The disciples are beginning to have a better understanding that Jesus is who he says he is, that “he came from God.” Jesus does not rest on or savor this insight and affirmation, but shares with them how, they still do not fully comprehend. He tells them that each will leave him alone in his most desperate hour. They do just that. Those he takes with him into the Garden of Gethsemane will fall asleep. When Jesus asks them to watch and pray with him, to be a support for him as he receives the will of the Father, they will fall asleep. When Jesus hears he will be sent again, sent to do the Father’s will by giving his life on the Cross for them, they again fall asleep. When the guards come to arrest Jesus, led by Judas, the disciples would flee. Peter will then betray him three times.

What is interesting is that just as Jesus shares with them, that even though they, his most intimate followers, his closest friends would betray him, he says: “I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 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.” 

These words are words of comfort and hope for us today! No matter if we betray or are betrayed ourselves, we let others down or are let down, we see and experience the devastating effects of our fallen world and fallen human nature, from without and within; no matter what conflict, challenges, or tribulations rise up before us, we do not need to succumb to cynicism, hopelessness, and despair. We do need to have the humility to acknowledge where we have caused harm in any form and seek forgiveness and reconciliation as well as be understanding and willing to forgive.

We also need to remember that in those times when we feel misunderstood, betrayed, or are facing the unbearable in life, we are not alone! Jesus reveals to us the way to his Father because Jesus is the Way! Seeking affirmation from the culture or the world is not the way. Our priority instead ought to be to build our relationship with Jesus, who will lead us to the Father so to experience the Love of the Holy Spirit! When we acknowledge the presence of Jesus in our lives and when we turn to him for help and support, there is joy, there is peace, and all things are possible.

Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness, and he will not be overcome by it, for he has conquered death, and overcome the world. We are an Alleluia people because through our participation in the life of Jesus the Christ we will overcome as well. As an Alleluia people, we are not to be shaped by the culture and the world but are to instead shape it by authentically living the Gospel, by being and sharing the light, joy, peace, and love of Christ in every aspect of our lives and interactions with one another.

Photo: Class of 2020 as juniors putting their love into action by creating and gathering surprise Mother’s Day gifts for JoAnn when they found out she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I am still touched by their kindness.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, May 17,2021

For many of us, when we hear about the Ascension of Jesus we are just as beguiled as the disciples who as recorded in the Book of Acts were standing around, looking at the sky. Also, depending on where you live, will depend on when you celebrate this solemnity. If you live in the ecclesiastical Provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia you already celebrated Ascension Thursday on its traditional day, this past Thursday. For the rest of the country it is a holy day of obligation celebrated today, on Sunday. The reason for Ascension Thursday is that the Ascension of Jesus took place 40 days after the Resurrection and 10 days before Pentecost. The point of concern for moving to Sunday observance was lack of attendance on Thursdays.

Regarding what the Ascension of Jesus is, sometimes, we can understand a term better by saying what it is not. The Ascension was not an event where Jesus went up, up, and away in my beautiful balloon, or as Superman zipping away to destroy an asteroid hurtling toward the earth.

The Ascension is the culminating event of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. Jesus who as the Son of God became a human being like us, lived among us, experienced the joys and suffering of life like us in all things but sin, yet took our sins upon himself on the cross. Jesus then died, entered into death and conquered death. He rose again, not as a ghost or a spirit, but still fully God and fully man, yet his body was transfigured. Jesus became the first born of the new creation.

After forty days spent gathering his disciples, eating with, teaching, and empowering them to continue his work of making the will of his Father known, Jesus Ascended back to the Father with his humanity still in tact, and so with our humanity too.

As Bishop Robert Barron explains: “The Ascension is the translation of this earthly reality into a heavenly reality.” Jesus is no longer limited by the time and space of our present temporal reality. He transcends our recognized third dimensional reality, and now exists at a higher pitch of existence. Just as Jesus was able to pass through a locked door, he is able to be present to us at Mass on Thursday or Sunday or any time that the Mass is celebrated anywhere in the world. Jesus is present to us where two or more are gathered in his name and when we call on his name.

Through the event of the Ascension, Jesus brings something of our humanity to heaven and at Pentecost he sent something of heaven to us in the descent of the Holy Spirit. And who is the Holy Spirit, but the Love that is breathed, that is shared between the Father and the Son.

