The Pastor’s Reflections

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 316-17)

Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin who would visit him under the cover of darkness. Jesus revealed to him that if he were not born again he would not enter the kingdom of heaven. Nicodemus was puzzled by that teaching.

However, after the death of Jesus, Nicodemus found new courage and assisted Joseph of Arimathea in the burial of Jesus. They buried the light only to discover that it would not be extinguished. Three days later the light stepped out of the darkness, the firstborn from the tomb.

That day, Nicodemus came to understand that belief in Jesus meant more than accepting his teachings. It meant personally experiencing his love. When he truly understood that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,” he would be reborn. From that moment on, God would be his Father, and the life of the Eternal One would abide within him.

I’m celebrating my 51st anniversary of ordination today. They’ve been rich, wonderful years. I’ve met and worked with many good people. But I’ve had one consistent challenge. It stems from the fact that I believe God loves each of us unconditionally. I haven’t been very successful in convincing people of this. I’m surprised how many Catholics believe that God is a harsh judge preparing to deliver a sentence on each of us. Sometimes people say that this is what they were taught as children. I can understand that, and have had my fair share of that kind of negative teaching. But at some point in the course of our lives we need to assess what we have been taught. Today’s quote from the Gospel gives us an opportunity to do so. Let’s think a bit about Jesus’ life.

Jesus pitted himself against the religious legalists of his day, the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. They argued a great deal, and they despised Jesus for his seeming disregard for the religious laws. Here are two examples. Jesus was once walking along a field of wheat with his disciples. They plucked grains off the shoots as they walked and popped them into their mouths. This rubbed the religious leaders the wrong way. By plucking the grains the disciples were breaking the Sabbath law of rest. Jesus reminded them that, “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) They had created so many laws to govern the Sabbath that the “day of rest” had become a burden to everyone. He pushed them further when he would cure on the Sabbath.

One day he cured a man with dropsy, what we would diagnose as body swelling due to congestive heart failure. One of the Pharisees took him to task. Jesus’ response was quick and practical. “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull them out on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 14:5) In other words, charity trumps the law.

Think of the parable of the Prodigal Son in which the loving father overlooks everything that his youngest son did without the slightest judgment against him. Think of the woman who was caught in adultery. The Scribes and Pharisees said that according to the law she should be stoned to death. His response cut them to the heart. “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) They walked away one by one. Then Jesus spoke to the woman. “Has no one condemned you?…Neither do I. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” John 8:10-11)

Before he died Jesus gave one last tremendous teaching. From the cross he prayed, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) How could Jesus teach compassion and forgiveness to the extent he did if he weren’t convinced of God’s unconditional love for each of us? The primacy of love was Jesus’ message! “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” (John13:34”)

In order to follow his command to love, it is essential that we first realize, and feel with every cell in our bodies, God’s unconditional love. That love will help us push aside all our self-judgment. That love will heal our hearts of negativity.

Our love of one another has to flow from the love of God that has been poured into us. Think of God’s love for you often. Start every day, and end every night, with a short prayer acknowledging God’s love for you. Remember Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Meditate on his words to him. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” Why did God give his Son? Because he loved us! When that sinks into our hearts we’ll begin to see life, and ourselves, as disciples of Jesus in a different way. We’ll have to be born again. We’ll experience God as our loving Father. We’ll live “in the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21)

The Pastor’s Reflections

he Pentecost account begins with a seemingly simple statement, “When the time of Pentecost was fulfilled they were all together in one place.” Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, is making reference to the Jewish Feast of Weeks, Shavu’ot, also called Pentecost. He’s giving a framework for the event that he is about to present. What’s this feast all about?

The Feast of Weeks was given that name because it took place seven weeks, a week of weeks, after the feasts of Passover and Firstfruits. The biblical Feast of Firstfruits celebrated the early barley harvest, and was held on the Sunday after the Sabbath following the Passover. The Feast of Weeks, Pentecost, was celebrated fifty days after Passover and commemorated the wheat harvest.

Luke was making an important point with this simple reference to these three Jewish feasts, Passover, Firstfruits and Pentecost. Jesus was the Passover lamb whose blood redeemed us from the death our sins merited. He rose from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits. On Pentecost, fifty days after his resurrection, the wheat harvest was celebrated. Luke was presenting those who were gathered in the upper room as the first harvest of the redeemed world, the Church.

“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.” This is the foundation Luke used for his account of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. He built on it by adding several wonderful and rich images.

