Monday, May 8, 2017

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

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

When Fr. Stanley Rother received a message threatening his life, he refused to leave his mission.  “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger,” he said.  Fr. Rother was a priest from Oklahoma working among indigenous people in Guatemala.  Eventually he did leave, but he could not stay away long.  Urged by the words of today’s gospel, he returned to the people he had come to love.  Not long afterwards, he was assassinated.  As Pope Francis has declared him a legitimate martyr, Rother will be beatified this September.

Jesus, the Son of God, will lay down his life for all humans.  His death will be neither suicidal nor resisted.  Rather it will manifest sacrificial love for the good of sinners.  Jesus makes them holy – the first meaning of sacrifice – by acting as their representative.  On their behalf he perfectly obeys the Father’s will that he immerse himself in the world.  It is the world under the spell of the evil one who has him crucified.  God in the end will raise him and those who join themselves to him from the dead.

We join ourselves to Jesus in Baptism and live this union in our relationships with others.  Mothers exhibit Jesus’ sacrificial love when they care for a sick child through the night.  Children reflect his love when they take their feeble parents to see the doctor.  All of us show Jesus’ love when we care about and support one another.

Friday, May 5, 2017

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

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

Many people today are concerned about quality of life.  The elderly worry about having good health in retirement.  For them quality of life is not to have to live with chronic pain and, even more critical, not to lose their minds.  Meanwhile, young people consider quality of life in economic terms.  For them to have a high quality of life means to have the money to buy season tickets to their favorite sports team’s home games and to take a cruise every other year.  In today’s gospel Jesus has an alternative conception of quality of life to consider.

Of course, Jesus does not use the term quality of life at all.  Rather he speaks of as having his life within.  His life is much more than biological life, which bread and wine by themselves can sustain.  No, he means eternal life or life in abundance which comes from participating in God’s love.  It is a life of gratitude because one is assured of God loves for her or him.  The Eucharist, Jesus’ gift of his body and blood, depicts this perfectly.  Derived from the Greek language, the word means to be thankful. 

We are a Eucharistic people -- a people who continually give thanks to God.  Yet we strive to become ever more so.  We see the efforts people make for us and thank them.  We recognize how we have benefitted from the work of people in times past and feel a sense of gratitude for them as well.  Even if our quality of life is not that great in the eyes of others, we know differently.  Sick or well, poor or rich, we enjoy a high quality of life because we know of God’s love for us and are thankful for it. 

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

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

It is said that bread is the staff of life.  Supplying most of the calories in a western person’s diet, bread was once the staple of half the world.  Today a range of foods provides the calories for subsistence.  More peculiar is the fact that many people have recently been diagnosed with an intolerance of gluten, a composite of wheat proteins.  They cannot digest most bread well and should not eat any product containing more than a trace of gluten.  How does this development affect today’s gospel claim that Jesus is “the bread of life”?

Just as the life that Jesus offers is greater than physical life, the bread he gives is more than regular bread.  It is his “Eucharistic” bread which provides the superior life.  Eucharistic bread enables a life of gratitude.  It recognizes God as its source, its sustenance, and its end.  Assured of such a benefactor, the person who consumes Eucharistic bread should give thanks always.

We have daily access to Eucharistic bread at mass.  It transforms us inwardly to become more grateful for everything.  Consuming Eucharistic bread, we lovingly recognize those who help us.  We can even accept the difficulties that burden our lives with a sense of appreciation.  Shouldered without rancor, they make us stronger and wiser.  Becoming more Eucharistic, which means becoming more like Jesus himself, should bring us to mass more often.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

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 is really God.  “He was a remarkable man,” the skeptics say 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 to help us overcome lust, greed, and pride.  Even more, he promises to enable us to assist the poor who may repel us and love the enemy who might harm us.  In all these ways he prepares us to live with him in glory.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church

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

When St. Francis of Assisi heard that some of his friars were enticing Muslims into killing them, he put a stop to the practice.  He insisted that the missionary norms of his order prohibit both using arms to force conversions and taunting Muslims to martyr missionaries.  One wonders if Stephen in today’s first reading should not have been prudent in this way.

Stephen is a Greek-speaking Jew.  He comes from the Diaspora with little stake in the Jerusalem temple.  His diatribe against it perhaps reflects the sentiment of his background.  More than that, Stephen is a fervent convert to Christ.  He no doubt harbors resentment for the people of Jerusalem for having executed Jesus.  His outburst deserves some response, but certainly stoning is uncalled for.

Stephen’s story presents us with a few lessons.  First, we want to imitate his zeal to tell others about Christ who is our comforter and helper.  Second, we want to avoid Stephen’s harshness.  More people will be drawn to Christ by reflecting his peace than by exhibiting Stephen’s fury.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, like Stephen imitating Jesus, we want to forgive those who have offended us.  We should begin now so that we do not forget to do so at death.