“I AM”

Jesus’ listeners “picked up stones to throw at him” (Jn 8:59). Though less violent, this interaction has some similarities found in Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse (cf. John chapter 6), where Jesus made the statement, that, “I am the bread of life” (Jn 6:48). In both cases, the people do not understand what Jesus is sharing and yet Jesus doubles down on the points that he made.

In John 6, Jesus holds firm to the truth that his followers will consume him and in today’s Gospel Jesus does not equate himself as being just a representative of God, a prophet or a rabbi, but that he, in fact, is God when he states: “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM” (Jn 58). With these words, Jesus has just done the unthinkable, he not only has spoken God’s sacred name, which is not to be uttered because it is considered too holy to do so, he equates this sacred name, “I AM”, with himself. Jesus is making his point very clear, that he is God. During the Bread of Life discourse, people walked away from him because they were repulsed and most likely considered him mad, here they believe he is speaking blasphemy of the highest order. The reactions would be appropriate in both cases, unless of course, Jesus is who he said he is.

As his listeners then, we too have a choice to believe or disbelieve in Jesus. One option that is off the table, if we give the Gospel accounts any rational reading, is that Jesus presented himself as just another teacher, philosopher, prophet, or guru. Jesus, during his public ministry, is consistently embroiled in conflict, which is evident in all four Gospels because Jesus presents himself as God incarnate. Jesus heals on the Sabbath because he is the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus is the Bread of Life, Jesus is: “I AM.”

The Apostles struggle to make sense of the words and actions of Jesus and we may also struggle with our understanding of who God is and who Jesus is. We may have doubts, concerns, and unanswered prayers and/or questions. To walk the path of discipleship is not to walk with constant assurance, for we walk by faith and not by sight (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:7). Walking by faith does not mean we throw up our hands, toss out all reason, and believe blindly. Dr. Holly Ordway defined faith as “trust based on a reasoned knowledge of the evidence.” Faith means that we trust that Jesus is who he claimed himself to be based on the scriptural evidence, our own experiments with the truth based on these claims, and our experiences of him in our time of prayer, meditation, contemplation, and everyday actions.

Jesus calls and we are to follow. He does not give us the full picture, but as we step out trusting in his call, he will reveal to us each step of the way what we need to know. He will be present and work through us as we continue to turn our life over to him and one another more and more each day. When we begin to doubt, we can lean on Peter’s claim, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:68-69). Peter made this claim based on his experience and trust in his relationship with Jesus. Our relationship and belief in Jesus will also grow to the same depth, moment by moment, with each, “Yes” to the invitation of Jesus, the Holy One of God.

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Photo: Icon of Jesus as Pantocrator – ruler of the universe.

Holly Ordway’s quote comes from Lesson 2: Bridging the Meaning Gap in her course: Imaginative Apologetics which can be accessed by registering for the Word on Fire Institute, the home page of which can be accessed: https://wordonfire.institute/

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, April 10, 2025

If we are willing, Jesus has come to set us free from our sins and lead us home.

It is interesting to note that in today’s Gospel reading from John, Jesus spoke to those who “believed in him” (Jn 8:31). But the more he talked, the less they seemed to understand who he was: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” His listeners balked at the word “free”, asserting that because they were ancestors of Abraham they have never been enslaved by anybody.

In the United States of America, freedom is also highly valued. Many of us would probably react very much in the same way. We may have different ways of expressing why we feel that we are free, but we would certainly assert that we are not enslaved to anybody or anything.

Jesus’ words ring just as true then as they do today: “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” Jesus shined his light on the truth that many of us do not see, which is our enslavement to sin. If we truly seek to be free, then we need to acknowledge this point. What many of us claim to be freedom, doing whatever we want to do, when we want to, and how we want to do it, is not true freedom. We cannot even hear the clanking of the chains or feel the weight of the shackles chaffing at our skin as we raise and shake our fists to assert our freedom of indifference!