After the death of Jesus the disciples had either fled Jerusalem, or went into hiding. The Jewish feast had just concluded but there were still many pilgrims in Jerusalem. Suddenly the disciples, and the people milling about outside, heard the sound of “a strong driving wind.” It seemed to fill the entire room where they were. This sound harkened back to the first moment of creation when a mighty wind swept over the waters of chaos. The sound of the wind announced the beginning of a new creation.

The sound of the wind was followed by the appearance of “tongues as of fire which parted and came to rest on each one of them.” Fire was often associated with God in the Old Testament. God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and later appeared in fire on Mount Sinai when God gave him the Law. The fiery power of God came to rest on each one of the disciples, “and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”

The sound of the wind was loud, as was the proclamation of the disciples. “There were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” We can now begin to pull together the imagery of the Jewish Pentecost and the Christian Pentecost that Luke combined in this account.

Luke, in his magnificent recounting of the Pentecost event, unfolded the dynamic of the Paschal Mystery. Jesus died a horrible and ignominious death, but it was the first necessary step to his resurrected life. Three days after his death his disciples saw him alive and glorious. For forty days he appeared to them, ate with them, and instructed them. He was preparing them for a life-changing event. Jesus told them that he would soon rise in ascension to take his place with the Father. But he assured them that he would not abandon them like orphans. He promised that he would send the Spirit to them.

They waited for ten days after his ascension. The Spirit indeed came to them in the dramatic majesty of fire. God’s Spirit divided itself among them imparting to each of them the divine energy to continue the mission of Jesus. Through his life, death and resurrection Jesus eternally bonded himself to the human family. He experienced all that we would experience in life – pain and suffering, joy and sorrow, hope and desperation. Having passed through the darkness of death, he ascended to a new and resurrected life. Through the Spirit’s descent he stretched out his helping hand as an invitation for all to follow after him. The effects of the Spirit’s descent were immediate.

The disciples “began to speak in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” When God first reached out to the human family, he told Abraham that he would make his descendants “as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore.” He wasn’t speaking of one specific group of people. The day would come when that promise would break out of the confines of the chosen people and extend to the entire world. All people, for all time, would be invited to hear the Good News of salvation. Everyone would be called to enter the Paschal Event and ascend to the Father.

All of the disciples of Jesus, the first small group and all who were to follow them, became missionaries that Pentecost day. Each of us have been commissioned to take up the mission of Jesus. We are to teach, and heal, and comfort, and pass on the fire of the Spirit to others. We are to “set fire on the earth.”

With the Feast of Pentecost we’ve come to the conclusion of fifty days of prayer and deep reflection on the Paschal Mystery, Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension. But we mustn’t move on to “ordinary time” without remembering the word of the angels to the disciples who witnessed Jesus’ ascension, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” The angels were telling them to get their heads out of the clouds – to come back down to earth! To let Jesus ascend and to pick up the work he began. For us, “ordinary time” is the time of the Spirit. It’s everyday time. As disciples of Jesus we’ve been anointed with the fire of the Spirit. We’ve been commissioned to continue the mission. It’s not a time to say we’re Christians. It’s the time for us to be Christ in the world – to channel the brilliant fire of the Spirit into every dark corner of the world. It’s the time for us to continue to build the new world Jesus began. For us Christians, that’s ordinary time!

The Pastor’s Reflections

We have only a few more days before we conclude the glorious week of weeks, the Easter Season, forty-nine days of resurrection joy! Next Sunday we’ll be celebrating the Feast of Pentecost. This Sunday provides us with an interesting and beautiful reflection to end the Easter Season; we read the conclusion of Jesus’ Last Supper discourse. It ends chapter seventeen of John’s Gospel. Chapter eighteen begins the account of the Passion with the arrest of Jesus. However, the ending of the discourse is a perfect segue to the Feast of Pentecost and the beginning of “Ordinary Time.” The ending of this discourse is a prayer that Jesus addresses to the Father. Before we ponder the prayer it will be helpful to recount what came before.

At the Last Supper, Jesus imparted his most important teachings to his disciples. He washed their feet in an act of profound humility, taking on the task of a slave. He asked them to follow his example, to leave their pride behind and to devote their lives to one another. He focused this teaching by giving them a new commandment: “As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” By washing their feet he impressed on them the nature of his love. It was a sacrificial love. He was asking them to follow him by offering their lives in loving service to one another.

