A JESUIT'S BLOG
Sunday 28 April 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024 - Do Jesus and the Father dwell in you? How will you show this through your actions today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 14:5-18; Jn 14:21-26
To be a true disciple of Jesus, it is not enough to make a verbal proclamation of faith in him. One is also required to keep his commandments. It is important to note here that one does not earn Jesus’ love by keeping his command to love. It is because one has already experienced that love that one wants to love and obey in return.
Judas (not Iscariot) does not appear in any of the Synoptic Gospels. He is the one who misunderstands here and asks a question about the revelation that Jesus is to make, not realizing that the revelation has been made already. If the disciples want to continue to experience the love that Jesus has made manifest to the world, they must continue to love one another. It is in the love of one another that they will experience the love of God and Jesus. This will result in a mutual indwelling. Just as Jesus dwells in the Father and the Father in him, so Jesus and the Father will live in the disciples and the disciples in them. This abiding presence of God and Jesus within the disciples as a community is both the foundation and the result of love expressed in deeds. Where there is no love shown, Jesus and the Father cannot be made present.
Though Jesus has made explicit what the disciples are to do if they are to make him present, it is possible that they may not have grasped all the implications of the command. The Paraclete or Advocate, only here in John identified with the Holy Spirit, will “remind” them of Jesus’ teachings. This clearly indicates that the Holy Spirit will not give new or different teaching, but only reinforce all that Jesus has already taught. The Spirit will be sent in Jesus’ name and so, like Jesus was the exegesis of the Father, the Spirit will be the exegesis of Jesus.
To keep the words of Jesus means to live them out in
action. The ones who do that have already experienced the indwelling of God and
Jesus in them. This indwelling will strengthen them and enable them to live out
the word more fully each day. This is not a linear but cyclic process. More
living out means more indwelling and more indwelling means more living out.
Saturday 27 April 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024 - Are you part of the vine or the cut off branch?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 9:26-31; 1 Jn 3:18-24; Jn 15:1-8
A tribe in Africa has
what we may consider an unusual way of punishing offenders. The one who commits
an offence is simply banished from the tribe and is forbidden to have any
contact with anyone from it. Research into the lives and workings of these tribes
has shown that the one who is so banished has always died within a few days.
The reason for the death, researchers point, out is not that the person was not
able to fend for him/herself, but the fact that the banished person realizes
that such a life is not worth living and simply gives up on life.
The Discourse of Jesus on
the Vine and the branches seems to make this very point. It also gives us a
beautiful image of Church and in doing so, states emphatically that Christian
existence and life is never merely an individual life, but always a life lived
in and through community.
The verses of today’s
Gospel contain the last of the “I am” sayings in the Gospel of John. Jesus uses
a common symbol of the world at that time: Vine. While in 15:1, the
relationship with Jesus and the Father is stressed, in 15:5, when the metaphor
is used again, Jesus does so in the context of his relationship with his
disciples. Thus, the focus of the metaphor is interrelationship. If God is the
vine dresser, Jesus is the vine and the disciples are the branches.
While it is easy for most
of us to understand God as the vine dresser and Jesus as the vine, it is
important for us to understand our role as branches. The first step to this
understanding is to note is that on a vine all branches look similar though they
are not the same. This similarity suggests cohesiveness and deep inner unity.
This unity of the branches is possible only because they grow out of the same
vine and it is shown in the fact that all produce the same fruit. This fruit
which originates in the vine itself, which is Jesus, is the fruit of
unconditional and magnanimous love. Since all produce the same fruit, there is
no superior or inferior branch. Each is as precious as the other and is needed
to complete the vine. If one branch cuts itself off from the vine not only will
that branch wither and die and not be able to produce any fruit, but it will
also result in the incompleteness of the vine. This means then that all
positions in the Church are only functional and not to be used to dominate or oppress.
It also means that each of us is responsible for the welfare of the other.