What this means for us is that we are separated no longer from the reality of heaven. St Irenaeus wrote that, “Jesus opened up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed.” We can see this biblically, as the sky was torn open at the baptism of Jesus, as the veil was torn in the Holy of Holies in the temple at his crucifixion, and as Jesus Ascended fully human, with our humanity, to the right hand of the Father. Heaven and earth have been wedded.

We are the Church, the bride of Christ. Through our Baptism we are grafted to the Mystical Body of Christ.

We are transfigured, divinized, made God through our participation in the life of Jesus. We are made holy, and our commission, the same as the Apostles, is to continue the work of being a bridge for the communion of the human and the divine. We are to work to follow the will of God, on earth as it is in heaven, “to go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature”.

Having heard this Good News of the Ascension, let us not, as the two angels said, just “stand around looking at the sky”, but share the love of his very being that we receive in the Eucharist, in person or spiritually online, and invite all to participate on earth what is celebrated in heaven, the love of the communion between the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Photo by Josh Sorenson pexels.com

Mass readings for Sunday, May 16, 2021

“I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father” (Jn 16:28).

This phrase, in one form or another, has been a consistent message in John’s recording of Jesus’ farewell discourse. These words not only show Jesus’ connection to the Father through his coming from and returning to the Father and then his sending of the Holy Spirit, but these statements help to prepare the way for our understanding of the Trinitarian Communion.

Theologians have termed this reality the Immanent Trinity, God within himself. Which is expressed by the divine communion of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All that God the Father is, he gives all, holding nothing back, to God the Son perfectly. God the Son receives all that God the Father has given perfectly, and returns all that he has received, holding nothing back, perfectly to God the Father. This giving and receiving, this going out from and returning to, this perfect willing of each other’s good, is the purest expression of Love. This Love shared infinitely and perfectly between God the Father and God the Son is God the Holy Spirit.

The Son of God became one with us, sharing in our humanity, so we can also share in his divinity. His ascent and return back to the Father makes this even more possible. Now his divine nature, as the Son, always remained in full communion with the Father. Jesus is one divine Person as the Son, yet he subsists in two natures the divine and the human. The Ascension of Jesus was a point in salvation history, in which the human nature of Jesus transcended our three-dimensional reality to enter the eternal present, the immanence, of the Trinitarian communion, and because God created all humanity and creation as interconnected with one another, we are now able to share in the intimate, divine dance, or perichoresis, of the Love, shared between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

We are all invited, 24/7/365, with every breath, thought, word, and action, to experience the Holy Spirit, the communion of Trinitarian Love. But this is not an imposition, it is an invitation, meaning no matter how wonderful, no matter that this is what we have been created for and will bring us fulfillment and joy, we can reject or accept this offer.

Thankfully, because of the Divine Mercy of God this is an open invitation. Even if we had said no for years, we can say yes at this moment. Once we say yes, even just a little, the love of God grows within us, just like the image of the mustard seed. As we experience the love of God in our own lives, we begin to realize how God is the foundation of our being and all creation.

We come to see how God is the foundation of all things, how he is present to us in our everyday actions when we participate in the very being and life of Jesus. We do so when we participate in the sacraments. Jesus is even more present to us in the sacraments than when he was present to the Apostles. We also experience and encounter God through our participation in the three transcendentals, the ways of our being that God has imparted to us to experience him, which are the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. It is through the expression of our creativity in music, dance, and the arts that we come to experience the Beautiful. By embracing our gift of reason and intellect, through prayer, study, and sharing of ideas, we come to know the True. In recognizing the gift of others as human, through our fellowship, loving and engaging one another in the corporeal and spiritual works of mercy we come to experience Love which leads us to the Good.

God has given us the wonderful gift of life not just to endure but to experience fully, even in the midst of our trials, tribulations, and sufferings. We just need to remember to open our hearts, minds, and souls to receive the gift of God working in and through us. Just as the Son is, we are sent to risk, to give our love away, by sharing his love with others. Our offer can be turned down or rejected. Even so, we must resist the temptation to judge or to take offense, but instead to assume a posture of understanding, of being present, and being available to witness and allow God to reach others through us.We never truly know the pain and suffering of another, nor what they may be dealing with. Instead of a knee-jerk reaction, take a deep breath and by seeking to be more understanding you might just be the healing presence that can make a difference.