Our response to Jesus’ statement: “who commits sin is a slave of sin” ought not to be one of hiding, denying, rationalizing, attacking, fleeing, or refusing to acknowledge such a thing as sin. It is better to embrace the truth that Jesus is placing before us. In this way, we allow his light to expose the darkness in our hearts where sin speaks and we realize where we have said yes to the father of lies. Becoming aware of our fault for those things we have done and have failed to do is the first step in becoming truly free.

When Pope Francis was asked in an interview, “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” he answered, “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.” We are all sinners because of the fact that we all in some form or fashion place idols before God. This is not a negative or defeatist attitude, quite the contrary. When we call out our sins in truth, we can be freed from them. When we think our life is about us first and foremost, and ignore or rationalize our sin, we allow them to have power over us.

We become free from our sins by acknowledging that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. This does not mean that we are awful people. It just means that we have fallen for an apparent good instead of the true Good that God wants for us. We have missed the mark of our true fulfillment. We need a savior to free us. Jesus accepts us as sinners but does not want us to remain in our sins. We do not have to be perfect nor have our house in order for him to come close, for he is already waiting for us. We do not need to be worthy, we just need to be willing to open the door when he knocks, and invite him into the chaos of our lives so that he can heal us with his grace, love, and mercy. When, “the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.” 

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Photo: Jesus is always, always looking for us and seeking to carry us back home.

Link for the interview with Pope Francis from America Magazine, September 30, 2013

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Will we choose death or life?

“[Y]ou will die in your sin” (John 8:21).

Jesus continued his discussion with the Pharisees but they still remained on different planes of understanding. Jesus coming from above and the Pharisees remaining below. Jesus came to meet us in our humanity to free us from what binds us to the physical realm alone. For God created man in his image and likeness and although we retain our image, we lost our likeness when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall die'” (Genesis 2:16-17).

In establishing this first covenant with Adam, God sought to invite him to not only participate in a relationship with his very own creation, he sought to have man perfected through obedience and participation in God’s life. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, through their sin, suffering and death entered the world and was made worse in their lack of willingness to repent. The separation from the source of any living, mortal being leads to death. Separation from God means death.

God did not give up. He continued to seek to re-establish a relationship and covenants with his children, seeking to do so through Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, until the appointed time when he sent his Son to help to shine the light on our fallen world. He brought the light to reveal the truth of the way back to the Father, the way to restore the glory and likeness to the Father that all of humanity was created to participate in.

Some of the Pharisees still did not understand that Jesus was telling them about being the Son of God that the Father has sent. He continued to reveal his intimate knowledge of the Father so that they could see, believe, and come to know the Father as he does. Jesus also gave them a clear choice that those who continued to reject him were choosing darkness and sin over the light and life of Christ and so will die in their sin. Those who believe in Jesus will become one with him in his divinity. They will not only continue to share in the image of the Father, but they will also be restored to experience their likeness of him.

This is the holiness we are all called to participate in. We are called to repent and renounce the attachments to the things of this world. Jesus shows us our deepest hunger, which is to grow in our relationship with him and his Father. Jesus’ consistent obedience, doing nothing on his own, saying only what the Father taught him, and always doing what was pleasing to his Father was a constant untying of the knots of Adam’s disobedience and a constant growing in intimacy that we are invited to participate in.

Jesus’ sharing of this intimacy with his Father started to shine through the darkness. The beautiful ending line of today’s gospel account is that while at the beginning some of the Pharisees were still struggling to understand him, they now began “to believe in him” (John 8:30). The question for us to ponder is, do we see and believe?

Photo: Making time to be still, to breathe, to think, helps us to better hear God speaking in the silence of our hearts.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, April 8, 2025

May we look to and trust in the light of Jesus.

Jesus seeks again to help the Pharisees understand who he is. In the preceding section of today’s Gospel of John, the Pharisees do not believe in his claim of being “the light of the world” because he testifies on his “own behalf, so [his] testimony cannot be verified” (Jn 8:13). The point being made here is that for verification there must be support given by two or three valid witnesses (cf. Deuteronomy 19:15). Jesus states that he testifies on his own behalf as does his Father who sent him (cf. Jn 8:19). His witness in this matter is God.

