Being Born from Above
Today’s reading from the Gospel of John presents us with Nicodemus “a teacher of Israel” struggling to understand what Jesus meant when he said, “You must be born from above.” Jesus attempted to clarify for Nicodemus with an analogy of the wind, yet this still did not help. Jesus goes on to explain how much a problem it is if Nicodemus and the leaders of Israel do not understand things that are concrete and plainly in view: “If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”
Thinking at that point that Jesus would soften his message he deepened his discussion, talking of how no one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, that the same Son of Man would be lifted up as Moses lifted up a snake in the desert, and God sent his only Son so that all might have eternal life. If Nicodemus’ head wasn’t already spinning with Jesus’ born from above statement, his eyes were probably spinning counter clockwise at this point.
What Jesus conveyed to Nicodemus, his Apostles, and disciples, as well as anyone in earshot, and ongoing for generations up to us this present day is that Christianity is not Gnosticism, some secret sect of knowledge that is past on for a select, elite few. Neither is Christianity a form of dualism or Manicheism such that our body and all that is material is bad and we need to shed the physical as soon as possible to attain the fullness of our potential through the absolute embrace of the spiritual only. Nor is Christianity Pelagianism, where we just need the proper discipline, will power, and persistence to follow the teachings of Jesus.
Jesus offers us a universal invitation for all to “be born from above”, which is to be baptized in his name, to follow him into his death, to die not to our material self, but our false sense of self, to our sin, our pride, that attitude and disposition that strives to set apart, diminish, devalue, dehumanize and polarize, and to rise with him. In being born from above, we receive the offer of divinity and so, instead of rejecting our humanity, embrace the fullness of our humanity. The grace of God builds on the goodness of the creation he has made and formed into existence with his love. We accomplish this the same way Mary, the Apostles, Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and Nicodemus did. We answer the call to holiness and sanctity. We say yes to Jesus and give him all we are.
Day by day may we accept to be lead by the hand of Jesus, the first born of the new creation and participate with him by offering our hand to others. May we resist the temptation to put up barriers, to keep others at arms length. We are all, every one of us, invited to become saints through our participation in the life of Jesus and this is a gift. I agree with Pope Francis who in his latest exhortation, “Gaudete et Exsultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad”) just released yesterday, that we cannot “claim to say where God is not, because God is mysteriously present in the life of every person, in a way that he himself chooses, and we cannot exclude this by our presumed certainties. Even when someone’s life appears completely wrecked, even when we see it devastated by vices or addictions, God is present there. If we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit rather than our own preconceptions, we can and must try to find the Lord in every human life.”
God is present in our life. May we embrace, breath in deep the Holy Spirit throughout the day, so to be transformed, transfigured, made new by the Love of God. May we help others experience the same.
Painting: Nicodemus talking to Jesus, William Brassey Hole
Link for article on “Rejoice and Be Glad”. I only had a chance for a quick skim and look forward to reading it and the whole exhortation of Pope Francis at some point when I get a free moment…
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/04/09/pope-francis-new-exhortation-jesus-wants-us-be-saints
Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, April 10, 2018:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041018.cfm
May we say yes to the Incarnation and the Resurrection!
You may think it a bit odd that we are reading the account of the Annunciation from Luke 1:26-38 as we begin the second week of Easter. The reason this is so is that the Solemnity of the Annunciation usually falls on March 25 because that is calculated to be nine months until December 25. This year March 25 fell on Palm Sunday, then Holy Week, and Easter, so today is the first opportunity to celebrate the Annunciation.
The Solemnities of the Annunciation and Easter help us to remember and celebrate the two major foundational beliefs that we follow as Christians: the Incarnation and the Resurrection. The Incarnation is the acknowledgment that the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, was conceived in the womb of Mary and became human. He retained the fullness of his divinity while at the same time experiencing the fullness of his humanity.
