Dying and Rising with Jesus

In today's first reading, 2 Corinthians 4: 7-15,  St. Paul reminds us that we "hold [a] treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing  power may be of God and not from us...[that we are] carrying about in [our] body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body."  St.  Paul further reminds us that "the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us...in his presence."

Jesus says to you and to me:

Dorothy Ann (insert your name), you carry within you, as does everyone and all of creation, my dying and my rising.  A dying is at work in you all of the time so that a resurrection to new life here on earth and eventually in heaven can take place.  All of this is of God, a treasure from above planted within each person and every other living thing, plant and animal.  Why? To give glory to each one's Creator God from whom and for whom each exists!

My response:  Lord, may I honor and respect this reality.  May I die to all that is not of You so as to rise to the fullness of life that You have promised us in Christ Jesus!  May I, and every human being, die to sin--to selfishness, bigotry, misogyny, hatred, promiscuity, gluttonous attitudes, idolatry, abusive behaviors of any sort--and rise to holiness: to loving and serving others generously,  compassionately and unselfishly, to sharing of this earth's goods and wealth so that all thrive and become the persons God intends them to be. May we enhance life for all, not destroy it!  May we create unity, not promote divisiveness in Jesus' name.  Amen!

One with Jesus and the Father

In today's Gospel, John 17: 20-26,  Jesus says to the Father:  "I have given them--you and me--the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me." Let us personalize Jesus' statement to read:  Father, "I have given  [Dorothy Ann]-- (your name)--the glory you gave me." What glory? The glory of being one with Jesus, as Jesus and the Father are one with one another. Jesus explains to the Father why He is asking that you or I be one with Him:  "[T]hat [Dorothy Ann--insert your name] may be one, as we are one, I in [her] and you in me, that [she] may be brought to perfection as one [with me],  that the world may know that you sent me, and you love [her] even as you loved me."

If you are married, I encourage you to read that passage with you and your spouse in mind, personalizes the passage! It then would read, for instance: "I have given Joe and Mary the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that Joe and Mary may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you [love] Joe and Mary even as you [love] me." 

"As is he [Christ Jesus]. so are we in this world" (1 John 4: 17)

In today’s first reading, 1 Jn 4: 11-18, John says to us: “…as he is, so are we in this world.”  What, I asked myself, could this possibly mean?  As I reflected upon this phrase in prayer, I asked Jesus to enlighten me. What came through the prayerful reflection was the following:

“Jesus was God’s Anointed One,”  the Spirit said to me in prayer. “You, too, have been anointed in your baptism, anointed in the Spirit that enables you to accept the gifts of salvation, of being freed from sin and set apart for a divine purpose. Like Jesus, you are anointed to be Good News, proclaiming the Kingdom of God on earth.  You are in the world as my ambassadors, as holy persons, to confront sin with goodness, weakness with strength, deceit with honesty, fear with courage.  As my Son is, so are you, one with God and one another—a union of love by the Spirit’s anointing, by the reception of the sacraments, by receiving the Eucharist, by immersing yourself in the Scriptures.   As my Son, so, too, you:  you are endowed with the capacity to grow in love, in forgiveness, in patience, and  in hope to realize fully who you are in Christ Jesus, my Son, your brother and Savior.  

Lord, I believe that each of us is called to live in such a way as to honor our anointing with the Spirit, that we have been set apart to serve you, to be in the world but not of the world, to be imminent in responding in love to those in need of love,  understanding, compassion, forgiveness and mercy, including ourselves. I believe that we are called to transcend, by the power of the Spirit within us, the allurements of Satan whereby we are tempted to live selfish lives, perpetuate injustices and embrace inauthentic freedoms, deadening our consciousness of God. I believe that through the Spirit we are empowered to say “No” to invitations to live godless lives and  to say “yes” to centering our lives in You. “…as he [Jesus] is, so, too, are we in the world” (1 Jn 4: 17).

What are your beliefs?

