The family is the visible sign of God's love in our lives.

There is the story of the young priest driving to Church on a Sunday morning.  Realizing that he was a bit late, he increased his speed so that he would be on time for Mass.  Lo and behold, the police officer stopped the young priest and was about to give him a speeding ticket.  So the priest said:  “Officer, I’m just a poor preacher.  I can’t afford a stiff penalty.  The officer looked at him and said:  “I know Father; I’ve heard you.”

Growing up Catholic, in our family home, in my bedroom, around my neck, in the classroom of the school, and in our Church, the crucifix is part of the DNA of my Catholic upbringing.  The crucifix symbolized the giving love of Jesus for me and for the whole world. 

The message of the crucifix in the sanctuary of our Church is that for Jesus his dying is his greatest act of giving.

In today’s Gospel take from Jesus’ farewell discourse at the Last Supper, Jesus is speaking to his disciples about his own death.  “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.”

Jesus is saying he is about to glorify God by his actions and as a result will himself be glorified by the action of God in the resurrection.

“My children I will be with you only a little while longer.”  Jesus is preparing his disciples for his real absence. 

Then Jesus says: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another…By this all shall know that you are my disciples, by the love you have for one another.”

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.  Whenever and wherever we can trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, our lives are very much blessed.

Today’s clear Gospel message is:  Jesus’ dying is his greatest act of giving.  And as his disciples, 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.

In his most recent apostolic exhortation, Pope Francis has just written Amoris Laetitia  --  The Joy of Love.  Following the Synod of the Family, Pope Francis wrote his exhortation on marriage and family, on the vocation and the mission of family life.  The Pope writes that the Bible is full of family stories, of births, of love stories, and family crises.  For people of faith, there is the experience of the joy of love and the joy of the Gospel.  Pope Francis that the family is the visible sign of God’s love.  The family is the school of love.  Now I don’t mean to canonize your family life just yet.  Yet, it is in our family that we learn to love and be loved.  The spirituality of your family life is revealed in the ways you love one another.  This is the new commandment given to us by Jesus.

The Church must help families of every sort, and people in every state of life, know that, even in their imperfections, they are loved by God and can help others experience that love.  “Amoris Laetitia” offers the vision of a pastoral and merciful church that encourages people to experience the “joy of love.”

In this Easter season, the Gospel is a flash back to the Last Supper, to the Last Discourse of Jesus, an after dinner speech, in which is summarizing his most important message to his disciples, “If I have loved you, you too are to love one another.”

There is no way we can feel comfortable in our discipleship of Jesus if we are not generous givers and generous lovers.  When it is a sacrifice, when our giving does challenge us, when we are forced to make sacrifices, this is what Gospel giving is all about.

When we begin to feel on overload and too much is being asked of us, behold the cross.  Know that the dying of Jesus is the greatest expression of giving, the greatest act of loving.   If I have to simplify my lifestyle a bit because I’m being asked to give, know these little acts of dying prepare us for the ultimate act of giving which one day we will all be called to.

Jesus’ example of love was to lay down his life for us.  How does our giving express the love that is in our hearts?  What keeps us from giving?  Do we see the essential connection between sharing our time, talent and treasure and our living out the first priority we have as disciples of Jesus – our giving reflects our loving.

As we transition into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Mass calls us to enter the doors of the Church.  We enter into the House of God to give thanks, to be fed and nourished at the Table of the Lord, and to be immersed into the mystery of God’s love.  We are called to celebrate the Eucharist Sunday after Sunday after Sunday all the days of our life.

It is so important for our spiritual life to know we are not only called to enter the doors of the Church, but we are also missioned to go from the Church to bring the love of God into our family, into our community, and into our world.   We are to go in peace glorifying the Lord by the actions of our lives.  Jesus glorified his heavenly Father by his giving love revealed on the cross.  We too are to glorify God by being a witness of the giving love of Jesus in all we say and do.

