Life itself is our best school. God is our teacher. Your present assignment is dealing with the challenges of life and trusting Jesus is accompanying.you.

 

Seventh Sunday of Easter  C   2022

 

The scriptures invite us to reflect the sadness we sometimes experience in having to say goodbye.  I invite you to reflect on the saddest goodbyes you have experienced.  How have you dealt with the grieving you experienced?

For me as a priest, some of my saddest goodbyes have involved in my change of assignments as a priest.  I can tell you 17 years ago when I came as the pastor of St Joseph’s, this has been a great blessing for my life. But it meant saying to the parishioners of St. Louis Church in Pittsford where I had been the pastor for 12 years.  I had grown to know and love this wonderful parish community, and in leaving at the time, it seemed like a forced divorce.

Even more so, is the sadness of saying goodbye to someone you love as the one love goes home to God.  I have to say goodbye to my mom and dad and my older brother and sister.  In this grieving, we are invited to trust in the peace that only God can give.

Today between the Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost, we are marking Jesus’ leave taking from the disciples.  There is sadness for the disciples of Jesus on the Feast of the Ascension.  What the first disciples had to learn is a lesson for all of us -- many, many times we have to let go and say good-bye and trust that with each letting go, God promises that he will not leave us orphans.  We have to change many times in our discipleship journey.  We choose some of the good-byes of life; other times our good-byes are not of our own choosing.  With each transition, we are called to trust in God’s continuous presence in our life.

With each goodbye we experience, we are called to trust more fully in
God’s continuous presence in our life.  God never says goodbye but always us to trust more fully in his unending love for us.

The Gospel is taken from the end of Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper.  We are privileged to eavesdrop on Jesus’ intimate prayer with his heavenly Father.  In the Upper Room on the Eve of his Passion, the Lord prayed for his disciples gathered around him.  At the same time, Jesus looked ahead to community of disciples of all centuries.  In his prayer for all disciples of all time, he saw us too, and prayed for us.  He prayed that we be consecrated in truth.

 

 

In today’s Gospel, we are listening to the prayer of Jesus to his heavenly Father.  This takes place at the Last Supper with Jesus being conscious of His impending death on the cross.  Jesus does not see his death as ending, but rather his going home to his heavenly Father and a new way of being with us who are in the world.

Overhearing Jesus at prayer is our way of understanding the identity of Jesus and our participation in the divine plan.  The mission of Jesus to be become our mission.  What is this mission – to release divine love into the world. This is such an awesome mission for us as a parish community.

 May the prayer of Jesus be our prayer as well.  The prayer of Jesus is that we all may be one.  Jesus prayed for us to experience a unity based on our love for one another.  We needn’t be reminded for its need.  We often witness breakdowns of communication in families, enmity among members of the same faith community, dissension in civil society.  Jesus’ unity

 is to overcome all such divisions, especially those within the fold.  Jesus wants a unity like that between himself and the Father – a unity that preserves individuality, but which is close and intimate.  That union of the Father and the Son is our model.  It is a unity in which people will love and serve each other because they love and serve him; it is heart speaking to heart.  Its key is love.

Like Jesus, we find our glory in doing not what we will but what God wills.  What would it take for all of us to be committed to the petition we make in the Our Father: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

I invite you to hold on to this truth:  Life itself is the best school.  God is our teacher.  The problems we are facing right now are our best assignment from God.  In your present challenge, whatever it is, you may have to let go; you may have to take a risk; but please God this challenge may invite you to place even more trust in the plan of God for your life.  We are facing the challenge of senseless gun violence in our schools and in the streets of our cities; we are facing the diocesan bankruptcy caused by clergy sexual abuse; we are facing the devastation of the war in Ukraine.

 

As I say, life itself is our best school.  God is our teacher.  In the problems we are facing just now, what are we called to let go up and take the risk of faith and to trust even more deeply in the plan of God for our lives.

 

In the first Scripture reading today, Stephen was beautifully releasing divine love into the world by offering forgiveness to those who were stoning him to death.  Forgiveness is an essential element for achieving the unity that Jesus prayed for.

 

At the end of the day, may we claim the prayer of Jesus to be our own prayer.  Jesus prayed: “I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”  We are missioned to make the Lord’s name known in our parish and in our community. We make the Lord’s name known best when we release divine love into our world.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.

 

Have a Blessed Day.

 

 

By this al shall know that you are my disciples, by your love for one another.