The Resurrection as we have been celebrating this Easter Season is the deeper embrace of the human condition as Jesus encountered and experienced the result of our sinfulness, which is death. He did so in the most brutal of ways through betrayal and crucifixion. Yet death did not have the last word for Jesus. Jesus accepted death, conquered it, and rose again.
For many the gift of Mary’s yes, her willingness to give birth to Jesus, that he as the Son of God became one with us so we can be one with him, was conceived, born, lived, died, and rose again, may be somewhat ho-hum to many, even Christians. They have heard the story so many times, or barely hear it proclaimed, and the thought being, “Well that’s all well and good for Jesus, but what about me?” That is exactly the point. Jesus entered our human condition exactly so we could go beyond mere existence, mere survival, but through participation in his death, we too can rise again with him and live our life with fullness and with joy today and all days into eternity!
How do we do this? We are invited to open up our hearts and minds to him, to know Jesus, who knows us better than we know ourselves. He who has called us by name, even before our birth. We do this just as Mary did. By opening ourselves up to the invitation of God’s blessing that he pours out on all of us, the good and bad alike. We say yes to his invitation. Each yes is a recognition of the gift of the Incarnation and the Resurrection. Each yes is an embrace of the wonderful gift, that through our participation with Jesus, we share in his divinity.
Our yes with Jesus is lived out each day. We spend time silently with him in prayer. We become aware and acknowledge with thanksgiving how he is already working and present to us in our daily lives. We say yes when we are given the blessing of interruptions and opportunities to serve others. We come to know him through his living Word offered in the Bible, reading, listening, praying and meditating on his Word so that he becomes a part of us. We experience him through opportunities of receiving healing in Reconciliation and during worship, receiving him in the Eucharist. We say, as we awaken each day, yes to his invitation to spend the day together, and allow God to happen in our lives. We walk step by faithful step! Say yes to Jesus today!
Photo: Close up of Heinrich Hofmann’s Christ and the Rich Young Ruler, 1889
Link for the Mass readings for Monday, April 9, 2018:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040918.cfm
“Peace Be With You.”
The disciples had locked themselves in a room out of fear from further persecution from the Jewish leadership. Jesus was crucified and as their followers they must have believed they would be next. They were also ashamed of having turned away from Jesus during his time of dire need. Amidst the heavy weight of fear, despair, and shame, Jesus “came and stood in their midst”. There reaction of amazement and fear of Jesus’ judgement could only just begin to form in their minds because as Jesus came and stood in their midst [he] said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Jesus forgave them for their betrayal, for not being there for him. He did not appear to his followers to rub their nose in their shame or to tell them he told them so. Jesus came among them and immediately bestowed upon them his mercy. He then commissioned them to be his Apostles as he said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” As Jesus is the Son of God, he has the power to forgive, and he is now sending his Apostles to be bearers of his mercy as he works through them.
Thomas, though not present on this first encounter, is present the following week and seeing the marks on Jesus hands and his side, he too believed, saying, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas too became an agent of mercy and reconciliation.
Today, we still have access to the gift of God’s mercy and forgiveness instituted by Jesus as is recorded in today’s Gospel of John. This is a gift of healing made available to us, like the Eucharist, so that we may continue to experience Jesus working in our life. When we come to the priest, we are coming to those, who in an unbroken apostolic succession, have continued to be bearers of Jesus himself. It is to Jesus, through our priests that we confess, and it is Jesus through his ministers, that we hear the words of and receive absolution.
On this Divine Mercy Sunday, may we spend some quiet time with today’s Gospel and imagine ourselves in the locked room with the disciples. Experience Jesus appearing in our midst as he says, “Peace be with you!” Allow the radiating light of his mercy and forgiveness to wash over and through our whole being. Let us call to mind those sins that have kept us bound, visualize them as words floating up and out of us and dissipating in the radiance of Jesus’ white and red rays emanating from his merciful heart. May we allow ourselves to be transformed, transfigured by the Love and Forgiveness of Jesus.
