Ransomed by the Blood of Christ

In today’s first reading, 1 Peter 1: 18-25, Peter says  to us: “Realize that you were ransomed from futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished Lamb.”   I imagined Jesus saying to you:

                “______(Your name)________, you are being ransomed today from the futility of

                complaining about others or about situations over which you have no control. I am

                ransoming you today from the slavery of sin, any sin, all sin.  I paid your ransom today

                as I offered my body and blood to God the Father in today’s liturgy, when I reminded

                the Father of the price I paid for you on Calvary, where I was tortured, crucified, taunted,

                pierced, ridiculed, mocked, spit upon, kicked, humiliated in all sorts of ways.

                “I was patient so you would learn patience.

                I was humble so you would learn humility.

                I was forgiving so you would learn to forgive.

                I was silent so you would learn the wisdom of silence in certain situations.

I surrendered to that over which I had no control so you would learn the value of surrender at appropriate times.

I spoke up where appropriate so you would learn the value of speaking your truth.”

Truly, God is a God of our salvation!

The Trinity: A model of holiness

In today's first reading, 1 Peter 1: 10-16, we are admonished to "be holy because I am holy." We are women and men in the process of being made holy by our Lord and Savior. To grow in holiness, Jesus sent us the Spirit, the bond of love and unity that characterizes the Trinity. The Father and the Son give of themselves totally to one another. "The Father and I are one," Jesus tells us in John 10:30. "I do nothing but what the Father tells me to do" (John 8:12). The Father and the Son function in complete harmony with each other, are equal to each other and respect this equality of beingness. Without equality of persons, there is no unity. When anyone of us functions from a position of superiority to another, from a position of "I'm smarter than, better than, more powerful than, more educated than the other, more capable than, more whatever", unity is thwarted. "...only in the life of communion is unity sustained and human identity fulfilled" (Pope Benedict XVI, "Three Insights about the Holy Spirit," Magnificat, Vol. 14, No. 3/May 2012, p. 372)--a challenge for all adults, no matter in what vocation or in what career one is called to "be holy as I am holy," to live the life of communion modeled by the Trinity.

Jesus' prayer for His disciples

In today's first reading, Acts 20: 28-38, Paul says to the church of Ephesus and to us: "Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own Blood. I know," Paul says to us, "that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.'" In today;s Gospel, John 17: 11b-19, Jesus begs His Father, and ours, to "keep...[us] in...[His] name," to "keep...[us] from the Evil One," and to "consecrate...[us] in the truth."

The Lord, through St. Paul, is reminding us that, as Church, we are a garden purchased by Jesus' Blood and by His surrendering His life to the Father even until death on a cross. The Holy Spirit, Paul tells us in Acts 20: 28-38, has appointed each of us as a gardener. We have been given the task of cultivating this sacred garden, lovingly tending to it, nurturing it with love, purifying it with forgiveness of self and others and by repentance of our sins, strengthening it with the Word, the sacraments and prayer, and fertilizing it with obedience and trust in our God, our Father, , as Jesus trusted the Father even to death, death on a cross.

Knowing how difficult it would be for us to cultivate this living garden of faith, Jesus, just before going to the Garden of Gethsemane to surrender to his killers, prayed for us. He asked His Father to keep us in His name and to keep us away from the Evil One, that is from "savage wolves" that would enter the Garden of the Church, that is, that would descend upon our lives. He also asked the Father to consecrate us in the truth, in the Word of God. God the Father will not disappoint His Son. Every day He preserves us in His name, guards us from falling into Satan's traps, and consecrates us in truth!What an awesome God!

Glorifying God and God glorifying us

Today’s Gospel, John 17:  1-11a, opens with the phrase:  “Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you….’”  All of us shave been in positions where the dreaded hour has arrived for us to face a situation or an encounter that we would have preferred to avoid.  Perhaps we can learn a great deal from what Jesus said to His Father.  He brings the situation to His Father’s attention, first of all, and then  asked  that  glory be given to himself.  He’s asking to come out of the situation in triumph, not in defeat; glorified, not demonized, not belittled, not shamed.  Imagine going into a situation that is scary with the frame of mind of Jesus. We would certainly approach it with confidence. Also, notice Jesus’ reasoning, namely that he may glorify the Father.  Do I approach the difficulties in my life in order to glorify the Father or do I enter into a difficult situation hoping to defeat the other person/s involved in the situation, to triumph over them and bring defeat to them?  I might want to ask myself “What is my motivation?”  

