Repay to God what belongs to God

In the Gospel According to Mark, Jesus encountered Pharisees and Herodians who attempted to ensnare Him with a question about money.  “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”  If Jesus had said, “No,” then He would be guilty of treason.  If He said, “Yes,” then He’d be looked upon as a collaborator with the occupation forces, one who wouldn’t stand up for God and God’s people.  Jesus changed the focus of the discussion.  Asking for a coin, He said, “Whose image and inscription is this?” “Caesar’s,” they answered.  Jesus responded, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” (Mark 12:13-17)

The image of Caesar belongs to Caesar.  The image of God belongs to God.  What has God’s image on it?  Every one of us!  We’ve been made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26)!  Jesus pointed out that we must pay the rightful owner whatever belongs to them.   Then pay that back to God, Jesus says.

You know, if I had the opportunity to ask Jesus a question, I would hope it wouldn’t be a trick question.  The Pharisees missed an incredible opportunity.  Instead of asking Christ a meaningful question, they tried to trick him.  They weren’t sincere—it had become a contest, and they wanted to win.

I once watched a debate between two men about the existence of God.  Both were highly intelligent and seemed very sincere.  However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that the debate wasn’t about God.  It wasn’t about finding the truth.  It was about establishing who was the smarter of the two - who could win the debate.  It seemed so fruitless.

If we had the opportunity to talk to someone about God, why would we want to turn it into a contest?  Why not attempt to find the truth, to try to make the other person’s life better?  Knowing Jesus doesn’t make us better than them.  Knowing Jesus just makes our life better.

It’s so easy for our focus to move from Christ to the world.  If the focus is on the world, we’ll be worried about winning.  If the focus is on the world, even if we win, we’ll only receive what the world has to offer.

I can think of no greater gift than to introduce someone to Christ.  And yet sometimes we approach non-believers like we’re entering some kind of contest.  Can we trick someone into a relationship with Christ?  If my goal is to simply win the debate game, will my opponent see Christ in me?

I watched some YouTube videos recently that were about the Special Olympics.  To be honest, sometimes it was painful to watch.  Young men and women with physical and mental disabilities were struggling down the track.  And yet the expression of joy on their faces was unmistakable.  They loved the race.  It was so pure and clean.  No one-upmanship.  No thinking they were better than everyone else.  Just joy.

This is the way it should be.  As the body of Christ, this is how we should be.  When we tell someone we’re Christian, what’s the image that comes to their mind?  Someone who’s legalistic and judgmental?  A Pharisee out to trick them?  Someone who looks down on him/her?  Someone who cares only about winning or someone who is loving and compassionate?  When we meet someone who doesn’t believe, how do we view them - as ignorant, a problem, a burden?  Or as another child of God who is searching, just like us.  Or as an opportunity to serve?  

When a non-believer has harsh words for us, we face a choice.  If we respond in kind, we have to realize that our harsh words can cause temporary pain but may also have eternal consequences.  When we meet a non-believer, we really should ask, “What would Jesus do?” 

Magnificat

During the month of May we give thanks to Mary and all of her blessings upon us.  On this final day of May we wrap up a month during which we celebrated in thanksgiving for our mothers on Mother’s Day, marked new beginnings with graduation ceremonies and welcome the season of summer. 

What a gift today to take time to pray with the story from Luke of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth when they were both expecting their sons, Jesus and John.  

Today I am overwhelmed by Mary’s amazing witness to God’s love.  She tells Elizabeth:  “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.  My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.”   She goes on to tell Elizabeth:  “He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty.”

I am struck by the calm confidence Mary has in God’s steadfast love.  She took enormous risk to accept the invitation of that love, but she trusted.  I hear Mary calling me to be open and available to God’s love of me.  I too am God’s lowly servant who is hungry for the goodness of the Lord.  Mary wants me to celebrate the gift of God’s love with her rather than passively praying about her life.  She assures me God loves me as he loves her.

Now I feel inspired by Mary to bear witness to God’s love.  This inspiration brings more questions than answers:  How can I be aware of the signs of God’s presence within me?  How can I be more present to others modeling the way Mary was so present to her cousin Elizabeth?  In the hectic pace of life, how can I slow down so I can make the best choices with the gifts I have been given by God?  Where do I need to be brave and be more explicit about my faith?  How can I bring that faith to action for the greater glory of God?

It’s a mystery

 

We can best reflect on the Holy Trinity not by thinking about or arguing about concepts about how the Trinity works, but by opening our hearts to a deeper relationship with our God, who is love.  We can have a relationship with each of the Persons in the Trinity.

Certainly the God who made us can fill us with grateful love.  All of creation can give glory to God for the wonders which surround us.  As we reflect on the gift of life itself, we may be tempted to feel overwhelmed with life's struggles.  Today we can celebrate a merciful and faithful Father who never forgets that we are His gift of life for the world and for all eternity.  Today is a great day to speak to our Father and Creator and to give thanks and praise.  A step beyond acknowledging the relationship and giving thanks is to rest in and enjoy our Father's embrace.  There can be nothing more consoling and healing, however we want to imagine it and relish in it.  This embrace allows us to surrender our doubts and fears, our small-scoped wants and needs, even our wounds, our judgments and our angers.

Jesus is God's love who has become one with us in our journey in the flesh on this earth.  We can unpack and enjoy that today.  We simply aren’t able to say that God doesn't understand what it is to be human.  Being human is one of the ways God is for us and with us.  And, today we can celebrate the life, death and resurrection gift that Jesus continues to be for us. We can let ourselves long to know Him better, to fall in love with our brother and savior.  And we can ask Him for the grace to be like Him in laying down our lives for others.  Being with Him will draw us into being more deeply in love with His way of loving those most in need and it will certainly offer us the deepening desire and freedom to love the same way.