This week may we seek opportunities to participate in the healing sacrament of Reconciliation, and pledge to practice mercy and forgiveness with others. May we react less and breath deeply more. Instead of adding fuel to the fire of negativity, let us seek to be an advocate for healing and reconciliation. May we also take some time today to think of someone who could benefit from the presence of Jesus through our being present to them, someone who may need “to hear God’s good news of forgiveness and love” (Francis, 25). We are not able to absolve someone of their sin, but we can forgive, make an effort to reach out to others in prayer and in person, and allow the love and mercy of Jesus flow through us to those in need. Alleluia!
Painting: The first image of the Divine Mercy painted representing St. Faustina’s vision by Eugene Kazimirowski, 1935
McCann, Deborah. 30 Days of Reflections and Prayers: What Pope Francis Says About Mercy. New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2015.
Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, April 8, 2018:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040818.cfm
May we believe in, live, and share the Gospel
Today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark, 16:9-16, is commonly called, “The Longer Ending.” Most ancient manuscripts of Mark end at 16:8. Whether this Gospel ended there or the original ending was lost is not known. Many biblical scholars also recognize in these verses a different writing style, so attribute this longer ending to a different author. This ending recounts that Mary Magdalene and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus met the risen Jesus. When both Mary and the two disciples share their experiences with the eleven, they are not believed, and “later, as the eleven were at table, he [Jesus] appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart”.
How many times had Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for being hard of heart? Now he is saying the same to the eleven for not believing the accounts of Mary and the two disciples. We do not have a reason for their unbelief and maybe that is well and good, because that gives us the opportunity to ponder for ourselves, when has someone brought us a message from Jesus and we responded to them with hard hearts and were unbelieving? Are there certain people we would not believe no matter what good news they had to share with us?
Jesus does not belabor the point. His rebuke helped them to see that as his followers their hearts needed to be open to him working through others, as he told John when someone was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, “whoever is not against us is for us” (cf. Mk 9:40). Christianity is not a secret sect, it is a universal call and proclamation for all. We are celebrating this Easter Octave, and we continue to do so each year, that the Son of God became incarnate, entered into our human condition, lived, suffered, and died, conquered death, and rose again, for all of humanity and creation.
Jesus conquered death and became the first born of the new creation and invites us to participate in his reign of the kingdom of heaven. This is the Good News he wanted his eleven to proclaim. He then said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). Jesus is calling us to do the same, as brothers and sisters, working in solidarity, not for a select few in our pew, but for all in our realm of influence. We are to bring the light, joy, and love of Jesus person to person. Let us also be open to God working through others and receive his message from them as well! Alleluia!!!
Photo: Altar in St Edwards Church, Palm Beach, FL
Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, April 7, 2018:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040718.cfm
Mistakes are necessary for growth. Jesus is necessary for transfiguration!
There are a handful of incidents in today’s Gospel reading from John that refer back to encounters Jesus had with his Apostles before his death and resurrection. Jesus waits on the shore as seven of his disciples; Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two others, return from a night of fishing. This is reminiscent of when Jesus first came to Andrew and Simon, James and John as they were casting and mending nets and he invited them to follow him. The disciples return with their nets empty, and Jesus suggests that they cast their net over the right side and they quickly find that they “were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.” Peter had this experience in one of his first encounters with Jesus when he had been fishing all night and Jesus made the request to put out into the deep water, and that time they were able to fill both boats.
After their great catch “of one hundred fifty-three large fish” John told Peter that the Lord was the one who had instructed them. Just as when Jesus approached his disciples that night walking on the stormy waters, Peter jumped out of the boat and walked on water until he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink. Peter again “jumped into the sea.” When Peter and the disciples came to shore “they saw a charcoal fire.” This recalled the most recent charcoal fire outside the gate where Jesus was led for his judgement. To keep warm he joined the servants and slaves huddled around a charcoal fire. It was at that charcoal fire that Peter denied Jesus. The final scene in today’s account was when Jesus offered cooked fish and bread to his disciples, echoes of Jesus feeding the five thousand with two loaves and a few fish.
