Daily Retreat 06/02/06

2006 Jun 2 Fri: Easter Weekday/ Marcellinus and Peter, mts

Acts 25: 13b-21/ Ps 102(103): 1-2. 11-12. 19-20ab/ Jn 21: 15-19

From today’s readings: "When Paul appealed that he be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.... The Lord has established His throne in Heaven.... Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You!"

Shepherd of the Lord’s Flock

Jesus Himself not only prayed for unity in His Church (cf. yesterday’s Gospel and reflection), He also took concrete measures to achieve it! Throughout the New Testament, there are numerous verses that record the leadership that Peter exercised in the early Church, and the Gospels attest that Jesus Himself entrusted Simon Peter with this office of shepherding all of the Lord’s flock.

The Gospels also record that Peter was not perfect. But even though he failed more than once and even denied the Lord three times, Jesus forgave him and led Peter to perfect contrition and reconciliation in his triple affirmation of whole-hearted love, as recorded at the end of the Gospel of St. John. Later, as the Lord prophesied, St. Peter sealed his love in blood by dying as a martyr in Rome for Christ.

After St. Peter’s martyrdom in Rome, history records that St. Linus was called upon to fill his shoes in exercising the ministry of visibly shepherding the Lord’s flock. After he died, another took his place, and this unbroken apostolic succession continues today in the person of Pope Benedict XVI, who is the 264^th historical successor to St. Peter, for the Lord still prays and provides for the guidance of visible headship in His Church!

Daily Retreat 06/01/06

2006 Jun 1 Thu: Justin, mt M

Acts 22: 30; 23: 6-11/ Ps 15(16): 1-2a and 5. 7-8. 9-10. 11/ Jn 17: 20-26

From today’s readings: "I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.... Keep me, O God, for in You I take refuge.... I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word...."

Unity and Communion

Concluding His priestly prayer at the end of the Last Supper, Jesus expressed His longing for unity and communion among His disciples, "ut omnes unum sint" ("that they may all be one") that they would reflect the absolute communion and unity of Jesus with God the Father.

All Christians long and pray for this unity among believers, ut omnes unum sint, that there be an end to division and discord in the mystical body of Christ. To our prayers, we must join our own whole-hearted commitment to charity and to truth, for unity and communion is impossible without life being immersed in divine love and guided by the fullness of truth.

This means that every one of us needs to begin by repenting of sins against charity and striving daily to put into practice the divine command that we love one another as He has loved us. It also means that each of us needs to accept all the teachings of Christ and His Church, no matter how demanding or difficult some may find them, for those who reject even part of Christ’s Gospel thus reject part of the one true foundation for unity and communion!

Daily Retreat 05/31/06

2006 May 31 Wed: Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary F

Zep 3: 14-18a or Rom 12: 9-16/ Is 12: 2-3. 4bcd. 5-6/ Lk 1: 39-56

From today’s readings: "Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor.... God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid.... Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth...."

Visits with God

Our Christian faith is meant to make a profound difference in our daily lives, and Mary’s visit with Elizabeth is one of the most inspirational (though often overlooked!) gospel demonstrations of this insight.

At first glance, the Visitation seems almost mundane - two women get together and share news and experiences of their pregnancies. Now it’s true that both women experienced the miraculous intervention of God: Elizabeth had grown old and sterile (Luke 1:7,24) and even more wondrously, Mary "did not know man" (Luke 1:34), and so, each only conceived through the power of God. And yet, while not mitigating those miraculous interventions of God, it’s important to affirm the "Power of the Most High" is at work in the conception of every child !

Note too the refrain of joy ringing in the words of both of these women - they shared with each other the joy of the presence of God in their lives, and they rejoiced in further confirming the presence of God in each other’s lives. This in itself is profound enough for us to dedicate ourselves this day to doing just that: sharing with loved ones, neighbors and strangers the joy of the presence of God in our daily lives, and rejoicing in the confirmation of God’s presence in each other’s lives!

P.S. Twelve years ago, at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, Mother Teresa also offered a profound insight about the Visitation - read her courageous words here: http://www.priestsforlife.org/brochures/mtspeech.html

Daily Retreat 05/30/06

2006 May 30 Tue: Easter Weekday

Acts 20: 17-27/ Ps 67(68): 10-11. 20-21/ Jn 17: 1-11a

From today’s readings: "I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God.... the LORD, my Lord, controls the passageways of death.... Jesus raised His eyes to Heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come. Give glory to Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify You, just as You gave Him authority over all people, so that Your Son may give eternal life to all You gave Him.’ "

The Lord’s Prayer

As the conclusion to the Last Supper, Jesus turned to God the Father in intimate communion and fervent intercessory prayer for His disciples of that time and of all ages. While the "Our Father" is the "Lord’s Prayer" because He taught it to us, the "Priestly Prayer" of Christ in Chapter 17 of John is the "Lord’s Prayer" because He Himself spoke those words of supplication and intercession as the compendium of His entire saving mission at that pivotal moment at the end of the Last Supper and right before the suffering of His Passion.

The prayer has three main parts. First, Jesus prays for Himself (vv. 1-5), for the glorious fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation about to be completed through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Then, Jesus prays for His Apostles (vv. 6-19) with ecstatic confidence in the unity He enjoys with the Father and extends to His disciples, concluding with verse 19, the distinctively priestly summary of His life: "And I consecrate Myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth!"

Finally, Jesus prays also for the whole Church, for Christian unity among all those who will come to belief through the apostolic foundation. In other words, Jesus was praying for you and for me and for all believers of all times! Just as His prayer embraces us, we embrace the Lord’s prayer and raise our voices and shape our wills in union with His....

Daily Retreat 05/29/06

2006 May 29 Mon: Easter Weekday

Acts 19: 1-8/ Ps 67(68): 2-3ab. 4-5acd. 6-7ab/ Jn 16: 29-33

From today’s readings: "Paul entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly with persuasive arguments about the Kingdom of God.... Sing to God, chant praise to His name; whose name is the LORD.... In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world!"

He Has Conquered!

Chapters 13,14,15, and 16 of the Gospel of St. John recount the Lord’s Farewell Discourse spoken to His disciples during the Last Supper. So many words of our Lord are recorded there: words about humble service; words about the commandment to love one another; words about the way, the truth, and the life; words about the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth; words of comfort and promise; words of confident assurance, all concluding with Jesus saying, "In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world!"

What does it mean that the Lord has conquered the world? Amazingly enough, these words were spoken before Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Easter, of course, confirmed that Jesus was clearly the victor over sin and death, but it was on Holy Thursday when Jesus was already assuring His apostles that He had conquered the world!

It’s obvious that Jesus was not speaking of a military conquest. But we certainly shouldn’t think of His triumph as something less than a military victory - rather, it was much more! For every military conquest is subject to eventual displacement in history by some future conquest - every land that the mighty Romans once subjugated, for instance, has since their time seen new battles, with new victors and new vanquished peoples.

In contrast, the Lord’s conquest is complete, definitive, and eternal. Yet how can that claim be made, since the world as a whole clearly does not fully recognize God’s dominion? God’s will is done completely in Heaven, but on Earth, in accordance with divine decree, the probation of human free will continues to be played out in the great drama of history, because that is the whole purpose of history - for each person created by God to exercise free will in the loving choice of embracing the Lord of all!

