Monday, April 30, 2018

Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

(Acts 14:5-18; John 14:21-26)

Fernando de Loazes was archbishop of Valencia during the sixteenth century.  His humanist background saw heavy-handed inquisitorial attempts to convert Muslims as futile.  In fact, he succeeded in evangelization by convincing non-believers of the gospel’s efficacy.  St. Paul had the same experience fifteen hundred years before.  In today’s first reading Paul struggles with cultural differences as he preaches in Lystra.

When Paul cures the paralytic, he no doubt expects to gain the attention of the people.  After all, the crowds in Jerusalem listened to Peter after he made a similar cure.  So Paul prepares himself to preach about Jesus.  But Jews can differentiate between God and His prophets with healing power.  Greeks, on the other hand, assume that the healer is a god.  Paul and Barnabas then are proclaimed “Zeus” and “Hermes” of mythological fame.  Because the people speak the lingua franca, the apostles are unaware of what is happening.  Only when the people bring animal offerings do they catch on.  Paul then tries to reason with the people, but his argument is in vain.  As when he preaches natural theology in Athens, the people are not affected.   He learns by experience the lesson of today’s gospel.  People need to be convinced of God’s love through the love of those who work in His name.

We too can evangelize by showing God’s love to others.  We do this when we listen to another’s pain and respond with a word of understanding.  Love evangelizes more powerfully than either logic or force.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

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

During the first years of the Church, Christians considered themselves members of “the Way.”  They were not the first group to do so.  Essenes, living in the desert, also identified themselves by that name.  Of course, “way” here does not designate a road as friends living on Willow Way. Rather, “the Way” indicates a form of living, a “way of life.”  Jesus’ disciple in today’s gospel confuses these two senses of “way.”

Jesus is trying to console his companions as he prepares to leave them.  He gives them the reason for his departure - to prepare a place for them in the family home.  He adds that he will return to take them to his Father’s eternal home.  Finally, he says that they know “the way” to go until his return.  At this point Philip, who at the beginning of the gospel was eager to follow Jesus, demurs.  He claims ignorance of “the way” as if following Jesus were a matter of walking up an avenue.

We know “the way” of Jesus.  It is conforming ourselves to his mode of love.  Where that word has been terribly distorted these days, we strive to restore its original meaning.  We seek the well-being of one another without worrying about the cost to ourselves.  This is the way that Jesus has shown us.

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 13:13-25; John 13:16-20)

Pope Francis has recently proclaimed Pope VI a saint.  St. Paul VI, a wise and holy man, wrote two outstanding Church documents.  One, Humanae Vitae, critiqued the ascendant values or, better, disvalues of artificial contraception.  The other, Evangelii Nuntiandi, proposed a dynamic plan for Church members in the modern world.  This plan reflects a statement in today’s gospel

Jesus indicates to his disciples that they are being sent into the world.  He wants them to proclaim his death on the cross as the definitive sign of God’s love.  The same disciples carried out their mission, but still not all the people believed.  So the mission has been handed on to Christian disciples today.

That is, it has been given to us.  We are to proclaim the love of God not so much by word as by deed.  Jesus shows the disciples on hand what love means by washing their feet.  He then asks that they do likewise.  In the same way we are to wash the feet of others.  The washing is not literal.  We are not to open foot baths all over town.  Rather the washing is figurative.  We are to serve others by doing what is truly helpful and needed.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Feast of Saint Mark, evangelist

(1 Peter 5:5b-14; Mark 16:15-20)

St. Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the four and in all probability the first written.  Its Greek is rustic, and its text is full of primary emotions.  But none of these factors make it so compelling.  More than anything Mark’s gospel conveys urgency because it justifies the suffering of discipleship.

After Peter intuits Jesus’ identity as Messiah, Jesus gives a warning to those who will accept him as such.  Since he will suffer for the sake of God’s kingdom, they must prepare themselves for the same.  Jesus does not tolerate any pretension of glory among them.  Rather he tells them that the one who will be first must serve the rest until the end.  The passion narrative in Mark does not spare Jesus any pain or cruelty.  He is tortured, ridiculed, and lingers on the cross more in Mark than in any other gospel.  His followers can expect similar mistreatment.

With few exceptions Christians experience suffering even martyrdom in greater numbers today than ever.  But in truth few of us are likely to be tortured physically.  However, we may be belittled or even ostracized for making Sunday worship a priority or for defending refugees and life in the womb.  As readers of Mark’s gospel, we should welcome such opportunities to follow our Lord and Savior.

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.