thoughts and observations on the daily readings
Monday of the Third Week of Easter Readings may be found here The word “angel” comes from the word for “messenger” or “representative.” In the Old and New Testaments, Angels bear the presence and message of God to human beings. Today, we are told that the young deacon Stephen is brought before a hostile Sanhedrin where he offers testimony and his face is like that “of an angel.” This makes perfect sense when you consider that Stephen in his living and in his testimony has become a messenger for the Lord Jesus. He has received the truth revealed by Jesus in the Gospel of John today – that the work of God is to be in right relationship with the One sent by the Father. Stephen believes. With his deeds, words, and in his martyrdom, he proclaims that Jesus to the world and to us. An Angel indeed!
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Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist Readings may be found here Today we celebrate St. Mark the Evangelist. The Gospel of Mark may be the shortest of the gospel accounts, but it has a genius all its own. Mark proclaimed the Lord to a Christian community experiencing great suffering and the danger of death. In that moment of darkness, Mark did not fall into easy promises. Instead, he offered and unflinching look at the agonies suffered by the Lord Jesus in the passion. In fact, scholars sometimes call his gospel a “Passion account with an introduction.” It may be counterintuitive to offer such harsh good news to people in suffering, but Mark understood the liberating truth that the Lord Jesus is with us in our agonies and that His love for us is powerfully expressed in His free embrace of the cross for our deliverance. The First Letter of Peter today references Mark. And it reminds us of the intentions of the evil one, often called the father of lies. His lie is that we are forgotten in our struggles. He whispers that we are lost, worthless, and alone. The Gospel of Mark unveils the lie and shows forth the truth that we are infinitely valuable. We are loved – loved in sweat and struggle, loved in blood and sacrifice, loved by the One Who walks with us in our struggles. Friday of the Second Week of Easter Readings may be found here Our gospel passage from John offers us an account of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. All four gospels record these accounts in one way or another – indicating how important this miracle was for early. This miracle left such a lasting impression because of its superabundance. Jesus did more than provide unexpected food, he filled their hunger and left twelve baskets full of “fragments” from the bread. That last detail, the “fragments,” points to another reason for the focus of the gospels on this miracle. The term used there is the term that early Christians used in the breaking of the bread that was their Eucharistic participation in the Lord’s paschal mystery. These men and women of faith came to understand Jesus’ miracle as a prophetic indication of the abundance that would flow from the gift of His grace long after and far beyond that original miracle in Galilee. They heard these words as we typically do, gathered to be fed in abundance by the Good Shepherd. While it’s true that we who profess faith in Jesus often fail, the more important and lasting truth is the one revealed by the Saints: when men and women of faith live that grace of Jesus the world is changed and that grace is multiplied in superabundance. That which is of God does not and cannot fail. Look across the ages at how that tiny beleaguered band became a Church from every nation spread across the centuries and the globe. See how the Saints have lived the Lord’s call to communion and compassion. So many things we take for granted today have sprung from a Christian culture of love: human rights, charitable organizations, the need for the strong to assist and protect the vulnerable. All these things did not exist when the Apostles set out across the Roman world. In every generation, the saints reveal the presence, will, and work of the God of love. And the Lord Jesus feeds the Saints with His body, the “fragments” from that superabundance of love that are the gift of the Eucharist. Thursday of the Second Week of Easter Readings may be found here Christians around the world experience intense persecution – sometimes by governments and sometimes resulting from prejudice or mob violence. John Allen documented the extensive nature of the suffering in his book, The Global War on Christians. In North Korea entire families are sent to death camps for the crime of possessing a bible. In Nigeria and Indonesia, mob violence regularly sees christians attacked and churches and schools burned. In China, even in pandemic, the government continues to arrest christians and demolish churches. In Saudi Arabia it is a crime to possess a rosary. The Turkish government routinely forbids christians to repair churches after they have been attacked by mobs. Coptic christians in Egypt are denied access to education, housing, and employment. The list of the way in which Christians face violence, denial of rights, and mistreatment goes on. In countries like the US, we do not see this kind of persecution, but we certainly have felt the rising tide of condemnation and rejection by cultural elites. This is not to say that christians are the only group that suffers injustice. Nor would I deny that there are times and places where christians have done the persecuting. But it is important to acknowledge the very real suffering of our brothers and sisters and to recall that persecution has been a constant in one form or another throughout Christian history. It begins, of course, with the Lord Himself – rejected, reviled, put to death for no other crime than His ministry of compassion and healing. Despite the danger, of which He is very well aware, Jesus consistently and courageously proclaims the truth of His identity. As the Johannine passage puts it today: “He testifies to what He has seen and heard.” The passage from the Acts reminds us that the same persecution provoked by the preaching of the Lord Himself arises in the experience of those who preach in His Name. Today, the Apostles are made to stand before a hostile Sanhedrin. And indeed they do stand up, proclaiming their faith boldly, knowing the risks. These