s love will surprise us, as it did Peter. Since God’s love is always present among us, we may experience it through the least likely people and situations.

You and I are often the unsuspecting channel of God’s love for people who least expect it from us. When we learn to accept the great mystery of God’s eternal love for each of us, when we make the time each day to allow God’s love to reach deeply within us, when we decide to expect to find God’s love in each person we meet during the day, then we will find ourselves experiencing the great transformation that Jesus has come to make in us. We will learn to treasure being Jesus’ friend and try to be friend to everyone we meet. We will be mindful of St. John’s words: “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that God has loved us.” It is not that others have loved me first; rather, I have loved them. This is how Jesus has loved us. It is the way that he asks us to love one another.

May our God be praised in our efforts to love!

Fifth Sunday of Easter (April 28, 2024)

Today, Jesus is telling us that a personal, intimate relationship with him is essential if we are to bear fruit as his disciples.

As branches need a vine in order to bear fruit, we need Jesus. Jesus is very clear: “Without me, you can do nothing.” The opposite is also true: with Jesus, we can do everything. Jesus reveals his great desire for us: “Remain in me, as I remain in you.” Our efforts to remain in Jesus each day give glory to our Father.

One of the ways we remain in Jesus as he remains in us is that we love in our deeds, and not merely talk about loving. St. Francis de Sales offers us some practical advice about how to do this each day. He encourages us to begin our day by being conscious of God’s presence and love:

My God, I know that you are here with me.

You are loving me today.

Help me to be conscious you are with me

in everything I say and do today.

Then, as we begin each new activity of our day, he encourages us to be conscious again of God’s presence and ask for the help of his grace so that we might do this activity in a way that is pleasing to God.

All of the activities of our day are part of God’s plan for our salvation. God graces them, making them holy activities, no matter how ordinary they may seem to us. Eating a meal, shopping for food, listening in class, working at a job, meeting with friends, washing clothes and pots and pans – each of these activities can be holy when I choose to do them as God’s will for me right now, and I ask God for the grace to do them in a loving way.

When we make this short prayer at the beginning of each of our activities and trust in God’s presence and love with us, we are better able to accept any difficulties we may meet in an activity and possibly see them as God’s way of pruning us so that we can bear more fruit.

De Sales’ advice helps us to remember that we are branches on Jesus, the vine, as we go about the tasks of daily living. It also helps us to do our actions and speak our words in a way that is loving.

Let us pray that his advice may help each of us to deepen our friendship with Jesus and to love one another more as Jesus has loved us.

Pentecost (May 19, 2024)

Jesus breathes new life into his disciples. Jesus announces that mutual forgiveness will be the mark by which his community will be recognized. And as God has forgiven them in Jesus, Jesus tells them to forgive one another as a sign of the new life they share.

(St. Luke’s account of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles describes the coming of the Spirit in a much more dramatic fashion than John. As the Spirit descends on the disciples as tongues of fire, the disciples begin to make bold proclamation of the Good News in an astounding way. In John, Pentecost takes on the form of a more intimate conversation and communication.)

The very same Spirit is given to each of us at our Baptism. The Spirit’s presence has been strengthened in us through Confirmation. (In some Christian traditions – mostly in the East - Baptism and Confirmation as essentially administered/celebrated back-to-back at the same time.) We are one in the Body of Christ because we all share the one Holy Spirit.

Each of us has special gifts that have been given to us as a way of manifesting the Spirit’s presence in us. Our gifts are given not solely for our own good, although that is a good place to start! Ultimately, our gifts of the Spirit are meant for the good of others. When we use our gifts for others, we witness to our oneness in Christ. No one’s gift or ministry or work is more important than anyone else’s - all are needed for the unity of the community of the Church.

Each of us is important because we bring a gift or talent or way of working that no one else can bring to the group. We all lose something when an individual person’s gifts are not welcomed or used in the community. We need one another in order to experience the full wonder of God’s love for us.