Going up to the Temple of the heavenly Jerusalem

 In 2 Samuel: 7:4, God tells David not to build Him a Temple, saying: “Would you build me a house to dwell in? ... and I will establish his kingdom. ... establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

Jesus, a descendant of the royal throne of David and whose Kingdom is eternal, returns to the glory of His Father today and is seated at the right hand of God. The eternal Kingdom promised David is fulfilled. The doors to that Kingdom were opened for each one of us by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. We are heirs of that Kingdom by God’s choice. It is freely given. Will we accept it and what is asked of us as faithful followers of Christ?

 

Jesus as the everlasting King, the ruler of the Kingdom of God, is prophesized in 2 Chronicles 36: 22 by Cyrus king of Persia: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—to fulfill the word of Yahweh through Jeremiah—Yahweh roused the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation and to have it publically displayed throughout his kingdom: ‘Cyrus king of Persia says this, ‘Yahweh, the God of Heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him! Let him go up.’” Jesus goes up to that eternal Kingdom today, from which He came to earth when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, the Mother of God.

 

Jesus’ promise to prepare a place for us is also the promise to make us into a Temple for God. We are being built into that dwelling place every single day. Those of us who believe in Jesus, repent and are converted into Christ will take our places in heaven on the day that Jesus returns to take us where He is.

 

What an awesome, loving, kind, compassionate, merciful God!

Patience in the face of suffering

In today’s first reading, Acts 16: 22-34,we read about Paul and Silas’ arrest, being beaten with rods and put in chained shackles.  They are treated cruelly, shamefully, disdainfully. It is night. No bed. No comforts.  They turn to their faith and spend the night singing, thanking and praising God. Suddenly an earthquake shatters the prison, breaks open their chains and they could be free men. However, they do not escape. The jailor is terrified of his fate when he discovered the prison doors wide open, the chains broken. In his desperation he  is about to commit suicide when Paul yells out: Don’t harm yourself!  God uses Paul and Silas’ heroic faith and love to save the jailor and his family, who turn to Christ, are baptized and minister to Paul and Silas, taking them to his home; treating their beaten, bruised bodies and giving them a meal.

As I reflect on my reactions to things in my life that are irritating, humiliating and distasteful on a much smaller scale than what Paul and Silas went through, I am humbled as I reflect upon their faith response.  I rant and rave at much smaller injustices, far from turning to the Lord in prayerful praise, as Paul and Silas had done.  When life throws me “a curve ball” or all hell breaks loose on my efforts, what if my response flowed out of my faith instead of my anger, my demand for just treatment or my insistence on being treated righteously.  What miracles the Lord could perform!

The "Spirit speaking beforehand"

In today’s first reading, we are told that “…the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand….”  If in the time of the early Church, the “Spirit spoke beforehand, ” and God did, don’t you believe that God speaks beforehand in your life and mine as well? I believe that wholeheartedly, not that it is easy to accept God’s providence and designs for our lives, especially when we do not fully understand what God is doing or why God did what God did in the histories of our lives.  But, for instance, we know that when God met Adam and Eve in the garden after they failed to trust Him, He already had a solution for their disobedience, when He announced to Satan: “I will put enmity between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head while you will strike at his heel”  (Gen. 3:15).  Satan’s head was crushed by Jesus from the Tree of the Cross, the Tree of Life that replaced the Tree of Good and Evil in the Garden of Paradise.  The plan of salvation is always active. As of old, we, too, move in and out of obedience to God, in and out of truly trusting God. God intervenes. He has a plan for our salvation in every event of our lives and the life to the Church today just as in the past when Peter and the first apostles followed Jesus’ call.

Partnering with Christ

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to us: “As the Father has love me, so I have loved you”  (John 15:9).   How has the Father loved Jesus?  Jesus, John tells us in John 1:3 is the one through whom everything comes into existence.  To involve the Son in the act of creation reveals God’s love, respect and confidence in Jesus. Jesus’ love of us is similar. In effect, He, too, says to us: “I love you so much that I invite you to be a co-creator with me.  I want to create new life, new hope and a deeper love in the world through you. In fact, I invite you to partner with me in reconciling differences, healing wounds, building bridges between the rich and the poor, the oppressed and the oppressor, the deaf and those who hear (those spiritually deaf), the blind and those who see (again more than physical blindness).,\  Just as the Father said to me at my baptism in the Jordan:  ‘This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” I say the same to you.  I want to share with you the bond and the love that exists between the Father and Me. We are one. I want to be one with you as well so that you will know a peace and a joy the world cannot ever give (John 14:27).

 Are you willing to be Jesus’ partner or do you want to go it alone?

Persevering in the faith

In today’s first reading, Acts 14: 19-28, we read further about the problems Paul encountered in his efforts to spread the Good News about Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension.   Some “Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside of the city, supposing that he was dead.   …[When]the disciples gathered around him, he got up…[and] on the following day left with Barnabas for Derbe.  …[T]hey… proclaimed the good news to that city,…made considerable…disciples [of Jesus and then] returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, …[where] they strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in faith, saying, ‘It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.’”