models of courageous testimony challenge us to stand up – to stand up for brothers and sisters enduring terrible suffering, to stand up for the sanctity of all human life, to stand up and witness to our faith in Jesus Christ. Do not fear rejection, do not worry about what others will think or say, do not count the cost, just stand up! Wednesday in the Second Week of Easter Readings may be found here When our culture imagines freedom, it appears to have in mind freedom from restrictions, personal autonomy, and the idea that we somehow create ourselves as we see fit. Sadly, this cultural version is a much reduced version of the freedom for which our hearts truly long. To understand this, we need to recall the link between love and freedom. In marriage, the husband and wife each surrender part of themselves, some of their personal autonomy. But when that marriage is lived authentically as a communion of life, that surrender becomes gain as the two individuals become so much more. In the mathematics of love, 1+1= infinity. And consider when that expanding love participates in God’s life-giving work by the raising of children. Parents, in love, place all kinds of restrictions on their children. But these restrictions in fact enable the freedom of the children as they are able to engage in the world protected and guided. Sometimes we find ourselves needing to care for a loved one in need or illness. Is that service in love feel like a reduction of our freedom or do we render that service with a sense of joy and gratitude that we can help? Today, we hear about the imprisonment and miraculous deliverance of the Apostles. But the truth is that even in prison, they were still free. They knew the freedom of the children of God. Their earthly circumstances could never change the gift given to them by God. As the Gospel of John puts it so succinctly “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son…” In these days of pandemic, the many restrictions on daily life and work are hard to bear. And yet it is good to be reminded of the truth that has already set us free – the truth of God’s loving mercy. We may be limited in movement, but there are no restrictions on our capacity to believe, to hope, to love. Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
Readings may be found here Jesus is Lord! Who among us would disagree? This truth is central to our lives as Christian disciples. I wonder, though, if this truth is so obvious that we sometimes forget the profound consequences of proclaiming it? Look to the readings today and you will see the challenges to our usual ways of thinking and acting as human beings. Remember that the original sin was rooted in the temptation to imagine ourselves the masters of our own fate, little gods as it were. Human beings are drawn to wealth, fame, worldly knowledge, and power over others. All these temptations whisper the lie that we are now secure, that we have life under control. Then we look to the gospels and see that the one Who truly is God, Jesus, does not show any interest in any of these worldly temptations that so mesmerize us. Instead, He gives clear witness to the true power of self-surrendering love. This truth of God, breaking into the world is radical and revolutionary. And it requires a response. To know the truth of Jesus is to see our illusory values turned upside down. Look at how Jesus challenges Nicodemus’s presumption. Nicodemus is a “teacher of Israel,” already decided in his view of the world and his narrow view of how God should offer salvation. Jesus must shake him out of that illusion and He begins to do so today. As Jesus prophesies today, this awakening will take time for Nicodemus as indeed he will only truly grasp the truth of Jesus after He has been lifted up on the cross. Then consider the positive example of the Christian community in Acts. They live the truth that Jesus is Lord as a new kind of selflessness and life in communion grows in their hearts. They understand that faith in Jesus, to call Him Lord, is to demand a new and renewed way of living in imitation of the One Who offered Himself in Love and Trust. And this new way of living is not some new code of required behavior, it is a restoration of these Christians to the image and likeness of the God of Love. You and I are experiencing a moment of terrible crisis. We have so many fears and with those fears comes the perennial temptation to turn in on ourselves, to grasp at the illusion of power or security. The deeper truth is that the moment of fear is precisely the moment for trust and the unselfish gift of self for the sake of others. For Jesus is Lord. Our fate is in His loving hands. And to call Him Lord is to submit ourselves to His Law of Love. Monday of the Second Week of Easter
Readings may be found here How many Facebook posts begin with a Greek work from the New Testament? The Greek word parresia is used in the New Testament (especially the Acts) to describe the quality of early Christian and Apostolic preaching. The word means “openly,” “passionately,” “boldly.” This last word is utilized twice in the translation of our first reading today. We have already seen how the resurrection of Jesus and His gift of the Spirit brings those first disciples alive with passion for their mission. They become eloquent, courageous, and full of fire where before they were frightened, silent, retreating. On one level, the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus in the passage from John brings us back to that hesitancy. Nicodemus comes “at night” and fails to acknowledge Jesus’ true identity – he calls Him only “Rabbi.” And Nicodemus resists Jesus’ invitation to see the deeper truth of God’s sovereign power at work. Nicodemus is still trapped by his own limited vision. Here we see another aspect of the gift of the Spirit and the boldness that overtakes the Apostles after the resurrection. Their encounters with the Risen Lord have given them an entirely new perspective. They now see the depths. The next time you look out at the waves of the ocean, imagine looking beyond the surface and beneath the waves where the hidden tides and currents are the life of the sea. There in the depths lies the truth. That possibility is open to us as well – to see the world anew with those eyes of faith. To see there the awesome depth and truth of Divine love and grace is to be made