Monday, April 27, 2015

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

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

 Blessed John Henry Newman understood how logical argument seldom moves anyone to belief.  Most often, he wrote, belief is catalyzed by “informal inference,” which is feeling, intuition, or unconscious motivation.  Jesus certainly understood the need for non-rational motivation as he preached with vibrant images like the “good shepherd” and, what we hear today, the “gatekeeper.”

Sometimes preachers try to explain the roles of “good shepherd” and “gatekeeper” as the same, but the attempt is in vain.  Jesus uses both images to indicate the different ways in which he ministers to us.  In the discourse which begins in today’s gospel he will call himself the “good shepherd,” the one who lays his life down for his sheep.  But now he refers to himself as the “gatekeeper” or “gate” with two functions.  First, he only lets those shepherds whom he calls – people like Pope Francis – to care for his sheep.  And second, he also allows the sheep to go to pasture when it is safe and under his watchful eye.

Very few of us live in bucolic society, and even if we did, shepherding is not the same as it was in Jesus’ time.  Yet these images still resonate with us.  We know that many wander through life without much sense of its purpose.  Those who manage to clarify a goal sometimes get helplessly sidetracked.  Accepting Jesus as our keeper and shepherd we will be saved from becoming lost.

Friday, April 24, 2015

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 implied 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 23, 2015

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

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

“I shall not live until I have seen God, and when I have seen him, I shall never die.”  The seventeenth century mystic John Donne wrote these words to profess not only his belief in the resurrection of the dead but also his wariness about earthly life.  Here, he goes on to say, we see but appearances; in seeing God we will know all things as they truly are.  In today’s gospel Jesus draws a similar distinction between the manna which the ancestors of the Jews ate in the desert and the true bread of life.

The Jews seek sustenance.  They tire from getting up every day to perform back-breaking work just to put bread on the table.  They remember the story of the Israelites being fed with manna and see in Jesus a comparable source of food.  Of course, Jesus knows that they chiefly desire to satisfy their hunger so he challenges them to see all food as only a sign of what gives eternal sustenance.  You have to eat my Flesh, he says, to really have your eternal needs met.  He means that they have to believe in him – to accept that he has come from God and to love each other.

We come to receive the Eucharist.  When it is offered to us, we say, “Amen,” I believe.  We must understand that we are committing ourselves to him.  We believe that he is God and that heeding his command to love – not just in words but with deeds – will lead us beyond our wants into eternal life.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

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

Although the Acts of the Apostles provides only a summary history of the early Church, several conclusions may be drawn from it.  Today’s passage, for example, gives three keys to understanding the initial missionary activity of the Church.  First, the fact that the missions resulted from the persecution of the Church in Jerusalem tells us that they were not planned in advance.  Rather, they were the work of the Holy Spirit prompting Christians to work for the good in any situation.  Second, the comment on how the Apostles and, presumably, other Hebrew Christians stayed behind in Jerusalem indicates that the initial missions were a venture of Greek-speaking Christians.  These non-Jerusalemites probably downplayed the importance of the Temple as Stephen did in his diatribe before being stoned.  Finally, as missionaries they did not feel restricted to preach their message to Jews but could address pagans as well.  The latter not only could speak their language but also had no interest whatsoever in Temple worship.

As recent popes constantly remind us, Catholics today must take up the mission of evangelization.  We can draw on the conclusions from Acts to respond to the summons.  The Spirit puts us in situations where our lives and words give testimony to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  In the beginning, at least, our purpose will not be to bring people into church but to show them how the love that Jesus teaches leads to a more fulfilling life.  Still, we do not refrain from speaking of our personal relationship with Jesus.  The righteousness of our lives will be the surest sign to others of the validity of our message.  But unless we are clear that the Holy Spirit guides us, they will never know the full story.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

(Acts 7:51-8:1a;   John 6:30-35)

People crave bread.  For the hungry bread is the simplest of dense food.  Once made, it can be transported anywhere and eaten for instant satisfaction.  For the better off, bread serves as a metaphor for money, that indispensable resource seemingly capable of providing every need.  In today’s gospel Jesus uses bread as an image of his own spiritual endowment.

The Jews ask for a sign like the one their ancestors received when the Israelites ate manna in the desert.  According to the Scriptures manna gave sustenance but was not very satisfying.  At least, the people tired of it and complained to Moses that they wanted something more substantial.  Now God the Father is supplying the people’s deeper needs with a much richer kind of food.  Jesus names himself as the bread that comes down from heaven giving life to the world.

Jesus is calling us to believe in him.  He wants us to accept him – his teaching, his example, the community he leaves behind – as our way of living.  He promises that we will not be disappointed.  Quite the contrary, we will find ourselves enjoying the fullness of life.