Jesus continues in today’s Gospel account to attempt to help the Pharisees and those gathered around them to understand who he is and what is about to transpire regarding his crucifixion. Jesus shared that God his Father sent him and continues to be with him. He has not left Jesus alone because Jesus maintains the intimacy of their relationship as he follows the will of his Father and will continue to do so all the way to being lifted up on the Cross.

Those listening to Jesus do not understand. They asked if he was talking about killing himself. Often throughout the ministry of Jesus many, even his Apostles, do not understand what Jesus taught, and that was because they were trying to make sense of what he said from this purely material and finite reality. Jesus invited them to seek a deeper understanding by sharing that he is from above and they were from below. They were needing to be born from above, to open their minds and hearts to him, as Simon Peter did when he came to realize that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus gave those he taught a choice. They could die in their own sin and stay in their present darkness, or receive his light, repent and choose to live in participation with him.

Discipleship is a journey. We will not come to understand Jesus from one instance or encounter. Even Saul, who had an amazing experience and encounter with Jesus and changed his name to Paul, would take about three years to digest the significance of what happened to him that day on the road to Damascus and would continually grow in his relationship and understanding. It will be so with us as well. We need to resist the world’s craving for instant gratification, especially regarding growth in our discipleship and spiritual maturity.

Our faith journey will be smoother as we acknowledge and repent from our sin, believe in Jesus, remain committed to him, receive and put Jesus’ teachings into practice. When we walk with him day by day, we will learn to follow the will of his Father as he did. The gift of the liturgical seasons is that as we walk each year with Jesus and assess our growth, we will, like a finger making an upward spiral motion, come again and again to the same point each year, and hopefully, we are higher up that spiral each time.

Sometimes it is hard to see our changes in our day to day reality, but over time with the gift of hindsight, we can discover that we indeed have made our closer walk with Jesus a reality. When we can honestly assess that this is not so, it is not too late to begin again, to repent from that which keeps us bound to this world and turn our gaze to that which is above. Jesus made his choice to follow the will of his Father, to be lifted up, and to die on the cross for us. We too have been given a choice. We can hold tight to our selfish nature, remain in the darkness of our sins, and curve in upon ourselves, or we can open our heart to the cross, allow the light of Jesus to shine in our darkness, identify, and repent from our sins, and be free.

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Picture: Holy Hour and quiet time with Jesus.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, April 7, 2025

“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

In today’s Gospel account from John, many people gathered around Jesus in the temple area and were sitting and listening to him, when a horrific display of human wickedness breaks in as, “the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle” (Jn 8:3).

This act of depravity is worse if we spend any time thinking about this verse. This was a calculated plan hatched by the scribes and Pharisees. They had been watching this woman for the opportune time to break in and catch her, using their own words of accusation, in “the very act of committing adultery” (Jn 8:4). If this group was this calculated and malicious, they would not have probably even given her the opportunity to put her clothes on, but grabbed her and brought her to the temple area.

The shame that this woman must have had to endure as she was dragged openly and publicly through the streets was made worse because this crowd brought her to the temple area. The temple was where people came to give sacrifice to atone for their sins and to worship God. What was worse was that the dehumanization of this woman most likely had nothing to do with bringing her to repentance, but had all to do with demeaning her for their own twisted ends to trap Jesus.

The Pharisees and scribes hatched this plot just to trap Jesus in what they believed was a fool proof way to bring charges against him. If Jesus did not follow the law of Moses and condemn her to be stoned, he could be charged for speaking out against the Mosaic law. If he did condemn her, he then could be charged by Roman law. Only the Roman authorities could institute the death of a person.

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger (Jn 8:6). With this action, Jesus could have been buying some time to think over his response. He could have just been showing an attitude of indifference toward the charges presented. The truth is, we also do not know what Jesus wrote in the dirt that day. St. Jerome proposed that he was writing the sins of those gathered around him as they were waiting for his judgment. Another interesting speculation is that Jesus was again showing his foundation in the prophetic tradition.