Daily Retreat 05/28/06

2006 May 28 SUN: Seventh Sunday of Easter

Acts 1:15-26/Ps 102(103):1-2.11-12.19-20ab/1Jn 4:11-16/Jn 17:11b-19

(In some regions, the liturgical celebration of Ascension Thursday is transferred to this Sunday)

From today’s readings: "For it is written in the Book of Psalms: May another take his office.... The LORD has established His throne in Heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.... We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.... Holy Father, keep them in Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are one."

Apostolic Succession

During His own earthly lifetime, Jesus chose His apostles to be with Him in His ministry, and He singled them out for special instruction, and at the Last Supper, He ordained them priests with the sacramental power to confect the Eucharist as they fulfilled the Lord’s command to "do this in memory of Me." But also, when His Ascension marked the end of His bodily time on earth, the apostles were sent to continue the Lord’s mission to the ends of the earth, and to the end of time (in fact, the word "apostle" means "one who is sent").

The apostles understood their mission to continue what Jesus had started, and so, after the Lord’s Ascension, but even before Pentecost, their first order of business was to chose a successor to Judas, and the first chapter of Acts records how the prayerful apostolic band was led to chose Matthias. Originally, there were only twelve apostles, but as the Church grew, so did the number of those ordained with apostolic authority - St. Barnabas, and St. Paul, for instance, are soon also mentioned in the New Testament as apostles.

The Holy Spirit guided the apostles to continue appointing successors to shepherd the nascent Church, and eventually, they had to turn to candidates who were quite fervent in faith, but nevertheless lacked the eyewitness qualifications of Matthias and the other earliest apostles. Still, the new successors were ordained with the same apostolic authority to teach, govern, and sanctify in the Church. In virtue of their leadership role in the Church, they were called "episkopoi," the Greek word meaning "overseer" or "bishop" (the English word "episcopal" thus refers to that which pertains to the office of bishop).

From New Testament times to our own day, that chain of apostolic successors has continued unbroken, so that it is an historical fact that Pope Benedict XVI and the other bishops of the Church are the legitimate successors to the first apostles. Because the Catholic Church is blessed with this apostolic foundation, the Lord visibly continues His mission of teaching, governing, and sanctifying the world through the sacraments and scripture and other treasures of true faith.

Daily Retreat 05/27/06

2006 May 27 Sat: Easter Weekday/ Augustine of Canterbury, bp, r, ms

Acts 18: 23-28/ Ps 46(47): 2-3. 8-9. 10/ Jn 16: 23b-28

From today’s readings: "After staying in Antioch some time, Paul left and traveled in orderly sequence through the Galatian country and Phrygia, bringing strength to all the disciples.... God is king of all the earth.... I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."

Asking for It

Perhaps the most enticing claims of the entire Bible are those repeated promises Jesus made to His disciples that "whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you." Such categorical commitments certainly call for careful consideration and clarification.

For example, we see unbelieving cynics dismiss the Lord’s word as the worst example of false advertising - "I just asked God, in the name of Jesus, for a million dollars, and since I certainly haven’t received it, that proves that Jesus was just a charlatan or deluded megalomaniac." But, in reality, God’s refusal to grant such requests ultimately prove His love and truth as much as the times when He does fulfill those petitions which He knows are best for us.

For comparison, consider the example of King Herod, who was so enthralled by Salome’s seductive dancing that he promised to give her whatever she would ask for. Prompted by her mother’s hatred for John the Baptist, Salome demanded the prophet’s head on a platter (cf. Mark 6:14-29). Salome coldly capitalized on Herod’s rash promise, and some people try to treat God that way.

But Herod’s fulfillment of his oath was damning to both Salome and himself, and obviously, that’s not the way God operates, since He only does what is good. In fact, since it’s inconceivable that Jesus would have mimicked Herod’s foolhardy unconditional promise, we need to pay close attention to the conditions of the divine promises.

What, then, does it mean to ask for something "in the name of Jesus?" Clearly, to ask in the Lord’s name for a prophet’s decapitation or anything evil would be blasphemous! In fact, anything that diminishes goodness in the least is antithetical to Jesus - one can never, for instance, ask God to only grant another person half as many blessings as before! Rather, to ask God "in the name of Jesus" is equivalent to praying to the loving Father with a Christ-like mind, heart, and spirit, and so all our prayers can and should be made in the name of Jesus!

Daily Retreat 05/26/06

2006 May 26 Fri: Philip Neri, p M

Acts 18: 9-18/ Ps 46(47): 2-3. 4-5. 6-7/ Jn 16: 20-23

From today’s readings: ""Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.... God mounts His throne amid shouts of joy; the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.... But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you!"

On Christian Joy

By a happy coincidence, the Gospel words of Jesus on Christian joy are proclaimed on today’s feast of St. Philip Neri, the joyful "Apostle of Rome" of the sixteenth century. Also, in May of 1975, Pope Paul VI wrote a beautiful but relatively unsung exhortation On Christian Joy, so the following excerpts of that letter are offered as today’s commentary:

Technological society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure, but it has great difficulty in generating joy. For joy comes from another source - it is spiritual....

There is also needed a patient effort to teach people, or teach them once more, how to savor in a simple way the many human joys that the Creator places in our path: the elating joy of existence and of life; the joy of chaste and sanctified love; the peaceful joy of nature and silence; the sometimes austere joy of work well done; the joy and satisfaction of duty performed; the transparent joy of purity, service and sharing; the demanding joy of sacrifice. The Christian will be able to purify, complete and sublimate these joys; he will not be able to disdain them. Christian joy presupposes a person capable of natural joy. These natural joys were often used by Christ as a starting point when He proclaimed the kingdom of God.....

Let us now pause to contemplate the person of Jesus during His earthly life. In His humanity He had experienced our joys. He has manifestly known, appreciated, and celebrated a whole range of human joys, those simple daily joys within the reach of everyone. The depth of His interior life did not blunt His concrete attitude or His sensitivity. He admires the birds of heaven, the lilies of the field. He immediately grasps God's attitude towards creation at the dawn of history. He willingly extols the joy of the sower and the harvester, the joy of the man who finds a hidden treasure, the joy of the shepherd who recovers his sheep or of the woman who finds her lost coin, the joy of those invited to the feast, the joy of a marriage celebration, the joy of the father who embraces his son returning from a prodigal life, and the joy of the woman who has just brought her child into the world. For Jesus, these joys are real because for Him they are the signs of the spiritual joys of the kingdom of God: the joy of people who enter this kingdom return there or work there, the joy of the Father who welcomes them. And for His part Jesus Himself manifests His satisfaction and His tenderness when He meets children wishing to approach Him, a rich young man who is faithful and wants to do more, friends who open their home to Him, like Martha, Mary and Lazarus. His happiness is above all to see the Word accepted, the possessed delivered, a sinful woman or a publican like Zacchaeus converted, a widow taking from her poverty and giving. He even exults with joy when He states that the little ones have the revelation of the kingdom which remains hidden from the wise and able. Yes, because Christ was "a man like us in all things but sin," He accepted and experienced affective and spiritual joys, as a gift of God. And He did not rest until to the poor he proclaimed the good news of salvation...and to those in sorrow, joy....

But it is necessary here below to understand properly the secret of the unfathomable joy which dwells in Jesus and which is special to Him. It is especially the Gospel of Saint John that lifts the veil, by giving us the intimate words of the Son of God made man. If Jesus radiates such peace, such assurance, such happiness, such availability, it is by reason of the inexpressible love by which He knows that He is loved by His Father....