Jesus promised that He would not leave us orphans (John 14:18).  The Father and the Son sent us the Holy Spirit to gather us in this Trinity of love.  We all know that we can orphan ourselves, by clinging to independence and the illusion of "freedom" and identifying ourselves with what we accomplish and what we possess.  The spirit which is evil loves to divide and scatter us.  But the Holy Spirit offers gifts to heal our wounds and bring us a peace the world's attractions can't give.  Today we can celebrate the work of the Spirit within us and among us.  Sometimes, it’s a small movement, a simple awareness, a conviction which troubles us, or an inner peace we can count on.  We can let the Spirit speak the words, the feelings, the deep desires we can't get out and express.  We can let the Spirit help us discern small and great choices we make each day - the choices identified by mercy and reconciliation, care for those on the margins, and a deep peace which acknowledges that God is the Father of us all and that Jesus is Lord.  We can let the Spirit transform us from mediocrity to being on fire, allowing our hearts to be part of the Spirit's work of renewing the face of the earth.

Today can be a day of celebration, of intimate conversation with our three-personed God, who is love.  It can be a day of gifts which bring us closer to our origin, our salvation and our life together in community for others.

Obstinacy

 

The day after Jesus had been in the Temple and drove the money changers out telling them, “Is it not written: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples’? But you have made it a den of thieves.”, the religious leaders of the day were outraged, and they immediately began to discuss how they could put Jesus to death (Mark 11:11-26).  They approached Jesus in the Temple area and asked Him by what authority He did the things He did (Mark 11:27-33).

Consider, first, the tension in the air. They literally were plotting to put Jesus, the Son of God, to death. They were filled with hatred and jealousy and refused to believe in Him.  Jesus saw their hardness of heart and put them on the spot to first answer His question before He would answer theirs.  

“I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?  Answer me.” Mark 11:29–30

The question Jesus asked them was actually an act of great mercy on His part.  He gave them an opportunity to repent.  If they had only answered His question with humble faith and honesty, they could have saved their lives.  Instead, they discussed among themselves His question and gave the politically correct answer.  If they had said John’s baptism was of human origin, and not from God, they were afraid that the people would turn on them.  So they simply said, “We do not know.”  But imagine if they would have given the right answer.  What if they had discussed it among themselves and concluded that John’s baptism truly was from God and that they should have believed in him?  If they would have only humbled themselves, admitted that they had gravely erred in regard to John, then Jesus would have answered their question, and their life of true faith could have begun.  But they didn’t.  They remained obstinate. They couldn’t admit they were wrong.

I can’t help but compare the religious leaders of this gospel to our current politicians in government today.  Even some of the most obvious and compassionate solutions to many of our modern-day crises are not even rationally discussed, much less acted upon, because of the obstinacy of one political party or the other.   Or maybe it’s cowardice.  I don’t know the hearts of anyone else as Jesus does, so I’ll leave that judgement up to Him.

Obstinacy is among the most dangerous of sins.  It’s a sin that can’t be forgiven, because, in essence, it’s a refusal to change.  And when a person refuses to admit their sin, and refuses to change, then God can’t help them.  They remain lost in their sin and suffer the consequences. 

Today is a good day to reflect on our own obstinacy.  Are there matters of faith that I refuse to believe?  Are there broken relationships that I refuse to humbly restore?  Do I justify my sin and refuse to admit my guilt and need to change?  Humility, in many ways, is nothing other than being completely honest with yourself and others before God.  Don’t follow the example of these religious leaders.  The better course is to humbly seek to remove all obstinacy from our heart so that Our Lord can enter in and bring His mercy into our life.

Was Jesus 'hangry'?

 

About this time last year, I was craving some hot wings.  My favorite go-to restaurant was “The Graduate”, a pizza parlor-type establishment that my wife and I had been frequenting for take-out orders since it opened in the early 70’s.  Because of the pandemic, The Graduate had closed temporarily.  So the minute I heard that they had opened back up for take-out, I was on the phone ordering my wings!  Or so I thought.  They informed me that they would be serving their full menu with only one exception—wings!  I was not just disappointed—I was ticked off!  The term for that is “hangry”. 

I love those unique and interesting stories in the New Testament that show Jesus’ human nature in ways I relate to, like the one in Mark’s gospel (Mark 11:11-26), where He is hungry, can’t get anything to eat, and then He drives the moneychangers out of the temple in righteous anger; talk about “hangry”!  Of course, I say that tongue-in-cheek.  The two incidents were both 'teaching moments' for the Apostles, but I appreciate that the passage at least shows that Jesus got both hungry and angry, just like all of us!

The next day as they were leaving Bethany he (Jesus) was hungry.  Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it.  When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs.  And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!” And his disciples heard it. (Mark 11:12–14)

As a man, He was hungry. But this story tells us much more than the simple fact that Jesus was hungry. He would have known that it wasn’t the season for figs to grow, but He decided to look for a fig anyway. And when He found none, He cursed the fig tree and later, the tree withered and died.  This was a symbolic action for the sake of His disciples, in that His disciples heard Him curse the tree and later saw that the tree had withered.