“Come, Holy Spirit, come!” This is a bold request on our part. Are we really open to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that God wants to give us? Are we willing to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to be drawn more deeply into the Mystery of God’s love? Can we find new ways to use these gifts in our efforts to love one another during the day?

May this feast of Pentecost be a rebirthing in each of us of all the spiritual gifts that help us stay centered in the Holy Spirit.

Ascension of the Lord (May 9/12, 2024)

Today we celebrate the conclusion of Jesus’ mission from his Father. We see Jesus stand before his chosen eleven as the Christ, Lord of the universe. With full authority for the salvation of the world, Jesus sends the Eleven forth to make disciples of all the nations. They are to baptize in the name of the Trinity and teach all they have been commanded by Jesus.

Then Jesus returns to his Father, leaving the earth in his bodily form. His leaving emphasizes the importance that faith will play in their mission. They are to put their trust in the Spirit he will leave with them, and they are to act on all they have been taught to believe. They will have doubts and fears as they go, so they are to remember his final words to them: “I am with you always.” Jesus’ abiding presence with them through the Spirit will give them strength and courage when they need it to continue their efforts.

Over the past few weeks, you and I have been renewed in our faith by our celebration of Jesus’ death and rising. Today, as we celebrate his return to his Father, Jesus speaks to us, his disciples, with the full authority of the Christ: I send you forth to make even more disciples. Announce the truth of what I have taught you by living it every day. When you feel the insecurities of the journey, recall my promise to you: “I am with you always.” My Spirit will provide the strength you need to continue.

As we carry out our mission each day, we are not to waste time trying to judge our success or failure. Jesus asks us to place our faith in him and give the best effort we can each day. St. Francis de Sales reminds us to begin each day anew, trying to be faithful today to letting Jesus live in us and love through us.

As we celebrate Jesus’ return to his Father, let us renew our faith in all that Jesus has taught us. With confidence, let us set about living today with grace and enthusiasm. Remember: Jesus is with us always!

Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 12, 2024)

We have just heard Jesus’ prayer for us:

“Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.”

Jesus died and rose to make this prayer for us possible. Jesus lived, died and rose for us to make life possible. This is the great mystery of God’s great love for us.

You and I have been baptized into the mystery of God’s love. We now share the very life and love of God. God’s life within us draws us into unity, not just with God, but with one another. And our unity in love allows God’s love to overflow and bear witness to the world around us.

Jesus tells us that he sends us into the world just as He was sent into the world by his Father. With Jesus as our example, compansion and guide, as we express our love for one another in daily life, God is working through us to transform the division and strife of our world into unity and peace.

It’s hard not to be stirred by Jesus’ words. The challenge is: do we believe them enough to live by them? Will I, will we, choose to love today in a way that allows God’s love in us to overflow to others? Will we, will I, accept the responsibility to be God’s loving presence today in our little corner of the world? Being ‘one’ – that ism being instruments of unity and peace - can only happen if you and I are willing each day to do our share of loving as Jesus has loved us.

We heard Jesus give us a promise in the Gospel: to the extent that we strive to live together in the name of the Father and of His Son (and enlivened, of course, by the Spirit) then our joy will be complete! Let us ask him to strengthen us in our efforts today to be a living witness of God’s great love through our attempts to be ‘one’ with one another.

May God be praised in us!

Fourth Sunday of Easter (April 21, 2024)

In today's Gospel, Jesus is telling us about himself and his relationship with his disciples. "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

You and I know what a good shepherd Jesus is. He loves us so much that he willingly died on the cross for all his sheep down through the ages. All of his sheep are sinners, and his loving death has freed us from our sins, and his resurrection has given us a share in his new life.

Jesus tells us more: "I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father." Because Jesus has loved us and called us to be his disciples, he has invited us into a special intimacy with him: the same intimacy he shares with his Father -- a divine intimacy.

