Monday, April 23, 2018

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

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

“Growing pains” occasionally affect children in their sleep.  They cause some to wake up in the night with discomfort in their legs.  Since researchers have not found an underlying cause for these pains, they are named for growth, a phenomenon associated with children.  In the first reading we find the early Church afflicted with its “growing pains.”

One of the great issues for the Church in its first decades is whether to accept non-Jews into its fold.  Non-Jews are not gentiles who become Jews through circumcision and eating kosher but gentiles who refuse to accept Jewish customs.  Since Jesus was a Jew, could gentiles follow him without living as he did?  This is the critical question.  In the reading from Acts today Peter defers to none other than the Holy Spirit for an answer.  He explains to the Jerusalem inquisition that he baptized Cornelius’ household upon seeing that they manifested the gifts of the Spirit.

Today the Church has other issues to deal with.  We can easily name a few – people in second marriages after a divorce, the care of the sick in “persistent vegetative state,” the possibility of ordaining women to the diaconate.  Too often differences on these questions create fragmentation and suspicion.  Like Peter we should turn to the Holy Spirit for guidance.  That is, we should recognize that what is most authentically Christian is the primacy of charity.  On some issues change may be impossible for reason of consistency with tradition and coherency with established teaching.  Even here, however, there is an imperative to treat the people who are passionately involved with respect and tenderness.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 9:1-20; John 6:52-59)

In his new apostolic exhortation Pope Francis writes of the need for humiliation.  He says that people need to be humiliated so that they may become saintly.  He continues that humiliation conforms Christians to Jesus who suffered so much at the hands of humans.  He adds that Christ reveals the humility of his Father, who has accompanied His people only to be continually rejected.  In today’s first reading Paul undergoes significant humiliation.  It may be considered the fundamental step in his journey to saintly prominence.

Paul’s first humiliation is in meeting Jesus whom he dismissed as dead.  He has discovered that the cause to which he has dedicated himself is not only vain but also blasphemous.  He also suffers the humiliation of being blinded and having to be led about like a child.  For a capable man like Paul this humiliation must have been very frustrating.  Finally, Paul suffers the humiliation of initially being considered suspect by other Christians.  He is feared, no doubt, as a possible double agent.  These humiliations prove to be transformative.  Paul becomes so humble that he will accept hardship, torture, even execution.  Nothing is too great for him to endure in order to complete the mission given to him by the Lord.

It is interesting that Francis does not use “humbling” but “humiliation.”  Humbling would be less radical, more a regular step toward self-knowledge.  Humiliation implies an inflated self-image that calls for considerable downsizing.  Francis is suggesting, perhaps, what our mothers tried to teach us.  We must learn the world does not center around us.  Rather we have to serve in it, above all, the God who has created and redeemed us.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

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

The two readings today fit together like a hand in a glove.  In the first Philip is sent by God to meet the Ethiopian eunuch on the road.  He reaches his assigned traveler just as the man is reading one of the Servant Songs of Isaiah.  When the man suggests that he needs Philip’s help to interpret the passage, Philip gladly complies.  He tells the eunuch that the passage refers to Jesus and wastes no time in baptizing him.

It is not just chance that brings the two men together.  Since Philip is sent by God’s angel, God is the instigator of the encounter.  In the gospel Jesus tells the crowds in Capernaum, “’No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him…’”  The Ethiopian eunuch is but one example of God’s grace drawing people to His Son.

God has called each of us as well to Jesus.  We may not feel especially graced because we are overly influenced by worldly values.  No matter, we are truly blessed.  We belong to a Church along with many gracious people.  We have eternal life as our destiny. Most of all, Jesus has become our friend.  We can rely on him to meet our needs.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

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

In his recent apostolic exhortation Pope Francis reminds Christians of their call to holiness.  He says that Christ provides them help to reach their goal.  When Christians feel overwhelmed, Francis exhorts them to beseech Christ crucified.  The pope only confirms what Jesus is saying in today’s gospel.

Jesus boldly says, “I am the bread of life.”  Attention should be given to both parts of this statement.  When Jesus declares, “I am,” he is giving the code word for divinity. He is to be trusted more than anyone else because he is God.  When he says, “…the bread of life,” he does not mean ordinary life for which food is required to survive.  Rather he provides the means to the joy and peace of life in its fullest sense.  He invites everyone - rich and poor, black and white, homosexual and heterosexual – to accept his offer. 

There is a cost to follow Jesus.  It is not monetary, but it is substantial.  If we are to become holy and have life in its fullest sense, we have to walk in Jesus’ way.  We have to be patient with the elderly, compassionate with the needy, and gracious to all.  Do not worry.  This is not a prescription of sacrifice so much as one of happiness.

Tuesday, April1 7, 2018

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 7:51-8:1a; John 6:30-35)

According to one journalist a ferocious debate is taking place about food.  The topic is how to assure that everyone eats when the world’s population rises to ten billion.  The journalist calls the two sides of the debate “wizards” and “prophets.”  Wizards predict that technological manipulation of present crops will be able to feed such great numbers.  Prophets believe that people will have to change eating habits if everyone is to have enough to eat.  They call for eating less meat and more grains and vegetables.  Jesus may be seen as weighing in on the issue in today’s gospel.

The people want Jesus to perform a miracle.  Knowing that he has just fed over 5,000, they want him to give another such sign.  But they are missing the point of Jesus’ feeding.  More than bread, they need to trust in Jesus’ word if they are to grow in life.  By following his teachings, they will come to possess even eternal life.  Thus Jesus shows himself in a sense to be both a wizard and a prophet.  As a prophet, he teaches people to abandon old ways of jealousy and rivalry.  As a wizard, he tells them of a radical way to love one another.

Jesus’ word has been embodied in the Eucharist.  When we take his body and blood, we commit ourselves to his ways.  The food itself has enormous value.  It provides us the grace to let go of hard feelings so that we might take care of one another.  In this way we follow Jesus to eternal life.