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May we, like Mary, give without counting the cost.

“Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil” (Jn 12:3). This is indeed some gift that Mary shares with Jesus, though Judas’ critical response showed that he missed the point of her offering, which went well beyond the material cost of the perfume. Mary even exceeded the gesture of hospitality by going beyond washing Jesus’ feet and anointing them as well. This act of caring could have been a bestowal of appreciation and gratefulness toward Jesus who brought Lazarus, her brother, back to life, but it was even more than that.

In Jesus’ correction of Judas, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial” (Jn 12:7), we may intuit the best source for interpreting Mary’s act. Mary comprehended better than any of the Apostles that Jesus’ death was imminent. Mary’s washing the feet of Jesus, anointing them, and drying them with her hair was a gift of love, of giving herself in service to the Son of God. This exchange mirrors the communion between God the Father, God the Son, and the love shared between them, God the Holy Spirit. Mary follows the will of the Father and plays her part in salvation history.

Martha is again present and seemed to have learned from their last encounter. She is again serving the meal, but this time she is not complaining. Martha was not anxious and worried about many things. Judas was the one corrected this time when Jesus told him to, “Leave her alone.” Mary has shown her spiritual growth as well. She is no longer sitting at Jesus’ feet but anointing them for his imminent death. Her generosity in pouring out such a large amount of perfumed oil which was evident because the fragrance filled the entire house. Mary’s generosity foreshadowed the generosity of Jesus not just in his eventual washing of the feet of his apostles but ultimately, his total self-gift that he will give of himself on the cross.

We do not know how Mary came to possess this precious oil, but what we do know is much more important. She did not grasp or cling to the oil, she did not count the cost and just pour out a little bit. When she felt moved to pour the costly nard and anoint the feet of Jesus she freely poured the perfume out in an act of love to serve the need of Jesus by anointing him for his death and burial.

What is something that we may hold as precious that God may be calling us to give up, to let go of, to pour out, not just for the sake of doing so, but in service to Jesus? The path to holiness and sanctity, is coming to a place in our lives in which we can let go of that which we are attached to, so to hear clearly the will of God, know what is required of us, and give freely in love and service without counting the cost. May we follow the lead of St. Mother Teresa who said that she sought to be just a pencil in God’s hand. May we come to spend time in prayer and quiet meditation and contemplation each day so we may know, hear, and act without hesitation on God’s voice.

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Painting: Mary anointing the feet of Jesus.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, April 14, 2025

May we pray and trust in Jesus.

In yesterday’s Gospel reading, Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin plot to bring about the death of Jesus. The results of their planning will be on full display today in the Gospel account of Luke 22:14-23:46.

The scene from the Passion account that I would like to reflect upon is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Lk 22:39-46). The disciples follow Jesus to the Mount of Olives and once arriving, Jesus withdraws about a stone’s throw from them, and kneeling, he prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.” As Jesus accepted the cup he would take from his Father, He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground. Jesus is willing to follow the will of his Father even unto giving his life.

Jesus has done all that the Father asked of him, he has preached, taught, healed, exorcised demons, and each time his Father requested something of him, Jesus said, “Yes.” He now finds himself on death’s door. He can probably sense Judas and the Temple guards drawing close. He will soon be turned over to those who have rejected the will of his Father. Jesus would say, “Yes” again, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.”

With these words of surrender Jesus echoed the verse from Psalms 42 and 43: “Hope in God, I will praise him still, my savior and my God.” Even faced with his death, Jesus accepted the will of his Father, his Abba. He trusted that there would be a greater good from the sacrifice of giving his life. Jesus would surrender all and what is on full display for us in the garden is the mystery of his hypostatic union: Jesus is one divine person, the Son of God, subsisting in two natures and two wills, the human and divine.

The God man, Jesus, arose, and as he approached his disciples he found them sleeping from grief. Jesus was ready to face the cross even if his apostles were not. As with the Apostles, Jesus commands us to watch and pray this Holy Week. How many times have we also been in a situation of facing something that is too heavy to bear, and our response is to sleep.

We, like the disciples fall short, for our flesh is weak, and we too have sinned. Yet, Jesus has faith in us that we will actualize who his Father calls us to be, as he still had faith in his apostles who persisted despite their failures and fulfilled their role in God’s plan. No matter what test, trial, or tribulation looms before us, let us now rise with Jesus and meet it head on, placing our trust in God, as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Let us follow the lead of Jesus, the Son, this Holy Week and surrender our will to the Father so to experience the Love of the Holy Spirit. No matter the challenge, come what may, we are not alone. Let us hope in God, let us praise him still, our savior and our God.