And the disciples and all those who believe in Christ are called to share this joy. Jesus wishes them to have in themselves His joy in its fullness.... It remains that, here below, the joy of the kingdom brought to realization can only spring from the simultaneous celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord. This is the paradox of the Christian condition which sheds particular light on that of the human condition: neither trials nor sufferings have been eliminated from this world, but they take on a new meaning in the certainty of sharing in the redemption wrought by the Lord and of sharing in His glory.

Then we can experience joy which is properly spiritual, the joy which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It consists in the human spirit's finding repose and a deep satisfaction in the possession of the Triune God, known by faith and loved with the charity that comes from Him. Such a joy henceforth characterizes all the Christian virtues. The humble human joys in our lives, which are like seeds of a higher reality are transfigured. Here below this joy will always include to a certain extent the painful trial of a woman in travail and a certain apparent abandonment, like that of the orphan: tears and lamentation, while the world parades its gloating satisfaction. But the disciples' sadness, which is according to God and not according to the world, will be promptly changed into a spiritual joy that no one will be able to take away from them

Beloved brethren and sons and daughters, is it not normal that joy should dwell in us, when our hearts contemplate or rediscover, in faith, the fundamental and simple reasons for joy? God has so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; through His Spirit, God's presence does not cease to enfold us with His tenderness and to fill us with His life; and we are journeying towards the blessed transfiguration of our life in the path of the resurrection of Jesus. Yes, it would be very strange if this Good News, which evokes the alleluia of the Church, did not give us the look of those who are saved. The joy of being Christian, of being united with the Church, of being "in Christ," and in the state of grace with God, is truly able to fill the human heart!

 

The entire text of Pope Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation can be found here:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-vi_exh_19750509_gaudete-in-domino_en.html

Daily Retreat 05/25/06

2006 May 25 Ascension of the Lord

Acts 1: 1-11/ Ps 46(47): 2-3. 6-7. 8-9 (6)/ Eph 1:17-23 or Eph 4: 1-13/ Mk 16: 15-20

(In some regions, the liturgical celebration of the Lord’s Ascension is transferred to Sunday)

From today’s readings: "[Jesus] presented Himself alive to them by many proofs after He had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.... God mounts His throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.... The One who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.... Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature!"

Where Christ, Our Head, Has Gone, We Hope to Follow!

The beginning of the Acts of the Apostles specifies that Jesus was on earth for forty days after His Resurrection, before ascending into Heaven. So today, forty days after Easter, the scriptures direct our attention to this mystery, which is unfortunately overlooked by many Christians in their celebrations of Eastertide. In Luke 9:51, Jesus begins His climatic journey to Jerusalem which was to culminate in His being "taken up." In the original Greek, the same verb is used in this verse as Luke uses in the Acts of the Apostles to refer to Christ’s Ascension, so this day marks the corporeal completion of the Paschal mission. The First Eucharistic prayer especially highlights this importance of the Ascension, mentioning it at the anamnesis (right after the "mystery of faith" acclamation) along with the Passion and Resurrection as the completion of the Paschal triptych.

Since baptism makes a person a member of the Body of Christ, the members share in the destiny of Christ the Head. Since Christ has ascended into Heaven, that is the hope to which all the members of His Body press toward. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions (§662):

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces His lifting up by His Ascension into Heaven, and indeed begins it. Jesus Christ, the one priest of the new and eternal Covenant, "entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands. . .. but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf." There Christ permanently exercises His priesthood, for He "always lives to make intercession" for "those who draw near to God through Him". As "high priest of the good things to come" He is the center and the principal actor of the liturgy that honors the Father in Heaven.

Daily Retreat 05/24/06

2006 May 24 Wed: Easter Weekday

Acts 17: 15. 22 -- 18: 1/ Ps 148: 1-2. 11-12. 13. 14/ Jn 16: 12-15

From today’s readings: "God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now He demands that all people everywhere repent.... Praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His majesty is above Earth and Heaven.... When He comes, the Spirit of truth, He will guide you to all truth!"

"I have much more to tell you...."

God is divine and infinite - we are human and finite. So, it stands to reason that we could (and should) spend our whole lives learning more about God, and getting to know Him better. While it’s true that saintly scholars such as Thomas Aquinas learned and taught much about God, in humility, neither Thomas nor any other Doctor of the Church ever considered himself some kind of an expert about God!

It’s essential that we never lose that humility in our own Christian discipleship. As a pastor, one of my greatest concerns is in regards to the number of Christians who seem to have little interest in deepening their faith and understanding of God. A kindergartner who can perfectly recite the alphabet understands that this skill is just the beginning of reading, and a child who masters the multiplication tables still has so much more to learn about mathematics. And yet, so many people are content to learn just the scantiest basics about God, and then conclude that there’s better things to do with their time and effort than ongoing faith formation.

To be sure, earthly life doesn’t end with a big pass or fail quiz about how much one has academically learned about God. But, on the other hand, this life indeed is, and should be recognized as the crucial pass/fail test about how much we’ve accepted and applied God’s initiatives in our own lives. If there were merely some magic formula for salvation (e.g., "I believe in Jesus as my personal Lord and savior"), then Jesus Himself would not have so diligently spent Himself in patiently teaching His disciples, and it would not have been necessary to send the Holy Spirit to guide the Church to the fullness of truth.

Even after spending three years in daily communion with Jesus, the apostles were still told by Him, "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now." Surely then, you and I can also recognize that we still have so much to learn from Him, and He will teach us, as we progress in our readiness and eagerness to learn!

Daily Retreat 05/23/06

2006 May 23 Tue: Easter Weekday

Acts 16: 22-34/ Ps 137(138): 1-2ab. 2cde-3. 7c-8/ Jn 16: 5-11

From today’s readings: "He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.... In the presence of the angels I will sing Your praise; I will worship at Your holy temple, and give thanks to Your name.... But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you."

Overturning the World’s Judgment

Having spent three years in daily communion with Jesus, the apostles must indeed have been filled with sadness at the idea that their Lord would be leaving them. And yet, Jesus insisted that it was better for Him to go, for His departure would not mean the absence of divine presence in their lives, but rather, His return to Heaven would be the catalyst for the sending of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit would disseminate and amplify the experience of God’s presence!

Moreover, the Advocate would completely reverse the world’s judgment on Jesus "in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation." For the world impugned Jesus as a sinful blasphemer and insurrectionist, but the works of the Holy Spirit testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so, the sin is found among those who stubbornly refuse to believe in Him. And the world maintained that righteousness demanded the conviction of Jesus, but the Resurrection and Ascension certifies instead the perfect righteousness of Jesus. And while the world condemned Jesus, the divine and definitive judgment instead establishes the eternal condemnation of the diabolic ruler of the world.

In other words, the world’s judgment and view of things is, in the end, only transitory, even when that seems momentarily so daunting and entrenched. But since God’s judgment and view is eternal and ultimate, we Christians are reminded to adopt only the divine criteria as the guiding standard for our lives!

Daily Retreat 05/22/06

2006 May 22 Mon: Easter Weekday/ Rita of Cascia, r

Acts 16: 11-15/ Ps 149: 1b-2. 3-4. 5-6a and 9b/ Jn 15: 26 -- 16: 4a

From today’s readings: "...the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.... The Lord takes delight in His people.... I have told you this so that you may not be scandalized."