All too often
Christianity has been understood as a religion that has only the individual
dimension. The communitarian dimension has been neglected. This is seen in so
many of the Sacraments (which are both individual and communitarian) being
treated and regarded as private devotions. The approach of many Christians has
often been: My God and I. This approach is to misunderstand Christianity and
all that Jesus stood for. The metaphor of today makes explicit that mutual
indwelling is at the heart of the preaching of Jesus, and that Christianity,
while it surely has an individual dimension, just as surely has a communitarian
dimension. I am, as a Christian my brother’s and sister’s keeper. Their joys
and sorrow, their trials and tribulations, their successes and failures, have
to be as real to me as my own if I am to be a Christian in the true sense of
the word. The Christian does make an individual commitment and choice to follow
Jesus but he/she makes it in and through a community.
This is seen clearly in
the first reading of today, in which Saul who became Paul made such a choice.
While Paul did have a personal experience of the Lord and was called by him
directly, he also had to be accepted by the community who though they were initially
afraid because of his past, dared to accept him as one of the branches of the
vine. They not only did this, but also made his trial and tribulations their
own, protecting him when his life was in danger. In doing so, the community
showed in practice what it meant to be part of the vine.
The community lived out
the exhortation made by John in the second reading of today in which he asks
Christians to love not in word or speech but in action and in truth. The Spirit
of Jesus is what sustains the community and constantly reminds them of their
status as branches in the same vine. The Spirit that Jesus breathed on the
disciples affirms and continues his message of unconditional love. It is a love
that makes no distinction, a love that reaches out of itself and a love through
which the world will know that he still lives.
Friday 26 April 2024
Saturday, April 27, 2024 - Jesus revealed the Father as unconditional love. How will you reveal Jesus today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 13:44-52; Jn 14:7-14
These verses continue the teachings begun in 14:1. The one who knows Jesus also knows the Father for Jesus reveals the Father as Father. In Jesus, one sees the Father as never before because no one has revealed him like Jesus does. Like Thomas before him, now Philip does not understand what Jesus is saying and in his ignorance, asks a question. He does not realize that in seeing Jesus he has seen the Father because of the revelation that Jesus makes of the Father. In offering himself, Jesus has offered all the revelation that the disciples need to identify the Father.
Jesus can only do what the Father has told him and so his works are those of the Father. Philip and the other disciples must be able to see Jesus as the revelation of the Father, if not in his person, at least through the works that Jesus does. The works flow from his person and are not separate from him but an integral part of who Jesus is. The works, too, are works of revelation. They show that the primary aim of God is not to condemn but to save and so are works that enhance and build up.
Since it is Jesus who sends the disciples, the works that anyone who believes in Jesus will do will be the same as those of Jesus. In fact, these will be able to do even greater works than Jesus. These works will make known the whole story of Jesus as Word made flesh and so, will be greater than those which Jesus does. Since these will be done after the whole Christ event – death, resurrection, and ascension to the Father – they will continue the glorification of Jesus. They will continue to reveal Jesus to the world, sitting at the right hand of God. Jesus will answer every prayer of the disciples made in his name and he will grant their petitions.
As Jesus made God known to the world through unconditional, magnanimous love, so the disciples are called to do the same. The works that Jesus did have to be continued today if Jesus is to be made present and is to be revealed to a world that does not yet know him. It is the present community of disciples that has the responsibility to continue the mission that Jesus began. Whenever an enhancing word is spoken, whenever an action that heals is done, whenever love is shown in a tangible manner, then the work of Jesus continues and Jesus continues to be made present.
To be sure, the revelation of God that Jesus made can
also be recognized in the depths of one’s heart, but this is not the whole
story. It is a love that must be shared and revealed to the world if it is to
be complete and whole. The incarnation was not a private revelation given to a
select few, but an earth shattering event made visible to the whole world. So
the revelation of Jesus, today, has to be done visibly and tangibly.
