Monday, October 11, 2021

 (Optional) Memorial of Saint John XXIII, pope

(Romans 1:1-7; Luke 11:29-32)

 In today’s first reading from the beginning of the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul writes of an “obedience of faith.”  The expression sounds like oxymoron -- two words of opposing ideas put together to stimulate thought.  A student might ask, “What does faith have to do with obedience?”  Faith, after all, is trust.  Obedience concerns following another’s command. 

Paul will say later in the letter that a person is justified by faith.  But his idea of faith or trust goes beyond intellectual assent to religious truth.  Faith includes a commitment to Jesus’ way of love.  It is not following another’s command but following in the other’s path of life.  For Christians faith is coming to know Jesus by loving others as he loved.

Today the Church celebrates Pope St. John XXIII.  It is not the anniversary of his death but of the opening Second Vatican Council.  Pope John convoked the council as a way to share the truth of Christ with, as he put it, the “human family.”  Then as now, sixty years later, people were separated by ideologies and false teachings.  John wanted the whole world to follow the way of Christ’s love.

Friday, May 8, 2020

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 13:26-33; John 14:1-6)

In the Gospel according to John, Jesus describes himself with many illustrative metaphors.  He says, “’I am the light of the world’”; “’I am the bread of life; “’I am the good shepherd,’” and so forth.  These images shake our way of thinking to help us realize that Jesus is more than human.  He touches every dimension of our existence.  He is the light that illumines our minds, the bread that increases our strength, and the shepherd who changes our destiny.  In today’s gospel Jesus proclaims, “’I am the way, the truth, and the life.’”  How is he “the way”?  What does he mean by calling himself “the truth” and “the life”?

Jesus is “the way” to God, his Father.  In the Gospel of Matthew he says the way to salvation is narrow and traversed by few.  And so it is difficult to follow Jesus’ path of selfless love.  But he is “the way” as well because he provides all the help that is needed in the sacraments.  He corrects our errant tendencies in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  He fortifies our drooping spirits in the Eucharist. 

Jesus is “the way” because he is “the truth” and “the life.”  He is “the truth” in two senses.  First, he reveals the Father’s love for the world and how the Father expects the world to respond.  Second, as God, Jesus is the foundation of all truth.  When scientists find a remedy for the Corona-19 virus, we will say, “thank God,” because God is the source of all truth.

When Jesus calls himself “the life,” he means something more than biological life.  He has “life in abundance” or “eternal life” in mind.  This is life full of joy, peace, and love.  It is the life of a saint like John XXIII.  The good pope, whom many today still remember, would not allow the worries of his office take away his smile.  We strive to live this life now and look forward to it in the resurrection of the dead.