Remembering What He Told Us

All four of the gospels mention that the disciples often enough did not completely understand the words of Jesus at the time they were spoken. However, even when they didn’t understand completely, the disciples still listened attentively to the Lord, and so after His Resurrection and the pentecostal inspiration from the Holy Spirit, they were able to prayerfully recall and come to understand fully the teachings of Jesus.

For our part, it is important that we too listen attentively and strive to comprehend the sacred words of scripture. Yet, even after carefully listening throughout the Liturgy of the Word and re-reading the lectionary verses, it can happen that certain passages will remain unclear to us for the moment. Often, more in-depth scripture study will be enlightening, but most importantly, if we humbly pray that the Lord will help us understand and remember His words, He certainly will give us that blessing in the time and circumstances He deems best, for His words of life are meant to guide us all our life!

Daily Retreat 05/21/06

2006 May 21 SUN: SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Acts 10: 25-26. 34-35. 44-48/ Ps 97(98): 1. 2-3. 3-4 (see 2b)/1 Jn 4: 7-10/ Jn 15: 9-17

From today’s readings: "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears Him and acts uprightly is acceptable to Him.... The Lord has revealed to the nations His saving power.... Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God.... If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love...."

The Code of Silence

What do you tell people about God? Some people, I know, don’t talk much about God to anyone, treating Him like a taboo subject. Such people need a reminder: the word "gospel" literally means "good news" - if faith means anything in our lives, then we need to pass on those tidings of great joy of who God is, what He has done, and what He is doing, and what He has promised to do!

All of the faithful apostles spent their lives telling people (everyone they met!) the good news about God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The first reading, for example, relates that Peter was sent to Cornelius, a man he had never met before, specifically to tell him and his family the gospel, the good news about God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Curiously, God first sent His angel to Cornelius, but the angel’s job wasn’t to tell Cornelius the good news directly - the angel just told him to send for Peter, and then Peter was given the honor of telling the good news.

In other words, an angel, a heavenly messenger, was sent to prepare the way for Peter, a human messenger. Normally, we would expect things to be the other way around, but from the beginning, God insisted that Christians would have the dignity and joy of sharing the good news about who God is, what He has done, and what He is doing, and what He has promised to do!

The apostles were so dedicated to telling people the good news about God that soon, some of them decided to not just preach the gospel, but also, to write it down, and send letters, and carefully record the words and deeds of Jesus, so that peoples of all places and all times would be able to share the truth and good news.

So, St. John, the beloved apostle, fervently preached about his beloved Lord and friend, Jesus, and the eyewitness evangelist carefully wrote down the facts about what Jesus had done and said, so that everyone of all times and places could share in the truth that "God is love," and thus come to know the real Jesus, and never be misled by charlatan fiction writers and tawdry sensationalists.

The Da Vinci Code and other demonic twists of gospel truth are the craze in our country because of an even more sinister code: the code of silence. When faint Christians stop telling other people about God, when we’re content to stand by while the Christmas tidings of great joy are drowned out by commercial jingles, when the word "Easter" makes us and our children think about bunnies and eggs instead of an empty tomb, when we’re too busy or too lazy to pray, when we stop listening to Peter and John and the apostolic successors, when we silently tolerate abortion and the unraveling of family life, when we stop reading the word of God, then any false prophet can hawk a slick package of lies and claim that it’s the truth, simply because a gullible public buys it.

But when zealous Christians read the Gospel and pray the Gospel and live the Gospel and share the Gospel, when we prove ourselves friends of Jesus because we do what He commanded, when we love one another in truth and in deed, when we stake our lives on the only joy that is complete, when we herald the tidings of great joy of who God truly is, what He has verily done, and what He is really doing, and what He has indeed promised to do, then the code will be broken, and the Good News will be the final word!

Daily Retreat 05/20/06

2006 May 20 Sat: Easter Weekday/ Bernardine of Siena, p, r, ms

Acts 16: 1-10/ Ps 99(100): 1b-2. 3. 5/ Jn 15: 18-21

From today’s readings: "Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number.... Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.... If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you."

Getting Along with the World

The inspired authors of holy scripture all assumed that future readers would be able to make common sense distinctions, but extremely literal approaches to scripture study run the risk of collapsing such differentiations. For example, particularly in the 4^th Gospel, the word "world" is used in two quite different contexts. In the first case, "world" simply denotes the whole theater of redemption, e.g.,"For God so loved the world.... God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:16-17).

But, in addition to that neutral connotation, in other contexts, "world" is decidedly negative. Consider, for instance, the words of Jesus to His disciples as the Last Supper:

"If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you" (John 15:19). Here, "world" means everything opposed to Jesus, the whole temporal, material, and secular spirit that overlooks or rejects anything authentically eternal, spiritual, and supernatural.

A good part of the challenge of Christian living consists of honing the proper balance of attitude and conduct toward the "world" in each sense of the word. "God so loved the world...." - and so we too are called to love everyone in the world and rejoice in the whole beauty of creation. "Because you do not belong to the world..." - so we, like Christ Himself, need to reject the worldly spirit of secularism in order to focus always and in all ways on the heavenly world that does not pass away.

Daily Retreat 05/19/06

2006 May 19 Fri: Easter Weekday

Acts 15: 22-31/ Ps 56(57): 8-9. 10 and 12/ Jn 15: 12-17

From today’s readings: "It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.... My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast.... This is My commandment: love one another as I love you."

The Loving Command

The words of Christ, no less than His miraculous deeds, make a claim for His divinity. For since it is absurd for any human authority to promulgate a new commandment about whom to love, only God, who is love, is obviously in position to make universal demands about love.

God commands us not only to love Him (cf. Deut. 6:5), but also, to love one another - our friends, and even our enemies (cf. Mt. 5:44). And not just in a half-hearted way, for the Lord’s bidding is "love one another, as I have loved you!" It’s far-fetched that a mere human being on his own would even conceive of the possibility of such love, but to God, such love is not only possible, it is explicitly demanded!

Now, it would be unjust for God to command and demand something that is absolutely impossible, so, it follows that He Himself is irrevocably committed to empowering His friends to fulfill His divinely demanding commandments of love. And so this becomes one of the greatest thrills of authentic Christianity - the personal discovery of the ecstatic truth and fullness of joy in loving God and one another as God loves!

Daily Retreat 05/18/06

2006 May 18 Thu: Easter Weekday/ John I, pp, mt

Acts 15: 7-21/ Ps 95(96): 1-2a. 2b-3. 10/ Jn 15: 9-11

From today’s readings: "By faith, He purified their hearts.... Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.... If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love."

Love and Commandments

St. John is well known as the evangelist who best stressed the dimension of divine love, but it’s essential to also note that, in both his Gospel and his letters, the love of God is emphatically connected with the fulfillment of His commandments.

There’s a tendency to resent any commandment from another as a restriction and an imposition on our freedom, but as St. John explains elsewhere, God’s commandments aren’t burdensome (cf. 1 John 5:3). Quite the contrary - since God is our loving Creator, He knows and wants what is best for us, and so His commandments give clear direction for us to likewise choose what is best for us.

As Jesus insists, only by keeping the divine commandments, can we remain in God’s love. And the commandments and teachings of Christ, far from being a bitter burden, show us the very source of happiness, for as Jesus explained "I have told you this so that My joy might be in you, and your joy might be complete!"