Set Apart for the Lord and to Do God's Work

In today's readings, Acts 12: 24-13: 5a and Jn 12: 44-50, we are told of the communion that exists between Jesus and His Father and between the disciples and the Holy Spirit.   Jesus, though equal in wisdom and power to the Father,  does not speak on his own (cf Jn 12: 44-50). The  disciples do as the Spirit directs them:  "'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off. So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus..."

Our goal as baptized Christians and Jesus' prayer for us the night before He died is that we "all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me, that they may be one as we are one" (Jn 17: 21-22).  The union of both Jesus with the Father and the early disciples with the Holy Spirit is obvious in their obedience. 

Do my actions reflect the union between myself and the Lord, between myself and the Holy Spirit? Am I obedient to the Spirit's directions in my life?  Is it obvious to others that I am on a mission, set apart to do the work of the Lord in the world in which I live?  Am I even aware that I, like the early disciples, am also in the process of becoming one with Jesus and the Father? Am I even aware that I, too, am on a journey whereby, like the early disciples, I am obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit directing me here and now to do that for which I have been set apart"?  Furthermore, is that my goal in life or am I following someone other than God; to whose voice am I listening?

God's Promise to make us "exceedingly fertile"

In today’s first reading, Gen. 17: 3-9, God  tells Abram that he is to be the father of a host of nations, that God will make him “exceedingly fertile”, that “kings shall come from him”--that he shall be a royal kingdom--that he and his descendants will be given the land in which he was then staying.  Recall that God had asked Abram to leave the land of Ur and go to the land “that I will show you.”  He also asked Abraham (his name was changed when God established his covenant with him) to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, and Abraham obeyed  (God provided a ram instead). Abram trusted God, unlike our first parents, Adam and Eve.  Abraham, truly, is our father of faith and a model of trust.

The promises of the Old Covenant extend into the New Covenant established at the foot of the cross when Jesus entrusted Mary to John and John to Mary: "Woman, behold our son; son, behold your mother." Jesus, from the cross, is asking each of us to be mother, brother and sister to one another, to care for one another, to be responsible to and for each other. That means that no one should go without food, shelter, or land or the means to raise and provide for a family.  Everyone should be thriving and be exceedingly fruitful.

We await the fulfillment of the promise that the Royal Kingdom of God will be firmly established here on this earth. We believe that one day we truly will relate to each other as brothers and sisters, as one family in Christ Jesus, as men and women of faith, as Jesus prayed the night before His passion: I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one--as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me (John 17:21).  That day of prostrating ourselves before the Lord in deep faith, as Abram did, is coming--all will be one in Christ Jesus, our Lord, all Christ's enemies will be put underfoot. We also believe, as did Abraham, that God will make us--our country, our nation, all the nations of the world, all the peoples of the world-- “exceedingly fertile” and that we will come to the point of distributing this world’s goods equally to all people. God says to us, as He said to Abram:  “You will be my people and I will be your God.”   Do I believe it? do you?

The challenge to activate love from within

God is love and God dwells in us, St. John tells us today in the first reading.  That means that love dwells within us.  God’s love is a creative energy at work in the world and in each one of us.  Our choice is to love others as God loves us. Through that choice love reaches perfection in us.  We see  love at work in many ways in our world today:  those reaching out to abused children, to the mentally ill, the physically challenged, to oppressed persons of all ages; those devoting their time and talent to educating our children,  meeting the healthcare needs of the sick, parents giving their all for the sake of their children’s welfare, public servants fighting for the rights of the unborn, the elderly, the poor, the oppressed, the needy; through the services of firemen/women, policemen/women, postal workers, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, judges, emergency medical personnel, and so, so many more giving their all to make the world a better place.

 Today each of us will have the opportunity to love others as God loves us.  A small child may burst into the home to share his/her excitement of what happened at school today. The parent drops what he/she is doing to listen to the child. Love is activated.  A spouse needs a shoulder to lean on and is comforted. Love grows! A person with dimentia tells a story that we heard 100x over. We listen patiently. Love is strengthened.  A car juts out in front of another driver and the driver responds with patience, not cursing  that person or getting even in some way. Love is perfected in that driver.

Will I activate God’s love within me today? Or will my heart remain hardened?