Saint Bede, an early Church Father, tells us that this action of Jesus had an allegorical purpose.  The tree is symbolic of the many people Jesus encountered, and continues to encounter today, who failed to bear good fruit in their lives.  They were the Pharisees and others who practiced their faith only in an external way.  The leaves were symbolic of the externals of the faith, and the lack of fruit was a symbol of the missing interior fruit of holiness and good works.  This lesson tells us that Jesus is very demanding. He’s determined to discover good fruit in our lives. He wants us to become authentically holy.  And when He finds only the externals, He’ll rebuke us in love, taking even the externals away.

Being a Christian is not something that’s exclusively between us and God.  Being a Christian requires that we be so given over to the service of God and others that God is able to do incredible things through us.  The Christian faith must produce good fruit in our life and through us in the lives of others.  And it must do so in an abundant way.

If we commit ourselves to an abundance of authentic and manifest holiness, our Lord’s hunger will be satiated.

Finding the easy way

 

One of the greatest strengths my former boss had was his ability to simplify solutions to what most of the rest of us thought were insurmountable problems.  He would say, “I’m the laziest one here, so if there’s an easy way to get the job done, I’ll find it.”  And he usually did.  I was reminded of his adage as I reflected on a passage in Mark’s gospel (Mark 10:46-52).

Bartimaeus found the easy way.  The blind man said, “Master, I want to see.”  and Jesus told him to go his way, that his faith had saved him.  This opened the blind man’s eyes, and he was able to see.  For us, as we search our faith to find answers to help us find what we need, that make us search for God’s truth, then that truth is always easy to find.  Master, I want to find peace; Master, I want the hurting to stop, Master, I don’t want to be alone.  He’s always ready to give us the authority, the freedom, the ability to find what we need when we need it.

Don’t stop searching – don’t stop asking.  Our Lord always provides what we need.  If we’re hurting, maybe we need to learn from that pain.  If we’re lonely, maybe there’s something in that loneliness that will open our eyes to what really needs to be seen.

As I reflect, I think the ‘easy way’ is prayer.  Prayer isn’t always easy in and of itself, in my experience. But Bartimaeus sets for us a wonderful example of how we should pray to our Lord.  First of all, he was in a state of need.  His blindness symbolizes every weakness and need we have in life.  What is it that we struggle with the most in life?  What is our greatest habitual sin?  Or what causes us the most grief?

Seeing our weakness is the first step.  Once we’re aware of our greatest needs, we must also “cry out” to our Lord just as Bartimaeus did.  Upon hearing that it was Jesus, Bartimaeus somehow sensed within his soul that Jesus wanted to cure him.  How did he sense this?  He listened to the voice of God within; he heard the commotion of many speaking about Jesus as He walked by.  But this alone couldn’t have compelled him to cry out and to know that Jesus was the source of the mercy he needed.  That which compelled him was the clear voice of God, a prompting from the Holy Spirit, within his soul, revealing to him that he needed Jesus and that Jesus wanted to cure him.

At first, those around him rebuked Bartimaeus and told him to be quiet.  And if Bartimaeus would have been weak in faith, he may have listened to the crowd and, in despair, remained silent.  But it’s quite clear that he not only ignored the rebukes of others he “kept calling out all the more.”

Bartimaeus gives us a double witness of how we must turn to our Lord.  First, we must sense His gentle but clear presence within our soul.  We must recognize His voice and His promptings of grace.  He wants to heal us, and His presence in our lives must be sensed within.  Secondly, we must become intensely fixed upon that voice within.  The crowds who rebuked Bartimaeus are symbolic of the many “voices” and temptations we experience in life that try to keep us from faithfully and fervently crying out to the God who speaks to us.  Nothing should deter us from our wholehearted determination to call to Jesus with our need.

And if it’s peace that we long for, then search no more.  His peace and His grace are enough.

Signs and wonders

 

I reflected on two Scripture readings today that provided me with good “material” to write about.  The bickering disciples depicted in Mark’s gospel usually get my attention (Mark 10:32-45).  Maybe because those guys remind me of growing up with 4 brothers.  But not today.

There’s a single line from the Book of Sirach (Sirach 36:1-17) that took my attention away from those childhood memories when I read it: “Give new signs and work new wonders.” (Sirach 36:6)

My tendency in prayer has grown over the years from disjointed and sporadic to somewhat active.  I engage my imagination and play out gospel scenes.  I’m not really good or practiced in quiet meditation.  But these seven words I read today drew me in, almost like a mantra.

Breathe in: “Give new signs.”

Breathe out: “Work new wonders.”

A mantra is a word or phrase repeated over and again to aid concentration in meditation.  It’s common in eastern religions and the growing popularity of meditation to help quiet the mind and experience the Divine.  Its intention is to step back from all the distractions around us and focus on simple, repetitive words and slow, measured breathing. 

Breathe in: “Give new signs.”

Breathe out: “Work new wonders.”

With all that has happened in the past fifteen months or so, I experience a growing need to find some quiet to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd.  The rancor, incivility, rudeness, and disrespect in word and action in these stressful times lead me to plead with God: “Give new signs and work new wonders.” And if I can find that quiet, I trust God will reveal all the wonderful signs and wonders that are indeed around me.  I’m just too often distracted to see them.  And so, I’ll throw this mantra into the mix today.

Breathe in: “Give new signs.”

Breathe out: “Work new wonders.”

Give up everything, Lord?

