Mark 12: 18-27 He is not God of the Dead, but the Living

It is easy to get caught-up in today's Gospel in the passage about the woman and her multiple husbands who die leaving her childless, and the Sadducees asking, whose wife is she?  Perhaps we have all wondered about heaven and the way it is portrayed, wondering the same thing.

Jesus cautions us to not become misled: that we know the scriptures and we know the power of God.  "Our God is not God of the Dead, but the Living."  May we take comfort in that.  Wherever we go and have breath, our God is with us.  Jesus tells us elsewhere, "I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; whoever believes in me will never die." 

If we live in Christ, in the Way, which is the path to eternal life, we shall never have to die.  How difficult is it?  When we focus on the temporal world, like wondering whose wife the woman will be when she gets to heaven, that is focusing on the world around us.  We are given St. Paul as an example to us to live in Christ, to be fully alive and focused on the next world.  This does not mean that he lived in the next world only, no, but that he was grounded in the next and it helped him get through the tough times in this world when he was persecuted, had to travel, worked long days, had to give talks in front of strangers, had to mediate in disagreements between friends, had disagreements with the administration of the church, etc.  He kept his focus on our living God, encouraging us all to do the same.  He wrote:

"For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God."

"He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel.."(2 Tim 1:6-12)

Mark 12: 1-12 Memorial Day

Today's Gospel is a story we have heard countless times and is even alluded to within the passage that the Master is the God the Father, who sends his servants, the prophets, that are run off.  Then he sends his only son to the tenants, who then kill him, as did truly would through his Crucifixion. 

The question then becomes, which characters in the story are we?  Are we servants who come to the tenants on the Lords behalf?  Are we the tenants trying to live ordinary lives, worried about day to day living and thinking of ways to acquire wealth to live comfortably? 

In reading a newsletter with an article by Fr. John Hampsch I chucked because we sometimes get into thoughts, like, if this was my last day, what would I do, or what is on my bucket list that I can accomplish now?  We focus so much on the doing.  Fr. Hampsch pointed out, that we ought to be looking at instead, how will God see us on the day we die?  In thinking about that, how tricky since none of us knows the day nor hour of our death except the Father in Heaven. How then can we put forth our best selves so that we'd be prepared at a moment's notice to meet the father? 

Perhaps the answer lies in today's parable.  If we are those to whom the master sends his servants and his son, wouldn't it be wise then, to be good stewards, to be hospitable to others, to live honestly, to act justly? 

Today in thinking of those Veterans who fought for our rights, our freedoms, I think of my grandfather and Godfather who fought in WWII.  They had horrible tales, the worst of which were never shared, but they also had tales of hope and hospitality from strangers in both Europe and in the Philippines.  We are all called to be good stewards in our different vocations in life.  May we rise to the expectation set by Our Father.

John 13:13-33A, 34-35 Love One Another

This is our last week of the Easter season.  We are reminded again what the season is about, just like our Creed professes:  The triumphal resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ after his crucifixion, death and descent into hell, whereupon he rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven. 

Jesus is glorified in all this.  Before he departs upon his journey to the cross (where the story is taken just as Judas departs to fetch the soldiers), he reiterates his new command:  Love one another.

This is not easy.  It involves genuine forgiveness and unconditional love.  It is attainable through practice and sacrifice.  To be his disciples, we are called to do this, to love one another as he has loved us.

John 6:22-29 St. Stephen and Witnessing the Faith

Religious faith is a confidence or trust in God.  It is part of our holy covenant with him that obliges us to obedience, loyalty and faithfulness because of his love for us.  In that covenant he makes us his holy peoples.  Our salvation through the cross and Resurrection of Christ brings us new life because of God’s enduring love and mercy for us.  We turn and can firmly say, Jesus I trust in you.

St. Stephen is a witness in our first reading to our shared faith.  He is our brother in Christ.  He bears witness to the Resurrection and faith in God.  Although the simpler path would be to deny God, to not incur the wrath of the Sanhedrin, Stephen upholds the Truth.

In the Gospel Jesus reminds us that we ought to “not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”  In other words, be nourished with heavenly food that sustains and nourishes you, and will lead you to everlasting life.  The only things we need to do is believe in him, that is Jesus Christ, whom the Father sends.

He is Risen!

Jesus performed miracles and taught about the Kingdom of God.  We get a real sense from the way that the disciples hid and dispersed after Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday that their grief was so intense that they were lost.  They had such great hope in a man who lived humbly, but had such great love for them and had joined them together with himself.  With his death upon the cross Jesus and resurrection on the Lord’s Day, Jesus conquered death, and was raised into new life within the heavenly kingdom, and with him, because he joined us to him. 