Through our life we will come upon encounters with people and incidents that we have experienced before. We may not have been as present as we have wanted to be when attempting to comfort someone, we may have given in to temptation we regretted, or we may have been involved in some task and made a mistake, just as Peter had denied Jesus three times at that charcoal fire. Peter wept when he heard the cock crow. The sound brought back Jesus’ prediction, brought to light Peter’s own denial and cowardice. How many times must he have berated himself, as we have done when we have sinned, fallen short of our goals, or made mistakes?
Making mistakes and taking risks, are necessary for learning in any endeavor in life. Jesus does not want us to beat ourselves up when we fall short or fail. What is required to mature and grow is an honest assessment of the situation, and then a movement to correct and learn from our mistakes. Often we overcompensate in the beginning, but as we remain persistent we reach a healthy balance. A concrete example of this was my first experience with bowling. The first time I walked on the lane, took aim, and released the ball, I threw it into the left gutter, and then the next throw went into the right gutter. Eventually, my adjustments were less drastic and I was able to strike more pins than gutters. The same is true for our everyday lives.
Jesus returns to be with his disciples after his resurrection, he meets them in very similar settings as he had before his death. All of his disciples failed him, Jesus does not condemn them, but helps to show them how far they have come since he first called them, while at the same time helping them to see how far they still have to go to actualize their potential. Jesus is not only their teacher, but the divine source of their own transfiguration. With Jesus guiding us, and empowering us with his love, encouraging us to move beyond our own self, hopefully, we will be a little more present to someone the next time we are in a position to provide comfort or understanding, have greater resolve when tempted, and be able to see our sins and mistakes as well as learn from them.
Jesus has risen again, appeared to his disciples to guide them, encourage and empower them to be who God has called them to be. Jesus offers us the same teaching, guidance, and power shared from the wellspring of his divinity that we will be able to also access when we choose to accept the free gift of his grace and participate in his life. Our repentance and Jesus’ forgiveness goes beyond helping us to become better people. Through the love of Jesus, our minds, hearts, and souls change, we are transfigured, and conformed to Jesus and his life of resurrection. Alleluia!!!
Photo: Bowling in the Bronx, my pre-novitiate year with the Franciscans of Holy Name, around 1991, just missed the spare…
Link for the Mass readings for Friday, April 6 2018:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040618.cfm
Jesus is Risen and alive, so we can thrive!
Just as Jesus came among Cleopas and the other disciple on their road to Emmaus, Jesus does so again as the pair was recounting the encounter with the risen Jesus. What Jesus does differently in this interaction is that he clarifies that he is not a ghost, that he is not mere spirit. Jesus said to those gathered around him, “Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have” (Lk 24:39). He then requested some fish and, just as before, he ate and talked with his disciples.
We have heard about the resurrection of Jesus, maybe for years, but it is important not to get complacent with the amazing miracle that this is. Also, we need to resist the temptation to diminish in any way the significance, that Jesus was transfigured physically. Jesus, was and continues to be a hypostatic union, meaning that he is one divine person, fully divine, subsisting in two natures, the human and divine. The humanity of Jesus through his resurrection was fully actualized and transcended the limitations of the three dimensional realm that he had experienced in his humanity before. This is how he could disappear after making himself known in the breaking of the bread and how he will come through a locked door to interact with his disciples.
The relevance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus for us, is that he, in dying and conquering death, is now the reality of who we will one day be. We will be fully actualized as God has created us to be. The good news is that we do not have to wait to go to heaven for this process to begin! The path of becoming fulfilled and whole begins in this life, now, as we accept Jesus as our Lord and Redeemer. Jesus in his encounter with his disciples from today’s reading from Luke, continues the message he began at the beginning of his ministry, which is one of repentance and forgiveness.
