Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
I read a terrific book a few years back by James Martin, S.J. called My Life with the Saints. It's a spiritual memoir and also an opportunity to take a stroll through several centuries of Catholic life and meet our saints, courtesy of the author. One of the themes throughout has been all the very ordinary and seemingly small ways that each of the saints carries out the call to follow Christ, which I also find to be a consistent theme in today's readings.
Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
When taken as a whole there is a tension between Mary and Eve in today's readings. This is nothing new. Since the earliest centuries of the church, writers have discussed the connection, but it is still fruitful to reflect upon.
Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter
When I read the gospels, I recognize there are many stories and details about Jesus that have not been written down for us. Today’s gospel ends with the statement that the whole world could not contain all the stories about Jesus. The gospel- or Good News- that Jesus brings through His incarnation is something that we are called to continue to live out in our lives as disciples. If we believe that Christ is alive in us, and we allow His Spirit to direct our words and deeds, then Christ and the gospel continues to live in us, and our stories become part of the Good News.
Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Today is the feast day of Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer, spouse and father, conscientious objector and martyr because of his opposition to the Nazis and refusal to serve in the German army during World War II. If you have not yet seen the Terrence Malick film, “A Hidden Life”(2019), inspired by Franz’s writings and letters (especially to and from his wife) while in prison, I highly recommend it. Although today’s readings are simply for “Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter,” they seem to validate the life of Franz and his wife who exemplify Jesus’ instruction to “Follow me” no matter the cost.
Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter
In today’s gospel, we read a portion of Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane following the last supper. Jesus said, “I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.” Earlier in the evening, Jesus shared an intimate moment with his friends: washing their feet and breaking bread. He knows the disciples shortcomings and yet loves them in spite of them. Can our own relationships be open to Christ’s love?
Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
In today’s Gospel, we get a glimpse into Jesus’ prayer life. It gives me pause to consider what Christ himself prayed for – what was most important, most pressing for him. Our Lord’s prayer highlights his priorities, the deepest cry of his heart for his beloved disciples. In today’s portion of Christ’s prayer, he asks the Father to keep hold of the disciples, to protect them, that they might be one just as the Godhead is one. Today, let us pray with Christ for unity within the Body of Christ and within the entire human family. If it was important to Jesus, it should be important to us, too, right?
Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
When I hear the phrase ‘divine providence,’ I assume it means that some special, unlikely blessing allowed someone to have everything they needed. This is an unfortunate way of thinking. Doesn’t God provide for us on a daily, or even minute-by-minute basis? Who gives us the air we breathe? God alone, unless you’re a scuba diver! Today’s psalm is a beautiful reflection on God’s generosity, and how it is common. Indeed, the whole nation of Israel is praising God for the experience of that saving power.
Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter
The Holy Spirit is coming! Can you feel the anticipation in the readings as we lean forward looking toward Pentecost? That anticipation is what brought all three readings together for me. This is what the Lord put on my heart for today.
Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Before we dive in, I invite you to engage in the following exercise. Close your eyes. Identify someone you consider a friend; someone who has a special, close, personal relationship with you. Think about this person for a moment. How did you meet? What do you do together? What feelings do you have? What is it about your friendship that is special? What words come to mind when you think of this friend? In our Gospel today, Jesus calls us his friends. What is friendship? Part of it is this mysterious intangible experience. It is not something that we can hold in our hand. But it is something that we live by our being and with our hearts; our feelings. We live it freely and we experience it as a gift. Friendship is an opportunity to freely choose to love someone else and care for who they are. True friendship is typically grounded in a concern on the part of each person for the best of the other, for the other’s sake. It is an embodiment of the commandment we receive today: “love one another” (Jn 15:17).
Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
Before we dive in, I invite you to engage in the following exercise. Close your eyes. Identify someone you consider a friend; someone who has a special, close, personal relationship with you. Think about this person for a moment. How did you meet? What do you do together? What feelings do you have? What is it about your friendship that is special? What words come to mind when you think of this friend? In our Gospel today, Jesus calls us his friends. What is friendship? Part of it is this mysterious intangible experience. It is not something that we can hold in our hand. But it is something that we live by our being and with our hearts; our feelings. We live it freely and we experience it as a gift. Friendship is an opportunity to freely choose to love someone else and care for who they are. True friendship is typically grounded in a concern on the part of each person for the best of the other, for the other’s sake. It is an embodiment of the commandment we receive today: “love one another” (Jn 15:17).
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Perhaps you have heard of the Millerites, a mid-19th century religious movement started by William Miller (a largely self-educated New York farmer turned fiery preacher) that became widely popular in the US. At the center of the movement was Miller’s claim not only that Jesus’ second coming was imminent but that he could tell them when it would happen. All that was necessary was to read the book of Daniel literally, which prophesied (according to Miller) that Jesus would return 2300 years after 457 BC (the year in which a Persian king decreed that Jerusalem would be rebuilt). Miller did the math, and that meant that sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844 Jesus would return in physical form.
Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
We search for things all the time. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked for my glasses only to find them on the top of my head! Sometimes I’ll think something is lost only to discover it was right where it was supposed to be all along. Things have a tendency to “hide in plain sight” at times, too. The ultimate search conducted by the human heart is the quest for God. Miraculously, this quest begins not with lostness but with foundness. The God who may seem unknown is actually known intimately by the human soul and that soul is intimately known and loved by its Creator. In reality, God is the Seeker, God pursues us. Wondrously, any human seeker is actually perpetually found, her search swallowed up in the vastness of God’s relentless pursuit of her. We wrongly perceive the Divine as the object of our seeking, but God cannot be objectified. God is the Seeker; we are the sought. It’s a marvelous irony that in our unknowing is the deepest and most intimate knowing. Today, let us awaken more and more in our God in whom we discover ourselves found.
Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Why didn’t Paul and Silas flee the prison in the aftermath of the Earthquake? And what does this mean for believers today? If I was unjustly imprisoned and beaten, and then an earthquake allowed me to escape, I think I would take the opportunity, with thanks to God for divine intervention. But if they had fled, the guard would have killed himself, or been killed by the authorities for letting his prisoners escape. Instead, his life was preserved and his whole family became Christians. This kind of mercy changes hearts.
Optional Memorial of John of Avila, Priest and Doctor of the Church
It is a pretty common occurrence for people to guess that we are a Catholic family. One of the dead give-a-ways is our kids names. We have Ignatius "Iggy", Hosanna "Zan", Avila, and Elihu "Eli". I could write a reflection about each kid and how they got their name, but I'll save that for another time and place. Instead, I want to turn our attention to sweet Avila Mae.
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
One of the most challenging things we face as disciples is discerning God’s will for us. Whether it is the day to day activities, or the larger decisions- jobs, marriage, moves- we are called to pursue the choices that are God’s desire for us. In today’s first reading, St. Paul receives guidance from the Holy Spirit as he travels with Timothy spreading the Good News. Jesus reminds us in the gospel that God’s will for us may involve suffering and sacrifice, since we follow Jesus. As disciples of Christ, we will be led by the Spirit if we prayerfully turn to God and place our trust in God’s revelations.
Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Having been fully vaccinated along with my parents in our respective states, I finally took a long-anticipated flight to Virginia to visit them last month. Much like other families with many miles between them, It had been over a year since we had been together in person due to the risks of the pandemic. I think that was the longest I have ever been apart from my parents in the more than half-century of my life. Of course we had been talking and texting and video-chatting during that time, for which we were very grateful, but it is not the same as physically being with someone. I came to appreciate that all the more when I arrived at their home and hugged them both.
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter
I’ll make a bit of a leap and say that it is inherent in our human nature that we are caring individuals. For some it may take more work to emulate Jesus by caring more for others rather than ourselves, but I do believe that, since we are created in the image of God, we are created to care for and love others. I often fall short of this love. Instead, I get caught focusing on my own well-being or caring too much for others rather than letting them grow instead of holding my hand. I’ve learned that in order to love others we must put our faith in God, that our ability to love transcends our own humanity and involves trust to allow God to work through us.
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
I love Christ’s image of the vine in today’s Gospel. Assuming he was referring to grape vines, the picture is very Eucharistic. I see a beautiful reminder of the oneness that we enjoy with God. I also find hope in knowing that my fruitfulness as a disciple flows from abiding in the perfection of eternal love. May each of us today awaken to the reality of our abiding, become caught up in the flow of divine love, and naturally become more fruitful in our discipleship.
Tuesday of Fifth Week of Easter
Our first reading today sounds familiar; nearly the same passage was read this past Sunday. There must be something there worth repeating! It’s a very historical reading. Paul travelled here, did this, and then he went there, met with these people, etc. But between the itinerary, we read that Paul was thrown out of the city and stoned, but got up as the disciples gathered around him, and went right back into the city! This is a person without fear! Paul goes on to tell the disciples that “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” This is what strikes me in the first reading. Paul and the disciples are not delivered from hardships and persecutions, but they are freed from the power that such coercive acts have over normal people.
Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles
In true Catholic fashion, the feast of an Apostle is celebrated by choosing a less than flattering reading about him, Philip doesn't get any special treatment. In John’s gospel today we see Philip getting corrected by Jesus. Scripture reads, “Philip said to [Jesus], ‘Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? ... ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these’” (John 14:8-10, 12). If Jesus hadn’t continued talking, I imagine there would have been a long uncomfortable silence in the room after he corrected Philip. I mean Jesus is throwing around some pretty theologically heavy stuff right there and just to add to that, he is calling them far beyond their expectations. He is not only responding to Philip’s request, but also grabbing Philip by the proverbial collar and saying, “That will be enough for you? Do you know what is in store for you! Don’t sell God short!”