How can anyone pass up that invitation?

The more we open ourselves and respond to Jesus’ invitation, the more we realize how life changing our response is. And we are not alone. All disciples around us and in our world are making the same effort we are, allowing that divine intimacy to transform the way we live our daily lives. Our efforts support the working of grace in all.

The Eucharist we share nourishes our divine intimacy with Jesus and with one another. Our good shepherd gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink and he promises us eternal life.

As we allow the divine intimacy to grow within us, the words of St. John offer us encouragement. "Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God...We are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

Let us keep our minds and hearts focused each day on the intimate invitation of Jesus and respond generously.

Fourth Sunday of Easter (April 21, 2024)

Images are helpful in clarifying an idea. They can also be unhelpful when carried beyond the point intended. For instance, referring to the institutional church as “holy mother the church.” Motherhood connotes loving, caring, nurturing; these qualities should be applicable to the relationship of the church and ourselves. Unfortunately, some church officials carry the image too far and deplore those who are critical of the church saying “it’ is wrong to criticize your mother.” Our institutional church needs criticism, and Vatican II says so.

I surely had difficulty for a long time about today’s Gospel image. Jesus is the good shepherd - fine; bishops are also formally referred to as shepherds. Having lived a novitiate year on a farm, I felt uncomfortable with that. I was aware of sheep: dumb animals, mindlessly following someone with a crozier in hand. I went one bridge too far - beyond what Jesus was teaching about the relationship between himself and us.

In today’s example of one of the seven “I am” sayings in John, which are Jesus’ way of self-revelation, Jesus here reveals himself to be the good shepherd. In Matthew and Luke, we read of Jesus’ care in finding the lost sheep, only in john is there mention of the shepherd being willing to lay down his life for his sheep.

Five times john repeats that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. It was the good shepherd’s, the owner-shepherd’s job to care for and defend the sheep. If a sheep was missing, he would search and bring it back. In ancient times, if the shepherd lost the battle for a sheep and a wolf was killing it, the shepherd would be expected to bring back an ear, or something that he pulled from the wolf’s mouth -- to prove that he had done his job.

The good shepherd warded off would-be attackers by day. At night, on the hills, there were enclosures without gates. Sheep were very vulnerable. At night, the shepherd would put his staff across the doorway and the sheep had to duck, so he could inspect them. When they were corralled, he would lie across the entrance and become the gate. No wolf or thief could touch the sheep without going through him. Jesus elsewhere calls himself the sheep gate. Wonderful images of loving protection!

Jesus describes his flock as sheep that he knows. Knowing in the Hebrew mind implies not only intellectual knowledge, but also love. The “knowing shepherd” alludes to the tender image of is 40:11 - “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock / in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.”

There is a profound mutuality of love here, which Jesus compares to the intimate bond between himself and the Father. There is unconditional love that Jesus communicates to us, exemplifies for us, lives and dies or us.

Jesus said: “Learn of me.” We can learn of him in today’s Gospel by becoming like him toward those in our care as parents, as relatives, as babysitters, as older brothers and sisters, as motorists - in becoming good shepherds. We shall very unlikely be called to literally give up our lives by the shedding of our blood.

If we appreciate the loved poured out to us, we need to respond in kind.

Stephen Levine describes it so well: “You cannot unconditionally love someone. You can only be unconditional love . . . It is a sense of oneness with all that is. The experience of love arises when we surrender our separateness into the universal. It is not an emotion; it is a state of being . . . It is not so much that ‘two are one so much as it is ‘the one manifested as two.” [Who dies? An investigation of conscious living and conscious dying, 75]

Jesus called his followers “my” sheep, not “our” sheep. We are cooperators only. We are called to help in shepherding:

• to lay down our popularity lives by taking the risk of unpopular stances. For instance: TV viewing, computer use, a stance on abortion - to protect the unprotected.

