John 14:7-14 Whomever has seen me has seen the Father.

In today's Gospel, there is a line, "Show us the Father."  It reminds me of when people say, "Show me the money!"  There is so much doubt and perhaps annoyance in it.  Jesus is challenging Philip and us to look at the entire situation differently than originally perceived.  Philip followed Jesus for a long time, Jesus tells us, but still Jesus is shaking his head at him and asking how Philip could still not know him. 

We live sometimes in the moment, that words spoken seem more important than the actions or rhythmic pattern of one's life, but Jesus is arresting Philip's attention, and basically saying, hey, look deeper into what you know is true, not because I said it, but because I have said it and lived it;  You know that it isn't me, but the one who sent me who is beckoning to you to come follow me to him. 

"The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own."  Just as when we proclaim Jesus's words, we are in him and him in us because through our imitation of him, we have become an extention of him, so too are his word's the Father's and so the Father is in him and he in the Father because he is an extention of the Father.  So really, when we do good works, and proclaim the Kingdom, we are an extention of the Father through Christ, and we know the Father is with us.  This is what Jesus explains to Philip.  Jesus says that he will help Philip with anything because of that, just as he will help us.     

Luke 11: 14-23 A House Divided Cannot Stand

In ministry to the homebound many types of family behaviors has been witnessed.  Most of the time families work together to help the member in need.  There was once a family with many siblings.  While their mother was healthy they squabbled and fought for years.  There would be jabs about what the were going to take when their mother passed away.  They were open about wanting to move away from each other as soon as their mom was dead.  Their mother was grieved to no end. It disappointed the grandchildren and great grandchildren. They were asked many times by different people to stop. 

In today's first reading we hear about how the Israelites knew how they should act, but chose not to.  Instead they fought, fell into bad habits, and those habits turned into sin leading them away from God.  Because they had turned away from God, the word of God had vanished from their midst. How similar this is to the family mentioned above where their petty rivalries and jealousy turned their hearts away from what was good toward selfishness and evil habits. 

Jesus drives out demons though.  He is the word of God.  He came to be with is, to proclaim the kingdom, to bring healing and life.  The religious leaders of his time were suspicious.  How could good overcome evil so easily and drive it away?  They thought surely he must be in league with the demons for them to do what he says.  Here's the catch Jesus gives us, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself,  how will his kingdom stand?...But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you." 

Just as Jesus foretold that a house divided cannot stand, that family that was divided was being torn apart being held together with only loyalty to their mother and nothing else.  However by some divine merciful grace when their mother's heart began to fail and she needed full time care, they came together in a way that they had never done so before.  The home is filled with love and concern, with adult brothers and sisters looking not only after their mother, but each other with love and compassion, and consideration for each other's thoughts and feelings.  They are one example of this idea, this living Gospel, that a house divided will fall, but with God, it will stand strong in his grace. 

Mark 6: 30-34

readings for today (http://usccb.org/bible/readings/020616.cfm)

Jesus tries to impart that after we go out and give forth, then it is time to withdraw, recount for ourselves and to God what we have done.  then we take a step back in order to spend sometimes being nourished by Him who has sent us into the world, by his Word, and his Spirit.  This mimics the spiritual life in each of us. 

Sometimes though, as Jesus shows us, we need to continue to sacrifice of ourselves as he and the Apostles did when they came to the shore of the once deserted place and the crowds waited for them.  Yes, it is good to reflect and take that step back to re-center and focus again on God's mission for us, but we must also be present to others when their needs are greater than our own, whether or not we can help, being present recognized the dignity of the human person and the face of God within them.  Jesus had plans for the disciples, but these people who came to him had been known to God before they were in the womb.  Perhaps he knew they would meet them, or perhaps the call the heard within their hearts was so great, they felt they needed to be close to him, to be in communion with him.  Blessed are those who are meek and humble, theirs is the Kingdom of God. 

Mark 4:26-34 To What Shall I Liken the Kingdom of God?

Today we have two parables that describe the Kingdom of God.  The first is the farmer who can't explain why the seeds the has sown grow in his field and ripen before the harvest yet he checks on the field day and night and is amazed with its growth.  The second is the mustard seed, one of the smallest of the seeds that grows into a huge bush/tree where the birds find safe haven beneath it.

From these two parables we begin to infer that the Kingdom grows in ways that we cannot begin to understand, in places that we may or may not expect; that it is up to God.  The next thing that we begin to realize is that it, and we in our faith lives, will come to full fruition becoming fully ripe to the point when we are ready for the harvest, that judgement promised us by Christ.  The Kindom comes to us inconspicuously though it grows into something strong and lasting.  To it many flock and take refuge within it because of its enduring love and mercy.