Jesus could have been quoting the prophet Jeremiah: “O LORD… all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water” (Jeremiah 17:13, RSV). Jesus had just shared a few verses earlier that anyone who believed in him : “Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, RSV). Those who came to trap Jesus could have found themselves getting caught in the trap instead and receiving God’s judgement for their forsaking God present before them in His Son (Pitre).

Whatever Jesus wrote had an effect unless the pregnant pause before Jesus spoke: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7) and when he returned to writing allowing for another pregnant pause allowed for his words to sink in. One by one, starting with the elders, the accusers, and even those who had gathered to listen to Jesus that morning, all walked away.

Jesus stood a second time only to find the woman standing before him. This is the first time he addressed her: “Has no one condemned you?” She replied with three simple words, “No one, sir.” And Jesus replied, “Neither do I condemn you.” Jesus did not seek to inflict any more shame on this woman and forgave her. Nor did he dismiss the sin. In Jewish law, there needed to be two witnesses to condemn someone of a capital crime. There was no witness left to do so. Jesus chose not to condemn her but also stated clearly, “Go, and from now on do not sin any more” (Jn 8:8-11)

Jesus and the woman looked eye to eye in the temple area, a stone’s throw away from the Mercy Seat of God. Jesus met this woman surrounded in her sin, shame, and anguish with mercy and forgiveness. He cleansed the temple precincts of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes who had darkened the area that day and his forgiveness purified her from the stain of her sin. This was no cheap grace. Jesus did convict the woman of her sin, but did so in a way that respected her dignity, unlike those who hauled her out publicly to humiliate her for their own malicious purposes. Jesus convicted her in private, once everyone had gone.

In forgiving her with love and mercy, I can imagine, that she, who had been dragged through the streets, not only experiencing the humiliation, but fearing that her death was imminent, then walked away from her encounter with Jesus crying not just with tears of relief, but with tears of joy. Could the words of Isaiah have come to her mind then, “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see I am doing something new” (Isaiah 43: 18-19). This woman having drunk from the “stream of living water” walked away born again, a new creature, transformed by the purifying love of God.

This account embodies the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. We bring our sins, contrition, fears, and are to be met with the loving mercy and forgiveness of Jesus in the priest. Not so that we can then just go out to do whatever we want to again, but to go and sin no more. To not only be forgiven, but to also receive the grace to help us to resist temptation, to heal, and through participating in the life in Jesus, walk with him along the way to restore the glory we lost.

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Painting: May we experience and share the same mercy and forgiveness.

Dr. Brant Pitre, Catholic Productions

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, April 6, 2025

Jesus cares.

Jesus is recorded, a few verses before (cf. 7:37-39) today’s Gospel,  speaking about quenching the thirst of those gathered around to listen to him. The thirst he is talking about fulfilling is spiritual thirst, that thirst which we all desire to be refreshed by, that which we have been created to receive; the thirst to belong, to be in communion, to be loved and to love in return. Jesus speaks of coming to those who thirst to be refreshed with: “Rivers of living water [that] will flow from within” (Jn 7:38). Jesus spoke of the day when he would send the Holy Spirit to well up from within the soul of each person who would follow him. All who participate in the life of Jesus would come to experience also the love shared between God the Father and God the Son, who is God the Holy Spirit.

Some who heard Jesus speaking in this way were deeply moved, they believed him to be the Prophet, others believed him to be the Messiah. Yet, there were those who could not see past their own preconceived notions. They heard his teaching, may have even been moved as well but said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee, will he” (Jn 7:41)? Remember Nathaniel’s first reaction when Philip had told him that they had found the Messiah? Nathaniel asked if anything good could come out of Nazareth (cf. Jn 43-47). Jesus was also rejected because he was looked down upon because of his trade as a tekton, a carpenter or a day laborer.

Why the region of Galilee, the town of Nazareth itself, would be disparaged is a matter of speculation. The fact was that there were those, unlike Nathaniel, that could not see past their initial prejudices. Even though Jesus spoke and taught with authority, though as the Temple guards who were sent to arrest him said, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man” (Jn 7:46), and even when Nicodemus spoke out rationally, requesting they hear Jesus out and give him the opportunity to make his case, there were those in authority and among the people who could or would not hear Jesus. They closed themselves off to the invitation to receive the gift of the love of God. Their charge was that he was not from Bethlehem, he was not of the line of David, case closed.