Daily Retreat 05/17/06

2006 May 17 Wed: Easter Weekday

Acts 15: 1-6/ Ps 121(122): 1-2. 3-4ab. 4cd-5/ Jn 15: 1-8

From today’s readings: "They were sent on their journey by the Church, and passed through Phoenicia and Samaria telling of the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brethren.... Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.... I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine grower."

Can you bear to be pruned?

Not even the greatest saints ever presumed that they had reached human perfection - each of them humbly realized their faults and their need of the Savior’s continual sanctification. Jesus Himself taught that even the disciples that counted as "fruitful branches" would be subject to ongoing purification, for every branch that bears fruit, the Father "prunes so that it bears more fruit."

In short, Christianity leaves no grounds for complacency. While one can and should rejoice in the harvest of the good fruits of committed Christian discipleship, there’s no place in this life for resting on one’s laurels, for there’s always room for improvement.

Sometimes, you and I can take some initiative in this pruning process, such as when we apply scripture lessons to our lives diligently, and make thorough examinations of conscience, and sacramentally confess our sins regularly, and devote ourselves to legitimate penitential practices.

At other times, though, we find ourselves being pruned in unexpected (and even painful) ways, as we struggle to carry the crosses that come our way. But, after all, since the crucified Christ is Himself the divine vine, only those branches grafted to the arms of the Cross fully tap into the divine tree of life!

Daily Retreat 05/16/06

2006 May 16 Tue: Easter Weekday

Acts 14: 19-28/ Ps 144(145): 10-11. 12-13ab. 21/ Jn 14: 27-31a

From today’s readings: "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.... Let all Your works give You thanks, O LORD, and let Your faithful ones bless You.... Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

The Gift of Peace

One of the aspects of authentic Christianity that appeals to believers and unbelievers alike is the commitment to peace. But, as Christ Himself explains, "Not as the world gives, do I give [peace] to you."

At the most primitive level, peace can be defined as "the absence of war or hostilities." While Jesus certainly condemns wanton violence, He never advocated the type of radically compromising pacifism that would grasp for peace even at the price of principle - if necessary, Jesus is reconciled to being the source of division in order to put an end to such false peace (cf. Luke 12:51).

We can also speak of interior peace, the freedom from all disturbances. Here again, the world offers a pseudo-brand of such peace, for example, in the form of euphoric pop psychology which would anesthetize even the legitimate pricks of conscience.

But the peace that Jesus gives is more than the world can give, for it is the peace that He Himself possessed! At every moment, Jesus was fully aware of God the Father’s love and providence, which infinitely outweigh all troubles and fears. Even in the midst of bitter exterior cold, one can bundle up in a cozy coat, and look ahead to a warm hearth of welcome, and likewise, even when faced with the most perturbing threats and problems of this life, we can take comfort in the peace that Jesus gives His followers in this life, and the fullness of peace to which He calls us in the next life.

Daily Retreat 05/15/06

2006 May 15 Mon: Easter Weekday/ Isidore the Farmer, mm

Acts 14: 5-18/ Ps 114(115): 1-2. 3-4. 15-16/ Jn 14: 21-26

From today’s readings: " We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.... May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth.... The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name— He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you."

How to Love God

In an age of unbridled anarchy, obedience itself is derided as demeaning - even divine obedience, as if the fulfillment of God’s commandments were somehow an impingement on human freedom. The tragedy of Eden’s fall is relived again and again as man gives ear anew to the Tempter’s tired tune: "God is a deceptive, divine despot who curtails human freedom for His own selfish ends!"

Emboldened by an audaciously exaggerated autonomy, man soon stops believing in God, or else starts treating Him as a senile grandfather, who, for the sake of good P.R., might be still occasionally honored in public, but can be safely ignored in private.

But in his Gospel and letters, St. John repeatedly emphasizes the point Jesus Himself brought up more than once: love of God always goes hand-in-hand with obedience of God’s commands. In other words, it is an outright lie for one to claim to love God while dismissing His commandments as "no longer applicable."

Divine mercy still can appeal to those who transgress God’s law but then repent; however, those who obstinately attempt to usurp or replace God’s moral laws with their own indulgences thereby define themselves as too self-reliant to ever stand in need of God’s commandments, corrections, or clemency.

Daily Retreat 05/14/06

2006 May 14 SUN: FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Acts 9: 26-31/ Ps 21(22): 26-27. 28. 30. 31-32 (26a)/ 1 Jn 3: 18-24/ Jn 15: 1-8

From today’s readings: "The Church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace.... Let the coming generation be told of the LORD that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice He has shown.... Children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in deed and truth.... I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in Me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without Me you can do nothing."

The Offertory of the Mass

In the middle ages, farmers would often bring to Mass at the offertory the literal fruits of their labors, setting baskets of grain and produce at the foot of the altar for distribution to the poor and other needs of the Church. Over time, this simple custom evolved into the regular Sunday collection, the invitation to present a tithe of our weekly monetary labors in a basket to be set at the foot of the altar, still for distribution to the poor and other needs of the Church. As I’ve noticed in my years of priestly service, the offertory is not everyone’s favorite part of the Mass - in fact, many people choose to participate very little, if at all, at that moment in the liturgy.

Now, just in case you’re worried that I’m working up to an appeal for more money at Mass collections, I want to put such anxieties to rest right away. Nonetheless, I have to admit that I am indeed making an appeal to you for greater offertory contributions, because, you see, our Lord Himself asks us to offer more!

He asks you and me to come to His house weekly, on His day, and offer Him our joys and hopes, our successes and honors, our dreams and plans, our deeds of kindness and our words of consolation, our penetrating minds and our loving hearts, our able bodies, and our immortal souls! In other words, Jesus asks us to bring Him the very best fruits of our lives - and this is why the offertory is a central part of the Mass, so that we can intentionally present all such fruits at the foot of the Lord’s altar in union with His own sacrificial offering of His whole Body, for our good, and the good of all His Church!

Well, He certainly asks for a lot, but even when we do offer God all the very best fruits of our lives, the good Lord is not satisfied! Because He also asks you and me to come to His house weekly, on His day, and tender and surrender to Him, just as much, our grief and anguish, our failures and disgraces, our fears and worries, our sinful deeds and thoughtless words, our feeble minds and our selfish hearts, our pain-racked bodies, and our lost souls. In other words, Jesus also asks us to bring Him the very poorest fruits of our lives - and this is why the offertory is a central part of the Mass, so that we can contritely lay all such fruits at the foot of the Lord’s cross, because when sprinkled with the Blood of Christ, and re-grafted onto the Vine that is divine, even such poor fruits are taken up as part of the Lord’s acceptable sacrifice!

So now let us go to the house of the Lord, on His day that He has made, and approach His altar with praise and thanksgiving, ready now to participate fully at the offertory, ready now to offer Him more than before - ready now to offer Him our best fruits, and also even the poorest fruits of our lives, determined to remain in Him, and let His words remain in us, to submit to His pruning, to keep His commandments, and do what pleases Him, to love one another in deed and in truth, and thus to bear much fruit for and from the holy sacrifice of the Mass!

Daily Retreat 05/13/06

2006 May 13 Sat: Easter Weekday/ Our Lady of Fatima

Acts 13: 44-52/ Ps 97(98): 1. 2-3ab. 3cd-4/ Jn 14: 7-14

From today’s readings: " The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.... All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God.... Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?"