He continued by announcing to them that, though he was leaving them and going back to his Father, he would prepare a place for them in his Father’s house. It was at this point that Jesus began to introduce the second theme of his discourse, unity. “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” He continued, “Whoever loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”

Jesus, developing the themes of service and unity, used a metaphor to enforce his teaching. “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” He followed this by twice repeating, “love one another as I have loved you.”

Several times during the discourse Jesus mentioned the coming of another Advocate. “The holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name – he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” “When the Advocate comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.” The promise of the Advocate was an important element in Jesus’ farewell discourse. Jesus was returning to the Father. He was now commissioning the disciples to take up the work he had begun. They would be enlightened, and strengthened by the Advocate that he would send them. Having concluded his discourse Jesus raised his eyes in a prayer to his Father. This is the passage we contemplate today.

“Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all that you gave him.” (John 17: 1-2) John the evangelist named his account of the Last Supper and Passion, the Book of Glory, and used the words “glory” and “glorify” twenty-six times in his Gospel. Jesus changed water into wine “and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.” (John 2:11) When Lazarus’ sister told Jesus not to open the tomb because her brother had been dead four days, he said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40) Glory is God’s manifested majesty. Through the works he performed, Jesus glorified the Father. In this prayer he asked the Father to glorify him “with the glory that I had with you before the world began.” (John 17:5) But his prayer didn’t conclude there. His prayer continued in a most extraordinary way.

He reminded the Father of the depth of his relationship with his disciples. “I revealed your name to those you gave me out of the world.” (John 17:6) The revelation of a name implies tremendous intimacy with a person. It means knowing who the person really is. Jesus opened the door to the Father. All those who believed in Jesus have seen the Father’s glory. They witnessed it in the person of Jesus, in the works he performed, and the message he shared with them. He went on to remind the Father that he “has been glorified in them.”(John 17:10) Lastly, he consecrated the disciples’ mission. “I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world.” (John17:11)

These last words of Jesus pull together the entire Last Supper teaching. Jesus’ disciples, from that day on, have been consecrated to carry on his mission. We’re to remain after him as the leaven of the Kingdom in a world that moves contrary to God. In the world, personal glory is achieved through the accumulation of wealth, and the exercise of power over others. The disciples of Jesus discover the glory of God through their dedicated and loving service to the poor, the outcast and the powerless. The Advocate, Jesus’ eternal gift to us, is with us, and in us, giving us the power to counteract the world and its false and dehumanizing values.

The coming Feast of Pentecost is our yearly reminder that we have accepted to carry on the mission of Jesus to conquer the world. Loving service is to be our weapon. Harmony with God and one another is the power behind our service. At the Last Supper Jesus clearly told his disciples, “I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33)

The Pastor’s Reflections

The night before he died, Jesus opened his heart to his disciples. He spoke of his love for them, and assured them that he would not leave them orphans. What a strange term to use. To understand why Jesus chose this image we have to gaze into our own hearts. There’s a powerful message in his choice of that word.

When Jesus told his disciples that he would not leave them orphans, he was not only trying to reassure them of his continual presence; he was introducing a new way of life to them. But before they could grasp his teaching, they would experience the loss, the powerlessness, and the emptiness of an orphan.

At that same Supper, he gave them a new commandment that would be the key to their restoration and healing. “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you should also love one another. This is sacrificial love! This love can’t be constrained by space and time. This is love that will be experienced over and over again “whenever two or three are gathered together” in his name.

The Last Supper was also Jesus’ First Supper because it was at this meal that he gifted them with the Eucharist. He will be present with them not only as the Lord of the supper, but also as their friend who lays down his life for them. At each Eucharist they will know, without any doubt, that he will never break the bond of friendship with them. At each Eucharist, he lays down his life for them and offers himself as the Lamb of God.

Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, he opens the gates of paradise for us, gives us the strength to love sacrificially as he did, and reveals himself to us “in the breaking of the bread.”

We’re not orphans. We’re his disciples – we love each other as he has loved us.

The Pastor’s Reflections

The passage we’ll be contemplating is taken from John’s lengthy account of the Last Supper. Here’s what took place immediately before.

During the meal Jesus had shocked the group by assuming the role of a slave by washing their feet telling them that they were to follow his example and wash each other’s feet. He followed this prophetic action by announcing that one of them would betray him. The group was deeply shaken by the announcement but failed to recognize that Jesus was referring to Judas who suddenly left the assembly, fading into the darkness outside.

