Let’s assume I was unknown to you.  You come across me in International Plaza, clipboard in hand – looking very official.  I ask and you agree to answer several questions for my survey.  How would you answer:  “Who are you?  How would you identify yourself?”  Maybe pause here and mull over the question a bit before reading on. Continue reading →

I have been musing about memory this week because I had a wonderful two days in Atlanta with my dad’s side of the family – all the cousins and their children.  It was all a walk down memory lane especially with my cousin Frank.  Although at times I wondered if we walked the same lane – but then he has had the advantage of all the things that can trigger memory:  people, places, sights, sounds, smells, and all the rest. It did seem that the longer I was around the family, the more I recalled, and made more memory connections. More and more, a whole range of memories came to ready recall – out of storage somewhere in the misty past of memory. Continue reading →

The Gospel for the Fifth Week of Easter: John 13:31-35

³¹ When [Judas] had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. ³² (If God is glorified in him,) God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. ³³ My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you. ³⁴ I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. ³⁵ This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Introduction

Perhaps we should place this short gospel passage in context. The public ministry of Jesus has drawn to a close with Chapter 12.  Here in Chapter 13 begins the “private ministry” of Jesus preparing his disciples for his impending death.  John 13:1-17:26 is characterized by Jesus’ being alone with his disciples before his betrayal and arrest. While there may have been others present, such as those who were serving the meal, the focus is on the Twelve (so also Mt 26:20; Mk 14:17;  Lk 22:14). The section begins with an account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and the prediction of Judas’ betrayal (13:1-30). Then there is a lengthy section known as the farewell discourse, which consists of teachings (13:31–16:33) and a concluding prayer by Jesus (17:1-26). Continue reading →