 

The kingdom of heaven is a great challenge for those with much in this world.  Seeking things of value in this world is clearly a distraction to our Lord and His saving grace. Personally, I find little difficulty in assigning the value of faith to be greater than the things of this world when the things of this world are things, but when the things of this world are family, I am truly challenged.  I don’t find it difficult to place my faith over things like a large house, a nice car or even basic cable, but I’m not so spiritually free as to put God before family.  I recognize the commitment of true faith means making the Lord and his service the single central focus of my being.  I confess that I’m not ready to go that far.  My reflections actually take me in a different direction.  I find that I grow in my understanding of my faith through analogies to familial love.  I find it more central to my being to have the experience of a worldly loving father and even the challenges presented by child, than to have the transcendent experience.  I have felt the glow given by a loving God, but I admit my weakness and continue to hold my ultimate emotional investment in people in this world.  I know some who have interpreted this passage in a sense more along the lines I would like to hear, but really have concluded that faith asks us to truly make the Lord and His offer of salvation our ultimate end.  I recognize this doesn’t mean giving up those I love, but only establishing a new set of priorities.  I find myself in the role of the man who Jesus asked to sell his possessions and follow Him (Luke 18:18-23, Matthew 19:16-22, Mark 10:17-22).  The man walked away sad because he was wealthy in the things of this world.  I don’t find myself walking away, but I find myself sad in my faith prospects because of the ultimate priority which I assign to my worldly family.

Love is, among other things, a union of two individuals in such a manner that the two actually do become one (or at least move steadily in that direction.)  One of the aspects of living such love out is that each of the lovers must empty himself or herself and surrender completely to the other, or else the other can never fill them.  This cycle of exchange turns "mine" and “yours” and "me" and "you" into "ours" and "us."

God began His love for us with His eager calling us forth from nothingness, by His great desire to gift us with His very selfhood, and then continued by emptying Himself of His Son and even the Spirit whom the Son lavishes on us.  God has surrendered Himself to us utterly, in a way and to an extent that it’s hard for even faith to grasp or accept.

As for our part in this exchange, Jesus calls us in the Gospel (Mark 10:28-31) to abandon our limited and earthly ties in our attempt to turn absolutely everything over to the Father, even things that are incredibly good, but because of the nature of God's love for us we receive father, mother, and all the rest back at least a hundredfold.  Then we no longer merely hold what we possess as individuals, but we constantly receive them anew in our exchange of love with God and hold all as brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, in common.  This open-ended possession will be fully evident only in the fullness of the Kingdom, but for now we can at least glimpse a hint of this love and begin to live it in freedom.

Our Mother in Heaven

 

Speaking from my own experience as a less-than-perfect son, I think it’s safe to say that many children take their mothers for granted, not fully understanding the depth of their love until they’re no longer present to us.  So it is with our Mother in Heaven.  We’ll never fully comprehend her love and her constant motherly workings in our life until we join her in Heaven face to face.

Today the Catholic Church celebrates one of the most beautiful honors ascribed to Mary— “Mother of the Church.”  This title goes back at least to St. Ambrose in the fourth century, and it’s been cited many times by various popes and councils over the years.  In 2018, Pope Francis made it a universal feast of the Church’s liturgical calendar, to be celebrated the Monday after Pentecost.

 The Scripture readings for this feast day explain the meaning of this title for Mary.  One of the readings, from Genesis, recalls Eve and names her “the mother of all the living.” (Genesis 3:9-20).  Another choice is from the Acts of the Apostles and recalls the Pentecost event we just celebrated but focuses on the fact that among the disciples present for this great event was “Mary, the mother of Jesus.”  (Acts 1:12-14).  Finally, the gospel selection is from John’s account of the last action of Jesus on the cross where He entrusts His mother to the care of the Beloved Disciple and, in turn, declares to this disciple “whom Jesus loved” that Mary was now his mother (John 19:25-34).

All these readings are richly symbolic and affirm powerful things about Mary within Catholic tradition.  Commentators have long suggested that Mary is like a “new Eve” because she has brought Jesus into the world.  Her giving birth to Christ has earned her another astounding title, that of “theotokos,” a Greek word literally meaning, “God bearer” or “Mother of God.”  This title was affirmed of Mary at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD and is the most fundamental and profound title given to her.  This reflects the Church’s faith in the incarnation—the basic conviction of Christian faith that in Jesus, the divine became truly human—giving humanity and all the created world incredible new life and dignity.

In this way, Mary, through whom the divine entered our world, is truly a “new Eve”—the “mother of all the living.”  And as that ultimate mother she’s present at key life-giving moments marked by our faith: the total act of love for us expressed in Jesus’ laying down his life for us on the cross, and the dynamic burst of new life brought by the Spirit at Pentecost that would create a world-wide community of faith.

This feast not only honors Mary for her unique and beautiful role as “Mother of all the living” and Mother of the Church”—it also celebrates our dignity as daughters and sons of God.  All these festivals from Christmas to Good Friday to Easter to Ascension to Pentecost remind us of God’s tender and astounding mercy toward us.

Transmitting the faith through Truth

 

“We are not gathered here to argue the truths of faith, they have been passed down from generation to generation. We are here to figure out how we can transmit the faith to tomorrow’s men and women in such a way that will penetrate their consciences and thereby move consciences to live by faith!" (Pope St. John XXIII as he opened the Second Vatican Council in 1962)

There are so many remarkable things that Luke gives us in his account of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11).  There’s that “noise like a strong driving wind” that drew a crowd to where the apostles were.  Then there was the appearance of “tongues as of fire” that descended on each of the apostles.  And there’s just the fact that these apostles, who not long before this, locked themselves in an upper room out of fear, are now going out, boldly proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to anyone who was listening!

