Uncategorized

7th Week of Easter, Tuesday

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord teaches us that we glorify God by doing what is pleasing to him, and presents a list of things showing exactly that. In sending the Son God shows us concretely how our lives can glorify him: by following, imitating, and sharing the Gospel of and about Christ. Glory in the language of Jesus today is more than just receiving a pat on the back or a commendation to hang on your wall: it is transformation of your life into something more profound and more wonderful, even right here and now, as the first fruits of receiving the gift of eternal life.

We give glory to God by living a virtuous and holy life while at the same time giving credit where credit is due, just as Jesus in today’s Gospel gives credit to the Father, not just to his own accomplishments on earth. Our Lord has entrusted us with many gifts, not just for ourselves, but for others, and we give him the credit for that by acknowledging it before God and before others even while we share those gifts and edify others with our example of Christian living.

Let’s try to glorify Our Lord today in some act of virtue or holiness in order to give credit where credit is due.

Readings: Acts 20:17–27; Psalm 68:10–11, 20–21; John 17:1–11a.

7th Week of Easter, Monday

by

In today’s Gospel the disciples believe they have Our Lord all figured out, and for that reason they declare their faith in him. Within a few hours, as Jesus warns them, their faith will vanish as quickly as the appearance of a group of armed men in Gethsemane searching for Jesus. God is mystery, mystery in the sense that we can spend our entire life trying to fathom him and his designs and never completely exhaust what we can know about him. He’s not some little Internet factoid that we read, file somewhere, and then click to go on to the next thing that piques our curiosity.

Knowledge about God is not enough for a solid faith; it requires grace as well. These same men after the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus will be locked away in a room, still not quite sure of what God was asking of them, but waiting to receive power from on high, just as Jesus promised them before ascending into Heaven. Christian life is an ongoing communication with God not only of information, but of grace in order to live all he expects of us.

Let’s also take courage today from two promises Our Lord makes in today’s Gospel: first, that, like him, the Father is always with us, no matter how alone we feel, and that Jesus, amidst all the trials and troubles of this life, has conquered the world.

Readings: Acts 19:1–8; Psalm 68:2–3b, 4–5a, 5c–7b; John 16:29–33.

7th Week of Easter, Sunday

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord prays not only for the disciples hearing his words during the Last Supper, but for every Christian. He prays for us to be just as united, just as “one” as he and the Father are one, and that is a tall order. We are called to live a unity like the unity of the Trinity, and he actually enables us to participate in that unity, albeit not in the same way as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but a unity that we call communion. Jesus is praying today for us to share a communion of life and love, not just with God, but with each other. And the biggest obstacle to living that communion is us.

The “world” Jesus speaks of today is everything that goes contrary to communion with each other and with God. We live in this environment, and we struggle with it every day. Sometimes the “world” seems more organized, more successful, but Jesus prays that we be consecrated in truth to remember than any illusion of communion between the worldly, more often than not, will vanish when their interests start to diverge. Ultimately it is the difference between selflessness–genuinely caring for others and seeking their good as much as our own–and selfishness–a life of alliances that are made and broken, often at the expense of others and leading us in the end to a friendless existence. Our Lord wants to free us from places, circumstances, and mindsets that are simply worldly, and worldliness is a constant temptation in this life, which is why Our Lord prays for us today to be free of it.

Let’s ask Our Lord today for the grace to conquer a little more of the worldliness in which we live by living a charitable life that is concerned with God and with others.

Readings: Acts 1:15–17, 20a, 20c–26; Psalm 103:1–2, 11–12, 19–20; 1 John 4:11–16; John 17:11b–19.

6th Week of Easter, Saturday

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord is not just preparing the disciples for life after his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, but also after his Ascension into Heaven. He is teaching them that their relationship, now and in the future, is not just knowing a guy who knows a Guy. The family is an icon of the Holy Trinity: a communion of persons, each loving and giving himself or herself completely to the others in that communion, and enjoying their unconditional love as well. A good friend to anyone’s son is likely to become a good friend to that son’s father too. The relationship to father and son never loses reference to either of them, but we can also say that thanks to one we’re drawn into a profounder respect and love for the other.

Our Lord has drawn the disciples, just as he’s drawn us, into a deeper knowledge and love of Our Father. We know we can count on God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for whatever we need; there are no forms to fill out, formalities to follow, exams to pass. Jesus has introduced us to the Father and with the Father will send us the Holy Spirit on Pentecost so that we can be a “part of the family”: adopted sons and daughters through the grace of Baptism, powered by Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, worked in us through the Holy Spirit, and desired from all eternity by the Father.

Let’s thank Our Lord today for enabling us to be part of the family, and, as he teaches us today, let’s not be afraid to ask God–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–for whatever we need to be truly happy.

Readings: Acts 18:23–28; Psalm 47:2–3, 8–10; John 16:23b–28.

6th Week of Easter, Friday

by

In today’s Gospel Our Lord uses a poignant image to illustrate the interplay between Lent and Easter that every Christian experiences: pregnancy. After a first trimester of congratulations, perhaps “happy hormones,” a glowing complexion, albeit with morning sickness and strange cravings, comes the second trimester of hormonal somersaults as the body strains to support itself and the new life it is helping to shape. The weight of the new life about to be born can be a heavy cross as the joyful day draws near, but all that suffering vanishes, or at least is put into perspective, at the sight of a newborn son or daughter, and not just any newborn: your newborn.

Christian life has moments of enthusiasm, especially when we start to take it seriously, but it also has moments of the weight of the cross, of feeling burdened by adverse emotions and sentiments that make it a struggle to even take one step forward in holiness. Temptations are like strange cravings, only harmful ones, or produce an aversion to living a virtuous life. Just as anyone who looks upon a newborn, even a complete stranger, feels an inner joy upon beholding a new life, so we too in our struggles must consider the Risen Christ and the saints, who promise us that a new life will be born thanks to our efforts and a joy that will never pass away.

Let’s ask Our Lord to help us bear the burden of our crosses today and just take one step further on the path of holiness, confident that it is a step toward the birth of a new and joyful life.

Readings: Acts 18:9–18; Psalm 47:2–7; John 16:20–23.