Our ingrained, prejudicial attitudes and our limitations of thought can prevent us from seeing as God sees. If we are not willing to follow Jesus’ invitation to repent, will become like a stagnant pool and, as did those in today’s Gospel account from John, close ourselves off from the life giving water Jesus offers us. Many of our daily routines, habits, livelihoods, health, and very lives can be shaken in an instant with unexpected news. A catastrophic medical diagnosis, layoff, weather event, the consequences of a sinful choice crashing down. We can react out of fear and feel debilitated on one hand or with the other we can brashly deny the reality of the situation. Aristotle wrote that virtue is the means between two extremes. Courage is the means between being paralyzed with fear and excessive reckless abandon.

Another option is to surrender to and place our trust in the Jesus whom many have and still reject. I have had a few experiences with unexpected news. I have done much better when I have leaned on Jesus and trusted in him. In doing so, I have not only survived the storms I have gone through, but have become more empowered by Jesus, matured, and grew stronger. Other thougts that we can be tempted by when tragedy strikes:  Does Jesus care, why would he do this to me, or does he even exist?

The words of Pope Francis in his Ubi et Orbi message at the height of Covid are still helpful. He said that Jesus, “more than anyone, cares about us.” Jesus cares. His hand is held out before us. We can reject it or receive it, the choice is ours. Jesus is the source of living water, he is the eye in the midst of any storm, he is the light leading us through the darkness. When we choose to breathe more and react less, we will be more likely to recognize and accept the offer of Jesus’ hand as Peter did when he was sinking in the storm at sea. By taking his hand and allowing him to lead us, we will act with more prudence, be more present and mindful, and better prepared to face any challenge.

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Painting: “The Hand of God” by Yongsung Kim

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, April 5, 2025

Let us seek to inform and not convince.

Jesus affirms who he is and whose he is in today’s Gospel of John. Despite those who do not believe that he is the Messiah, Jesus again makes his point very clear: “I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me” (Jn 7:28-29). Jesus is the Son of God made man and he belongs to the One who sent him, God the Father.

As Jesus was challenged in his time, he continues to be challenged today. That level of challenge has increased even to the degree that his human existence is even dismissed in some circles as a mere legend. Even as a historical figure, some speculate that Jesus did not walk the roads of Galilee and Judea as recorded in today’s Gospel. This need not be a reason for alarm. Though it is a reason to know our Tradition, the deposit of faith that has been preserved and passed on from Jesus to his Apostles and disciples, and to those early Church Fathers and Mothers named and unnamed, and passed on up to us to this day in an unbroken apostolic succession. We need to know the Bible, how to read and receive the sacred word, to understand its context, and schedule a daily time to encounter the Word proclaimed in worship as well as privately in reading, study, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

It is important to know what we believe, who we believe in, and whose we belong to. In this way when we are challenged, we do not need to stoop into a defensive crouch, but instead listen to the person’s points, their critiques, and ask questions of what they believe and why they believe what they believe. We can defend our position while at the same time being open to understanding where our questioners are coming from. We can then respond with the truth, just as Jesus did, with an open mind and heart of surrender to allow the Holy Spirit to be present through us.

When we are anxious, defensive, argumentative, seeking to be right, or fearing to be wrong, we limit what Jesus can do through us. God is not about numbers and quotas, he is about building relationships, one person at a time. It is more important to build relationships than to win arguments. We can learn much from St. Bernadette of Soubirous who when challenged time and again regarding the validity of her experiences and encounters with Mary responded, “My job is to inform, not convince.”

Lent is a good time to learn, grow, and to continue to develop our relationship with Jesus, as we continue our journey of faith, to share what we have received in a spirit of charity and dialogue with those we interact. We are all on this journey of seeking the True, the Good, and the Beautiful together. It is important to respect and love those who have differing perspectives outside of and even within the Church, be open to the reality that we can learn from each other, and allow God to guide each of us through our common challenges and step by faithful step grow closer to God and one another.