• to lay down our lives for others by giving what seem to be such important pieces of our lives - our time, our talent, our treasure that the “little ones” may be safe

To “be” good shepherds is an essential part of Living Jesus.

Third Sunday of Easter (April 14, 2024)

Luke’s Gospel begins with a resolution to write an account of the events of Jesus’ life. Today’s account comes from the last chapter of his Gospel.

This passage was not an “appearance story.” It relates what happened after Jesus joined two disciples as they walked with their backs toward Jerusalem; they were going out of town. What they heard about the women’s report that Jesus was alive was not important enough for them to stay and find out more. Their hope of Jesus setting Israel free from Rome was dashed. They despaired.

Jesus opened their eyes to the answer to his question: “Was it not necessary that the messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” They did not understand Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Unfortunately, we do not have the record of Jesus’ teaching this day about the Old Testament and himself; that is a loss that was later filled in.

They did not comprehend the connection between the Eucharist and the cross. The connection is not obvious; perhaps it would be helpful for us to look at it. The breaking of bread at their meal near Emmaus was critical. As John Shea says, “the cross and the bread mutually interpret each other.” Like the former wheat that died and became new life as bread; as crushed “vine-juice” died and became new life as wine; Jesus died and became new life in a new, resurrected body. Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends whether it is wheat, grapes, Jesus. The disciples put it together when Jesus made the gesture of breaking the bread at the meal they shared with Jesus. They “got it.”

They returned to Jerusalem and met with the eleven disciples. They heard that Jesus had appeared to Peter. His appearance in his resurrected body was somewhat the same and somewhat different than before he died. Remember, Mary, who loved him and was loved by him, did not recognize him. The disciples on the road did not recognize him. He had to look different. His new, resurrected body was able to pass through closed doors.

One of the most persistent heresies of the early church arose from this different appearance. Jesus was understood by some to be god with a human appearance – a kind of Halloween situation. These people were called “docetists” from the Latin word meaning, “appear, seem.” Much attention was then given to the actions of Jesus that showed that he was not a ghost or a phantom. For that reason, we hear repeatedly in this late-written Gospel that Jesus invited people to touch with their fingers, put hand inside; he ate fish in front of them.

He also opened the minds of the eleven to the scriptures written about him. He commissioned them to be witnesses of him.

The community had a real concern with the delay of the second coming of Jesus. They first expected he would be back “any day now.” Now it was getting toward the end of the first century. What were they supposed to do until Jesus came again?

Their clear answer from Luke is proclaim the good news - to all! It does not matter that Jesus did not come right back. What matters is that we, his followers, embody the presence of the risen Jesus and be ambassadors of his message of love, forgiveness and reconciliation. May we look for a friend or relative that needs to be asked if he or she might be interested in finding out more about the faith and inviting that person to “come and see.”

Second Sunday of Easter (April 7, 2024)

Do you remember when the worst thing was to doubt one’s faith -- a time when “faith” was thought to include all church pronouncements? Doubting was tantamount to denying the faith. The consequence was eternal damnation. We have long grown past that understanding.

In the Vatican II Church we look at what we say we believe, and now understand that doubting can be very healthy. Working through our doubts gives us ownership of our faith. Frederick Buechner says it well: “Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith.” They keep faith stirred up.

Our difficulties with faith are as much a part of becoming more faithful as the multiple falls a child takes when learning to walk. They strengthen our faith – as they did Thomas’. They can increase our understanding of the one who calls us to “walk by faith, not by sight.” They can help us to help others when they are troubled by doubt.

So, what about Thomas? Poor Thomas! All most people remember about Thomas is his short time of doubt. “Doubting Thomas” has become synonymous with being stubborn or a skeptic.

