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Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter Readings may be found here In these extraordinary times, most of us are spending a good deal of time at home. What used to be a refuge has become a place of confinement. None too many of us might like to run away from home just now. So it may not be the best moment to meditate on what “home” means. On the other hand, maybe there is no better time. Today we read from the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John. In this chapter, Jesus is preparing his disciples for His departure - the coming events of His Passion. His address to them is deeply personal and emotional and follows on the foot washing. He repeatedly reassures them of His care for them and His presence with them always. In this opening passage of chapter 14, he uses the image of His Father’s house and the many “dwelling places” there. He assures them that He goes ahead to prepare a place for them. This passage concludes with the very personal “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Here is the key to understanding the Lord’s meaning – the issue is that He is with them and that they will be with Him. Carpenter though He may be, this is not about building a house, it is about presence and communion where He dwells. Your house might feel somewhat confining just now. You might be impatient and anxious to be “liberated.” But think back to the start of the crisis. You wanted to be with those you love and that love you. Houses become homes because they become that sacred ground for family life. Whatever the challenges of the moment, our hearts always long for communion and a true home is a dwelling place of love. That is the truth that Jesus speaks to our hearts this day – just as he reassured those disciples with their troubled hearts, He reminds us that He is with us and that we will be with Him. How did Elvis put it? “Home is where the heart is, and my heart is anywhere you are…”
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Perga in Pamphylia, Antioch in Pisidia – sometimes you have to feel sorry for the lectors! The Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of Paul are filled with recitation of the name of places and individuals and many of them are unfamiliar tongue twisters for our good lectors.
Challenges of pronunciation aside, I like all these names. They remind me that these events happened to real people in ordinary places. I think sometimes that it is easy to forge this when reading Scripture. The events described happened so long ago, that it may seem like another world. But the fact is that the first proclamation of the faith happened to people just like us in the midst of all the challenges of making a living, getting through illness, educating the kids, and surviving all the large and small challenges of daily living. Those folks heard the testimony of Paul and opened their hearts and their lives to a relationship with Jesus Christ. We remember so many of those places and people because that same faith has been passed, person to person, generation to generation across a vast amount of time and space. They made it possible for you and I to hear that word and open our hearts. In the Italian tradition of the “presepio” the scene of the birth of Christ is depicted in a replica of the town where the family lives – a reminder that Christ is just as present here and now as He ever was in Bethlehem. So today I am hearing about Perga, but I am praying for the believers in Patchogue and Huntington, Massapequa and Smithtown, Oyster Bay and Riverhead, and so many other places on this island of ours where Jesus Christ is risen and where His Word is spoken to our hearts. I pray that all of us receive and pass that life giving relationship to the next generation. Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Readings may be found here The word apocalypse is often misunderstood in popular culture. In the biblical setting, the word means revelation. It is an unveiling of the formerly hidden purposes and/or presence of God. The presumption is that there are some truths that we human beings would not arrive at by our own reason or powers of observation. For example, the prophets revealed the will of God to the people in particular circumstances. And we call the Scriptures themselves revelation because the Holy Spirit inspires the authors for the purpose of revealing God’s presence among us and His will for us. Today, the Gospel of John points to the ultimate Revelation of God’s interior life and that Revelation is the Word Who is Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself cries out “whoever sees Me sees the One Who sent Me!” This powerful truth is difficult for human beings. Just look to Jesus’ ministry to see how this revelation also lays bare the heart and provokes a very mixed response. It is never easy for us to surrender our own limited view of the world and trust in the God of Love. In a moment that feels apocalyptic in the Hollywood sense of the term, it is good to be reminded that even now it is possible with the eyes of faith to see the unveiling of God’s presence and purposes. Like those first disciples we know the grace of Jesus Christ. May our hearts be laid bare, and transformed, by the true Apocalypse - Jesus Christ the Revelation of the Father. Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Readings may be found here One of my favorite words in the New Testament is “koinonia,” which may be translated as partnership, fellowship, or communion. The early Church revealed this reality in its powerful witness of shared life and cooperation. There are certainly individuals who stand out in the story: Peter, Stephen, Barnabas, Paul, and many others. But there is also the truth that these individuals all drew others into the mission with them. Paul is probably the best example as his letters so frequently mention his partners in mission. In a culture where people were divided into camps and suspicious of strangers, these Christians stood out in their capacity to work with and for one another. In the first reading we learn of the rapid effects of early Christian preaching and ministry. Their authenticity was found in the quality of their trust and faith in the Lord Jesus. As the Lord Himself proclaims in the passage today from John: “the Father and I are one.” It is from that Divine communion of love that the life and ministry of the Church flowed. We live in a time when the communion of the Church has been damaged by sins against love and trust. The last two decades have seen suspicion, recrimination, and division. The path to healing runs through the renewal of our relationship with the Lord Jesus. In the life of the early Church and in the lives of the Saints in every generation communion with the Lord always overflows into compassion and love with and for one another. Our shared baptismal call summons us to repentance, faith, and the mission of living and announcing the Good News. I love that word koinonia: it is a beautiful word because it captures both the Divine gift of a new relationship with God by the grace of the Lord Jesus and the effects of that relationship, drawing us into partnership with one another. Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Readings may be found here In the Gospel of John, Jesus promises His disciple the gift of the Holy Spirit, who “will teach you everything and remind you of all that told you.” (John 14:26) In the first reading today we see that teaching and learning taking place in the heart and ministry of St. Peter. The early Church struggled with the question of observance of Jewish ritual laws. Many of the first Christians expected Gentile converts to convert first to the Jewish way of life. Peter appears to have been timid on this matter, at least afraid to provoke opposition even as he was well aware of Jesus’ example of setting aside ritual prescriptions and welcoming Gentiles during His ministry. In Acts 10, Peter has a vision and a visit to the house of the Gentile Cornelius that teaches changes his perspective. He is learning by the power of the Spirit. In our passage, we hear Peter’s newfound conviction as he relates these events and effects a similar change in the hearts of his listeners. In the gospel passage today, Jesus continues to speak of Himself as the Good Shepherd. Notice that He alludes here to others that do not yet “belong to the fold.” He will give His life for them as well. That truth is being taught in Acts to Peter and the whole Church. Learning is about more than information, it is about openness and humility – the willingness to have our own perspectives challenged and changed. Those early Christians give us good example of openness to the power of the Spirit. May we learn the lessons that the Spirit is teaching here and now. Saturday of the Third Week of Easter Readings may be found here Have you been making your bed every day in lockdown? I chuckled when I read those words in the passage from Acts. Peter spoke that command to Aeneas as a demonstration that after eight years, Aeneas was fully healed of his paralysis. I read this and thought sheepishly of my own temptation to slip from daily discipline in the lockdown. On a deeper level, I find the imagery in this passage moving in our context. Here we have a paralyzed man returned to health and even a dead woman brought to life. The disciples in the early Church were doing the work of the Lord Jesus, in His Name and by His Grace. That imagery brings my mind to the images of the folks rising from hospital beds and being celebrated as they return home to family and friends, of nurses and doctors and so many others getting up from their beds and going to work with such courage and effectiveness, of so many others staying on watch and on the job, of others come alive with passion and compassion to help neighbors and the community. The work of the Lord - cherishing, protecting, healing, and raising up life - is on display all around us. This week I asked a pastor who is recovering from Covid 19 about his parish social ministry. Many parishes have struggled to help the hungry as so many of our volunteers are older and vulnerable. He moved me deeply when he told me that their children and grandkids and young neighbors had begun showing up to take on the work of receiving, sorting, preparing, and distributing food to the hungry. I imagine that many of those young people were not much for church before and here they are “rising up” like Tabitha to a new kind of life. At the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus describes His message as “spirit and life.” Peter echoes this truth: Lord to Whom shall we go, You have the words of eternal life!” This Peter, who struggles so much in his life of discipleship has a moment of the deepest insight. He sees in this moment the truth that will lift him up and heal his paralysis. There are so many challenges right now. In particular, we continue to pray for those who are sick and all those around the world facing dire struggles for medical assistance, food, and employment. While it might not be the greatest of challenges, we are also feeling the effects of confinement, isolation, and uncertainty. In the midst of that struggle is the very moment to know the power of the Lord Jesus to raise us up and to remove our paralysis - to bring us to life in ways we may not have expected. So get up, make your bed, and live in the light and freedom of the children of God! Friday of the Third Week of Easter St. Joseph the Worker readings may be found here On May 1st, communist regimes celebrate “May Day.” There are likely to be any parades this year, but I always feel a sense of sadness at communist celebrations of workers. It is such a cruel joke to claim that workers experience justice in such countries where they really become servants to the communist party and the elites that control the party. If any of those workers have the temerity to question their rulers, they will learn the truth of those regimes in a prison camp or worse. The sad toll of suffering, oppression, and mass murder continues even today. On May 1st, Catholics celebrate St. Joseph the Worker. We celebrate the dignity of work, of workers, and of every human person – a dignity given freely by God and not defined by ideology or state power. In the example of humble Joseph and in the readings today we learn a fundamental lesson about the Christian life and about what it means to be human. Ideologies and totalitarian regimes exercise the will to power – they dominate, control, and exploit. God’s power, the power of Love, serves the good of the other, recognizing that dignity and freedom that belongs to every person. In the Bread of Life discourse here in the Gospel of John we see the truth of God’s way of love revealed in Jesus. He Who is truly powerful gives Himself as Bread for the world. He teaches us that we become ourselves when we forget ourselves, we possess ourselves when we give ourselves away. This same truth emerges in the account of Paul’s conversion. When Paul sets out for Damascus, he is a violent ideologue determined to use coercive violence against those he sees as enemies. After his conversion, Paul remains a passionate man, but now he is a man who serves others and seeks to convince by