My Lord and my God!

In today's Gospel, John 20:19-31,  the apostles have locked themselves in a building, fearful of the Jews finding them, imprisoning them and putting them to death as they did Jesus. "...Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'"  Recall the times Jesus said to them: Fear not those who can physically harm the body. Fear those who can harm you spiritually.   In a sense Jesus is reminding them of that fact. "Be at peace! The Jews cannot harm you. Look at me. I am risen from the dead.  The Jews could not harm me and they will harm you neither. Fear not physical death. Follow me! Proclaim my resurrection. You, too, will one day be raised with me." And later when Jesus is about to ascend to His Father and theirs, He tells them that they cannot follow Him at that moment. It's like He said to them: "You cannot come with me now, but you will join Me later. Where I am, you will also be," referring to His eternal Kingdom.

At this meeting, Jesus commissioned them:  "'As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' And when he had said this, he breathed over them, and said to them 'Receive the Holy Spirit...'"  In the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, we, too, received the Holy Spirit.  Though we do to see Jesus with our naked eyes but with eyes of faith, we believe. In today's Gospel, Thomas was not with the apostles when Jesus appeared.  When the apostles told them that they had seen the Lord, Thomas said: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hand and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." A week later, Jesus appears to the apostles again. This time Thomas is with them and Jesus says to him:   "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."  Thomas responds: "My Lord and my God."

Notice that Jesus does not condemn Thomas but is very gentle and affirming. He meets Thomas where he is at! He does the same for us!  If we are at a point of disbelief or unbelief and proclaim: "I will not believe unless.......(fill in the blank)," Jesus will invite us at the right moment to a position where, like Thomas, we say: "My Lord and my God."  Jesus is willing to wait as long as it takes for us to open our hearts to His Love.

The Justice and Saving Graces of our God

In today’s first reading, Dan 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62, the elder judges falsely accuse Susanna, an innocent woman, of committing adultery. God raised up Daniel to confront these wicked elders of their unjust sentences that sent many innocent women to their deaths.  The innocent woman is spared and the unjust men, elder judges, face the sentence they had leveled against her, and so many others.

In today’s Gospel, John 8: 1-11, the scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus caught in adultery: “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” Jesus bends down and writes in the sand with his finger.  They ignored Him and continued begging the question. Jesus then stands up and says to them: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” One by one, “beginning with the elders,” the men accusing her walk away! Jesus says to the woman: Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She says “No, Lord.” And Jesus says to her: “Neither do I condemn you.”

In Ez 33: 11, we are reminded that God takes “no pleasure in the death of the wicked…, but rather in [a person’s] conversion, that [each individual] may live” (Ez 33:11).   That is God’s attitude toward the wicked.  His attitude, obviously, toward the just is the same.  John reminds us in John 3: 17 that “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world but so that through him the world might be saved.” B Both Scripture readings, today, witness to these truths! And our faith tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We, too, will encounter Jesus’ justice, a justice secured for us by His death on the cross on Good Friday and His resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday, both of which are celebrated at every Catholic Liturgy! And each of us entered into this Paschal Mystery at our Baptism and in our reception of the Sacraments!

God be praised and honored, glorified and thanked by every breath we take and every beat of our hearts throughout this day God has given us!

"Take up Your Cross and Follow Me" (Mt. 16: 24)

In today’s Gospel, Matthew 16: 24-28, Jesus says to his disciples, that is to you and me:  “ If ..[you] wish to come after me [you] must deny [yourself], take up [your] cross, and follow me. For [if you wish]  to save[your] life, [you] will lose it, but [if you lose] your life for my sake, [you] will find it.”

Am I willing to take up a cross that is repulsive to me, that I would never choose for myself?  How would I treat someone who treats me coldly, for instance? How would I respond to persons who avoid eye  contact with me, who would walk away when  I am approaching? How would I respond to people who seems to be ignoring me, whose attitude toward me seems filled with hostility and disdain? 

If I am carrying such a cross, I need to think of Jesus. He was treated with hostility.  People treated Him disdainfully, coldly, walked away from Him. They yelled “Crucify Him,” “Crucify Him!” Whom am I crucifying by my coldness, my attitudes of disdain and hatred? I may hate being treated coldly. I may hate it when I am not treated respectfully and kindly.  Jesus says to me: Remember, people hated me and they will hate you as well (John  15:18). We all stand before our God as sinners. We all stand before God needing God’s mercy. No one is exempt from this position. God says to His Father: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing” to one another. And when we turn to Him in our dying to urges to retaliate, to return evil for evil, and acknowledge our need for mercy and forgiveness,  Jesus says to us: “This day you will be with me in Paradise.”

Go Fishing: Jesus Will Meet You Where You Are

In today’s Gospel, John 21: 1-14, the disciples—Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael and James and John –decide to go fishing.  They go back to their old way of living!  Jesus is very much aware of what they are  doing and  meets on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias. “Have you caught anything to eat,” Jesus asks them. They respond:  “No!” Jesus then instructs them to cast their net on the right side of the boat “and you will find something.”  The catch is huge: 153 large fish. John then recognizes the man on the shore: “It is the Lord.” When they drag in the fish and come ashore, they notice that Jesus is preparing breakfast for them and ask for some of the catch.

What do we learn from this story? First of all, it is okay to go fishing! Sometimes we need to go back to old ways to meet the Lord.  Notice that the Lord does not scold them. He simply ask if they have caught anything to eat. He is concerned about their well-being physically, about the mundane things of every day life. They are as important to Him as anything else about our lives. 

We also learn that sometimes, we need to leave “the couch” and go do something for fun or to provide for our sustenance. We also learn that Jesus cares about us to the point of preparing a meal for us! He does that every Eucharist, a meal that nourishes us spiritually, cleanses our hearts and minds and wills of anything that obstructs the flow of grace, that strengthens us on the journey to eternal life. 

What a God we have--a God who is fully incarnate: One of us, One with us, One who works through us, as in the first reading of today’s liturgy that references the healing of crippled man through Peter and John’s calling on Jesus’ name.  We, too, have all of the privileges which the apostles experienced!