Communion

At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke quite a bit about His unity, His communion, with God the Father. He was concerned that His disciples understand that unity and communion with Him (Jesus) was equivalent to unity and communion with God the Father.

So, when Philip asked Jesus to "show us the Father," his request betrayed the disciples’ own lack of understanding in this fundamental matter. For Philip and the others were evidently looking for a theophany, a personal revelation of God, such as when He appeared to Moses in the Book of Exodus. But as Jesus patiently and persistently explains, He Himself is the incarnated theophany, God-in-the-flesh, so that "whoever has seen Me [Jesus], has seen the Father."

For many people today, the whole concept of "unity with God" is dismissed as abstract and personally irrelevant, even though, in point of fact, the quest for unity with God is actually the defining task of our earthly existence. Thus, Jesus gave His all to show that unity to God was not to be reduced to some meaningless merely mental pursuit, but rather, because of the Lord’s incarnated theophany, unity with God is the intimate and intensely personal communion with His loving Divine and Real Presence.

Daily Retreat 05/12/06

2006 May 12 Fri: Easter Weekday/ Nereus and Achilleus, mts/ Pancras, mt

Acts 13: 26-33/ Ps 2: 6-7. 8-9. 10-11ab/ Jn 14: 1-6

From today’s readings: "We ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you that what God promised our fathers He has brought to fulfillment for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second psalm, You are My Son; this day I have begotten You.... I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Room for You!

"In My Father's house, there are many dwelling places." The words of our Savior smack of hospitality, generosity, true charity, and comfort. The Father's house is spacious and roomy - there's room there for you, and for me! At the end of the long journey of our life, how comforting to know that Jesus has already prepared a place for us, a place with Him, no less!

So it's no wonder that no life here on earth, even one endowed with many blessings, no terrestrial house should be seen as a permanent home. For all of us Christians, we who are baptized, are united to the Body of Christ - the Body of Christ, which suffered to achieve our redemption, died, was buried, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven. So, logically, we who are united to the Body of Christ share in the same eternal destiny. For the unity we enjoy with Christ is absolute: Baptism and all the sacraments are much more than just a symbol - they effect a reality, the sacraments unite us and incorporate us to the Body of Christ. Through Baptism, St. Paul reminds us that we are baptized into the Life of Christ, into the Redemptive sufferings and Death of Christ, and finally, into the Glorious Resurrection of Christ.

And this unity, this oneness, is further effected in the Holy Eucharist, when we receive Our Lord, and we give room for Him in our lives, so that He can remain in us, and we can remain in Him. This is what it means to eat the Bread of Life, to nourish ourselves with the very flesh of Christ! Since the Lord Himself has prepared such room for us, the least we can do is give Him generous room in our lives!

Daily Retreat 05/11/06

2006 May 11 Thu: Easter Weekday

Acts 13: 13-25/ Ps 88(89): 2-3. 21-22. 25 and 27/ Jn 13: 16-20

From today’s readings: "From David’s descendants God, according to His promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.... For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.... Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me."

The Lord’s Farewell Discourse

The Lord’s words at the Last Supper make up the longest section of the Gospel of St. John - chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, and chapter 17 (the final prayer). The Apostles understood that Jesus was giving them His farewell discourse, but of course, there was much that they did not understand about what He had spoken to them until after His Resurrection.

That’s why the Church now reviews anew Christ’s parting words - starting today, the daily Gospel reading will follow that farewell discourse, thus directing you and me to meditate afresh with Easter faith on the Lord’s last will and testament, for "if you understand this, blessed are you if you do it!"

Although Jesus explicitly states that He is indeed leaving, He paradoxically also insists that He will nonetheless continue to stay with His Church, for, as He explains to the Apostles, "...whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me." God’s abiding presence is, in fact, the central theme of the Last Supper!

Daily Retreat 05/10/06

2006 May 10 Wed: Easter Weekday/ Bl Damien Joseph de Veuster of Moloka'i, p

Acts 12: 24 -- 13: 5a/ Ps 66(67): 2-3. 5. 6 and 8/ Jn 12: 44-50

From today’s readings: "The word of God continued to spread and grow.... May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear Him.... I came into the world as Light, so that everyone who believes in Me might not remain in darkness."

Last Light

In St. John’s Gospel, the Last Supper and the Lord’s Farewell Discourse to His disciples begins with Chapter Thirteen. So today’s verses, from the end of Chapter Twelve, recap the Lord’s final teachings to the general crowds before His Passion, and because of the urgency of this exhortation, the Gospel specifically notes that Jesus "cried out" His words of life, for all to hear.

Jesus stresses His unity with the heavenly Father, and in illuminating His divine mission, He explains, "I came into the world as Light, so that everyone who believes in Me might not remain in darkness." Without light, of course, we just fumble around in the darkness in a blind search for truth - tragically, that’s exactly what those who have rejected and ignored Christ end up doing with their lives.

But in the Light of Christ, the brilliant splendor of Truth shines fully! This crucial insight is highlighted many times throughout the Gospel of John, so when Jesus "cried out" and reiterated this point in His final address to the crowds, He was again calling all to be guided by His Light to the fullness of all life!

Daily Retreat 05/09/06

2006 May 9 Tue: Easter Weekday

Acts 11: 19-26/ Ps 86(87): 1b-3. 4-5. 6-7/ Jn 10: 22-30

From today’s readings: "It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.... Glorious things are said of you, O city of God.... I told you and you do not believe."

Never Enough

Particularly in the 4^th Gospel, there are a number of times recorded when the crowd asked Jesus for clarification or proof, but even when He gave more than was asked, it still wasn’t enough for some people. Rather than looking for reasons to believe in Jesus, such people were plainly searching desperately for reasons not to believe in Him. So, regardless of what He would do or say, they would find some excuse to dismiss Him.

Every Christian has had some experience of the transforming presence of Jesus. When you and I take the time to consider the history of these experiences, we can easily be overwhelmed in coming to realize just how much God has done for us. On the other hand, we’re not immune to temptation, so if we start listening to the Devil’s suggestions, we too could end up imagining something inadequate on the Lord’s part in our life.

In moments of greatest temptation of whatever sort, it’s essential to remember Christ’s assertion, "My sheep hear My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of My hand." Temptation cannot take us away from Jesus, unless we give in to it. For, even in the midst of temptation, if a person just prays and listens, the voice of Jesus can always be heard, directing us to the safe embrace of our Good Shepherd!

Daily Retreat 05/08/06

2006 May 8 Mon: Easter Weekday

Acts 11: 1-18/ Ps 41(42): 2-3; 43: 3-4/ Jn 10: 1-10

From today’s readings: "God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.... I will go in to the altar of God, the God of my gladness and joy.... Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep...."

The Gate

Not content with just reading an excerpt from Chapter Ten of John on "Good Shepherd Sunday," the Church looks more in depth this week at the Lord’s extended metaphor about the sheepfold and the Good Shepherd. Interestingly, Jesus also calls Himself, not just the Shepherd, but also the "gate for the sheep.... Whoever enters through Me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly!"

In general, gates are designed to keep bad things out, and good things in. Gates are positioned front and center (or at least the main gates are), allowing for clear access and optimal visibility. So Jesus is the gate to Truth, because in His teaching, He always took care to be clear and accessible, so that by following Him, everyone could be enclosed in the fullness of truth and virtue, and keep sin and error out!

