Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

 

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

 

The railroad in a small town long ago announced that it needed to fill a position.  Soon a roomful of applicants filled the office anxiously hoping for an interview.  After a while without anyone being called, a tapping noise was heard in the background.  One person rose from his chair and walked to the receptionist desk.  Then a sign was posted that the position was filled.  The people in the room were infuriated not to be given an opportunity to display their skills.  But the railroad officer told them that the tapping noise they heard was Morse code inviting anyone who understood the message to claim the job.  Today’s gospel tells a similar story.

 

Jesus explains to his listeners that only those people given him by the Father will recognize that he is the Messiah.  Others may similarly see the marvelous deeds that he has done but will not come to him because they cannot hear his voice.  Its subtlety is not tonal but conceptual.  His followers realize that Jesus is not a Messiah who will free the nation of Roman domination but one who will liberate them from sin.

 

If we hear Jesus’ voice, we will understand that he comes not to make Catholic ethics public law but to give us access to eternal life.  Yes, for the common good we press for the prohibition of abortion and the abolition of capital punishment.  However, we should not be discouraged if our efforts are not soon rewarded.  We know that being faithful to Jesus, he will give us the life he promises.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 11:1-18; John 10:1-10)

As a simple way to safeguard yourself from Internet porn, a wise man suggests placing an image of Jesus crucified on your computer screen.  If you are tempted to click on furtive link, being reminded of Jesus may dissuade you.  In the gospel today Jesus presents himself in a similar way.

The sheep gate is the entrance of a cove the fold is resting.  It keeps the sheep together while allowing admittance only to the shepherd who comes to care for the animals.  In the extended parable Jesus pictures himself in both roles.  He keeps his flock, the Church, together and tends to its needs.  His word gives the people a common mind and his Body and Blood provide the fullness of spiritual life.

Some resist the image of Jesus as shepherd because it implies that they are as apparently simple-minded as sheep.  This may be an affront to sheep who know at least to come out of the rain.  But more importantly, the image conveys the closeness between Jesus and ourselves.  Like the shepherd gives his or her sheep total concern, Jesus has died that we may live to the fullness of our potential. 

Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts  9:1-20; John  6:52-59)

Fifty years ago Catholics were strictly forbidden to participate in Protestant services.  Today they may enthusiastically sing Protestant hymns, listen to Protestant preaching, and join hands with Protestants for prayer.  But Catholics should never receive Communion from Protestants.  The reason for this strict prohibition is inferred in the gospel today.

Jesus tells the synagogue assembly that his Flesh is real food and his Blood, real drink.  He is referring to the Eucharist which he will leave for his disciples.  The Flesh is real food because it is made from bread.  The Blood is real drink because it is produced from wine.  Yet it is not bread and wine that his followers consume but, again, his Flesh and his Blood.  Protestants generally do not accept the new substances that the bread and wine become.  But even if they do, there has been a breach in the line of their ministers receiving ordination from Jesus’ apostles.

In some ways relations between Catholics and Protestants have never been better.  Still serious differences exist, and at times the rivalry between us and them is intense.  Because we all claim Jesus as Lord, we should cooperate as much as possible.  We should also pray for the day in which we can partake with integrity and together of Jesus’ Flesh and Blood. 

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 8:26-40; John 6:44-51)

Coincidence means that two events happen at the same time and place without being planned.  When two friends meet on an airplane, one of the two may say their meeting was coincidental.  The other might opine that God’s Providence arranged the meeting.  In the first reading today there is such an apparent coincidence.

Some might think that Philip’s meeting the Ethiopian official on the road to Gaza happens entirely by chance.  After all, neither knew of the other when they started out that day.  But the author of Acts believes that God planned the meeting, albeit without informing either party beforehand, since His angel tells Philip to travel that road on that day. 

Coincidence has significant ramifications today in the field of evolutionary biology.  Did God cause the emergence of land animals precisely when plants were evolving which use animals to spread their seeds? Or are the two happenings entirely coincidental?  Our best answer to the conundrum is that yes God is behind all evolutionary developments but He acts without leaving a trace of planning. 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 8:1b-8; John 6:35-40)

In today’s gospel Jesus claims to be the bread of life who nourishes those who come to him so that they never hunger.  Yet many fret over their needs although they regularly take Communion.  Why the discrepancy?  To answer the question compare Jesus’ offer with a more commonly thought of bread that is often undervalued.

In White Bread, a book published last year, Professor Aaron Bobrow-Strain describes the trajectory of the famous American food.  In the days when bread provided most of the common person’s calories, people needed to be assured that it was not contaminated by soot, sawdust, and other adulterations.  Manufacturing bread using bleached flour provided a product that could be eye-tested for purity.  Automatic slicing enhanced white bread’s utility, and enriching it with vitamins made it the veritable “staff of life.”  As food tastes evolved, however, sophisticates have decried white bread as yokel fare with dietetic and creative limitations.  Boborw-Strain contends to the contrary that it is the food of a democratic society where people, assured of the value of what they eat, can dream of improving their lives through education and work.

Jesus similarly offers himself as the basis of a new kind of life.  Following him we grow in care for one another that lifts us from the competition of natural life and places us in the environment of Trinitarian love.  The struggle that we often have in the process indicates how deeply immersed we are in the world of domination.  Yet the more we acquire Jesus’ ways, the more our hunger for power will vanish.