How well do we recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd in our lives?

Today we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of the Easter Season -- Good Shepherd Sunday.  We are invited to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd.  From the Gospel:  Jesus said:  “My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

The Shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  The sheep follow him because they do not follow the voice of a stranger.

What are the voices in your life in which you are safe and very much loved?  How well do we recognize the voice of Jesus in our life?

Who in your family speaks words of unconditional love to you?  Who in our faith community speak words to you to assure you that you are safe and very much loved?  Who is the first person who spoke to you the words:  “I love you?”  Who is the last person to speak those words to you?  When was the last time you spoke the words “I love you” to someone?

VOICES – We hear them all the time, from our first conscious moment till the day we die.  Voices hurt us, heal us, form our self-concept, encourage or diminish us.   What voices do our youth listen to in the video games and the music and the culture that fantasizes and celebrates violence in all forms of our media?

What would it take for the voice of the Good Shepherd to be the dominant voice that we hear in our society?  Perhaps a better advertising firm?  An improved website?  More money?  Surely, it is much deeper than that.  There is a critical need for moral leadership in our society and in our church. We need to be able to hear the stirrings of God’s love that is within – our inner voice.

For the voice of the Good Shepherd to be our dominant voice, we need to tap into the inner resources of the mystery of God’s love that is within each one of us.  There is a longing in the hearts of each of us to hear and to know the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Today is the Word Day of Prayer for Vocations.  Vocation comes from the Latin word vocare “to call.”  Our vocation is our response to the call of God in our lives.  By Baptism, God calls us to be disciples, to be witnesses of His presence in our world.  All of us have a vocational story to share.  Your vocational story is to be found in the way you share the giftedness you have been given in the relationships, in the work, in the ways you live your life.  Your vocational story is your continuous response to God’s call.  To be aware of your vocation is to be aware of the voice of God in your life on this day.

In the context of celebrating all the ways we hear and respond to the voice of the Good Shepherd in our lives, may we encourage, may we pray that some of the young men from our faith community will consider the call of God to the ordained priesthood.   For me, the vocation of my ministry as a priest has been a source of grace, considerable joy, and a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives.  It has given me the opportunity to get to know you and for us together to celebrate the mystery of God’s love in our midst.  Without any doubt, the Church needs people to respond to the call to the ordained ministry as a deacon and as a priest. 

As we know in the life of our parish community, we also need men and women to respond to the call of lay ecclesial ministry.  We are blessed by the generosity of our lay ecclesial ministers.

Each of us is called to lead others to the gracious mercy of God.  Like the Good Shepherd, we do not do this by herding or forcing people along.  We seek to live lives of such self-evident joy that others can trust that we are leading them in the path of life eternal.

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, give us the grace to gently lead others to become more aware of our love and of God’s love.

"Do you love me?"

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.

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 us 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 the struggles can lead to a deeper experience of God’s love in 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.

In this year of the jubilee of mercy, 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.

As the pastor of St Joseph’s, I deeply apologize for any way that our parish faith community has not witnessed to the merciful love of Jesus in your life or in your family’s life.

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?

We are called to show mercy because mercy has been shown to us.

St John Paul II named the Second Sunday of Easter “Sunday of Divine Mercy” in response to Sister Faustina’s Divine Mercy devotion which offered spiritual comfort to people worldwide.

Last year on Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis declared this year to be a Jubilee Year of Mercy.  Pope Francis said:  “We are called to show mercy because mercy has been shown to us.”

In today’s Gospel, the Risen Jesus appeared to his disciples who were behind locked doors in a state of fear.  The first words Jesus spoke:  “Peace be with you.”  Jesus then went on to speak of forgiveness:  “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven then.”

The clearest expression that we are the recipients of the merciful love of Jesus is when we pardon others.  The necessary condition for having a joyful heart is our capacity to forgive others.