But instead of entering through the Gate of Christ to the fullness of Truth, some claim to have access to Truth through stealth or occult means, or some secret "back door." Such people may even study a sampling of Christ’s teachings, and then somehow presume that they know better than Jesus, or, at least that they know better than the Body of Christ, which is the Church!

Others, unwilling to enter the fullness of the Truth, attempt to just sit on the fence. Even if they profess to recognize Jesus as the source of Truth, they hedge on a full commitment when it comes to leaving behind ALL sin and error which, as Jesus insists, has no place in the Christian sheepfold.

Still others, finding the Gate of Christ solidly shut to their own misconstrued ideas of Truth, futilely attempt to undermine the solid wall of Christ’s teachings.

But remember, there’s a reason for every gate - it was erected specifically to keep the bad out, and the good in, and so that when one is ready to enter, one doesn’t have to steal in furtively, or sit on the fence, or dig through dirt in vainly attempting to undermine the whole wall.

True, on the day of our baptism, all of us Christians decided to enter fully the Gate of Christ. But ultimately, we’re not locked in - every temptation is a crisis which forces us to either re-commit to stay in Christ’s sheepfold by following His lead, or to go off on our own, to our own peril!

The Good Shepherd stands as the Gate, first calling His sheep lovingly by name to stay close by Him, then clearly warning those who start to stray. But still, some sheep insist on rejecting Christ’s voice, running away from Him and thereby tragically treating the Good Shepherd and Guardian of souls like a stranger! Yet elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus insisted that He diligently seeks out even those sheep who have strayed....

So, there’s a few questions for you and me today: Where are we grazing in relation to the Gate of Christ? Are we fully in His flock, entirely out of it, or just trying to sit on the fence? Do we recognize Him as the one Gate to the fullness of Truth, or are we yet looking for an easier way? Do we follow the Good Shepherd obediently, or have we decided to fend for ourselves by going in a direction He’s warned us not to take? Are we sheep that have finally found the Good Shepherd because He indeed has sought us and found us? Or are we sheep still even partially straying, perilously exposing ourselves to wolves and thieves who steal and slaughter and destroy - lost sheep, while the whole found flock is praying, and Jesus Himself stands ready to open to the fullness of Truth and complete safety, because as He said, "I am the gate. Whoever enters through Me will be saved...."

Daily Retreat 05/07/06

2006 May 7 SUN: FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Acts 4: 8-12/ Ps 117(118): 1. 8-9. 21-23. 26. 28. 29 (22)/ 1 Jn 3: 1-2/ Jn 10: 11-18

From today’s readings: "He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.... By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.... Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.... I am the good shepherd, and I know Mine and Mine know me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I will lay down My life for the sheep."

Good Shepherd Sunday

The fourth Sunday of Easter is known as "Good Shepherd" Sunday, because the Gospel reading always is taken from the section in chapter 10 of St. John’s Gospel, in which verses Jesus develops the metaphor of Himself as the Good Shepherd.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Good Shepherd is the disposition to lay down his life for his sheep. Jesus, in fact, mentions this trait several times. So I bring your attention once again to this peculiarity of the Good Shepherd, his readiness to lay down his life for his sheep, because, like so many things Jesus said, the idea itself is disturbingly mind-boggling, but because we’ve all heard it before a number of times, we’ve become too numb to be shaken by the extraordinary words.

For, in the normal order of things, while it’s unquestionably noble and the supreme sacrifice of love for a man to lay down his life for his friends, it’s tragic for any man to lay down his life for mere sheep, whether it’s ten sheep, a hundred sheep, or even a million sheep - there’s no way any number of sheep can be counted as outweighing the life of a single human being.

Now, even the most confused literalist doesn’t believe that Jesus is here espousing a reckless style of actual shepherding, whereby the sheepman is expected, for instance, to be the wolf’s dinner to insure that sheep may safely graze. So, are we then just to dismiss this self-sacrificing aspect of the Good Shepherd as an inappropriately over-driven hyperbole?

Actually, the Lord’s figure of speech is not an exaggeration at all - if anything, it’s actually a restrained understatement to help us fathom the limitless love behind the divine decision that, in the person of Jesus, God Himself would lay down His life, willingly, for the sake of His "sheep," His creatures, i.e., for you and for me, and for all of humanity.

In his novel Charlotte's Web, E.B. White writes of a spider who lays down her life, who gives her all, so that a runt pig may live. Now, any farmer would, of course, be happy to trade all his resident spiders for any size of pig, no matter how small, and yet, despite the intrinsic worthlessness of her own arachnid life, Charlotte’s self-sacrifice successfully ennobles even the apparent worthlessness of Wilber’s swinish life. That’s the transforming power of self-sacrifice!

To an infinitely higher degree then, the value of human life, which in itself, is already beyond simple human appraisal, was immeasurably ennobled by the inestimable self-sacrifice of the divine life of Jesus. As St. John writes, "Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are!" No longer mere exalted creatures of God - we are God’s children, because the loving self-sacrifice of Jesus has ennobled our very nature!

Jesus, the Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. He didn’t throw away His life, His life wasn’t taken from Him! He lays down His life for His sheep, simply so that, in taking it up again, we sheep may have a full share in His divine life!

Daily Retreat 05/06/06

2006 May 6 Sat: Easter Weekday

Acts 9: 31-42/ Ps 115(116): 12-13. 14-15. 16-17/ Jn 6: 60-69

From today’s readings: "The Church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace.... O LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid.... "

Can You Accept a Hard Saying?

At the Last Supper, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take and eat - this is My Body!" And similarly, taking up a chalice of wine, Jesus instructed, "Take and drink - this is My Blood!" And He commanded His disciples to "Do this in memory of Me!"

At the Last Supper, what did Jesus give His disciples - His Body and His Blood, or just a morsel of bread and a sip of wine? For nearly 2000 years, the Catholic Church has unswervingly maintained that the divine words of Christ were surely efficacious, for reality always necessarily conforms to His divine commands. Thus, in spite of the manifest impossibility, when He unequivocally ordered, "Lazarus, come forth!" a dead man was instantaneously changed into a living man, in order for reality to comply with the word of the Lord. So, there can be no doubts about what happened when the mouth of the Lord declared, "This is My Body.... This is My Blood!" At that instant, reality again obeyed the command of divinity, and so, despite the apparent impossibility, the lowly bread miraculously became the Body of Christ, and the common wine was likewise transubstantiated into the Blood of Christ.

Exactly one year before the marvelously acquiescent reality of that Last Supper, Jesus taught His disciples thoroughly so that they wouldn’t miss the miracle - in Chapter Six of the Gospel of St. John, the Bread of Life discourse, Jesus insisted, "I am the Bread of Life.... The Bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world.... He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has life eternal.... My Flesh is real food, and My Blood is real drink." These are hard sayings, but every faithful disciple is conformed, as is reality itself, in order to accept the word of the Lord!

Daily Retreat 05/05/06

2006 May 5 Fri: Easter Weekday

Acts 9: 1‑20/ Ps 116(117): 1bc. 2/ Jn 6: 52‑59

 

From today’s readings:  “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?...  Go out to all the world and tell the Good News….  Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you do not have life within you….”

 

How Can He?

 

Of all the hard sayings Jesus unveils in His Bread of Life discourse (Chapter Six of the Gospel of St. John), the most scandalous was His shocking climax:  the Bread of Life, of which He spoke, was His very flesh for the life of the world!