Each of us is on a journey of growing in faith. We are invited to open ourselves to the will of God, so we can experience the Good, the True, and the Beautiful so that we too can experience, perichoresis, the infinite dance of the Love shared between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is our fundamental option, our end goal, heaven, which is to enter into the fullness of the divine dance and communion of the Trinity. What Jesus has brought to us through his Paschal Mystery; his life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, is the reality of how we can experience heaven on earth right now. Our vocation is to say yes to God’s invitation to embrace the love of the Trinity so to love others as we have been loved, for: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15).

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Photo: Christmas hike 2010 – photo credit Jack McKee (I just realized that 2010 was 11 years ago!)

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, May 15, 2021

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete” (John 15:11).

What is this referring too? “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

And what is his commandment? “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”

Even when life appears pretty dark and division and suffering seem to be waiting around every corner, we need not give up or fall into despair. God wants us to experience joy and fulfillment despite our experiences and not through being lemmings or slaves but as Jesus said, “friends”. The friends of Jesus are those who hear the word he has received and shared from his Father which are his commandments, the greatest of these is to love.

If we truly want to be happy and fulfilled, we are to align our will with the will of God who is Love. St. Irenaeus taught that the joy of God is the human being fully alive. For us to be fully alive, we are to love as God loves us. God keeps inviting us to receive his love and his joy, to be happy. Many of us do not experience the fullness of this joy because we are distracted and diverted by what appears to be good. With time and experience, we often find in fact they are not. Much of what we expend our energy doing are feeble substitutes.

Neither will we experience fulfillment and joy through denying, covering over, or being so busy that we don’t have to face the sufferings in our or other’s lives. We ease suffering by entering into it. When we do so we can experience healing at the root. By willing our good and the good of others, we can alleviate some of the suffering in our realm of influence. Each day we need to decide if we are to curl up in our shell or to be an agent of healing and love and by doing so, we can make our corner of the world a little better.

Photo: With JoAnn, who taught me how to come out of my shell, to live and to love.

Mass readings for Friday, May 14, 2021

Jesus continues his farewell discourse and appears to be speaking in riddles: “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me” (Jn 16:16). We who know what is coming for Jesus understand what Jesus is talking about, but for the disciples, not so much. Jesus will be crucified and rise again from the dead. Jesus then goes on to explain further that: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy” (Jn 16:20). Jesus is speaking about the same two points of reference, his Crucifixion and Resurrection.

The most brutal sign of oppression during the reign of the Roman Empire was the cross. It was a weapon of terror, torture, an extreme case of punitive justice or capital punishment, and in actuality state-sanctioned terrorism. The person would be stripped of all their clothing, would be nailed by the wrists, or palms and wrists tied, nailed by the feet, and then lifted up for public display. Then would begin their humiliation, dehumanization, and long agonizing death; a sign for anyone to think twice about challenging the authority of Rome.

The disciples wept and mourned, their hopes dashed, they were stunned, ashamed, and demoralized, while others rejoiced as Jesus and the two others beside him were lifted up. The centurions flaunted their authority and prowess. Others gathered around and jeered at who they believed to be another false prophet dying on Golgotha, the hill of the skull, where so many had gone before. Where other hopes and dreams had been crushed under Roman dominance and oppression.

Jesus was sometimes described as being hung on a tree in some letters of the Bible because writing the word cross was still too raw and vivid in people’s minds. Yet, this was not the final chapter. The grief of the Apostles would turn to joy because of the Resurrection. The cross, this symbol of torture, would become a sign of victory over death and the grave.

Yet, one centurion got it right: “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mk 15:39)! For many Christians today, the Crucifix and Cross are no longer a sign of oppression and fear but are displayed as a sign of the triumph and victory that Jesus has won for us. They are not magic talismans, but they are sacramental signs, concrete objects that are tangible, that we can see, wear, and hold on to, for the purpose of reminding us that we have a God who understands our humanity because he lived life as we do.

Jesus cried as we cry, he laughed as we laugh, and he enjoyed table fellowship with those on the peripheries. Jesus faced rejection, misunderstanding, trials, and tribulations, he overcame conflict and rejection, he died as we will die, yet his death was not the end. Jesus ultimately conquered death, so that through our participation in his Life and Resurrection we will rise again in Christ as well.

