Monday of the Third Week of Easter
(Acts 6:8-15; John 6:22-29)
A new discount supermarket chain started selling milk for ninety-nine cents a gallon. Of course, the chain lost money on the milk, but it could tolerate the setback. Its purpose was to use the low price of milk as a sign to shoppers of the real savings that they could obtain if they always shopped in its stores. Jesus explains in the gospel today that his feeding of the five thousand had a similar sign value.
Jesus tells the people that the bread he multiplied was more than physical food. Plentiful and helpful, it served as a sign of the spiritual food which he provides. In other words, the bread that fed five thousand points to the abundant life that Jesus’ words and works nourish. They, and not lobster or rib-eye, give life to the full.
When we take Jesus’ body and blood at Mass, we should realize that we are opting for him and not the luxuries of this world. It is to say that his truth and his love are what we most relish and what we are willing to die for.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Friday of the Second Week of Easter
(Acts 5:34-42; John 6:1-15)
A writer from San Antonio recalls an old Jewish doctor who took care of many Mexican, African, and white Americans in her barrio before World War II. Doc Stein was everyone’s friend and everyone’s healer. If someone worried about paying him back, he would say, “You should worry to pay me? You think maybe I want to become a millionaire? Pay me when you can.” He treated the soul as well as the body. “Just think only about getting well, and believe in ‘Gott’ and pray for health,” he would admonish his patients.
We might think of Gamaliel in the reading from Acts today as a Doc Stein kind of person. His unshakeable faith in God allows him to tolerate a budding competitor to his beloved Judaism without fluster. “…if it (Christianity) comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them,” he tells his fellow Jews. Perhaps as St. Paul’s teacher Gamaliel imparted the acumen and love for God that made his pupil the most efficacious of Christian apostles.
Gamaliel and Doc Stein together remind us that religious toleration may not go far enough. We are wise to learn what other religions teach and how they are practiced. As results of these efforts we are likely to sharpen our understanding of Catholic doctrine and to entertain deeper insights into prayer and virtuous living.
(Acts 5:34-42; John 6:1-15)
A writer from San Antonio recalls an old Jewish doctor who took care of many Mexican, African, and white Americans in her barrio before World War II. Doc Stein was everyone’s friend and everyone’s healer. If someone worried about paying him back, he would say, “You should worry to pay me? You think maybe I want to become a millionaire? Pay me when you can.” He treated the soul as well as the body. “Just think only about getting well, and believe in ‘Gott’ and pray for health,” he would admonish his patients.
We might think of Gamaliel in the reading from Acts today as a Doc Stein kind of person. His unshakeable faith in God allows him to tolerate a budding competitor to his beloved Judaism without fluster. “…if it (Christianity) comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them,” he tells his fellow Jews. Perhaps as St. Paul’s teacher Gamaliel imparted the acumen and love for God that made his pupil the most efficacious of Christian apostles.
Gamaliel and Doc Stein together remind us that religious toleration may not go far enough. We are wise to learn what other religions teach and how they are practiced. As results of these efforts we are likely to sharpen our understanding of Catholic doctrine and to entertain deeper insights into prayer and virtuous living.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
(Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36)
We should note who the speaker of today’s gospel passage is. He sounds like much like Jesus in yesterday’s reading saying to Nicodemus, “’God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” A supermarket shelf comparison will note just about everything the same except the pedigree when today’s speaker proclaims, “’Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life...’” That speaker, however, is not Jesus but John, whom we (and not the text) call “the Baptist.”
The reading does not give us the context of John’s testimony, but we can easily find it by referring to the whole gospel. Jesus has left Jerusalem and gone into the country of Judea where John is baptizing. The text shows Jesus baptizing many people and John’s disciples worried that he is encroaching on John’s turf. But John -- the true prophet that he is – does not protest but submits. “He (Jesus) must increase;” John famously says, “I must decrease.”
Today’s gospel bids us to question the meaning of eternal life. How does it compare to the many ways we gratify ourselves? Is it more wonderful a vacation cruise or more comfortable than central air and heating? Perhaps more to the point, can we be assured of eternal life as much as many modern comforts are affordable to most of us? Our celebration of Easter emboldens us to respond to these questions with both good sense and conviction. Eternal life is companionship with the risen one. It far exceeds anything the world has to offer because it provides a joy not limited to time and space. Just as surely as Jesus rose from the dead, we will experience eternal life when we, like John, submit to him.
(Acts 5:27-33; John 3:31-36)
We should note who the speaker of today’s gospel passage is. He sounds like much like Jesus in yesterday’s reading saying to Nicodemus, “’God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” A supermarket shelf comparison will note just about everything the same except the pedigree when today’s speaker proclaims, “’Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life...’” That speaker, however, is not Jesus but John, whom we (and not the text) call “the Baptist.”
The reading does not give us the context of John’s testimony, but we can easily find it by referring to the whole gospel. Jesus has left Jerusalem and gone into the country of Judea where John is baptizing. The text shows Jesus baptizing many people and John’s disciples worried that he is encroaching on John’s turf. But John -- the true prophet that he is – does not protest but submits. “He (Jesus) must increase;” John famously says, “I must decrease.”
