It is not unusual to come across a post, newspaper article, history channel or some other venue which promotes “This Week in History,” and then will list several historic events that happened on dates that fall within “this week.” I thought this week’s was interesting. It included: Continue reading
If you knew this was your last week, your last day on earth, what would you tell the people you love? Would it be advice? Your hopes for them? Would it be the dreams you have? Perhaps, the gratitude and love in your heart? What would be your last words to the ones you love? Beyond the fact we’d really not like to think about it, even if we were ready to do so, this is something difficult, daunting, and delicate.
In many of the weekday gospels of Eastertide as well as this Sunday’s gospel we are hearing Jesus’ answer to the question. Judas is on his way to betray Jesus, the countdown to the crucifixion is running, and Jesus is facing his disciples with news that will devastate them. It is not a time for parables or sermons – he goes straight to the point – just one commandment: “love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”
It wasn’t “read your Bible”, “believe all the right things”, “go to Church every Sunday”, “pray three times a day” – and don’t get me wrong these are all good and holy things – and I hope you do them. But this Christian life, distilled down and held up as Jesus’ last words to the gathered disciples, is simply “love one another.” This new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, and yet it is profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice. (D.A. Carson) Why is that? As G.K. Chesterton once wrote that “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”
And it should be noted that this is a command, not a suggestion, a matter of choice, a proposal, or a suggestion – a commandment. But how we love matters. Think about your own childhood. My mom absolutely commanded me to behave as if I loved my sisters and my friends: “Share your toys.” “Say sorry.” “Don’t hit.” “Only say nice things.” I was an obedient lad. I did those things with a clenched jaw and rolling eyes. I am pretty sure that is not how Jesus loved. Behaving as though we love is easy enough (rolling eyes aside), but that “all in-deeply-engaged-generosity-from-the-heart” love – that is an altogether different matter.
And yet the dying wish of our Savior was to love one another. Our God is the one who calls us, first and foremost, to ensure every one of his children feels loved. Not ashamed. Not punished. Not chastised. Not judged. Not isolated. But loved. “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” And if we fail to do these things? Then the world won’t know what they need to know about God through the life, death and resurrection of Christ because we will not have put it on display for all the world to see. And we the people of God, the Church, will be seen as flawed and hypocritical – not as a place of holiness, healing, hospitality, and hope.
As I have loved you – at least we have a road map, a set of instructions. Do what Jesus did: “Weep with those who weep. Laugh with those who laugh. Touch the untouchables. Feed the hungry. Welcome the child. Release the captive. Forgive the sinner. Confront the oppressor. Comfort the oppressed. Wash each other’s feet. Hold each other close. Tell each other the truth. Guide each other home.” (D. Thomas, Journey with Jesus)
The French theologian Maurice Blondel offered some sage advice when he counseled believers to just do it, because the love operative in our hands reaching out in the love of Christ to others, has a way, in time, to work its way back from our hands, up our arms, into our hearts, and let us experience “As I have loved you.” Then we truly move towards the place where we love one another. And then “all will know that you are my disciples.” And when we enact these final words of Jesus, the Kingdom of God is revealed.
Back in January when those opposed to vaccines/mandated vaccines began to shout “my body, my choice” as a moral logic for the freedom to refuse vaccinations, I could not help but note the irony of the moment as they co-opted the long held cry of those in favor of a woman’s right to an abortion. By-in-large I thought if fair to speculate that those who shared the same “battle cry” did not share a political view/party/perspective. My pastor asked me to write a piece on for the parish bulletin, which I did. But…. Continue reading
When Fyodor Dostoevsky sent the manuscript of his celebrated novel, Crime and Punishment, to the publisher, he included a brief note: “This is the story of a university student who is infected by ideas that float on the wind”. That image is one that stuck with me in all the years since I first encountered it. Is the idea/project/choice with which I am confronted something that is just floating in the wind or is it something with foundation and anchorage. Enter the age of the covid-19 pandemic and the idea of being infected by things that float in the wind has new meaning. We have taken great efforts over the last 2.5 years to limit infectious floating things and to build up our immune system against such infections so that if we can’t prevent infection we can at least mitigate the short-term and long-term effect. Continue reading
An obvious answer to the question is, “nobody,” since God the Father has committed all judgment to his Son, Jesus Christ (John 5:22). So we should not be surprised that St. Paul to exhort the Romans “to stop judging one another” (Romans. 14:13). The context comes just a few verses before: “Why then do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.” (14:10) The context is that final judgment is reserved to God. We are not meant to judge another person by closing the loop of justice on his or her life with a final verdict before God when the final verdict belongs to Christ, and Him alone. There is always hope for any man or woman this side of the grave to repent and return to the way of salvation. Jesus testified to this upon the cross when He forgave the repentant thief (Luke 23:43). Continue reading
The people heard that parishioners from St. Francis in Triangle had gone to St. Fulani to celebrate a Tridentine Rite Mass. And so when they returned they were confronted and asked, “You went to a Tridentine Mass and worshiped with them. How could you be associated with those people?”
The people heard that parishioners from St. Francis in Triangle had gone to an ecumenical prayer service with Muslims, Jews, and Protestants. When they returned they were confronted and asked, “You went to an ecumenical prayer service and consorted with unbelievers, terrorists, and apostates.” Continue reading
Our reading today is from John 6, the whole of which is rightly called the Eucharistic Discourse, John’s reflection on the meaning of the Eucharist seeing that the other gospels had well recorded its institution at the Passover meal the night before his crucifixion. We are at the end of the discourse and it seems that there is a crisis among the disciples. They seemed to have reached a point with Jesus’ teaching that is just too much. Perhaps too much to have compared himself to Moses, too much to have referred to himself as the living bread come down from heaven, or just too much that can’t be reconciled with their preconceived idea of the role of the Messiah. Continue reading
In “The Writing Life,” Annie Dillard writes: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.” It’s an encouragement to live with intention. It’s good wisdom to keep in mind when deciding whom we spend our time with and how we spend our time.
In today’s gospel, we read from John 6 known as the Bread of Life discourse. And there is much that can be said about this central chapter of John’s gospel that speaks to John’s Eucharistic understanding and teaching. And today I have no doubt that there will be some excellent commentaries on this reading. I have also written about this section of Chapter 6 that you can read here. Continue reading
Were it not for the Feast of Sts. Philip and James, the first reading for this week-so-far would have recounted the public ministry of St. Stephen. He had been publicly debating with members of a synagogue and apparently it became so animated that Stephen is hauled before the Sanhedrin by men who falsely state: “For we have heard him claim that this Jesus the Nazorean will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us” (Acts 6:14) In a way, their claim was true. Stephen had depreciated the importance of the temple and the Mosaic law and elevated Jesus to a stature above Moses. Continue reading
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