 

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER C 2022

 

Story of mother and son.  Jimmy’s mom was an extremely loving and caring mom.  But every once in a while she had to be stern.  Now Jimmy was a very active second grader who had a knack for getting into some trouble.  Mom was always receiving notes from Jimmy’s teacher that he was getting into trouble.  Finally, Mom sat Jimmy down and in her sternest fashion made it clear to him that she did not want to get any more notes from his teachers.  Jimmy understood his mom’s message and said to his mother: “I understand Mom.  Now do you want to tell my teacher, or do you want me to tell her to stop sending the notes?”

 Jimmy listened to his mom – yes, but he heard what he wished to hear.

Like Jimmy, the first disciples heard only the part of the message of Jesus that they wished to hear.  They did not understand that part of the message in which Jesus said:  I will be with you only a little while longer.”

The Gospel account is taken from Jesus’s farewell discourse at the Last Supper on the night before he died.

Jesus is speaking to his disciples about his own death.  Jesus understands his dying as central to the eternal purpose of God.  Death is not a defeat.  Jesus’ death is a process of glory, a revelation of divine love saving human life.  Jesus’ death is the supreme expression of love for his disciples.  “I lay down my life for the sheep.  This laying down of life out of love creates a new commandment.   “By this all shall know that you are my disciples, your love for one another.”

We deeply believe God has first loved us.  The love of Jesus for us joins us in our deepest fears and sustains us through our greatest loss.  I have the privilege of anointing parishioners in that vey sacred moment of their journey as they are preparing to go home to God.

To walk with people of faith in the dark valleys of life is a humbling experience and to witness the trust that people place in Jesus as their Lord and their Savior is a beautiful God moment for me.

As seen in the Gospel Last Supper discourse of Jesus with His disciples, Jesus is very clear on how His disciples are to be known.  Jesus’ parting words to his disciples are: “By this all shall know that you are my disciples, the love you have for one another.”  Love is the first priority of our lives as the disciples of Jesus.  In loving, we are to give of ourselves in the service of one another.

As we are all too well aware, we find too many instances of a lack of love in our discourse as families, in the halls of Congress, among nations as the war in Ukraine drags on, and even in the institutional Church when we can be judgmental of one another on how best to practice our faith.

Jesus was well aware of the division and the judgments in the human heart.  Jesus in his last conversation with his disciples knew what was at stake in the life of the Church.  Jesus wanted his disciples to focus on the first priority of discipleship.  By all shall know you are my disciples, by your love for one another.  At the end, Jesus is telling us that this must be our DNA as the Church of Jesus.

 

John's Gospel does not present a sentimental view of love. This is a type of love that is shown in service and sacrifice. It is difficult to choose to love when faced with hatred and anger. Jesus tells the disciples that all will know that they are his disciples because of the love they show for one another. This description of the early Christian community will be repeated in the Acts of the Apostles: “See how they love one another.” Christian love is the hallmark of Christianity. We see it lived in the witness of the martyrs. We see it in the example of the lives of the saints. We see it in the holy women and men who live and love daily, making small and large sacrifices for others.

 

But what Jesus’ disciples learned from him during their three years together, the example that Jesus gave them, was of the kind of love that cares for others, and that liberates. Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, and even brought the dead back to life. Jesus’ love was not essentially about depriving himself of the goods of created material existence—but rather, of working to give those goods to others who lacked them.

 

Today we hear a passage from Revelation that comes at the end of the Bible and gives us a vision of how God will bring the resurrection story to completion, an ending that may seem surprising.  The Book of Revelation is best known for its dark apocalyptic images—fire, beasts, and tribulations. Yet the underlying message of Revelation is one of hope, providing a word of assurance to communities undergoing persecution and trials that God will triumph over evil.

The Bible begins with the story of how God created “the heavens and the earth . . . and all their multitude” (Gen 2:1). It concludes not with a return to creation’s primordial state but rather with “a new heaven and a new earth”; indeed, “the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (Rev 21:1). Popular images of the end times tend to focus on cataclysm and terror, but the author of Revelation moves beyond scenes of destruction to present a vision of hope fulfilled as God declares, “See, I am making all things new” (21:5).

By our love for one another, our care for the least among us, and our efforts to promote justice, the power of God’s transforming grace is present and offers to the world a glimpse of the new Jerusalem for which we hope.

Have a Blessed Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter who experienced the Lord's forgiveness was chosen to be the leader of the Lord's church of mercy and forgiveness.