But what should strike us more than anything, I guess because of the times in which we’re living, is that when the apostles came out and spoke to the crowd, everyone in the crowd could understand them, even though they came from different parts of the world and spoke different languages.  Maybe you could say it was a miracle of communication, even without Google Translate and Zoom and Skype, and all the rest.

We believe that at our baptism we, too, received the Holy Spirit, which was confirmed at our confirmation.  And so, we, too, are called to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Our challenge is to proclaim the Gospel in such a way, following John XXIII, that people can understand.

But in order to speak in a way that makes sense to people, we need to listen to them.  In our politics, and in our ongoing “culture wars,” there doesn’t seem to be much value placed on listening to the “other.”  The only way most people get their ‘news’ these days is through “opinion journalism”, which has become neither “fair” nor “balanced”, with little room for dissention.  But how can we truly communicate unless we’re willing to listen as well as speak, and to be impacted by what we hear?

In the Gospel (John 15:26-27, 16:12-15), Jesus says to His disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” It’s been my experience that the more I listen to those whose experience and background and culture are different from mine, that I gain in understanding and knowledge of the truth.

And so I wonder, at this time in our history, that, as the Holy Spirit is moving us to be witnesses to the love of God in Jesus Christ, that we’re also being called to listen and to serve, so that our testimony may be better understood and accepted.

May we be found, in the words of those listening to the apostles, speaking of “the mighty acts of God.”

Absolute Trust

 

In the gospels and in the earlier part of the Acts of the Apostles, Peter never seems to be separated from John; they make a somewhat strange pair, but all the texts witness their friendship.  It’s easy to understand Peter's concern for his friend in the final verses of the Gospel of John, but Jesus asks Peter to enter even more deeply into this friendship (John 21:20-25).

What unites the two of them, Peter and John, is their love for Christ, and Christ underlines that what’s most important is that each of them (Peter, in this case) concentrates on following Christ more than on what are, at root, merely earthly concerns, even including some aspects of that friendship.

This simple teaching has a direct bearing on how we live our own lives.  Consider how a parent loves a child, and loves all his or her children, and wishes only the absolute best for each one whether the child sees what a parent asks as an act of love or not.  The child must learn to trust absolutely, even when it seems to go against the grain.

In much the same way, there are times when our love of Christ must take precedence over our earthly loves, trusting that Christ can not only heal what seems to be a breach in our friendships but can actually bring about a much greater union because of our trust in Him.

We must trust Jesus (and His Father and the Spirit) in every and all circumstances, and even do so joyfully in our hope, believing that what seems to be disaster and certainly feels like pain is only our coming to birth in a new way.   If we’re going to follow Jesus to His Father's house, the Way leads through the cross and a death to our human life and values.

“The just will gaze on your face” (Psalm 11:4-7) reminds us that justice will prevail.  We’re reminded that God lives within us and among us, as God is found in all of mankind.  We’re reminded to love what God has given us, knowing that God is guiding us on our journeys.

Do you love me?

 

There is a portion of Acts that speaks of Paul in prison and the Romans’ reticence to convict him.  They didn’t want to get involved in religious beliefs.  Paul’s crime was that he was a “Jesus person” and he was preaching that “Jesus is alive” (Acts 35: 13-21).

As a Christian, I know that Jesus was resurrected, ascended to heaven and is alive today.  Jesus is alive in all Christians, by virtue of our Baptisms.  How others know that God is alive in us today is in how we live our lives.

God’s freedom, a gift to each of us, is our choice of how we live, what beliefs and values we behave from as well as voice.  Like Peter who responded to Jesus’ question, “do you love me?” each of us responds to that question each day in our living and loving (John 21:15-19).

“Feed my lambs…feed my sheep” is meant for us.  Jesus is telling us that we’re to nourish one another and welcome nourishment ourselves.  We can share our FAITH: “Who is God for me now?  How am I loving God now?  Where do I find God in my life today?”  We can share our LOVE, i.e. with family or friends who need Presence rather than judgment in their painful times.  We can allow others into our grief and loss times.

The lambs among us, who might they be?  Lambs are led to slaughter.  Bono (lead singer of U2 and a philanthropist of late), a few years back, said it wisely: “God is with the poor”.  The poor are figuratively slaughtered daily as the world community pays little attention to their plight.  They’re ravaged by poverty, by disease, by oppression.  We worldly peoples seem to pay more attention to war and winning political points than to health care and disaster relief.  The voices of and for the lambs speak of involvement rather than apathy and denial.

God loves us through and through.  God knows when we have “Paul moments”: Jesus is alive!  God knows when we have “Peter moments” and deny Jesus’ Presence in us and others.  God loves us in all of our moments.

To quote Psalm 103:8-11:

Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger, abounding in mercy.

He will not always accuse, and nurses no lasting anger;

He has not dealt with us as our sins merit, nor requited us as our wrongs deserve.

For as the heavens tower over the earth, so his mercy towers over those who fear him.

Choose to love. Choose a life through God, with God, and in God.

Unity?

 

“. . . that they all may be one, as you, Father, and I are one . . . so that the world may believe. . .”

These seem to be among the saddest words in the Bible (John 17:20-26).  Sad, because we’ve failed this prayer of Jesus’ so miserably, so consistently, right from day one.  Today we live with a fractured, fragmented Christianity – East and West, Protestant and Catholic, with hundreds of splinter groups within the major divisions.  How can the world believe – what is the world to believe – if the witness we give of Jesus is divided and divisive?