 

So, it’s no wonder that the Jews were flabbergasted and quarreled about His incredible claim!  Had our Lord  merely been speaking metaphorically, allegorically, or figuratively, He certainly would have realized His obligation to clarify the natural misunderstanding that had arisen among His listeners. 

 

But instead of apologizing for stretching the poetic license, Jesus reconfirms the literalism of His words, insisting “My Flesh is true food, and My Blood is true drink.”  And the Bread of Life is not just intended as some exotic gourmet intended only for the elite, for “unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you do not have life within you.”

 

How can this Man give us His Flesh to eat?  For those who don’t believe in His divinity, the words of Jesus will forever be spit out as tasteless hyperbole.  But for those who recognize Jesus as the true Son of God, for those who eat His Body and drink His Blood, the Lord’s words of life are joyfully digested as the recipe for the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, the true Bread come down from Heaven, having within it all sweetness!

Fr. Rory Pitstick
Our Lady of the Valley Parish
2511 N. Elmway
Okanogan WA 98840 USA
(509) 422-5049

"Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui." John 3:30

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Daily Retreat 05/04/06

2006 May 4 Thu: Easter Weekday

Acts 8: 26-40/ Ps 65(66): 8-9. 16-17. 20/ Jn 6: 44-51

From today’s readings: "Do you understand what you are reading?... Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or His kindness!... I am the living Bread that came down from Heaven; whoever eats this Bread will live forever; and the Bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world!"

Christ’s Flesh for the Life of the World

The Lord’s Bread of Life Discourse in John 6 has a formidably steep progression of divine Eucharistic teaching. Starting with just the crowd’s renewed physical appetite, Jesus adeptly leads them to ponder how to start working for the Food that remains unto life eternal. When the crowd first reminisces about the magnificent miracle of manna in the desert, Jesus suggests that He is leading up to something even greater than that, even linking belief in Him with eternal life, and resurrection on the last day.

But the crowd, which had initially been eagerly devouring all His words, suddenly started to choke on them, and have trouble stomaching how such a full meal deal could be cooked up by just Jesus. And so they began gnawing and grumbling at His words. But rather than apologetically deboning His earlier servings, Jesus actually piles on an even meatier helping, favorably contrasting His "Bread of Life" recipe with the manna of old which, however miraculous and nutritive, nonetheless simply couldn’t starve off death. In contrast, Jesus is prepared to fill the plate with so much more, saying "I AM the living Bread that came down from Heaven; whoever eats this Bread will live forever; and the Bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world!"

Daily Retreat 05/03/06

2006 May 3 Wed: Philip and James, aps F

1 Cor 15: 1-8/ Ps 19: 2-3. 4-5/ Jn 14: 6-14

From today’s readings: "For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.... The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims His handiwork.... I am the way, and the truth and, the life. "

Philip and James

Philip’s request to Jesus ("Lord, show us the Father...") elicited a profoundly rich theological response from Christ: "Philip, after I have been with you all this time, you still do not know Me? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father!"

The unity between Jesus and God the Father is one of the central themes in John’s Gospel, and the beautiful thing is, Christ desired ardently to share and extend that unity to His followers (cf. John chapter 17). The very purpose of the Resurrection of Christ and Descent of the Holy Spirit can be found in the Lord’s commitment to establishing that unity in His Church.

Philip and James, and the rest of the Apostles that witnessed the Resurrected Christ, spent their whole lives evangelizing to the world about that God-Love that defines our lives and the entire universe. That’s the Gospel that has been preached to us, which we have received, and in which we, like Philip and James, hope to always stand firm!

NB: The readings for today’s feast of these two apostles replace the "regularly scheduled" lectionary selections, including the Gospel (John 6:35-40) continuation of the Lord’s Bread of Life discourse, which will be resumed tomorrow.

Daily Retreat 05/02/06

2006 May 2 Tue: Athanasius, bp, dr M

Acts 7: 51 -- 8: 1a/ Ps 30(31): 3cd-4. 6 and 7b and 8a. 17 and 21ab/ Jn 6: 30-35

From today’s readings: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them.... Into Your hands I commend my spirit; You will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.... Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven - My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven."

Bread of Life

After the multiplication of the loaves, the crowds chased after Jesus in hopes of another free meal. When Jesus then explained that they should work for imperishable food, and explicitly linked that with belief in Him, the crowds grew excited, and challenged Him to match the miracle of the manna, when the Israelites were given a steady supply of bread from Heaven for forty years.

Instead of turning down the challenge, Jesus ups the ante with a triple contrast: "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but My Father [who] gives you the true bread from Heaven!"

While the Jews certainly believed in the one true God, their experience of Him was mainly mediated by Moses, the man who was rightly revered as their great liberator, leader, and lawgiver. Even though it was recognized that almighty God Himself is the actual Liberator, Leader, and Lawgiver who worked through His servant Moses, in common parlance, God’s words and works were often attributed to Moses. Now, there’s nothing wrong in itself with that practice within common sense limits- even Jesus spoke this way at times, e.g., Mark 7:10, when He quoted one of God’s commandments, saying, "For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother....’ " But when Jesus insists here (John 6:32) that "it was not Moses...but My Father...," He is deliberately contrasting the mediated experience of God through Moses and the Old Testament with the more immediate experience of God in the New Covenant.

The contrast continues, as Jesus reminisces about Moses with the past (the verb gave), but vividly presents the current work of the Heavenly Father in the present (the verb gives). And while not denying the miraculous nature of that desert manna which was justifiably recognized as "bread from Heaven," Jesus insists that His present discourse is about a new, more veritably celestial Food which He Himself authenticates as "the true Bread from Heaven," that "comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the world!"

Well, that certainly excites the crowd, so that they plead, "Sir, give us this bread always!" But, the true Bread from Heaven is then revealed as not just a treasured token, or memorial mouthful, or suitable souvenir of any sort, for Jesus explains and identifies, "I AM the Bread of Life - whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst!"

Lord, give us this Bread always!

Daily Retreat 05/01/06

2006 May 1 Mon: Easter Weekday/ Joseph the Worker

Acts 6: 8-15/ Ps 118(119): 23-24. 26-27. 29-30/ Jn 6: 22-29. or Mt 13: 54-58

From today’s readings: "Stephen, filled with grace and power, was working great wonders and signs among the people.... Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!... Do not work for food that perishes, but for the Food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you."

Working for the Right Stuff

May 1^st is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, a day the Church directs our attention to the dignity of human labor and the need for Christian principles in the workplace as well as at home. It’s worth recalling that Jesus spent most of the years of His life in the carpentry shop, assisting Joseph and eventually taking over for him.

But that’s not to imply that His carpentry work was ever the most important thing in His life, for even from His earliest days, Jesus understood the primacy of "being about My Father’s business" (cf. Luke 2:49). And at the beginning of the Bread of Life discourse in John 6, Jesus whips up a teasing appetizer: "Do not work for food that perishes, but for the Food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you!"

Having been fed well by Jesus the previous evening, most of the crowd tracked Him down just to get another tasty mouthful, hoping for a repeat of the miraculous multiplication of loaves. But Jesus reminded the crowd that the love and labor of one’s life should be about something substantially more than cultivating physical foodstuff! So, He invites them (and us!) to work for the Food which remains unto life eternal - which He promises to give! Now there’s something to whet anyone’s appetite, something well worth working for!