May Divine Mercy Sunday in this Jubilee Year of Mercy remind us that Jesus made mercy our life’s ideal and a criterion for our faith’s credibility.  May we let go anger, wrath, violence, and revenge and be immersed in the merciful love of Jesus, and may we share this beautiful gift of forgiveness with one another.

John’s Gospel describes the Risen Christ among the disciples, in which the breath of the Lord carries the gift of the Spirit, empowering them as the Church to carry out the Church’s mission of forgiveness. 

In the grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and in all the ways we bear witness to the merciful love of Jesus, may forgiveness – both given and received – be a defining component of the Church of the Holy Spirit.

What is the grace we seek on Divine Mercy Sunday:  the grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which we experience the pardon and the forgiving love of Jesus in our lives.  Secondly, we ask for the grace to forgive the person or persons in our lives whom we have found to be very difficult to love.  None of us get a free pass on the need to share forgiveness with even those who have hurt us.

The Gospel account traces the faith journey of the apostle Thomas who was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them the first time.  Doubting Thomas remarked:  “Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the nail marks, I will not believe.”

Thomas reminds me of the story of the man caught in the flood.

A man caught in a flood climbed to his rooftop and prayed, placing himself in God’s hands.  A boat came by, and the captain offered to take the man in, but he refused, waiting for God’s intervention.  A helicopter hovered overhead, ready to drop a lifeline, but again the man refused.  Eventually he was swept away and drowned.  When he met God in eternity, he demanded to know why God hadn’t saved him.  God replied, “I sent a boat and a helicopter, so what more did you want?”

In the Gospel, Thomas symbolizes those who are ready to believe in the resurrection, but on their own terms.  When the other disciples told Thomas:  “We have seen the Lord.”  He scoffs and says that he will not believe without touching the wounds of Jesus. 

Thomas, “the twin,” has many brothers and sisters in today’s Church.  Most of us are doubters at some point in life.   When I’m out of sync in a significant relationship in my life, I can be out of sync in my relationship with the Lord.  Resurrection faith is crucial, but often we want to believe on our own terms.  Like the man caught in the flood, sometimes we don’t recognize how God reaches out to us in the circumstances of our life.  What is it within us that demands that we dictate how the Risen Lord appears to us.  We all are the victims of our limited experiences of life and the journey of faith.  We need to be to be surprised by God who sometimes appears to us in strange quarters.

In the days, weeks, months and years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the small community of believers he had first gathered to himself began to grow – exponentially!  What had begun as a few dozen disciples grew into a very formidable movement.  How can one account for the growth and development of the early church?   It was the presence of the Spirit empowering the earliest Christians to preach the powerful message of good example, authentic commitment and a life-transforming faith.

The mystery of the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst is foundational for our life as a parish community.  This is what it means to be an Easter people.

In the Gospel, the great gift that was given the apostle Thomas was that Jesus met him on his own terms and invited Thomas to “Put your finger here and see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it in my side.”  Jesus invited Thomas to move beyond his skepticism to a life of faith.  Thomas responded:  “My Lord and My God.”

Jesus invites us as well to know Him and to grow in relationship by accepting the power of the Spirit.  The Risen Lord never gives up on us as He never gave up on Thomas.  The Lord encounters us in the circumstances of our life.  We seek to live a new life trusting in the Spirit of the Risen Lord.

We can easily look back on the good old days of our parish when the pews were more filled than they are now and wonder what happen?  We can wonder when happened to our world as it is characterized by much too much violence and war?

We know from the first Scripture reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, that everything Jesus did the apostles did – forgave, preached, taught, healed, added members to the fellow-believers.  Today we are that same Church.  In the name of Jesus  too are to forgive, preach, teach, heal, and add members to the Christian community.

Jesus breathes on us as He breathed on the first disciples and says:  “Peace be with you…Receive the Holy Spirit.”  As we trust in the power of the Spirit in our lives, we indeed will be a people who forgive, teach, heal, and add new members to our parish community.