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Painting: “In Agony He Prayed”, Chad Winks

Link for the Mass reading for Sunday, April 13, 2025

“Better for you that one man should die instead of the people…”

A core group within the leadership of Israel has decided. They will not deny themselves, their power, prestige, their place. They will not take up their cross and follow Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. They will not allow the teaching and momentum of the growing number of those following Jesus to continue unchecked. As Passover drew nearer, thousands of people were coming to Jerusalem to purify themselves for the great feast.

This meant that many more centurions would be in place to keep the peace. The division and commotion that Jesus was causing could escalate conflict, unrest, and then swift and violent retribution from the Roman presence. The Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council, followed the lead of the high priest, Caiaphas, who said, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish” (Jn 11:49-50). With these words, they began to plan how to put to death the carpenter of Nazareth.

With the words of Caiaphas, the sun began to set on the life of Jesus. These words even affect us still today as they usher in the sunset of our Lenten observance. The gift of our liturgical readings allows us to relive the story of our faith. Lent has given us a time to reflect, to meditate upon who Jesus is. Is he just a carpenter, another teacher, or a holy man from the past? Is he each of these, but someone so much more, the Son of God who became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity?

Do we see Jesus’ teachings and life as a threat as did the Sanhedrin? Do we like our life the way it is, such that we do not want Jesus to come into our home and start turning over the tables and disrupting our order and comfort? Do the Gospels cut us to the heart and inspire us to shake off our complacency, our indifference, our cynicism, our fear, so to be inspired to acknowledge our sins, to repent, and to begin anew? Are we willing to have our hearts opened such that we see the needs of our brothers and sisters and so are moved with compassion to help?

As Holy Week begins with the Vigil Mass for Passion Sunday may we meditate on the words of Caiaphas, “consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish” (Jn 11:49-50). Caiaphas did not know that what he proclaimed would be so true. The one, Jesus, would die, not only so the nation would not perish, but that all of humanity would not perish and be saved.

Jesus died for each and everyone of us that we might have life and have it to the full. As the sun sets this Saturday evening, may it not be just another rotation of the earth on its axis, but an opportunity to commit once again to make time to ponder and appreciate Jesus dying for us that we may be empowered to die to our false selves, our egos, our self-centered postures, and better take up our cross and follow Jesus into Holy Week.
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Photo: As each day ends, may we examine what we have been grateful for and where we have fallen short ask for forgiveness and help to begin again.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, April 12, 2025

Blasphemer or Son of God?

Two groups of Jews emerged in today’s Gospel account. There were those about to stone Jesus for blasphemy and those who began to believe. The first group did not recognize Jesus as the Son of God. There may have been some opening, which Jesus appeals to, in the good works that Jesus had done. These works came from his Father, and so Jesus sought to reason with them, “even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (Jn 10:38). They listened to the claim that Jesus was making but they refused to accept the fulfillment of the assertion: Jesus did the works of his Father because he was then and still is today the Son of God. Jesus knew the voice of his Father and was obedient to his Father’s will.

The more that Jesus sought to help them to understand that he was who he says he is, the more they dug in their heels. They may have left the stones on the ground but then moved to have him arrested. Jesus evaded their grasp and moved on to the region across the Jordan where John first baptized. John did not preach in the Temple precincts either, even though he was the son of a priest. John followed the lead of God to prepare the way for Jesus and his eternal priesthood. The Temple had not been the seat of God for some time. Jesus would become the new living Temple.

Jesus returned to the place of his baptism, where he joined in solidarity with sinful humanity. This visible image of consecration revealed what happened silently in his conception and birth: the Son of God took on flesh and became man to open up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed. As people came to John in the Jordanian wilderness, so too, people came to Jesus. Not all rejected his message. Many came to him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many there began to believe in him (Jn 10:41-42).

The question that arises for us as our steps take us closer to Palm Sunday and Holy Week is to which group of Jews recorded in today’s Gospel account will we align ourselves with? Will we label Jesus as a blasphemer or accept that Jesus is the Son of God? The scriptural record does not reveal indifference as an option, the accounts do not leave any room for Jesus being only human; a good teacher, a wise man, or a revolutionary radical.

We either accept Jesus is fully human and fully divine or we don’t. If he isn’t who he claimed to be, the Son of God, then Christianity is just another philosophical, theological pursuit. If we accept that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, then our lives ought to be aligned to his. Our thoughts, words, actions, and even our faces need to reflect that truth.

A good way to begin each day is affirming this fact by stating with an attitude of prayer, “Jesus I believe in you, I need you,” and asking him what works of the Father he would have us offer in his name this day? In what ways can we be of help and support to those around us? May we have the openness of mind and heart to hear his words and the courage to act upon his guidance, so to be the precious, living stones we are, radiating the light from our source, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

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Painting credit: Sacred Heart of Jesus by Charles Chambers, hanging in my bedroom.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, April 11, 2025

“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.