Wow! What inspiration and instruction for us Christians today!  Living the Christian life has always involved obstacles to be overcome, misunderstandings to address, and, yes, persecutions, martyrdom, a dying and a rising with Christ to new life to be endured in faith.  Like Paul, to get up after being down, whether downed by others or by ourselves, we need other disciples, others persons living their faith in Christ, to help us up!  Getting up from whatever problem or tragedy we’ve encountered in being faithful to the Gospel, we, in turn, are called to “proclaim the good news,” make “considerable disciples,” and strengthen “the spirit of [other disciples].  That is what my mother and father have done for me, and, hopefully, for you as well. That is what Mother Frances, the Foundress of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother and many of my fellow religious have also done for me.  Who does that for you and for whom are you a strengthening companion in the faith?

The Power of the Spirit at work

In today’s first reading, Acts 14: 5-18, Paul and Barnabas are in a dangerous situation and consequently relocate.  That is an important message for all of us. We need to be alert to times when we, too, are in a situation in which we are in danger or stuck. Are we where we will be able to meet our goals? Are we where we will thrive in the Lord, doing that to which God is calling us?  And, if not, what is holding us back from taking action?

The “dangerous” situation could be coming from within, that is, from negative attitudes, from a critical, judgmental self, attitudes of inferiority and low self-esteem. To accomplish what we are capable of becoming because of Baptism—dying to sin and rising to new life with Christ—and Confirmation in which we were given the same Spirit that transformed the disciples from cowards into bold men and women, from “I-can’t” to “I-can” persons.  Following the descent of the Holy Spirit, the disciples boldly assumed their responsibility to spread the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection, even though, around them, was the threat of imprisonment and death.  They knew what they could do empowered by the Spirit of Christ, the Power that raised Jesus from the dead.  What about you and me? Is our faith that strong and active in our lives?  Or are we cowering from that of which we are afraid?

Connected to our Source

“Remain in me as I remain in you” (John 15:4). As we walk through parks or even around the properties where we live, invariably we see branches broken off trees. Their leaves quickly fade. The branch dies. It no longer is capable of bearing fruit or fulfilling the purpose for which it was created.

Like branches on trees, we, too, are connected to Someone and Something bigger than ourselves, to all of creation, to everything that moves and breathes and has being from the Creator of all. “For by him (Christ) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” (Col. 1:16). Apart from Christ, from God, we are incapable of accomplishing the good for which we were created. “Whoever remains in me,” Christ tells us in today’s Gospel(John 15: 1-8), and I in him/her will bear much (emphasis mine) fruit, because without me you can do nothing. The things we do without Christ, disconnected from God, self (our true self) and others in love is not life-giving, not community building, is not of God. Disconnected, we spread discontent, confusion, chaos and we deepen our emptiness, blow out “smoldering wicks” (Is 42:3) stamp out “budding seedlings,” crush broken spirits and, “yes,” bring death. Do I want to live isolated from Christ, the Source of my Being? Or do I want to stay connected through the Scriptures, the Eucharist, through striving to love others as God loves me,by showing compassion towards others as God shows compassion toward me?

 

Wanting instantaneous answers

In today’s Gospel, John 10: 22-30, some Jews corner Jesus on the Portico of Solomon and ask Him bluntly: “How long are you going to keep us in suspense. If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”  We are not that much unlike those people wanting their questions, their confusion, their doubts cleared up once and for all.  We do the same thing.  Do we not ask, for instance, how long we have to put up with a distressing situation without any clear cut answers.  Do we not badger each other about how long  we have to wait for better times, for answers to questions about the economy, about war, about terrorism. Do we not corner our spouses and/or our children demand an answer to something about their lives that have been bothering us for a long time.

We want to trust God. We want to have faith. We want to grow in or fall in love. We want to reconcile, or whatever.  But we want “it” instantaneously.  Jesus’ response to the questioning Jews is: I’ve told you already. If you would be observant and pay attention to the works I do, you would know the answer to your questions.  Is it possible that if we would be listening to one another, to innuendos in each other’s behavior, to hints around us, to  the Lord in the Scriptures, to  the Sunday homilies and liturgies, to the events of the day, to the quiet of nature,  to the whisperings of our hearts that we would find the answers to that which throws us into asking a frenzy of questions of each other or of ourselves.  Jesus, I believe, asks us to weigh the evidence before us and not get into forcing answers.  God Himself will not force an answer from us, as He waits for our total self-giving to Himself as Savior and to each other in love and forgiveness.  He waits! He know when we are not ready and respects readiness. Can we do the same?