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Photo: James Tissot Nantes – “Jesus Teaches the People by the Sea.” The Father sent Jesus to heal, teach, and do what he was sent him to do and Jesus did. As we come to know Jesus, his Father, and the love of the Holy Spirit, we are to do the same.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, April 4, 2025

Do we believe in the One whom God has sent?

God heard the cry of his people who were suffering from enslavement in Egypt. God called and sent Moses to free them. Pharoah did not accept the request of Moses to let his people go and instead put more pressure on his slaves to fulfill their daily quota of bricks as before, though now without providing the straw that they needed to accomplish the task (cf. Exodus 5). The Hebrew slaves did not take out their frustrations on their oppressors but on Moses. This pattern of complaint continued time and again, even after their freedom was assured and they wandered in the desert. Even thought they were free, they complained regularly when things got tough, and stated that they were better off in their slavery and dependency on the Pharaoh instead of placing their trust and dependency upon God.

God the Father sent his Son to free us from our slavery to sin, just as he sent Moses to free the Hebrews enslaved under Pharaoh. How many times do we, like our ancestors, also complain, preferring our life of sin, a life of mere existence, over embracing the gift of a life lived to the full because it is what we know. Even worse there are too often those in positions of spiritual leadership who abuse their power, look out for their own interests, instead of guiding and serving the people entrusted to their care.

Jesus is recorded in today’s Gospel addressing those who are missing, “how God has made his will known to the people, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent” (Jn 5:37-38). God the Father has sent his Son to reveal his will but too many do not have eyes to see or ears to hear.

Those who are learned “search the Scriptures, because [they] think [they] have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But [they] do not want to come to me to have life” (Jn 5:39-40). What is hidden in the Hebrew Scriptures is revealed in the New Testament: the New Covenant made with Jesus and all of creation. The prophecies of old testify that the Messiah will come as a suffering servant, he will unify the nations, cleanse the Temple, and the enemies of God will be placed at his feet. These affirmations are presented and known by those who study the sacred texts, yet they still do not recognize the signs that the Messiah is in the very midst of them.

Even Moses testified of Jesus when he said: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kindred, and will put my words into the mouth of the prophet; the prophet shall tell them all that I command” (Deuteronomy 18:18). Yet the successors of Moses would not even believe in his writings, so Jesus said how would they believe in his words?

Jesus shows us in our Gospel reading today how the people of his time could have known he was who he claimed to be. This is true for us today as well. If we are sincerely seeking God who has and continues to make his will known, we will find him in philosophy, mathematics, the sciences, literature, his creation, in our service to each other, in truths of other faith traditions, but the fullness of the Father is revealed in our encounter of him through his Son, “whom he has sent”. Do we have eyes to see or will we miss God’s invitation because we do not believe in “the one whom he has sent”?

Jesus is also revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Bible. To understand the New Testament we must understand the Old, for Moses and the prophets testify to his coming and Jesus came not to abolish but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. Do we leave the Bible on the shelf like any other book? If we do read it, do we do so as if it were a dead letter, or do we read and hear it as it is truly meant to be read and heard, as the living Word of God proclaimed? We are more than a people of the book. We are a people of encounter.

The Father makes himself known to us through the presence of his Son and the love of the Holy Spirit. To experience the truth of this reality we are invited to accept his invitation of relationship. As we reach out to God, we come to realize that he is already present and reaching out to us through his Son. We do not need to run to God, because he is already running to meet us, waiting to hold us in his loving embrace, now and forevermore!

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Painting: “Christ in the Desert” by Ivan Kramskoi. Jesus suffered for us, and so can embrace us in our suffering because he understands.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, March 3, 2025

Just as the Father gives life, so does his Son.