Even if we personally didn’t cause the splits, we have to be concerned about them.  We have to take responsibility for doing something about them.  We fail Jesus’ post-resurrection command to preach the good news to every creature (Mark 16:15) if our divisions give the lie to what we preach (if, that is, we even preach it . . .).  Somehow, we find enough fervor to be concerned about global warming, the ecology, rain forests, and threatened species.  Why can’t we seem to muster an at least equivalent concern for this challenge, surely no less important than the others?  The world desperately needs to hear the good news, but so long as we pigheadedly stick to our divisions, we make it impossible for the world to hear Jesus’ message.  Religion is seen as divisive and therefore irrelevant.

It’s not a matter of who’s right and who’s wrong.  So long as we disobey Jesus’ fervent plea at the Last Supper, we are all of us wrong.  We have to realize that it’s possible to have unity without uniformity. We have to make room for differences and for different perspectives; but above all, we have to be together.

There is an interesting, possibly instructive parallel in a story from Acts (Acts 6:1–12).  It’s the dispute about whether the widows of the Greek-speaking Jews were getting their share of the common resources, particularly food.  The dispute wasn’t really about food, but about viewpoints, about culture, about who was a good Jew and who wasn’t.  You can just hear the two sides as they approach Peter “Tell them that . . .” “Make them do . . .”  Luke doesn’t tell us that Peter sided with one faction or the other, didn’t say one or the other was wrong.  What Acts does tell us is that Peter set up a system so that both sides could continue to coexist.  That surely is a powerful illustration of what the Petrine office ought to be and to do.

It is we Christians who have to manifest to the world the unity of Jesus and His Father.  And we must beseech heaven to help us do that.  God wants to help, that’s clear.  We have to want to, as well. There’s the problem . . .

Consecrated in Truth

 

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are filled with examples of the God of Truth and our ancestors trying to lie out of difficult situations, from Adam and Eve falling victim to the serpent’s lies (Genesis 3) to the first killing of a brother (Genesis 4:1-13).  Personal and community covenants were founded and validated upon the promise of Truth and Fidelity to the Truth.  Throughout our Salvation History, time and time again, God and then His Son, Jesus, warned us about false gods, false witnesses, false prophets, false leaders, false testimonies, false apostles who call themselves Christian, to name a few.  Exodus 20 lists two of the ten commandments that forbids false gods and false witness.  A reading in Acts warns against “savage wolves will come among you and not spare the flock.” (Acts 20:29).  Jesus, in John’s Gospel, prays that we be consecrated in the Truth and in God’s Word. (John 17:17).

We’re called to live a life of integrity, authenticity, honesty, and truth.  Even as children, we were tempted to be dishonest, to lie to prevent punishment or to blame others or to deceive another willfully.  Many of us will get accustomed to lie in order to save face, to justify what we believe is a greater good or just because it’s become a way of life.  The alcoholic says that he or she is sober when it’s clearly not the case, the cheater will lie when caught red-handed and many a convicted person will swear innocence even when DNA says otherwise.

This is why God and Jesus, and then the Church has insisted that the Truth will always set us free (John 8:32).  This is why Jesus consecrates us in Truth.  To live a life of integrity and honesty is not easy and will make great demands on us over time and circumstances.  We followers of Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, will always be called to live truthfully and honestly, even when it costs us fame and fortune.  Our life can only be built upon The Truth.  We need not worry though, because God will always be there for us; it’s never all up to us!

Let’s embrace Jesus’ prayer for us today: “Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” (John 17: 17 – 19)

The principle and foundation of our lives

 

In reflecting upon today’s Scripture readings, I couldn’t help comparing my actions in the last few days leading up to my retirement to those of Paul and of Jesus when they were giving ‘farewell speeches’ to their followers.  Paul called the presbyters of the Church at Ephesus and Jesus was speaking to His Apostles.  In my case, I wrote an email to each of the General Managers, most of whom I had helped to hire and train over the years.

In my letters, I thanked each of them for supporting me in my efforts to make them more successful.  I urged them to keep focused on the priorities and the mission statement (or the “principle and foundation”) of the company, which was to ‘improve human lives’.  I told them if they kept that in mind, many of the decisions they would make in the future would be easier.

Paul was exhorting the Ephesians to remain true to what he had taught them.  He took a certain pride in the fact that he “did not at all shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes.”  He talked of the trust he had in Jesus despite all of the hardships he had and would continue to endure (Acts 20:17-27).

Jesus spoke of the fact that He perfectly fulfilled His human life on earth by glorifying the Father in Heaven.  He did this by accomplishing the work that the Father gave Him to fulfill (John 17:1-11).

Jesus’ words offer the ideal “principle and foundation” for our lives.  This message of our Lord can be broken down into three lessons.

First, the Father truly does have a plan for our lives.  Knowing that there’s a divine plan for our life is the first step in fulfilling it.  If we don’t know God’s plan, it will be difficult to fulfill it.

Secondly, when we do discern what God wants of us in our daily life, we must accomplish His will.  Sometimes we fall into the trap of trying to fulfill only a portion of what God wants of us.  The problem with that approach is that we may actually accomplish “a portion” of God’s will.  But that’s not enough. We must aim for perfection.  We must strive for the complete fulfillment of the will of God in our lives.

Thirdly, if we can truly accomplish the daily will of God for our lives, then our lives will not only glorify God in every way possible, but we’ll also be blessed to share in God’s glory.  To share in God’s glory is to share in God’s very life.  It means that God will be alive in us and we’ll become partakers of the joys of Heaven.  And it will begin here on earth.  Why would we settle for earthly “joys” and earthly pleasures when we’re called to share in delights that are beyond what we could ever imagine in this world?