We are to live a life of humility, to call to mind our sins and repent daily. Jesus will forgive us, and as we receive his mercy and forgiveness we are to offer the same to others in our midst. May we spend some time thanking Jesus today for not only suffering and dying for each and every one of us, but also for living through us. Jesus is the source of our life and salvation. Jesus has come to show us that we are not in competition with God, but that his Father, our Father, seeks to be in solidarity with us. A statement attributed to the second century Church Father, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, is that “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.” We do not need to merely exist or survive in this life. Instead, may we live our life in participation with Jesus the Christ and thrive! Alleluia!!!
Photo: Me and Fr. Jean, I believe from my first Christmas Mass serving as a deacon.
Link for the Mass reading for Thursday, April 5, 2018:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040518.cfm
Jesus is among us, invite him in.
Our Gospel reading for today continues the same theme of our first few resurrection accounts with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. There is a feeling of despair. The hope of Jesus being the Messiah, the promised one to redeem and deliver his people Israel seemed to have been in vain. Even though Jesus sought to prepare his followers for his death, they could not, or would not, believe in the death of the Messiah.
Cleopas and his companion are in mourning as they walk along the road to Emmaus. They have left Jerusalem and are commiserating among themselves, attempting to understand how their hopes had been dashed. They were so sure that Jesus was who he said he was, now what were they to do? Jesus then comes upon them in the midst of their discussion. Jesus meets them where they are and weaves his way into the conversation and their journey.
The time for them to part arrived and Jesus motioned to them that he was going to continue on. Cleopas and the other disciple urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over” (Lk 24:29). Jesus did just that and he revealed himself to them “in the breaking of the bread”(Lk 24:35).
The account of the road to Emmaus has relevance for our own spiritual journey. How many times have we had an inaccurate understanding of Jesus in such a way that we felt let down? Have we domesticated Jesus, or limited who he is, seeing only one aspect of his person that we accept, attempted to shape or conform him to our image and likeness? Have we prayed for something and then that petition or intention was not fulfilled in the way we had hoped? Have we sought Jesus and felt that he wasn’t there for us in our time of struggle or during those times that we felt that we needed guidance?
We need to remember that Jesus is the Son of God and we are not. He meets us as we are and accepts us as we are, but also calls us to be more, to actualize the fullness of our potential. That means stretching us beyond our comfort zones, urging us to let go of our safety nets and training wheels. As he was transfigured, so are we called to be as well. We are transfigured as Jesus was by entering into participation of Trinitarian Love, which is a resisting to withdraw into oneself, but instead to be willing to be loved and to love, to give of oneself to another, to will the good of others.
This Easter Season, may we spend time meditating on the word of Sacred Scripture, allowing Jesus to shape and guide our understanding of the truths within such that our hearts will be burning within us. Let us gather together in worship to hear his word proclaimed as well as experience him revealed in the breaking of the bread in our worship together in the celebration of the Mass. May we put into practice what we have heard and received. May we be open to Jesus coming into the midst of our everyday activities, to recognize him in the interruptions that arise. May we share the sacrificial love we have received from Jesus with those in our realm of influence. May we realize that Jesus is among us, closer to us than we are to ourselves. We just need to invite him in as Cleopas and the disciple did on the road to Emmaus and let God happen. Alleluia!!!
Painting: Road to Emmaus, Robert Zünd
Link for the Mass reading for Wednesday, April 4, 2018:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040418.cfm
Mary Magdalene brings Good News to her brothers and to us!
As we continue through the readings for Easter we will been given glimpses of encounters with the risen Jesus. This is good news for us, as the risen Jesus of the Gospels is the same Jesus who we have the opportunity to encounter each day.
In today’s Gospel, we continue where we left off this past Sunday (cf. Jn 20:1-10). Mary does not return with the Peter and John as they head back home after having observed the empty tomb. Mary stayed by the side of the tomb and wept. Mary then peered into the tomb and witnessed two angels. As she turned back she saw who she believed to be the gardener. She questioned the man as to the whereabouts of Jesus. Mary sought for a rational reason for where the dead body had gone. When the man did not immediately answer, she must have turned away again, because Jesus said to her, “Mary” (Jn 20:16)!