I invite you to spend some time meditating in front of a crucifix or cross today. If you are going through a particularly rough patch, hold it in your hand, feel the wood, allow your gaze to fall upon the face and wounded body of Jesus to remind you that he understands because he experienced what we experience, and that means God experiences what we experience. When we allow him, Jesus will also embrace us with those arms outstretched to ease our suffering and pain.

Jesus is and will continue to be present with us, closer even than the crucifix we hold or look upon. If all is going well, or you just received some great news, do the same! We don’t only go to Jesus with our trials and tribulations, but our joys and celebrations as well. Simply share with him your heart and allow him to share his with you.

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Photo: Jesus understands…

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, May 13, 2021

Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, “Wise men don’t need advice. Fools won’t take it.” I think most of us fall somewhere in the middle. Hopefully, we are less foolish and moving more along to path of gaining wisdom. Jesus continues his best efforts in today’s Gospel to offer guidance and assurance to his disciples that the Holy Spirit will continue to be their guide. “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” (Jn 16:12-13a).

Surely, Jesus could see the dimming lamps in the eyes of his disciples. As discussed yesterday, comprehending the death of the Messiah, his Resurrection, and return to the Father was a bit much to digest. Jesus, though, still needed to share what his Father gave him to share, and the disciples were to take in what they could. Jesus’ death and Ascension were not to put an end to their learning, deepening of their understanding, or further developing their relationship with Jesus and his Father. The Holy Spirit would continue what Jesus started, to lead them to all truth, the fullness of the foundational relationship that is the source of all, the Holy Trinity.

Anyone involved in teaching anyone anything or learning something for one self will know, that just telling someone something does not mean that learning has happened. There is a process of introduction, integration, practice, review, mistakes, corrections, and adjustments until some proficiency is achieved. With the disciples, this is the same. Jesus did not just present things once and move on to the next order of business. That is why John declared at the end of his Gospel that: “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written” (Jn 21:25).

I am sure a part of what John was talking about here were the lessons, corrections, and guidance Jesus offered. Just as Joseph modeled for and guided Jesus in his trade in carpentry, so Jesus learned from him through observation, practice, mistakes, adjustments, and corrections. Jesus guided his disciples in the same way, as a mentor with his apprentices. He was now assuring them that even though he would be leaving them, the guidance and leading would continue with the support of the Holy Spirit.

The lessons about the immanence of God, God within himself as a Trinitarian communion, that Jesus taught were not as concrete as sawing, hammering, and planing wooden beams though. God is not a being, not even a supreme being, meaning that he transcends our ability to comprehend the fullness of his reality. We will never fully comprehend God or exhaust the richness and the depth of our relationship with God.

On the human level, we are guilty of malpractice in our relationships when we assume that we know everything there is to know about someone else. The gift of the person, the human being, is that we are ever-developing and growing in the mystery and wonder of who we are and who we are called to be. We can always surprise each other. If this is true for us in our relationships with each other, it is much more so in our relationship with God. Once we get to one level of understanding, we plateau for a time, but that is not the end of the journey, that is only a time to savor, to ponder, and contemplate until we are ready to go ever deeper into the truth that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us.

Our tradition teaches us that the fullness of God has been revealed in Jesus Christ, which is true, yet to comprehend that revelation will take a lifetime and continue on into eternity just to scratch the surface. St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), a Dominican Friar, who is considered the Angelic Doctor of the Church, was one of the top theological influences during the Scholastic Period, yet close to the end of his life he had a mystical encounter with God in which he came to realize that all of his intellectual achievement, all that he had written, mattered no more than a pile of straw compared to that which God had revealed to him.

Arguably one of the wisest persons of his time, and some would say one of the most brilliant minds ever, was also one who was steeped in daily prayer and continued to be open to the majestic wonder of the glory of God. May we too continue to embrace the gift of wonder, the gift of learning, and never settle, rest and savor yes, but continue to learn and grow, to seek and hunger for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, to continually have our hearts and minds open to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us “to all truth”!