Why pick on Thomas? All the apostles were fearful. Today’s Gospel describes the evening of the day of resurrection. They had heard the report of Mary Magdalene in the early morning; they had heard the reports of the two on their way to Emmaus who had hurried back to tell them of their experience; they had heard the testimony of peter himself to whom Jesus had appeared sometime in between. Yet, the echoes of the murderous crowd in Pilate’s courtyard: “crucify him.” were still ringing in their ears as they huddled in fear.

Perhaps Thomas was the boldest, and the reason he was absent was that he was out at the local Wawa getting much needed supplies. Maybe Thomas’ doubt was not really doubt about the Lord, but doubt about the community who claimed he was alive. The cowering actions of the others belied their conviction that the resurrection was true. Jesus responded to his need.

We know that fear is the opposite of faith. [Remember Jesus walking on the water and Jesus’ identified Peter’s fear with lack of faith?]

The disciples, including Thomas, became fearless after Pentecost. They bolted from the room. They spread the good news not simply because they were told to, but because they were so enthused that they could not do otherwise.

We are the spiritual heirs of that community. At first, you and I received our faith by hearing the word from others - a kind of secondhand faith. Secondhand smoke is bad; secondhand faith is good, but it is only a stopgap form of faith. Later in life, we chose to accept for ourselves, to take ownership by what we had heard from our parents, teachers, others. We are like the townspeople speaking to the Samaritan woman; we can say: “No longer does our faith depend on your telling; we have found out for ourselves...” That is real faith.

We heard Jesus’ mission directive. “As the Father sent me, so I send you” applies to us as well. We need to witness, too. We cannot wait to witness until we are perfect and then invite folks. That day will never come. We have believed in spite of the mixed record of Jesus’ disciples that reaches back to the first ones.

Some of us are low-key; some, up-beat; some, contagiously enthusiastic. Whatever our personality, we are called to witness. The name for this is evangelization. Unfortunately, some associate this word with notorious, television preachers. “Evangelization” is simply church-talk for telling the good news – being a witness.

• It does not mean that we have to know all the answers; the apostles did not.

• It does not mean that we have to be perfect; the apostles surely were not.

• It does not mean that that our leaders can solve all problems; surely they cannot.

• It does mean that we witness to others that we have seen/experienced the Lord’s goodness and love.

What difference has reliving the resurrection really made in our enthusiasm during this past week? What has the Thomas in our family, development, and workplace experienced when they saw us after our experience of Easter?

I invite you, I challenge you, to celebrate the resurrection by reaching out with enthusiasm, to invite: “come and see,” to offer someone the life of the risen Jesus and the compassion and companionship of the community of us wounded healers

Thomas was habitually a questioner, perhaps less a doubter than a deep thinker. Perhaps he was the only one courageous enough to go out to the local Wawa for food.

Seeing is not believing. Observation is a form of scientific proof - Thomas got that. We, on the other hand, enjoy Jesus’ final beatitude: “blessed are those who have not seen, yet believed.” Paul says in Romans: “Faith comes from hearing.”

We may have become smug: I have the blessing of the final beatitude. “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” I qualify; I have not seen the resurrection, yet I believe! How blessed I am! “Thank God I am not like the rest of men.”

Thomas’ second lesson: make sure when you have doubts that you are willing to doubt your doubts.

Easter (March 31, 2024)

Easter is Jesus the Christ’s finest hour. It is, therefore, his follower’s’ finest hour. “Finest hour” is a phrase made famous by Winston Churchill to describe Britain’s survival of the siege bombing of London and other English cities in 1940. Churchill wrote, “Should the British Empire last a thousand years, it will still be said this was their finest hour.”

The church has celebrated the resurrection of Jesus as its finest hour for over two thousand years. This is our proclamation every time we come together on the first day of the week, made holy by this singular, triumph-ant event.

Unlike Britain, Easter has not become the church’s finest hour because of us humans; it has become our finest hour because of Jesus and our Father. It was the father’s will to teach us the unlimited nature of divine love through his son’s teaching us the lesson of listening to our father and himself. It took a horrific event like the crucifixion to get and fasten our attention, to enable us to see beyond our selfishness the selfless love of Jesus.

