Tuesday

3rd Week of Easter, Tuesday (2)

by

In today’s First Reading St. Stephen’s martyrdom shows his detractors to be stuck in the same rut as they were when they put Our Lord on trial, but Stephen shows them the status quo cannot be maintained anymore. That same Spirit that fills him with the strength and witness to testify to the truth even to martyrdom tells his adversaries that they are resisting the Holy Spirit and killing the Spirit’s messengers, just as they’d done time and time again by murdering the prophets and Our Lord, whom they considered just another false prophet. The only problem is that you cannot kill the truth. Resisting the Spirit, killing the Spirit’s messenger are pointless.

When Stephen is blessed by a vision of seeing Our Lord in Heaven at the right hand of God, the Sanhedrin has they same reaction they did when Jesus told them that they would see him seated at the right hand of power, a clear allusion to the prophecy in Daniel concerning the Messiah (see Daniel 7:13-14, Matthew 26:64, Luke 22:69, Mark 14:62): kill the blasphemer. Now Stephen is seeing that very event; Our Lord has ascended and taken his place at the right hand of the Father. He has shown himself to be the Messiah, yet they have resisted the Spirit and the truth and, once again, try to kill it. Like Our Lord, Stephen forgives them for their crime in his dying breath.

If the Sanhedrin are staying stuck in their rut, the work of salvation is not: it continues to advance. Stephen was full of Spirit and wisdom and helped many people, even before the witness of martyrdom. Even as he dies forgiving his enemies a young man comes onto the scene. Every listener in Luke’s time knew who Saul was, and who he would become, which is why Luke makes a point of mentioning that Saul condoned Stephen’s death. Little did he know that the Lord had plans for him as well, once he accepted the truth. Let’s pray for the humility and conviction to not be stubborn about accepting the Spirit and the truth.

Readings: Acts 7:51–8:1a; Psalm 31:3c–4, 6, 7b, 8a, 17, 21ab; John 6:30–35. See also 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time,Cycle B, St. Stephen, First Martyr, and 3rd Week of Easter, Tuesday.

2nd Week of Easter, Tuesday

by

In today’s First Reading we see the first Christian community united in mind and heart and demonstrating a charity that puts the needs of others first. Even today the Church strives to perform corporal and spiritual works of mercy in many ways: charitable institutions, healthcare, education, counseling, prayer, and so on. While we don’t do it in exactly the same way today (with the exception of certain forms of consecrated life and apostolic life that do pool their resources and make a vow of poverty) it does remind us of the principle behind our giving: making sure everyone gets what they really need.

If we measure up our Church life to that of the first Christians, we realize that unity of mind and heart goes beyond a small donation in the collection basket every Sunday. There are many needs inside and outside the Church today, and addressing those needs is much more complex than in the days of the first Christians. This shouldn’t discourage us; rather, it should inspire us to seek the best ways to truly address the real needs of as many people as we can. It begins at home caring for our own family, but it also extends to finding ways to effectively help the poor and afflicted get back on their feet, not just subsist from one handout to another. This requires a combined effort, which is why the practice of real charity in these cases is the best way to unite the hearts and minds of believers behind a common cause: the cause of the Gospel translated into kindness and concern.

Let’s thank Our Lord for all those people in our life who have helped address our needs, and let’s resolve to help others to identify and address their true needs as well.

Readings: Acts 4:32–37; Psalm 93:1–2, 5; John 3:7b–15. See also Second Week of Easter,Tuesday

Holy Week, Tuesday (2)

by

In today’s Gospel we consider the hearts of two disciples: a traitor and a coward. John describes Satan as entering into Judas; he’s just accepted a morsel, a token of friendship, from Our Lord, and in complete duplicity goes out into the night to betray him. It is reminiscent of one of the last arguments Our Lord had with the Jews who didn’t believe in him: they didn’t believe in the Father, therefore they didn’t believe in Jesus, and their “father” was the Devil. If Judas ever believed in Jesus, he doesn’t believe in him anymore, and it was time for him to stop making any pretense of following him and to cash in.