In today’s Gospel of Matthew we encounter Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, whom St. Mark in Gospel identifies as the mother of the Apostle James.  They had come to anoint Jesus’ body with oil and spices as the burial tradition required.  These women had travelled with Jesus.  Remember Mary Magdalene was the one who was usually at the knee of Jesus to her sister’s dismay, listening to him as he spoke, interiorizing all that he said.  At the last supper Mary Magdalene had gotten down upon her knees and washed Jesus’ feet with the expensive oil and dried his feet with her hair.  The next time both these women would see Jesus was upon the cross.  Now at the tomb, Jesus is not there.  Their hearts leap with hope that Jesus’ words could be true, that he would rise.

As if it confirm their hopes, Jesus meets them right where they are, just like he meets us. Unlike the Apostles who doubt, these two Mary’s fall at the Lord’s feet and worship him even amidst the fears that they have that he may be an illusion or some sort of apparition.  He directs them to gather together all the disciples in his name in Galilee where they will be safe and where he will come to them.  How could they not be joyful or excited?  The Lord has come in his glory.  He has conquered death.  His kingdom is at hand.  We are to rejoice and be glad.   Alleluia, alleluia!

Happy Easter!

Luke 9:28b-36 The Transfiguration

Luke gives us the impression of the Lord glorified so much so that the Apostles are awed.  Remember that Luke was a doctor writing to Gentile readers about Christ and how to be good disciples.  He is also interested in examining things.  This reading as Jesus and some of the Apostles are on the mountain praying it is hard not to think about the other garden that Jesus would so famously pray in at Gethsemane.  In this is the Transfiguration, a pledge of Jesus Christ’s full glory revealed. In the other garden, he would be taken to suffer through the Passion that led to the Cross. 

           

Jesus is not alone as he prays.  Moses and Elijah are with him.  They were conversing about Jesus’ death and everything that would happen in Jerusalem.  One of our early Church Fathers, Tertullian, wrote that Moses and Elijah represented the Law and the Prophets.  They appear dwelling within the Lord High God.  Peter recognizes them and wants almost to capture them knowing that truly this must mean that Jesus is the Messiah.  Peter in the passage before today’s reading as confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, but like then, he is commanded by God the Father to be silent and to listen to what the Word, that is Jesus the Christ, His only Son, has to say.  Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and as prophet, speaks for God.  At the same time Jesus came to make a new covenant with his people through his love, mercy and grace upon the Cross for the salvation of mankind. 

Mark 1:40-45 Cleansing of the Leper

In today’s Gospel reading we hear of a leper being healed by Jesus.  There were so many rabbis at that time in Israel.  It they couldn’t cure this man, why could Jesus, he was just another rabbi, right?  Even though he has begun his ministry at Cana, he is still unknown to his disciples.  This man who has leprosy approaches Jesus and says, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”  These words are filled with faith.  They are like the faith filled words that we use during mass, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, say the word and I shall be healed.” 

Jesus heals the leper.  He frees him from the hell in which he has been living.  He frees him from both the physical marks of leprosy that plague his body, but he also heals the man’s spirit.  We can imagine this man filled with abundant joy and it is contagious as he goes to the priests.  He is a witness to the power of Christ.  God himself has touched him, forgiven him, and restored life to him by raising him from the death of sin.  Jesus in a sense is teaching us a lesson about heaven and hell, about mercy, about how to be happy.  We are to come to the Lord and in him with the light of faith we will find happiness.  How did Jesus do this?

St. Hilary of Poitiers reminds us, “For He (Jesus) took upon Him the flesh in which we have sinned that by wearing our flesh He might forgive sins; a flesh which He shares with us by wearing it, not by sinning in it. He blotted out through death the sentence of death, that by a new creation of our race in Himself He might sweep away the penalty appointed by the former Law. He let them nail Him to the cross that He might nail to the curse of the cross and abolish all the curses to which the world is condemned.”

Luke 4:14-22a Scripture Fulfilled

Have you ever gone away from family for awhile and returned home to meet everyone again for a reunion?  Suddenly despite how our experiences may have changed us, we are put right back into our  familial stereo types and expectations.  Have you considered if you were there within the temple seeing the son of the carpenter, one of your old playmates, or a cousin suddenly take up a scroll of Isiah, read it, and ending by stating that he was the fulfillment of the messianic passage.  How would you react?  You'd been taught to wait for the Messiah, and here is a person you know saying he is the Messiah.  Luke tells us, "All spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth." 

The first letter of St. John reminds us that all who love God also love one begotten by him, namely his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  In doing so we love Christ and each other as Christ taught us.  If we do not love each other, then don't we lie when we say we love God?  It is sometimes hard to love each other.  Hurt, deception, and killing can stop us and make it difficult to love each other.  A man mentioned yesterday that it is difficult to love because he can't forgive.  In the course of the liturgy he realized that he and we are being called to forgive.  Sometimes that first step to forgiving is praying for those who have hurt us, he realized.  Let us endeavor to take those small first steps that will unite us in love with Our Father in Christ.