Today’s gospel bids us to question the meaning of eternal life. How does it compare to the many ways we gratify ourselves? Is it more wonderful a vacation cruise or more comfortable than central air and heating? Perhaps more to the point, can we be assured of eternal life as much as many modern comforts are affordable to most of us? Our celebration of Easter emboldens us to respond to these questions with both good sense and conviction. Eternal life is companionship with the risen one. It far exceeds anything the world has to offer because it provides a joy not limited to time and space. Just as surely as Jesus rose from the dead, we will experience eternal life when we, like John, submit to him.
Wedneday, May 4, 2011
Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
(Acts 5:17-26; John 3:16-21)
The gospel today begins with one of the most famous verses in the entire Bible. In fact, John 3:16 has been called “the Gospel in miniature.” It boldly proclaims God’s love and tells of the eternal destiny for all who care to be formed by that Gospel.
The passage reads that Jesus is not here to condemn humans but to offer them a choice. They can either receive him, the light of the world, in order to live in charity. Or they can remain in the darkness of sinful desires. It is instructive that Nicodemus, whom Jesus is addressing here, first comes to Jesus “at night” indicating his complexity in sin. However, he makes a final appearance in broad daylight after the crucifixion to bury Jesus. With this most charitable of acts he has definitively opted for the light of the world.
We may ask if it is possible to receive Jesus and still maintain some sinful desire. Perhaps we enjoy gossip or maybe a pornographic Internet channel. No, the light of the world will not admit any darkness although he does listen to our prayers for mercy. If we sincerely petition and duly follow, he will enable us to walk the way of eternal life.
(Acts 5:17-26; John 3:16-21)
The gospel today begins with one of the most famous verses in the entire Bible. In fact, John 3:16 has been called “the Gospel in miniature.” It boldly proclaims God’s love and tells of the eternal destiny for all who care to be formed by that Gospel.
The passage reads that Jesus is not here to condemn humans but to offer them a choice. They can either receive him, the light of the world, in order to live in charity. Or they can remain in the darkness of sinful desires. It is instructive that Nicodemus, whom Jesus is addressing here, first comes to Jesus “at night” indicating his complexity in sin. However, he makes a final appearance in broad daylight after the crucifixion to bury Jesus. With this most charitable of acts he has definitively opted for the light of the world.
We may ask if it is possible to receive Jesus and still maintain some sinful desire. Perhaps we enjoy gossip or maybe a pornographic Internet channel. No, the light of the world will not admit any darkness although he does listen to our prayers for mercy. If we sincerely petition and duly follow, he will enable us to walk the way of eternal life.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Feast of Saints Philip and James, apostles
I Corinthians 15:1-8; John 14:6-14)
St. Veronica is the legendary woman whose name is associated with a famous maneuver in bullfighting. She is always portrayed as holding with both hands the cloth with which she wiped the face of Jesus and on which his image remains. In bullfighting when the matador swipes the cape held with both hands before the charging bull, he has performed a veronica. The name Veronica actually means true image, but in the gospel the true image does not refer to Veronica or her cloth, but to Jesus himself who is the perfect representation of God the Father.
The apostle Philip has trouble understanding Jesus when he says that anyone who has seen him has seen the Father. “Show us the Father,” Philip requests, not out of defiance but from confusion. It is the same difficulty that Dan Brown and many others have in imagining that Jesus really is God. “He was a remarkable man,” the skeptics says and then ask, “but how could he be the creator of the ever-expanding universe?” It is this awesome wonder that makes the Incarnation one of the two core beliefs of Christianity.
Jesus invites us to believe in him by promising to empower us to work mighty deeds. What does he have in mind – to turn water into wine? No, one expert says, Jesus is not referring here to “the petty things of life.” Rather he means overcoming the physical tendency to sin by lust, greed, or pride. Even more, he is promising to enable us to love the poor who repel us or the enemy who would harm us and so find a place with him in glory.
I Corinthians 15:1-8; John 14:6-14)
St. Veronica is the legendary woman whose name is associated with a famous maneuver in bullfighting. She is always portrayed as holding with both hands the cloth with which she wiped the face of Jesus and on which his image remains. In bullfighting when the matador swipes the cape held with both hands before the charging bull, he has performed a veronica. The name Veronica actually means true image, but in the gospel the true image does not refer to Veronica or her cloth, but to Jesus himself who is the perfect representation of God the Father.
The apostle Philip has trouble understanding Jesus when he says that anyone who has seen him has seen the Father. “Show us the Father,” Philip requests, not out of defiance but from confusion. It is the same difficulty that Dan Brown and many others have in imagining that Jesus really is God. “He was a remarkable man,” the skeptics says and then ask, “but how could he be the creator of the ever-expanding universe?” It is this awesome wonder that makes the Incarnation one of the two core beliefs of Christianity.
Jesus invites us to believe in him by promising to empower us to work mighty deeds. What does he have in mind – to turn water into wine? No, one expert says, Jesus is not referring here to “the petty things of life.” Rather he means overcoming the physical tendency to sin by lust, greed, or pride. Even more, he is promising to enable us to love the poor who repel us or the enemy who would harm us and so find a place with him in glory.
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