anew and filled with the desire to share the gift. May the Spirit give us parresia - boldness in our proclamation of the goodness and mercy of God! Friday of the Octave of Easter Readings may be found here Stories are the most powerful means of communication. Think about it, you read or listen to news “stories” every day. Stories can leave us thinking even of fictional characters as friends and companions. If you want to explain yourself to another, what do you do? You tell “your story.” Large parts of the Holy Scriptures are cast as stories. Sometimes they are fictional, think of the parable of the prodigal, but powerful nonetheless. Other times, we hear the stories of real people such as Moses, the prophets, or the disciples of Jesus. And of course, the gospels themselves are narratives – stories. They offer us the Story – the accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the Scriptures make it clear that His Story is in some sense our story. In the passage from John today, we see a kind of layering of stories. In this third appearance of the Risen Jesus to His disciples, Jesus is seated by a charcoal fire – a clear reminder of the last time Peter found himself by a charcoal fire in the courtyard of the High Priest. Now as Peter rushes towards the Lord rather than away, he will find that Jesus will rewrite Peter’s story of denial as a moment of conversion and renewal. Likewise the passage from Acts reveals a similar layering. We saw over the last two days that Peter and John have made the healing work of Jesus their own, restoring the lame man in the “name of Jesus.” Now we see that as was the case for Jesus, this good work provokes a mixed response. These men, like the Lord, will experience rejection and persecution. His Story is now their story. And this truth offers meaning and hope in the midst of struggle. In our struggles, we look to the Story of the One Who offered His life’s blood to set us free. With eyes of faith, we see Him beside us in our moments of despair and pain. And we believe that His triumph is our triumph, His life our life. Let His Story be our story and we will acclaim with the Psalmist: “His mercy endures forever!” Thursday in the Octave of Easter
Readings may be found here Names are very important. To know a person’s name is to grow closer to them. In the book of Exodus, when God reveals the Divine Name to Moses, the Lord links that name, often translated as “I Am Who Am,” to the notion that God is with the people, in relationship with them: “I am the God of your father, he continued, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob…” (v. 6) The Lord goes on to speak of His desire to deliver the people from their suffering. Even the Name itself might be read as “I am with you.” In the Old Testament and Jewish tradition, there is a deep reverence for the Name of God. In fact, the Name itself is never pronounced. Instead, wherever the Name appeared in the text, readers would substitute “Adonai,” or “the Lord” for the Divine Name. (When there was still a Temple, the High Priest uttered the Name in the Holy of Holies on the day of Yom Kippur.) The New Testament is clear in proclaiming that Jesus is more than a holy man or great prophet. He is the Visitation of the Living God. In the gospels and the letters, He is often called “Lord” or “the Lord.” This language reveals the conviction of His exalted status, for this is the language used by Israel to address the Most High God. In the Acts, we heard yesterday how the Apostles preach and heal in “the Name of Jesus” – again an indication of the identity of the Risen One. In the passage from Luke today we hear again of the message to be preached “in His name.” Paul proclaims it as well – “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow…” (Phil. 2:10) Yet even as the New Testament draws on the reverence for the Name of God, there is something changed and new here. For Christian believers do pronounce the Name! By the faithfulness of Jesus, we have been drawn by Him into a new possibility of communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit. We do not fear to pronounce His Name, we shout it from the rooftops. What’s in a Name? Mercy, forgiveness, redemption, everlasting love! Wednesday of the Octave of Easter readings may be found here Today we hear about the miraculous healing of a lame man in the Temple precincts. Peter and John came upon the man who was begging alms. Peter had no money for him, but “in the Name of Jesus Christ,” Peter commanded him to rise and walk. The man, now healed walked and leaped for joy. This scene is important first because it reveals the disciples of the Lord now participating in His work of healing and reconciliation. We should also notice that the miracle itself brings attention to the transformation that has occurred in the Peter and the other disciples. They were “lame” during the events of the Passion and even in the hours and days after the Resurrection. And yet now here they are courageously and openly proclaiming the Name of the Lord Jesus. They too have been healed and empowered. They too now walk in the way of the Lord and leap for joy that He lives. The lengthy gospel passage relates the famous “Road to Emmaus” scene near the end of Luke’s Gospel. The passage is important for many reasons. The fact that these disciples recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread points to the central importance of the Eucharist in the ongoing life of discipleship. And today, I would like to draw our attention to the fact that Jesus appears to them as they are walking “on the road” or “on the way.” In the Gospel of Luke and Acts, “The Way” becomes the way that disciples of Jesus refer to their faith and their community. It is really an Old Testament metaphor as Israel was frequently called upon to walk in the “way of the Lord.” This name for the Christian life emphasizes the truth that faith is a way of living, an active participation and journey with and towards the Lord. As the lame man leaps for joy, I wonder if we might take time today to rejoice that we who were once far off have been brought near by the grace of the Lord; we who once were lame have been healed and lifted up by His compassion and love. Maybe this Easter day is a good day to take a walk along the way and kick up our heals for joy! |
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