Photo by Ray Bilcliff from Pexels

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, May 12, 2021

At some point in our lives, we experience the death of someone we love. If we live a long life, we will experience even more of the pain of losing those close to us. I remember my maternal grandfather sharing with me when he was around ninety that he had outlived most of his siblings and friends. Unfortunately, for too many death is a daily event through violence in all its forms. Grief during time of loss is a natural human response. It is certainly not an emotion to be suppressed.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus shared: “But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts” (Jn 16:6). Jesus was preparing his disciples for his suffering and death, but also letting them know that they would not be left alone. He would send the Holy Spirit to be with them. The Apostles were not able to understand what Jesus was talking about. Who can blame them? They had no point of reference for someone dying and rising again, let alone that he would ascend and send the Third Person of the Trinity to be with them.

The Apostles would not only feel the grief of the loss of Jesus they would also experience the fear of the same persecution that took him and experience the fear of anticipating their own death. They betrayed Jesus, abandoned him, yet, except for Judas, because he had taken his own life, Jesus came to them again after his Resurrection and forgave them. Jesus would in a short time ascend, and the disciples, with Mary, would experience the love and grace of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they faced what was before them head-on, even to experience their own violent deaths, except for John. The fear of death had no more power over them, their grief and their fear were turned into joy from their encounter with the Risen Jesus and the Love of the Holy Spirit they experienced first hand.

For us, as with the Apostles, grief is real, because death is a loss, it is a change in our present reality. Yet, we celebrate this Easter Season for fifty days for a reason. Death has lost its sting because Jesus has died, entered into the fullness of everything that death threw at him, and he conquered it. Jesus died for each one of us so that we can also rise with him, and be with him and our loved ones again for all eternity.

We can believe in our minds that death does not have the final answer, yet we will still feel the grief, the pain of loss. We need to be honest with our emotions, and not stifle them, thinking by showing grief that we are in some way less a person of faith. In allowing ourselves to enter into our pain, we will experience the Risen Christ who is waiting to embrace us. I still experience the pain of JoAnn’s death seventeen months later, while at the same time, I have also felt God’s comfort.

To experience our grief and allow it to rise up when it comes is healthy and necessary but we do need to be careful that it does not define and overwhelm us. I had a two day period when I first returned home from California where the weight of my grief hit pretty hard, and I was beginning to sink into a dark place. Fortunately, I received a phone call from Theresa Frettered from Cardinal Newman HS inviting me to a diocesan event. I didn’t want to go but said yes. Terry was a messenger of the Holy Spirit. She invited me to leave the despair and come up for some air. I still have moments of sadness since then but also times of laughter again.

The time of grief is different for each person. “There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Jesus has welcomed JoAnn and our loved ones home. Our time will come too. This is not morbid. Pondering our own death helps us to live the time we have better. In doing so, we can experience the foretaste of heaven, God’s tender care even on this side of heaven. When our hearts and minds are open, there will be snippets in which there is a glimmer, a feeling of peace and joy of our encounter, where even for a brief moment we know that death really does not have the final answer. The loving embrace of Jesus does.

Photo credit: Flo Maderebner from Pexels

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, May 11, 2021

What is common to all of us is that we experience some expression of loneliness to varying degrees consciously or often unconsciously. We are social beings, we want to belong, to be part of, and this is why we are communal. We may do, say, or turn a blind eye to behaviors that go against our conscience just to be accepted, acknowledged, or noticed. This behavior further feeds our loneliness, because though we may be accepted, we become more alienated from our true self.

At the core of our being, what we all seek is to be loved, and to love. We strive from the moment of our conception not only to exist but to actualize the fullness of our potential. Through our time of gestation, we are not potential human beings, we are human beings actualizing our potential. A difference between me who is typing this now and when I was in my mother’s womb is that before and after my birth, I was smaller and more vulnerable.

We as human beings are a living, craving hunger and desire to be in communion with God and one another from the moment of our conception and during each stage of our development until our natural death and continuing on into eternity. This is true to the believer and the atheist alike. Until we embrace this deepest of needs and desires, we will be restless, anxious, and unfulfilled. We can feel isolated and alone, even in the midst of a hundred people or daily likes on social media.

God has made us for himself and constantly invites us to be in relationship with him and with each other because he is the foundation and source of our being. Sin is the turning away from that invitation, a curving, or caving in upon oneself away from God and others. It is also the unwillingness to bother or care, to reach out toward another in need. For what we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to God. We are not just to be pro-birth, we are to be pro-life, and we are invited to promote a consistent ethic of life.