Mark 6:34-44 God is Love

In today's Gospel we hear of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  This is God's generosity, his bounty within the limitless Love that He is.  Saint John reiterates in his letter, "Beloved, let us love one another, because God is love...God sent his only-begotten son into the world so that we might have life through him.  In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins." (1 John 4:7-10)

Sometimes we forget that God is love or how much he loves us.  Sometimes we have someone we know and love who is sick and there is nothing that can be done to cure them.  Doctors think the person too old, or the condition too severe, and refuse further treatment.  Where is God then?  Where is his love in that?  Perhaps we are too narrowly focused and God's love is in our periphery view.  His love is there in the telephone calls from family and friends gathered around the one dying, in the comfort and care they give each other.  It is in the sadness the doctors feel for not being able to make the antibiotics work, or the frustration with the insurance companies denying treatments.  God's love is there too in his gift of time and the knowledge of how short we have together so that we can prepare ourselves and celebrate each passing moment as the treasure it is.  There is also the gift of mercy and hope in knowing that through God's love we may be reunited in the next life and spend an eternity of joy together. 

Perhaps the loaves and fishes are a metaphor for God's love, that he has given us each the gift of love and we must collect it from amongst ourselves.  As we share and pass it along the way, in the end we find that it will overflow and cannot be contained for the love that we share is greater than us all.

Luke 2:16-21 The Lord is Salvation

In today's Gospel we are greeted by the shepherds as they enter the presence of the ultimate Good Shepherd laying in the manger with Mary and Joseph by his side.  Christ has entered into the human story to be one with us, in communion with us, and to bring to fruition that saving act prophesied that would reunite human kind with the Father for all time, namely through his Passion and Death.     

Mary keeps all these things in her heart.  She is our example in contemplating scripture, or in her case, living Scripture through the words and actions of her son, Jesus, whose name means "the Lord is Salvation," in light of the teachings of the Old Covenant. She comes to understand and proclaim the Truth.  Imagine being near to the Lord, hearing the voice of God, feeling his presence and helping him within the early communities as he reaches out to those who seek his compassion and mercy.  Mary is our example, our guide in how we should follow the Lord Christ, our Good Shepherd.  She remains obedient and humbled, but continues to contemplate throughout her life.  We are called to her example to find understanding.  As we begin this new year, let us follow our Lady in following the Lord of Mercy and Compassion.  Let us hold in our hearts those who are in states of migration, those who are refugees, those who like the shepherds, live a modern nomadic life; may we be true Christians as we follow Mary's example of following Christ's command to love one another as God loves us. (Jn 13:34)

Luke 10:21-24

In today's Gospel reading Jesus teaches us how to praise God Our Father in the Holy Spirit.  Praise is nearly a forgotten form of prayer, but one that is so important.  Throughout scripture God is very insistant about praise.  Even in the Lord's Prayer we find praise in the words, "Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, thy kingdom come, Thy Will be done..."  Within these words and all other prayers of praise we acknowledge God's greatness, and conversely our lowliness.  Praise allows us in our humility to find room for God's love and for His will to be done in and through us.  Praise is also a thanksgiving.  Shouldn't we be grateful?  Our Father sent his Son to die for our sins so that we may be given eternal life.  Doesn't that deserve our eternal praise and thanksgiving? 

Think about a child.  Most young children are filled with such awe and reverence toward those they love and admire.  They seek to please them by doing what they know is right.  And they are grateful for the love shown to them and the gift they receive.  We are called to be childlike, to have complete abandon in Him, so that His love and Kingdom will be present to us and not hidden.  Praise can lead us to be worthy to receive and see.  May we in our humility lovingly turn toward Our Father in praise and thanksgiving with the heart of a child holding nothing back.  

Luke 21:34-36

Today's reading is very short and very important, so much so that it will be repeated on Sunday.  What is the message?  "Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap...Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man,"  Jesus says to us.

Be aware of the anxieties of daily life.  It is so easy to get caught up in work, taking care of kids or elderly parents, of planning for the future, of worrying about little things.  These are small tribulations.  We are being told to be aware, get a new perspective, the Lord should come first in our lives; we should be aware that we will stand before the Son of Man in our judgement.  Will we be found worthy?  This is why we should pay attention to what we do and why we them.  Prepare yourself by doing those things that you know to be right and just.   

Luke 17:11-19

Happy Thanksgiving! 

The Gospel of Luke today presents us of a story of thanksgiving.  There were ten lepers and one, the Samaritan, returns to Jesus to thank him for healing him after showing the Temple priests are required by Jesus.  The man's faith had saved him.

What a curious thing though.  Where were the others?  They were Jewish like Jesus.  Yet, they did not return to acknowledge the great thing that he had done for them, namely restoring their lives to them. Lepers were considered the walking dead, no one wanted to have anything to do with them. We are healed in big and small ways each day and we look for the gift of everlasting life which God alone can grant us.  Let us be thankful to Him today.