With his departure Jesus began a heart-felt discourse by announcing, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. (John 13:31) But he followed up this dazzling announcement with a disconcerting statement. “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. (John 13:31). Even the new commandment he announced to them seemed to contain a dark element predicting his departure from them. “As I have loved you, so you also should love.” (John 13:34) Finally, Jesus shocked the group by predicting Peter’s betrayal.

The disciples must have been terribly confused by this series of statements. Jesus spoke of his glorification. This would certainly have been something they wanted to hear. They were hoping that, as the Messiah, he would usher in Israel’s golden age of independence and political superiority. But then why would he speak of leaving them? His call to love as he loved must have had an ominous ring to it. Again, he said that he would be leaving them. His final prediction that Peter would betray him must have shaken, not only Peter, but also the entire group. An absolutely beautiful passage follows as chapter 14 begins. Here, we’ll begin our reflection.

The scene is still the Last Supper. Jesus begins by consoling his little group of disciples. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” (John 14:1) He knows what the future holds for him and his disciples. He’ll be killed, and they’ll descend into spiritual chaos and disillusionment. He knows that they’re men who have a deep faith in God, but they mustn’t allow his death to shake their faith in him. His death will soon be opening a new world to them. He knows that the future will bring hardship and persecution for them. Their faith has to remain strong. So he gives them a vision of the future.

“In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2)

Consider the bombshells that Jesus dropped on them. “One of you will betray me!” “Peter, before the cock crows you will betray me three times!” “I will be with you only a little while longer.” They couldn’t put all this together at the time, but the upcoming events would bring reality to his words. Judas will betray him, and later hang himself. Peter will indeed betray him three times. Jesus will be crucified. All of them will panic and go into hiding after his death.

In spite of the betrayals, the misunderstandings, and even the lack of faith they would experience, Jesus promised to prepare a place for them. He was assuring them that they would indeed enter glory with him. At the time they couldn’t possibly have understood what he was saying. They were interpreting his prediction in a political sense. They thought each of them would be rewarded with a political appointment in the Kingdom he would establish.

During the time after his death they would begin to understand the meaning of this discourse; but at the time they were confused by what Jesus was telling them. So he continued teaching. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” (John 14:3-4a) The wonderful doubter, Thomas, then spoke up, reflecting the feeling of the entire group. “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (John 14:4b)

It’s clear, isn’t it? Thomas was speaking for all of us “who have not seen and yet believe.” John 20:29). It might seem challenging to truly believe that God has a special place prepared for each one of us. We might feel unworthy of Jesus’ promise. We may feel that “the way” to one of the special dwelling places in God’s house is difficult to discover, and ever more difficult to travel. The Lord’s answer to Thomas’ question seems just as difficult to understand. “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

In order to understand this passage keep in mind that very dark days are coming for the disciples. They will be crippled by their fears, the fact of their betrayals and their lack of faith. Also keep in mind that wonderful day, when, after the resurrection, Jesus will appear to the disciples and address two of them in a specific and pointed way. He will command Thomas to “not be unbelieving.” (John 20:27b) He will ask Peter three times “Do you love me?” (John 21:16) What was Jesus doing? He was healing them by focusing on their weakest points. Thomas had to let go of the mental prejudice that blocked his faith. Peter had to confront, and go beyond, his triple denial of knowing Jesus.

Here’s a suggestion to personalize this passage. Make a confession. There’s no need to run to the confessional. Just be brave and open your heart. Confess everything. Don’t worry about logic or precision. Let go and spill out your guts. List the things that bring you shame. Innumerate your fears, and your spiritual conflicts. Say what you’re sorry for. Think of the people you’ve hurt, and the friends you’ve betrayed. Take as much time as you need. Lay every negative thing you can possibly imagine at the feet of Jesus. Weep if tears boil up.

Then, rest for a bit before going back to the passage. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” No matter what you said. No matter how negative you’ve been about yourself. There’s still a dwelling place for you in the Father’s house. If you have any doubts about that recall Saint Paul’s witness. Remember, he instigated and approved of the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

Take a leap of faith, and bravely open your heart to God. There’s no need to edit anything about your life. Jesus assured each and every one of us that there is always a place waiting for us. If we trust in his promise, he’ll always be our way, the road leading to that special place. If we open our lives to him, we’ll experience the liberation of our spirit, and see a glimpse of the glory awaiting us. We’ll discover the truth of God’s unconditional love for us. We’ll walk “out of the darkness into his wonderful light!” (1 Peter 2:9b)