Jesus became human in his Incarnation to show the importance of the dignity of the person and that it is grounded in our relationship with God our Father, meaning we are all brothers and sisters. Jesus was not plan B, but he has always been the primary plan. In the fullness of time, when God so willed, he sent his Son to become one with us so that we can become one with him. Jesus is the face, hands, and body of God. He came that we might see and experience God. Jesus experienced all we experience except for sin because he never in any act rejected or said no to his Father. His whole life was a yes to the will of God. Jesus is the bridge, coming close to love us so we can love, authentically.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues his farewell discourse. He prepares his disciples for the reality that he will be returning to the Father, and yet at the same time, he will not leave us alone. He will be with us for all ages. This is so because as the Son of God made man, in his Ascension, he returned to the Father not just in his divinity as the Son, but also in his humanity. God created all of humanity and his creation in such a way that we are all interconnected, and because of that, we all experience this transcendent act of the Ascension.

Jesus shared with his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning” (Jn 15:26-27). Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, the infinite Love experienced and shared between the Father and the Son. We become sharers in this divine love and communion of the Holy Trinity through our participation in the life of Jesus.

As we experience and enter into the love of God and develop a relationship with him, we begin to heal and to experience what it means to be alive. This is because we have experienced the love we have been made for. We have experienced being loved for who we are and as we are. We no longer have to say, do, or accept those actions that we don’t agree with that go against our conscience, to belong. St. John Cardinal Newman has stated that our conscience is the “Aboriginal Vicar of Christ”. Jesus dwells within us, to guide and lead us. He encourages us to say yes to his Father as he has and continues to.

This Trinitarian love that we share because of our participation in the life of Jesus, this great gift, will continue to grow as we testify to this love and share it with others, give it away. The more we give, the more we will receive. We share the love of God by accompanying one another. That does not mean fixing others or their problems. We are called to be present, to accompany, and journey with others, meeting them as Jesus does, as they are. We are to laugh with, to cry along, to encourage, empower, and support, but above all to be present, to allow God to happen through us.

Jesus has not left us as orphans. His return to the Father through his Ascension that we are getting ready to celebrate has given us a greater and more intimate access to the Holy Spirit, the love shared between the Father and the Son. By saying yes and trusting in his love, we free ourselves from the tendrils of fear and anxiety. As we do so, we continue to actualize the fullness of our potential, we become who we were created to be, and we become truer to ourselves. We experience that peace that surpasses all understanding and develop relationships with others based on authenticity and integrity, regardless of external pressures and experiences. We are not alone because we are loved and we love in return, which is what we all seek, which is who we are called to be.

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Photo credit: luizclas from Pexels

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, May 10, 2021

Jesus makes clear to his Apostles that: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you”. This is no power play on Jesus’ part, just a way of asserting his authority. Only a few verses earlier we read that Jesus called his disciples friends. Jesus’ claim is a reminder that God is the center, initiator, and prime mover of all that exists. His disciples were invited to a deeper relationship with God through their participation in the life of Jesus. They lived and traveled with him, they were his closest companions during his public ministry. He guided, mentored, and taught his disciples the deposit of faith that he wanted them to pass on. And at the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, would empower them to do just that.

The Apostles were not chosen for their own sake. What they received from Jesus was not to be for themselves alone. What they were to pass on was no secret knowledge for a select few. Jesus appointed them “to go and bear fruit that will remain” (Jn 15:16). The Kerygma, the basic Gospel message to be proclaimed, was and still is to be for all the nations. By reading the Book of Acts, the second volume of the Gospel of Luke, we witness that the Apostles laid the foundation for that to happen. The core of the deposit of faith that has been passed on generation after generation and which we proclaim every Sunday in the Nicene Creed, is that we believe in one God; one Lord Jesus Christ who is consubstantial, of the same substance as the Father; one Holy Spirit, who with the Father and Son is adored and glorified; and one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We who call ourselves Christians, believers and followers of Jesus Christ, are part of a tradition in which each generation, each person is invited to encounter Jesus for him or her self time and time again. More than a people of the Book, we are a people of encounter. Jesus invites us each and every day to participate in his life and his mission to come to know him and through him to know his Father, our Father God. In the humanity that the Son of God assumed, he opened up heaven for us.