The resurrection has meaning only in the light of Jesus’ unspeakable suffering and death. Easter raises our spirits only after we allow the passion of Jesus on Good Friday to plunge our spirits as we see the love that enabled Jesus to suffer so terribly.

Many who cheered him at his entry into Jerusalem early in the week jeered him on Good Friday. This is the polarity we find so often in human experience and especially in Holy Week.

Besides the polarity we experience, there is also paradox. Polarity expresses difference and distance; paradox expresses the combining of contradictory ideas [or things] into a meaningful whole. The richness of paradox is lost on the poorly educated and the immature – yet another reason for weekly mass and continuing, catholic adult education. Those who stop with high school education of religion try to battle the experiences of adulthood with the tools of elementary or adolescent education, and in adulthood, unfortunately, view Christianity through the lens of immaturity. Many settle for Easter outfits and cute, yellow chicks and Easter candy for their own children. Christianity is an adult religion and spirituality.

Jesus has profound paradoxes in his teaching: we gain life by losing life; we gain love when we give love. His Easter paradox involves death and life. Death gives life its meaning. Remove one and we lose both. We want the crown of life, but we do not want the cross. We hear the promise of eternal life and have a tendency not to take up our cross and follow him. For Jesus, both are necessary. We want Easter Sundays in life without Good Fridays.

Jesus calls us to life, but surely does not want us to choose the cross to get the crown. That is not love; that is a deal – something for something. Jesus accepted the cross out of love for his father and for us. Jesus was not “dealing;” he was giving us example of how to live life.

In Jesus’ mind he did not die to be raised to eternal life (he already had that). He died to fulfill his father’s will and proclaim the message of love regardless of the violent reaction to hm. He dearly suffered for his efforts. God raised us to the possibility of joining us to them in eternal life.

Were we to be asked what our finest hour was, we might think of some “big win” in our lives. We would be surprised, as were the sheep, Jesus’ answer to the question. Our finest hour may have been at a most difficult or painful time when we gave the gift of ourselves to someone who needed help, peace, love.

In Matthew’s Gospel, the people Jesus called “sheep”- as in separating the “sheep and goats” - asked Jesus: “when did we feed you, clothe you, visit you?” Jesus replied that what they had done for the least of their brothers, they had done for him. The gift of ourselves to others is our Christian vocation. Sometimes we see the difference we make; sometimes, we do not. Love becomes its own reward both here and hereafter.

May the paschal mystery, the paradox, fill your hearts this Easter. May Jesus’ gift of self inspire us all always to Live Jesus more deeply.

Passion Sunday (March 24, 2024)

St. Jane de Chantal had this to say about the Passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ:

"The Church proposes Passion Sunday to remind us of the sufferings of our Savior…in which the work of our redemption was so abundantly completed. Our redemption began from the instant of the adorable conception of the eternal Word in the womb of the Virgin, his Holy Mother, and it was completed in the passion of the Savior. This Sunday reminds us to prepare, by a holy recalling to mind of our Savior's toils and sufferings…considering what God has done for us and encourage ourselves to imitate Him. And, if it was necessary, as Scripture says, that the Son of God should enter his glory and kingdom by a multitude of toils and tribulations, we are deceived if we think to enter there by any other way. Let us love: love our little sufferings and prepare ourselves by the consideration of those of our Lord…Let us strive to die indeed to ourselves, to our inclinations, and to all which corrupts our nature, and God will enable us to live a new life, in his grace and in his love, in this world, and then forever in his glory, giving himself as the reward for our little labors." (<u>Conferences</u>, Exhortation XI, page 117 - 118)