words rather than force. And St. Joseph, in his humble and faithful care of Mary and Jesus offers an example of a man who has given himself for others. On this May 1st, I invite us to pray for those who suffer oppression by totalitarian governments, to pray that the unemployed find work, to pray that men and women of good will recognize the dignity of workers and seek just wages and safe working conditions, to pray for all those who work in this crisis at personal risk for the sake of others, and to pray that all of us may live this truth of compassion and love for one another: the gift of self. Thursday of the Third Week of Easter readings may be found here In the system of Temple sacrifices in Jesus’s day, there were offerings of grain, animals, and money. All these offerings were symbolic in that they represented the piety, atonement, or prayer of the person or persons making the sacrifice. The most important sacrifice of the year was that of the lambs for the feat of Passover. That sacrifice differed in that the lambs were sacrificed in the Temple, but they were not burned on the altar. They were distributed to the people to consume in their Passover observances. The Gospel of John draws a parallel between Jesus, the “Lamb of God,” and this sacrifice and observance of Passover. Jesus does not offer a symbolic, external, offering. Rather He offers His own Body and Blood. He is the offering. And this Lamb is given to the faithful so that they may participate in His offering and receive His life within them. And so Jesus can say as He does today in this passage: “I am the living bread…” and “I will give my flesh for the life of the world.” We also hear today of Philip’s baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch. Here we have another allusion to Jesus as the Lamb, but here in the context of the call to baptism. We witness again the rapid and almost miraculous spread of the faith in Jerusalem and beyond even as the authorities try to suppress it. I wonder if these readings might inspire us to reflect upon the nature of our own baptism. To be baptized into Christ Jesus is more than “joining” a group or accepting a set of beliefs and practices. It is the entrusting of our whole selves, all that we are and will become, to the Lord. St. Ignatius of Antioch, on his way to be martyred offered powerful testimony to this truth and its link to our participation in the Eucharist: “I am the wheat of God and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ.” Like that great Saint and every disciple baptized into Christ, you and I are called to be a living offering.” Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church Readings may be found here In ancient Israel, the strong family culture required that family members assist each other in times of war, famine, or other calamities. If a member of the family should be taken prisoner or enslaved, it was the duty of the other family members to “redeem” that person – to pay the ransom or buy the person out of slavery. The prophets took this family role and pointed to the Lord’s similar role in the family of Israel – the Redeemer of Israel from slavery in Egypt. The prophets went on to proclaim the Lord’s particular role as Redeemer in the lives of the most vulnerable – those who did not have family members to assist them – the widow, the orphan, the poor, the stranger. This truth of God’s desire to redeem us from sin and death lies at the heart of the Good News. We apply the language of redemption to the work of Jesus Christ and He points out this sacred purpose today in the passage from John, part of the Bread of Life discourse. The passage from Acts offers a different aspect of the redemption made possible in the Christ event – the Divine grace that draws life from death, goodness from moments of evil. We have a picture here of a suffering Church. And at the same time we see how their trusting faith participates in God’s power to redeem – the moment of suffering and death becomes a moment of new life as the faith spreads ever further and more rapidly beyond Judea. The Saint of the Day, Catherine of Siena offers similar testimony with her life and work. She lived in tragic time of plague, division, and conflict. As a woman there were many constraints placed upon her in Medieval society. And yet this woman, entirely devoted to God from childhood became peace-making diplomat, intercessor for the condemned and persecuted, influential author, and a voice of conscience and truth to confront the powers of her time. The Holy Scriptures and our Saint today teach us a critical truth: that when God is present and men and women of good will respond with willing hearts - even the most difficult circumstances will see an outpouring of goodness, blessing, and new life. Love redeems. Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter Readings may be found here More than once, I have been told by someone that they just cannot forgive some offense done to them. And I will admit that I often struggle to forgive. Even when we tell people that we have forgiven them, forgetting the matter can be a whole lot more difficult – especially if the words or actions involved the betrayal of trust. Is it not amazing then that the Lord Jesus forgives so readily and so entirely. He was free of sin, He never did any harm to anyone. If anyone has ever had the right to judge and condemn, it is the Son of God. And indeed His trust was betrayed. He was rejected, reviled, tormented, and killed. This Innocent One might have condemned with all justification, He might have railed against a sinful lost humanity, bewailed His fate, cursed us for all eternity. Instead He prayed “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Instead He offered Himself on the cross for His betrayers and tormenters. Today, we see this amazing grace at work in the death of Stephen. This young deacon does not fear to speak the truth to the angry crowd, but when their anger turns to unjust and deadly violence Stephen prays for them in imitation of the One Who fills his heart with faith and love. Stephen prays for his persecutors as a man free of hatred and resentment. Stephen knew what Jesus proclaims today in the passage from John – that He is with His disciples still, feeding them, encouraging them, strengthening them. The next time we tell ourselves that we cannot forgive, that we prefer the acid of our anger, may we remember the truth that in fact this Lord Jesus offers us the grace to forgive. If we wear the chains of resentment, we wear them by our own choice. He would liberate us to forgive, to forget, and to love again. |
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