Those of us who are parents, or mentors, or teachers really, of any kind, can relate to Jesus in this passage.  Isn’t that what we do – prepare those given to us to grow – grow in knowledge, wisdom, grace and love?  We prepare them to set them free!  We prepare them to face challenges, joys, obstacles and opportunities.  We prepare them to trust that they have all that they need to continue the journey.  We prepare them to love – because they have first been loved – by us, by God.

Like Jesus, we too take God with us.  God’s love empowers us to pass along what we know, to pass along our learned wisdom, to model right relationship and accountability.  Love is what enables us to let go and let God – to trust that God will have their back.  We too pray for those we love and care about – Love assures us that our relationship with them will continue, albeit different, even when we set them free.  We too pray that God will continue what we have begun and that our sons, daughters, mentees and students will continue to be embraced and loved by God, and that they too will pass on the best that they have.

In Christ, there is peace

 

Peace is one thing every human being desires.  Peace is the ability to remain calm and focused even while in the midst of any and every “trouble” we encounter.  The trouble that Christians will especially face are the various persecutions of the world when we live in accord with the Truth.  And though there are many moral truths presented clearly by our faith that the world attacks, there are also other forms of troubles we’ll encounter within the world today.

One of the most manifest troubles inflicted upon many by the world comes in the form of constant visual, auditory and mental stimulation.  Our world is a noisy world.  Modern electronics, the mass media, commercials, radio, Internet, social media and so many other parts of our daily life have the subtle effect of distracting us, stimulating us, and stealing away the peace of Christ.

The story of our lives can be read as an endless—and sometimes frantic and sorrowfully misguided—search for what we think will satisfy and content us.  If we look at the trajectory of our lives, it’s hard to deny that human beings are creatures of restless hearts, hungrily pursuing all the things we believe will quiet our desires and quell our deepest yearnings.

Jesus proclaims that He is the answer to our restlessness and the secret to our heart’s greatest longing (John 16:29-33).  But the peace Jesus offers is eminently deeper and more resilient than a feeling that we have one day but is gone the next.  The peace that we find in Jesus is the pervasive and abiding serenity that characterizes the person who has been transformed by, and become one with, the greatest possible good, and for Christians that good has a name: Jesus.  This is why enjoying the peace Jesus brings requires being initiated into a certain way of life, a way of life starting in baptism that Christians call discipleship.  We grow into peace as we follow, learn from, imitate, and become increasingly like Christ.  Of course, along the way we discover that we must relinquish any desires, attitudes, habits, or affections that can never bring us peace because they’re at odds with the ways of God that are revealed in Jesus.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: “There only will you have true peace where true good is desired.”  The plot of the Christian life is to form us into the kind of persons who know true peace because we’ve learned to love God more than anything else.  When we’ve become that man or woman, we’ll understand exactly what Jesus meant when He told His disciples: “I tell you all this that in me you may find peace.” (John 16:33)

Our lives are full of transitions

When I reflected today on the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, I recalled a verse out of the Gospel of Matthew that is so human and describes so much the spirit of many of us:  "When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted."  (Matthew 28:16).  Yes, we believe, we can feel Jesus working in our lives, we can pray, worship and love ... and then we doubt.

In a reading from Acts (Acts 1:1-11), we watch as Jesus leaves us, His followers, as He ascends into heaven.  Those of us in His band of disciples watch from the ground below as He is slowly lifted up and away from us.  Matthew's gospel doesn’t depict the Ascension, but as the gospel concludes, the disciples are called to the mountain, eager to meet Jesus.  They see Him, worship ... and then doubt.

And how does Jesus react to that doubt?  With an incredible and inexhaustible love for us and our failings.  He looks on us with such love -- and sends us out to do His work!  He's not waiting for us be become perfect - He sends us out, doubts, fears, failings and all.  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them ...”  (Mark 16:15-20).  He's not angry, disappointed or discouraged; He simply sends us as we are.

And so for now, for the moment, we set our doubts aside and begin the task He has given us.

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Our lives are full of "transitions."  We’re always moving from one relatively comfortable place to a new and unfamiliar place.  Dealing with Covid, graduating, getting married, having a baby, starting a new job, facing new responsibilities, moving into a new home, facing the death of a loved one, recovering from the breakup of a relationship, beginning to see a therapist, recovering from a heart attack, living with cancer - all of these, and many more personal examples we know in our experience, are transitions.  They take us from what we know, into the unknown.  They present us with a new mission, a new orientation, a new challenge, a new moment in our vocation, a new part of living our baptism into Jesus.

The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven is the feast of transition.  In the Acts of the Apostles, the very last words of Jesus to us are "you will be my witnesses ... to the ends of the earth."   Like the first disciples who heard those words, our transitional growth is from being tentative, afraid, anxious and maybe even doubting followers to being those who have received "power" when the Holy Spirit "comes upon" us.  Our mission is to replace Jesus in this world.  The power of His Holy Spirit remains with us, but we’re His "witnesses" in this world.  We are to be His "martyrs" - giving witness, giving evidence of our faith, with the commitment of our lives.

But times of transition are difficult.  We often cling to what we know and are afraid of what we don't know.  It's called a time of "transition" because we’re "in between."  We’re usually still longing for something that we must leave behind, some distinct loss.  What’s before us offers new challenges we haven't gotten good at yet.