St. Jane also helps us to consider that the passion of Jesus is not only about suffering: it is ultimately about being obedient to, open to, and trusting in Divine Providence. "It is a true point of the highest and most sublime perfection when we are entirely given over, open and obedient to the events of divine Providence. If we indeed have surrendered ourselves to Providence we shall be as happy to be here as a hundred miles form here; and even more so, finding ourselves in Providence more of God's pleasure and less of our own satisfaction. It would be of no consequence whether we be humbled or exalted, to be led by one hand or the other, to be in dryness, aridity, sorrow and privation or to be comforted by divine Providence and in the enjoyment of God. In fact, we should keep ourselves in the good hands of this great God like cloth in the hands of a tailor, who cuts it in a hundred ways for use as he pleases and as he designs, while it puts no hindrance in the way. So, we should endure to have God's powerful hand cut, hammer and chisel us just as God wishes, to make us a fit stone for the adornment of his building." (Conference XLI, pp. 280 - 281)

As we reflect upon the passion of Jesus - the generosity of Jesus - the obedience of Jesus - the self-emptying of Jesus - it affords us the opportunity to examine our own passion for righteousness, our own generosity toward others, our own obedience to the will of the Father and our own willingness to empty ourselves so that our hearts, minds, attitudes and actions may more faithfully reflect the love of God who invites us each day to continue the ministry of Jesus in ways that fit the state and stage of life in which we find ourselves.

Fifth Sunday of Lent (March 17, 2024)

The connection between the first reading and the third reading is not hard to discover today. God tells Jeremiah that the upcoming, New Covenant will not be like the Sinai covenant with Moses. The new covenant will be one written on the hearts of his people. Relationship. Our Gospel tells of Jesus’ revealing that covenant.

John tells us of two Greek gentiles who have a request: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip, one of the apostles with a Greek name receives the request and tells his fellow, ethnic apostle, Andrew. Together they convey the request. As often happens, Jesus does not address the situation directly; he uses this occasion to reveal a positive change in the way that his followers are to relate to God, one another, and to creation. The passage also prefigures the church’s future mission to the Gentiles.

Jesus says, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” Jesus, of course, is speaking of his personal death and resurrection as the proto-example to his followers. He generalizes; he extends the teaching to us with “whoever hates [loves less] his life.”

This “life” that is to be lost can take different forms. For alcoholics and those addicted to drugs, it means to trade their non-lives of addiction for sobriety, being clean. For us not addicted, the genius that articulated “life” by naming life’s principal components; time, talent and treasure have surely served us well. If we serve ourselves and not serve others with our time, our talent, and our treasure, we fail this challenge of dying to self and bringing life to others.

When couples become parents, they seem to learn this lesson of life very quickly. With a child who is the expression of their love, they unhesitatingly give their time, their talent, and their treasure to their child. Fortunately, it is still “news” when a parent serves oneself, fails miserably, and neglects a newborn.

Serious students and serious new-hires know the wisdom of the denial of self that is required for graduating or holding a job.

Did you notice the difference in Jesus’ attitude in john’s gospel from the synoptic gospels [Matthew, Mark, and Luke] where Jesus prays that the cup of suffering will pass, that he will not have to drink it? Today’s Gospel from john admits that he is troubled, but does not struggle with the agony of suffering. He says, “It was for this purpose that I came to this hour.” This is another example of John viewing Jesus as more divine than human. It is in the Synoptic Gospels we see Jesus as more human than divine.

Jesus’ issue is the urgency of “his hour.” The tone is set by the image of the “grain of wheat.” There is no “cheap grace.” Jesus must die to produce the “fruit” of the community of believers who will be united with him and form what Paul will call “the body of Christ.” Jesus’ prayer is quickly affirmed by his Father.

As we move downhill toward the conclusion of Lent, we need to determine if there is any part of ourselves as grains of wheat that must die to produce the fruit of metanoia, the change of heart/mind that will allow us, as believers, to live Jesus more deeply at our celebration of Resurrection on Easter and our union with our God and our fellow believers both here and hereafter.