 

Third Sunday of Easter  C  2022

 

The Gospels for the first half of the Easter Season of 50 days focus on the Resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples.  The apostles did not come to an immediate Easter faith in the Risen Lord; rather it was gradual. 

In fact, they were ready to go back fishing -- get their old jobs back.  But once their hearts were touched as the disciples of Jesus, they were fearless proclaimers of the Word of God. 

What about us?  How much of our lives are shaped and determined by our faith in the Risen Lord?

From today’s Gospel the apostles were on a failed fishing expedition.  That night they had caught nothing.  The fish just weren’t biting.  This was an exercise in patience and asking themselves what is going on.

I invite you to imagine yourself in this Gospel scene.  As I say, the apostles were fishing all night and caught nothing.  What issue in your life leaves you with the feeling of fishing all night and catching nothing?   Perhaps it is parenting, and it seems that your child or children aren’t getting it.  Perhaps it is concerns about your own health or the health of someone you love.  Perhaps it is dealing with an addiction in your life.  What fear or anxiety continually gets the best of you?  Perhaps it is your job situation. Perhaps for you the institutional church doesn’t always reflect the gospel love of Jesus.

What would it take for you to snap out of your funk and to see your future is full of hope?

For the apostles, Jesus said:  “Cast your net over to the right side of the boat and you will find something.”  When we can trust in God’s guidance for our lives, we will experience the abundance of God’s grace as the apostles did in the great catch of fish.  Rather than giving up on a relationship or a project, we ask for the grace of persistence and to trust that God goes with us.

Plain and simple, just as a bad night of fishing can lead to a great catch; so too for us, dealing with our struggles in life can lead to a deeper experience of God’s love in our life.  God does not abandon in the midst of the challenges of our life.   Like Peter we are called to profess our trust in Jesus.  When that happens, the abundance of God’s blessing will follow.

The risen Lord then invites the disciples to join him for breakfast.  Then after the breakfast, Jesus asks Peter three times:  “Do you love me?”  He whose only concern was to announce the unconditional love of God had one question for his followers.  “Do you love me?”  Jesus had but one question, but it was so important that he asked it three times.

The background for this dialogue is the obvious:   Love is our greatest gift.

What is it children want from their parents more than anything else?   They want to be loved.

Considering the beauty of all of God’s creation, what is God’s greatest gift to us?  It is God’s love, made incarnate in Jesus.

Peter cannot truly be a pastor and shepherd like Jesus unless he loves like Jesus.  He must love Jesus, and therefore he must love the people whom he will serve.

Love is the foundation of good parenting.  Love is the foundation of a true shepherd.  Love is God’s greatest gift to us.  This great gift of God is to be shared.

Jesus helps us to know the heart of God.

In today’s Gospel, Peter is every person.  He who had vehemently denied his discipleship, as well as his association with Jesus, was now given his opportunity to renew his love for Jesus.  Message:  God never gave up on Peter.  The Lord never gives us on us.

Pope Francis again and again invites into the heart God -- a heart filled with mercy and love.  The Lord never gives us on us.  There is nothing we can do to stop God from loving us.  The Church is to do likewise.  The Church is reveal the merciful love of Jesus into the lives of people.

Going back to the Gospel when Peter responded in the affirmative in declaring his love for Jesus.  Jesus responded:  “Feed my sheep.”  Truly love is not just a feeling; it is not just experiencing a moment of ecstasy.  Love is shown in action.  We are to show our love for God by loving the people God loves.  This means everyone.  The heart of God reaches out to each and every person on planet earth.

We show our love for God by doing what Jesus did at the Last Supper -- by getting down on our knees and washing the feet of God’s poor.  As Jesus said on that blessed night of the Last Supper:  “By this all shall know that you are my disciples, by the love you have for one another.”

We who gather to celebrate the Eucharist Sunday after Sunday are to glorify God by the actions of our lives.  Our celebration of the Eucharist is radically incomplete if we do not share with others the merciful love of Jesus that has been given to us as we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus at Communion.

At the end of the day, the question Jesus asks of each of us is the threefold question asked of Peter:  “Do you love me.  Life gives us endless opportunities for that response.  In countless ways, we are called to feed, to serve one another in need.

When we come before the Lord, after we proudly list all of our achievements and accomplishments, the Lord is still going to ask us:  “Do you love me?”  What the Lord has in mind when he asks us this question is how have you shown your love to that person or to those people whom it is most difficult for you to love?

 

And our response will be….

Have a Blessed Day.