The words of today’s Gospel from John is an answer to Jesus’ healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda we read yesterday. The issue at hand for those who are incensed by Jesus’ healing is that he has done so on the Sabbath. Jesus does not help his case with his critics though. For he says he healed on the Sabbath because he was directed to do so by his Father: “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes” (Jn 5:21). Jesus does not make concessions with those who oppose his actions of healing. He clearly states the truth about who he is, the Lord of the Sabbath. Those that did not believe Jesus was who he said he was, believed that he was a blasphemer of the highest order and the reason why they plot to kill him.

So too in our own age, there are many ways to express our understanding and belief about who Jesus was in his time and is today. If you haven’t thought about Jesus beyond his name in a while, about who he really is and why he is relevant to our lives, then allow St. Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, who lived from 297 to 373 AD, to offer a point to ponder today. Athanasius held firmly to and taught with conviction that Jesus is, “the Son of God [who] became man so that we might become God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 480). This statement is an acknowledgment that we cannot be saved on our own merits, through our own will power, and discipline alone. We become the fullness, we actualize who we are created to be, through our participation in the divinity of Jesus the Christ.

The reality that Jesus, fully human, is at the same time the second Person of the Holy Trinity, became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity is something worth meditating upon and praying about. There is much writing and discussion about how many people are leaving the Church, while at the same time so many are still hungry, starving, for a deeper, more intimate relationship with God. This is true for those who leave as well as those who remain whether either could or would articulate it in that way. Could it be that we have forgotten the foundation not only of our faith, but that we are followers of Jesus Christ?

By returning periodically to the words of St. Athanasius, meditating upon and praying with them, we just might remember who and whose we are. In this way, we will not have to face what lies before us this day alone. Jesus who healed the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, is reaching out his hand to us today as well. He is inviting us to take his hand and allow him to lead us to experience his healing touch and divinity which we crave to experience.

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Painting by Greg Olsen

Mass readings for Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Jesus is willing to come close to us, do we want to be healed?

Has there ever been a time when you were picked last for the team, whether on the playground, P.E., or gym class? I remember being on both sides, being picked last, and picking others to join and having to pick someone last. I preferred being chosen last rather than having to be in the situation to choose a classmate last. In our Gospel reading today, Jesus comes upon a man who has experienced an even worse situation.

This man had been in need of healing for thirty-eight years. Apparently, there was a limited time to get into the waters of the pool at Bethesda to experience the healing properties that it afforded, for each time the water stirred, while the man moved to get closer to and enter the water, “someone else [got] down there before” him. This is worse than getting picked last, as he doesn’t in a sense even make the team!

But with Jesus, the last shall become first. Key ingredients are belief, faith, and a willingness to be healed. Jesus does not impose, even in the case of healing, Jesus invites. He asks the sick man, “Do you want to be well?” When the man in need of healing explains the limitations he has experienced in the past regarding getting to the pool, Jesus does not hesitate. Jesus commands him to rise, pick up his mat and walk. The man is no longer the one picked over, the one ignored, the one unseen. The sick man encounters Jesus and is healed by his word.

Jesus approaches us in the same way that he encountered the sick man by the pool of Bethesda in today’s Gospel. Jesus meets us in our need, where we are, no matter our station in life. He does not leave us on the outside looking in, he does not leave us wondering if we are loved or if we belong. He does not only come to encounter us but if we are willing, to forgive, heal, and empower us to be about the mission given to us by his Father. Jesus gives meaning and purpose to our lives. Each and every one of us is a gift from God and has been graced with something to contribute to others, something unique to help make the kingdom of God a reality.

I invite you to enter a place of silence and stillness, without and within. Settle into a place with no or little distractions, breathe in deep and exhale a few times, one deep breath for each person of the Trinity, and then close your eyes. See your self as you are in your present seated position, breathing, experiencing your shoulders relaxing, and just being still. Then notice Jesus walking toward you as he did with the man at the pool of Bethesda.

Jesus is present, right here and right now, for you. There are no boundaries, no limitations, only those you impose on your self. You are no longer misunderstood, left out, or picked last. Jesus is present. Embrace the moment of knowing that you are loved, heard, and that you belong in the kingdom of God. The important question to answer is, “Do you want to be well?”

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Painting: close up of Head of Christ by Rembrandt

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, April, 1, 2025