Maybe Simon Peter didn’t understand Our Lord’s announcement of his departure entirely, but in his heart and in the last weeks they’d live together he knew it was a matter of life and death. His noble aspiration of unfailing dedication to Our Lord, even until death, was expressed. Perhaps it was prophetic, but Simon Peter’s “hour” had not yet come. Our Lord prepared him for the cowardice he would soon show, not in condemnation, but to help him grow in self-knowledge. Simon Peter would discover it himself, the hard way, but was not a lost cause. In the end he did lay down his life for Our Lord, years later, in Rome.

Our Lord reads hearts. He wants to read yours and help you to learn more about yourself this Holy Week. If you’re a coward, he’ll help you discover that and overcome it. Don’t be afraid to let him. The difference between Judas and Peter is that Judas shut everyone out of his heart, and Peter didn’t. As long as you foster an open heart, there is hope.

Readings: Isaiah 49:1–6; Psalm 71:1–4a, 5a–6b, 15, 17; John 13:21–33, 36–38. See also Holy Week, Tuesday and Holy Week, Wednesday.

5th Week of Lent, Tuesday

by

In today’s Gospel the Jews who don’t understand what Our Lord is trying to teach him are like people who’ve become so accustomed to listening to a muffled voice that they don’t even realize it’s muffled anymore. Even now they have an intuition that Our Lord is trying to tell them something: they recognize he is speaking of some sort of departure that involves death, they recognize that he claims to be someone special, and they recognize that he claims to be sent by someone very important to knowing and understanding the importance of him and his mission.

Like the Israelites in today’s First Reading, their lack of faith has condemned them to wandering, lost, confused, and angry in a desert. The Israelites feared the Promised Land and therefore returned into the desert. The Lord provided for them and they complained about it. Just as the Lord sent them what they needed to survive in the desert, now he has sent his Son to lead them out of the desert. It is a lack of faith that strands them: that generation of Israelites died never entering the Promised Land due to their lack of faith and their sin. Our Lord is warning the Jews in today’s Gospel who don’t believe in him or the Father that they are lost, and they are not open to letting Jesus guide them out of the desert of their lack of faith.

Not everyone listening to Our Lord that day heard a muffled voice; John tells us that, “Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.” Faith is what enables us to hear and understand what Our Lord is trying to say. Ask him for a greater faith and let him lead you out of whatever spiritual desert in which you may be wandering.

Readings: Numbers 21:4–9; Psalm 102:2–3, 16–21; John 8:21–30.

4th Week of Lent, Tuesday

by

The infirm man by the pool of Bethesda in today’s Gospel had taken a great step forward after thirty-eight years, despite the fact that he was unable to move. He acknowledged that he needed help to be freed of his predicament. As Our Lord would later reveal, his illness was just a symptom of a deeper problem: sin. He’d been sick for thirty-eight years, but it’s not clear how long he’d waited near the pool. Somehow he got there, and that desire to be there showed something was dawning in his soul, something good: he wasn’t just lamenting his health. Now he was seeking a spiritual solution. It was believed that when the waters moved in the pool of Bethesda you could bathe in them and be healed: some ancient biblical manuscripts added here that an angel brushed its wings on the water, showing with the ripples that an opportunity was at hand for healing. As the number of people around the pool demonstrated, many people hoped for this miracle.

It doesn’t seem the infirm man was completely paralytic, but he couldn’t move easily. Who knows whether he’d spent the last of the little strength he had to just get nearer to the pool, but now there was no one to help him go further. Or wasn’t there? The infirm man in his mind had a plan, and it involved God: he was taking a step forward in faith and trust going to Bethesda despite his limitations. He believed healing was possible there. Our Lord comes onto the scene, knowing his plight and his desire, and the man expresses his faith in a miracle and that all he needs is a little help to receive it. The miracle arrived: Our Lord healed him and then disappeared into the crowd. When the healed man picks up his mat and walks off, he doesn’t understand much of what happened; all he knew was that a stranger healed him. Once he had a little time to process what had happened, Our Lord sought him out and warned him against falling back into the true source of his woes: sin.

Some sins are only conquered after a prolonged battle. This should not discourage us. The important thing is to keep our eyes fixed on where we need to go spiritually in order to overcome them. Our Lord works through our faith, our trust, and our effort. Lent is a time to progress in conquering sin. Let’s keep moving forward as the Lord reveals the path to us and not get discouraged when it seems we hit a roadblock. The moment will often come when you least expect it.

Readings: Ezekiel 47:1–9, 12; Psalm 46:2–3, 5–6, 8–9; John 5:1–16.