Upon hearing her name, Mary Magdalene recognized Jesus.
Peter and John left the empty tomb. We do not know why, could they have wanted to report what they had seen to the other disciples, as Mary had done with them? Mary could have gone back also, but something impelled her to stay. It could have been the sorrow that brought her to tears, it could have been her dedication and faithfulness to Jesus to find him, to anoint him as she had come to do that first early Easter morning, it could have been that she did not know what to do next, or there was a sense beyond her understanding that compelled her to stay. What is revealed is that Jesus came to Mary and when she called him “Rabbouni”, Jesus asked her to, “Stop holding on to me”.
What was Mary holding on to? Though mistaking him for the gardener at first she came to recognize that he had indeed come back to life. But in calling Jesus Rabbouni, teacher or master, Mary was going back to the relationship she had with him before. Jesus was transfigured, he was different than he was before. Jesus actualized the fullness of his humanity, while still retaining the fullness of his divinity. Though the fullness of his mission would not be complete until he returned back to the Father at his Ascension.
There was not only a newness to Jesus, but his relationship with his followers would also be transformed. When Jesus charged Mary to return, she was to convey the message he gave her to his “brothers”. He no longer was calling them his disciples but his brothers. As Jesus would return to the Father, he would unleash the power of that divine communion unto his new brothers and sisters who believed in him through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are heirs to the same promise that Mary Magdalene, the Apostle to the Apostles, shared with the Twelve. Jesus has become the first born of the new creation and through our baptism in his name: the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we participate in his death and resurrection, so to share in Jesus’ life and love that he shares with his Father. We too are his brothers and sisters, we too are being configured and transformed into the Body of Christ. This is why we have cause for joy and celebration. This is why, like Mary, we are called to, “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord” in our everyday lives! Alleluia!!!
Painting: “Christ and Mary at the Tomb” by Joseph F. Brickey
Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, April 3, 2018:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040318.cfm
Who do you believe this Easter?
The good news of the empty tomb seemed to be over before it started. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were bewildered from their encounter with the angel and the empty tomb. As they ran to get the news to the disciples, they were also dealing with mixed emotions, feeling both “fearful yet overjoyed,” (Mt 28:8) when in the midst of their travel they were greeted by Jesus. Jesus assured them and sent them to, “tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Mt 28:10). Off the pair went to share the message that Jesus had risen!
At the same time, some of the guards who witnessed the event at the tomb, took a different way and headed into the city to meet with the chief priests. They relayed the incident about the earthquake and the angel appearing to them and the two women. After deliberating, the chief priests and the elders paid the guards a large sum to perpetuate the tale that his disciples took Jesus away.
Who would be believed, the two women or the guards? Apparently both! Mary Magdalene and the other Mary fulfilled their first apostolic role and passed on Jesus’ message to his disciples for them to meet him in Galilee. Galilee was where the public ministry of Jesus began. They would all go back to the beginning. The tale spread by the guards would also be believed, because by the time of the writing of the Gospel of Matthew, the community, to which he wrote, were aware that, “this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day” (Mt 28:15).
Let us ponder some questions today. Which account do we believe? Did Jesus really rise again from the dead as the angel, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary claim or was this an elaborate plot by the disciples of Jesus to stage his resurrection, as the guards portrayed? How we answer these questions ought to make a difference in our lives. If we say yes, we believe in Jesus and that he rose again, do we live our lives any differently than those who say they don’t believe?
We, as followers of Jesus who rose again, are to be like the angel and each Mary. We are to be Alleluia people, those who proclaim hope and life, those who bring light into places of darkness, those who empower and inspire. We are able to live and proclaim in this way when we have aligned ourselves with Jesus who is the Resurrection, who is our Way, our Truth, and our Life.
Painting: The Empty Tomb, Mikhail Nesterov, 1889
Link for the Mass readings for Monday, April 2, 2018:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040218.cfm