So often we feel powerless, impotent, and insecure, on so many levels.  We’re not able to do so much, let alone be a witness of Jesus.  It’s too often why we cover up our fear and assert ourselves, in acts of power or control or aggression.  We become "counter-witnesses" in effect, saying:  "the power of Jesus' Spirit isn't here!"  Embarrassment at our powerlessness or our ineptitude need not lead us into discouragement or aggressivity in our dealings with our loved ones and others.  Jesus invites us to long for, to deeply desire, the power of His Spirit.  Only that power can help us and heal us.  The Holy Spirit is a spirit of comfort, to strengthen us in a deeply spiritual way.

On this day that we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord, which introduces this time of transition to our life in the Spirit, our life of mission, let’s express our desire for a renewal of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Let’s imagine the healing presence of the Spirit in each of our relationships.  This is where we’ll begin to witness to Jesus.  Let’s imagine how we can die to ourselves in our key relationships.  From there, our witnessing can begin to go out "to the ends of the earth."

If we’re able to celebrate in community today, let's prepare by not looking up into heaven.  Let's imagine ourselves "on a mission," as we get dressed today.  As we walk into church, let's feel the power of letting the Spirit "assemble" us there and "animate" us for mission.  Let’s lift up our hearts because it’s right for us to give God thanks and praise.  And with a renewed desire to celebrate the upcoming feast of Pentecost, let’s walk out of that church ready to begin our mission at home, in our faith communities, and with our relatives and friends.

Then let His last words drift down to us, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.”   We let those words settle into our souls, we feel them, we’re reassured by them.  We turn them over and over again in our hearts:  Always...Until the end of the age... I will be with you...

Thanks, Charlie, for the reminder

The early Church worked together, women and men, Jews and Gentiles, traveling and speaking to whomever would listen, telling them the Good News of Jesus who is risen.  They worked together, even when they thought someone might need a little more information or training to do the job correctly.

In a story from Acts, Apollos was a follower of Jesus who was preaching of the need for repentance, the message of John the Baptist.  This was a very traditional prophetic message, one that John and others presented to the Jewish people – “repent and make yourselves ready for the Lord, who is coming someday (soon).”   And although Apollos “spoke and taught accurately about Jesus” two of Paul’s friends, Priscilla and her husband Aquila, felt they needed to call Apollos aside and explain the way things really were.  There was much turmoil among the Jews at this time about whether Jesus was the Messiah, or instead a great prophet.

The Gentiles had a much easier time of accepting Jesus as Messiah.  A few lines before this story in Acts is an excerpt that relates the frustrations felt by Paul and others with the Jews who refused to believe in Jesus as Messiah, as the Son of God.  Apparently, Priscilla and Aquila convinced Apollos, and he became an ardent advocate for the belief in Jesus as Messiah (Acts 18:23-28).  

As the saying goes, “There’s one in every crowd!”  Back when I was working, one of the more experienced GMs on my team was that “one”.  He had an opinion on just about every topic (usually wrong) and when confronted, he was childishly defensive, but never offensive in his rebuttals.  But his strengths in the areas I was weak in made him a good fit for my team, and he was a great guy to work with.  I worked with him for over twenty-five years.  We started working for the company within one month of each other.  Over the years, we had the same opportunities for training and advancement, but as it turned out, his priorities were not always as focused on the “team” (i.e. company goals) as they should have been, so his growth with the company became limited. 

Because our hire dates were so close, we were usually the ‘guests of honor’ at recognition luncheons the company had for us on our anniversaries.  Tradition at these events holds that the honoree says some words about his career and the people he has worked with.

At our 25^th anniversary luncheon, we both had to give our speeches.  I tried to keep mine humorous, and I choked myself and a few of my co-workers up when I referred to them as members of my family.  I went on to extol the benefits of the company and the achievement of our collective goals.  I thought I knocked it out of the ballpark. 

But Charlie outdid me that day, at least in my own opinion. 

When it was his turn to speak, he began: “While I appreciate this recognition of 25 years of service to the customer, I give all the glory and honor that my career has brought me to Jesus Christ.  It’s through His providence that I’ve been successful.”  How could he do that?  Wasn’t he the “one in every crowd?”  I must admit that I didn’t listen much to the rest of his speech.  I was too embarrassed by my own lack of humility and shame that I hadn’t given God the same credit when it was my turn. 

I have a ton of respect for Charlie because he’s unabashedly Christian.  Of course, I’ve known for a long time that he’s active in his church (that he described to me once as “Apostolic”), and that he takes his Christian faith VERY seriously.  He’s used his vacation time to attend retreats and lead youth groups on their retreats.  And I NEVER heard him raise his voice in anger.  He had even chastised our group a couple of times for the colorful language we sometimes slipped into.  After his speech that day, I felt very inadequate by my failure to recognize publicly God’s graces in my own life, and my inadequacies as a Christian in general.

As I think back on this memory, I’m reminded that we all need the help of God in our daily lives.  But in order to seek the help of God we must first realize that God wants to help us, that He can help us, and that we need His help.  Then we can come to Him and beg His help with all the troubles and problems and difficulties that come to each of us in our daily lives.  We then can follow the advice of Jesus in that beautiful line from the Gospel: "ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete."  (John 16:23-28)

Here again we can follow the example of the apostles and disciples of Jesus.  Their lives after the Ascension reveal the great joy that they attained in doing the work of God.  They’re an example for us of the joy that’s possible when we seek to know, love, and serve God in our lives.  To come to experience that joy we must begin, as they did, by heeding the words of Jesus given to us in John’s Gospel.  We must begin by learning to ask God to help us in all our needs.  Let’s pray for the grace to listen to and hear Jesus speak plainly to us.  And may His words lead us to always seek His help when we need it.