We have access to building a relationship with God through the Love of the Holy Spirit and in so doing we become sanctified, holy. This is not so we become front and center, for we like Peter are finite, human beings. It is so that when others see the service we offer, the love and joy we share, they will no longer see us, but Jesus, and so too can experience the pull of the invitation to come and know him.

Is the history of the Church from the time of Jesus perfect? No. Are we perfect? No. Are we worthy? No. But in surrendering our life to Jesus each day we become more and more conformed to him. We are being perfected through our participation in his life, such that we will experience a foretaste of heaven. We are chosen to go and bear fruit that will last. We are invited to receive and to share the love and life of Jesus. Let us ponder the wonder that we have been chosen to receive and share the love and forgiveness of Jesus on this Lord’s Day, and be willing to serve him as we serve one another, with our thoughts, words, and actions embodied with his love, joy, and mercy.

Photo: Replica of the San Damiano Cross (National Shrine of St Francis of Assisi, San Francisco, CA) before which St Francis heard Jesus tell him to go and rebuild his Church. What is Jesus asking of us?

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, May 9, 2021

When Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first”, Jesus was not proposing an-us-verses them mentality. It can be easily taken that way and certainly has been lived out in many ways in our society and world. Yet, an-us-verses them mentality is usually a defensive posture assumed by those who feel or are actuality being persecuted. It is an understandable posture. It is just not the stance that Jesus proposes us to take. We are to love our enemies, we are to love those who hate us. Impossible? Only on our own will power alone, for apart from Jesus we can do nothing, but with him all things are possible.

Jesus is making it plain to his disciples that they need to be prepared, that what is coming is the same that has been happening to him. They will be persecuted, mocked, imprisoned, and give their lives just as Jesus did. The gospel message is a challenge. We are challenged to have a change of mind and heart, to be conformed to the love of Jesus the Christ. This means that our focus must shift from that of self first and foremost to God who is to have the primary sense of place in our lives.

We know we are putting God first instead of our fallen nature when we react less and love more. Reactions are based on an-us-verses them mentality. They are responsible for the state I am in, they are taking my jobs, they are not allowing me to worship or speak in the way I want to, it is all their fault, they made me do it. These are all reactive thoughts that lead to uglier statements and actions. Jesus invites us to assume the disposition of mindful action not reaction.

The way we can be more mindful and less reactive is to be people of prayer and meditation. Much of our reaction comes from our harried pace, keeping us from being in touch with our deep-seated fears and prejudices. We run from the mirror Jesus holds up to us. We need to stop and pray regularly. See the sin in our hearts so we can admit it and let it go or going to Jesus for healing or confession. A way to begin to turn away is by taking some deep breaths, asking Jesus to be present in our lives, asking him to shine the light of his love so that we can see what we have hidden, so we can bring the hate to the surface, let it go, be forgiven, and be set free.

We can then be in a better place to ask for the healing to continue, for Jesus to help us to be more patient, understanding, truer to who he calls us to be, which is people of love, willing the other’s good, accepting and encountering each other as fellow brothers and sisters on our journey together, recognizing that the common denominator for each of us is that we are all imperfect, we make mistakes, experience loneliness, and just want to belong.

The ongoing effects of Covid-19, especially the escalation of the outbreak in India, have helped us to see that: “The pandemic has highlighted how vulnerable and interconnected we all are. If we do not take care of each other, starting with the least — those who are most affected, including creation — we cannot heal the world” (Pope Francis, August 202).

In following Pope Francis, let us act more consciously and pray with people of all faith traditions and people of good-will, to renew and continue to conform our lives to the One who gave his life that we might be free from the grip of our own sins, prejudices, and darkness. May we allow the love of the Holy Spirit to guide and flow through us, so as to dissolve walls of hate and division, and instead build bridges of dialogue and healing. Instead of a tit for tat approach to contempt, hate, and dehumanization, we can choose instead to pause, breath, and turn again and again to Jesus for the strength to resist the easy and impulsive reaction so as to not act in kind but instead respond with acts of understanding, empowerment, and love.

I will leave you today with two quotes from those who lived this truth not only between individuals but spurred on social movements that still inspire us today. Please take good care of yourselves and each other.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The nectar of Love alone can destroy the poison of hate.” – Mohandas K. Gandhi

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Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, May 8, 2021