Tuesday, April 27, 2021

 Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 11:19-26; John 10:22-30)

Today’s gospel reading mentions the Feast of Dedication (actually it was a rededication) of the Temple.  It is known today as Hanukkah.  The feast celebrates the victory of the Jews over their foreign occupiers in the second century before Christ.  In that struggle many faithful Jews endured persecution and martyrdom rather than succumb to heathen ways.  Now Jesus is saying that his sheep will show the same tenacity in clinging to belief in him.

John’s gospel, like the others, reverts events that took place at the time of its composition into the life of Jesus.  In late first century Christians were being persecuted for not accepting Roman hedonism or taking cover in Judaism.  Many died as martyrs.  But that was a grace since martyrdom assured entrance into eternal life.  In the passage Jesus tells the Jews obliquely that he is the Messiah because he -- like David, the primordial Messiah or “anointed” -- is a Good Shepherd.  He feeds his sheep in the evergreen pastures of eternal life.

Jesus tells the Jews that no one can take his sheep from him.  Nevertheless we, who are also his sheep, can walk away from him.  This departure will not happen if we have true faith in the Eucharistic food he provides.  It is not bread and wine acting as symbols for Jesus himself.  Rather it is really he who comes into us.  He becomes like a man entering a supersonic jet that will soar to the heavens.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 11:19-26; John 10:22-33)

The gospel reading today begins by declaring that the Feast of the Dedication was taking place.  The occasion marked the successful Jewish revolt against their Greek overlords.  By Jesus’ time Rome has taken control of Israel.  The Romans may not have been as oppressive as the Greeks, but their occupation was deeply resented.  The desire for a Messiah to lead a new revolt precipitates the demand of Jesus to declare himself.

In all the gospels Jesus alters the role of a Messiah.  He indicates, be it directly or indirectly, that he is not a warrior-Messiah like David.  In the passage at hand, however, he says that he is still like David in another respect.  He is a shepherd who cares for his flock.  He says that he gives those who follow him something greater than political autonomy.  He provides them “eternal life.”  This new way of living with neither bitterness nor regret transcends natural desire.  It belongs exclusively to God.  For this reason Jesus says that he does the work of his Father.

Like the Jews in Jesus’ day, we have to reconsider what we want.  Are we taken up with vindication and domination?   Or do we seek peace through love?  The former qualities belong to the world as we know it.  The latter is the promise of God in Jesus Christ.

Friday, April 7, 2017

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Jeremiah 20:10-13; John 10:31-42)

Today’s gospel looks forward to next Friday when the Passion of the Lord will be celebrated.  The action takes place on the Feast of the Dedication, known as Hanukkah today.  The Jews are celebrating the rededication of the temple altar that was defiled during the despotic reign of Antiochus Epiphanes.  In the vision of John the Evangelist the Jews do not realize that they are committing a more serious crime in trying to kill Jesus.

The Jews pursue Jesus because he has called himself the “’Son of God.’”  They rightly conclude that making such a claim Jesus is equating himself to God.  Jesus defends himself by observing that Scripture itself calls some people “’gods.’”  He says that he has even more right to the title because God has consecrated him and sent him into the world.  Being consecrated or dedicated like the temple altar, Jesus’ body becomes the place of true sacrifice when he dies on the cross.

Although we anxiously await now the annual commemoration of Jesus’ paschal sacrifice, we celebrate the same sacrifice today.  In every Eucharist Jesus’ body becomes the locus of the perfect sacrifice where our sins are forgiven and we receive the blessing of eternal life.  We do not need any church structure, much less the Jewish temple, to realize these benefits.  All that is necessary are bread and wine, the words and actions of a priest, and our faith.