Monday

6th Week of Easter, Monday

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Our Lord warned the disciples, just as he warns us, in today’s Gospel that persecution for being his witness and disciple is part of being Christian. A common belief in modern society is that the two things you don’t bring up in polite conversation are religion and politics. Even today Christians are being put to death, supposedly in the name of God, by radical religious extremists, but Our Lord is clear today that those people have no idea of who God truly is. He reminds the disciples, as he reminds us, that we must testify to him. That means going out into society, into the public square, to speak the truth that he gives us in the Gospel not just for the good of Christianity, but for all of society.

In some cultures today being Christian warrants death, while in others, the death of your reputation. Christians are branded as intolerant, and some of their teachings as hate crimes and offensive, because they question the true good of certain lifestyle and moral choices and suggest a better way. Ideologues want to relegate religious expression of any kind to the private sphere: no public displays of religion, no influence of religion on state or politics. But it’s very hard to be a-religious, because man is meant for God, and it is natural for him to give expression to that need through religion. In the end attempts to be a-religious simply make a religion out of something else–the State, an ideology, individual liberty to the exclusion of anyone else’s, etc. They lash out at anything that would question who God truly is, but as Jesus says today, “They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.” How will they find out if we do not tell them?

Let’s pray today for persecuted Christians, and also for the strength to not be bullied into leaving our faith in the privacy of our own home, out of the conviction that the Gospel is not just good for us, but good for society.

Readings: Acts 16:11–15; Psalm 149:1b–6a, 9b; John 15:26–16:4a.

5th Week of Easter, Monday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord promises that he and the Father will come and dwell in those who love them, and that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to remind us about Jesus and teach us. In a mysterious way on the day of our Baptism the Most Holy Trinity came to dwell within us and be with us always and help us. John describes this as being on the condition of our love: the Trinity only leaves our hearts if we radically deny God’s love: by committing a serious sin. Even with our other sins and failings we can be an inconsiderate host to God, which is why we always strive for spiritual perfection.

God is not an inconsiderate guest either. He reveals himself in our heart, as Jesus teaches us today, which is why the world doe not see it. The Holy Spirit reminds us of all the wonders God has done for us and teaches us interiorly in a way that we can understand, sometimes in words and sentiments that’d be hard for us to share with others. Our Heavenly Father sets all this into motion by sending his Son and then his Holy Spirit.

Let’s make an effort today to speak with Our Lord today not as if he is just up in Heaven, but also in our hearts. And if we’ve been a bad host to our guest, let’s not be afraid to treat him with the considerateness he deserves, or, if we’ve kicked him out through our sins, to turn to his mercy in order to invite him back.

Readings: Acts 14:5–18; Psalm 115:1–4, 15–16; John 14:21–26.

 

4th Week of Easter, Monday

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Readings: Acts 11:1–18; Psalm 42:2–3, 43:3–4; John 10:1–10.

In today’s Gospel Jesus describes himself as the sheep gate; he’s the one who protects those who are inside and he’s the one who lets them leave when they should, which is not necessarily when they want (an experience with which anyone who in their youth tried sneaking into or out of their house can identify). If someone doesn’t use the door it puts everyone on their guard, and rightly so. Our Lord invites us today to consider whether our path is really the best way to accomplish something in our life, whether we’re trying to avoid legitimate obstacles or trying to avoid circumstances, situations, etc., that are disagreeable to us.

Our Lord describes himself in another part of John’s Gospel as the way (cf. John 14:6); he is the way to greener pastures and he is the way to safety and security, the way to a place to call home. If you lose your keys it’s not fun to have to break into your own house. You’d panic if you tried to leave by your front door or your garage and found the doors to be locked from the outside. Our Lord doesn’t lock us in; he protects us, sometimes from ourselves. We can accept his guidance or try jumping through windows or breaking down walls instead of living our lives with Gospel simplicity. If we don’t accept his guidance in the long run we’ll be creating more obstacles to a truly fulfilling life: a life he wants to show us.

Let’s ask Our Lord today to show us how we can live our lives with more simplicity.

3rd Week of Easter, Monday

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Readings: Acts 6:8–15; Psalm 119:23–24, 26–27, 29–30; John 6:22–29.

A recurring theme in the Gospel of John is that Our Lord performs a series of signs so that people believe in him. In today’s Gospel the crowd goes looking for Jesus after the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, but Jesus knows they are either just curious about what miracle he is going to do next or are placing their faith more in his ability to provide them a free lunch.

Our Lord is inviting the crowd today to have a faith in him that is not just connected with getting results. Sometimes in our relationship with God we treat him more as the guy with the credit card who’ll always treat us to lunch than as our friend. When the credit card is not forthcoming, or the lunch, do we care about the cardholder? Friendship involves give and take; a true friend is with you whether you’re living the high life or penniless, whether you’re healthy or sick, whether you’re on the top of the world or in the depths of despair. When our focus shifts from the person who treated us to lunch to the lunch itself, or its absence, we know something is off.

Our Lord has done a lot for us: the world we live in, the air we breathe, the people we love, our very existence are all thanks to him. Let’s make a resolution today to not have an attitude of “what have you done for me lately?” Let’s believe in him and remember all that he’s done for us, knowing he may not always give us what we want and when we want it, but he’ll always give us what we need.

Second Week of Easter, Monday

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Readings: Acts 4:23–31; Psalm 2:1–9; John 3:1–8.

Nicodemus in today’s Gospel says he believes in Our Lord as a teacher from God due to the signs he has performed, but his faith is very tentative, maybe even a little rationalistic. He comes at night, so he’s not ready to commit publicly to Jesus yet. What a contrast with the disciples praying together after the Resurrection in the First Reading. Luke describes the Holy Spirit as shaking the place where they’re praying and filling them with boldness in speaking the word of God.

To really enter into the Kingdom of God, Our Lord teaches Nicodemus, a birth of water and Spirit is needed. Christians have had that spiritual birth of water and the Spirit on the day of their baptism. It conferred a new life, a life of the Spirit, and often the effects of that life are not evident unless we see things with the eyes of faith. An attitude of faith is a consequence not only of faith in Christ, but a gift of grace that we receive at baptism. By living as Christians we are showing that the life of the Spirit that has been sown in us is growing and bearing fruit, and in turn Our Lord makes that faith grow and opens our eyes to seeing God’s action in everything.

Nicodemus decided to approach Our Lord because he concluded that the signs Jesus performed could only be done by someone who has God with him. Imagine how he would have reacted in that moment if he realized that Jesus was God Himself. Our Lord teaches Nicodemus that the movements of the Spirit are not always so easily tracked and connected. Let’s examine our faith today and accept Our Lord’s invitation to build on that new life we’ve received from water and the Spirit by having a faith that tries to be attentive to the signs of the Spirit’s presence when they are revealed, and to be open to what Our Lord seeks to teach us in order to live this new life in him more fully.