Mark 4: 1-20 The Sower Went Out to Sow

Jesus gives his Apostles and us a very clear reason why he gives us parables, "to those on the outside, everything comes in parables so that they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and forgiven."  He then fully breaks down the parable of the sower for them to understand. 

If you grew up with the Way, then you have no difficulty understanding parables, but there are those in RCIA programs and other Christian faiths who do not understand and strive to know better how we come to know what we know.  This was true of Jesus' own disciples as they start following him compared to the others whose parents were followers or who had been with Jesus since the beginning.  There were those too who watched him heal, but did not stay to hear him preach, and also those who plotted against him.  Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God in images that were common to the people.  What a wonderful thing because they could go back home and in their daily work, they could meditate upon his words about the sower as they themselves sowed in the field planting the seeds in the rows by throwing it and leaving what grew up to God.  How much more poignant would the lesson come!  To understand that the sower plants the seeds of the Word in each life, but then to see the crows come and snatch the seed away, like Satan comes to take away the Word sown in their hearts.  But the seeds are also sown on rocky ground, and although they "receive it with joy.  But they have no roots; they last only for a short time."  How many of us have known someone try to make a new year's resolution only to drop it after several months?  Sometimes people do that with faith too in trying to understand better they jump fully into their faith without realizing that faith is a way of life, not some commodity easily come to a person.  "Those sown among thorns...they are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things choke the word."  To those who are fertile ground, those who are nourished in the way of life, those who find loving and supportive friends and families, those are the ones who will bear good fruit and whose lives will bear the fruit of the Kingdom and share it with others, Jesus indicates.  It is through their lives that they follow the Way.   Jesus tells them that they will "bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold, "  which are incredible percentages of the harvest to yield.  They would have been amazed and it would have been more than they could imagine.  That is our hope too, that God will allow us to have that kind of good fruit be produced in us to the point that we can't even imagine the good it does for others.

John 2:1-11 Called to the Wedding Feast

In today's reading we hear about the Wedding at Cana.  Many people are there including Mary, the disciples and Jesus.  It is a real event that took place, but it is also a metaphor for the Kingdom of God, the relationship between Christ and the church as spouses, and the invitation for all to come to the Heavenly Banquet.  In the reading, can you see how Jesus is the bridegroom?

Ask yourself, "Have I been to a wedding?"  What made it so special compared to an ordinary meal?  Why are weddings so important?  In our modern culture we are starting to see few weddings.  To those who are married and are joined together by God, it is because it is a union between two people a bride and a bridegroom, that is a reflection of Jesus Christ's relationship with the church.  This is why to many Christians the religious Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is so important. 

Do you recall the part about the wine?  Jesus changed the water into wine, it is a symbol to be reflected at his passion:  the image of the blood and water which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a font of mercy for us.  It is the image of the last supper when Jesus passes around the wine and tells his disciples, "Take and drink.  This is my blood which has been poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins."  O Lord, how truly grateful we are to you to receive this invitation to the Heavenly Banquet. 

Mark 1: 14-20 Repent and Believe

Jesus comes to us with the call, "This is the time of fulfillment.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the Gospel."  We are like the barren desert, dry, parched, waiting for the promise of water which will renew us.  Jesus comes today to fulfill that promise.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  He is the fulfillment of that hope of water come to bring drink to the thirsty.  Real repentance is possible.  If we follow Jesus the Christ, we can become more than we could ever imagine.  That barrenness within us has been filled.  We are filled with a Presence and new life, we become the true Presence for which we were made.  It is not just for the Apostles, but for each of us.  He is calling, "Come after me..." 

John 3:22-30 The Bridegroom

John the Baptist gives the description of Jesus as the Bridegroom in today's Gospel.  John said, "No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.  You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him.  The one that has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice.  So this joy of mine has been made complete.  He must increase; I must decrease."  John knew that Jesus was the anointed Christ.  It was merely his job as prophet to prepare the way.  He is witness to God made manifest. 

The Bridegroom has deep meaning in Jewish culture.  Marriage, as indicated by the Song of Solomon, shows the deep yearning and union of the bride and bridegroom.  It is also a sign of God's love to his people.  Christ Jesus is the Bridegroom.  Who is the bride?  Who did Christ come to save?  The people, we, are the bride.  As one people of faith, we are the Church, and so the Church is also the Bride.  May we keep ourselves ever present to our Bridegroom and the Kingdom of God which is at hand.