Thursday 25 April 2024
Friday, April 26, 2024 - Have you, by your narrow mindedness, prevented others from encountering Jesus? Will you realize that he is bigger than anything that you can ever imagine?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 13:26-33; Jn 14:1-6
Today’s Gospel reading contains the first of the teachings of Jesus that speak about his departure and what it means for his disciples. At the beginning of these teachings, Jesus commands his disciples to stand firm. They are not to let the event of his departure overwhelm them. They are not to give in to despair, give up, or lose hope. They must continue to trust and believe. Even though it might seem, on the surface level, that evil is winning, the disciples must realize that God is always in charge and in control of all situations. They must place their trust in God and in Jesus. Since Jesus shares an intimate relationship with the Father, and since the disciples can do so too, there will be as many rooms as there are believers. God and Jesus will exclude no one who wants to share this relationship with them. Jesus goes, but only to return and so, his going is not permanent. It is a temporary act that must be done and completed. This going and returning will be evidence of his power over everything, including death. Nothing and no one will ever be able to separate the disciples from the love that Jesus has for them. The purpose of Jesus’ returning is to take the disciples to the place where he is: the bosom of the Father. Even as Jesus points to himself as the one who reveals the Father, Thomas misunderstands and asks a question. He interprets the words “where I am going” only as a physical destination and so, protests that, since he does not know the final destination of Jesus, it is not possible to know how to get there. Jesus corrects this misunderstanding with an “I am” saying. “The Way” is not a geographical term or physical road, it is Jesus himself. Thus, to know Jesus is to know the way and, to know the way is to know Jesus. In his being “the Way” Jesus is also “Truth” and “Life”. Jesus is the “Truth’ because he has been sent by God to make God’s word known. He became “flesh” and anyone who recognizes this and listens to his voice, is of the truth. Recognition of the truth in Jesus leads to “life” in abundance. Since the fullness of God’s life was revealed in Jesus, one can only partake of this life through Jesus.
It is important not to be too fundamental in interpreting the last verse of today’s reading. All too often, insistence on the exclusiveness of the Christian way has been responsible for problems in various parts of the world. The Gospels all agree that the approach of Jesus was all inclusive and excluded no one who would want to come to the truth. There is no doubt that Jesus revealed the Father in the most unique of ways, as no one before had ever done. This is because, in the incarnation, God took on “flesh” in all its weaknesses and limitations. Jesus did not simply put on human nature but became like us in every single way and thus, can understand every aspect of our lives. However, by the fact of the incarnation, Jesus also gave us an insight into who God is and who we are called to be. He made us aware of our own limitlessness. Though he limited himself, we must realize that Jesus is much bigger than the narrow image of him we often have. This narrow image is responsible for our restricting him and making him as small as we are.
John was writing about his community’s experience of seeing God in Jesus incarnate and was not concerned with showing the superiority of this revelation over any other or with the fate of believers of other religions. We must keep this in mind when interpreting the last verse of today’s text. We must, however, rejoice because we are privileged to receive such a unique revelation of God in Jesus Christ.
When one brackets out the questions that contemporary
Christians falsely import into these verses, there is nothing outrageous or
offensive about the claims made here. Rather, at the heart of Christianity is
this affirmation of the decisive revelation of God in the incarnation. John
14:6 can thus be read as the core claim of Christian identity; what
distinguishes Christians from peoples of other faiths is the conviction given
expression in John 14:6. It is, indeed, through Jesus that Christians have access
to their God.
Wednesday 24 April 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2022 - St. Mark, Evangelist - Mark wrote a Gospel to communicate his experience of Jesus. What will you do to communicate your experience?
To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Pet 5:5-14; Mk 16:15-20
The second Gospel was
written by St. Mark, who, in the New Testament, is sometimes identified with
John Mark. Both he and his mother, Mary, were highly esteemed in the early
Church, and his mother's house in Jerusalem served as a meeting place for
Christians there.
St. Mark was associated
with St. Paul and St. Barnabas (who was Mark's cousin) on their missionary
journey through the island of Cyprus. Later he accompanied St. Barnabas alone.
We know also that he was in Rome with St. Peter and St. Paul. Tradition ascribes
to him the founding of the Church in Alexandria.
St. Mark wrote the second Gospel, probably in Rome sometime before the year 65 C.E..; and possibly for Gentile converts to Christianity. Tradition has it that Mark was the interpreter of Peter. This seems to be confirmed by the position which St. Peter has in the Gospel of Mark.
The Gospel reading for
the feast is from Mk16:15-20. Most scholars today regard Mk 16:9-20 as an
addition to the original ending of Mark at 16:8. A number of reasons are put
forward for this view. The first is that Mary Magdalene is introduced in 16:9
as if she is being mentioned for the first time. However, Mark has mentioned her before
(15:47; 16:1). Second, there is no mention of a Galilean apparition in these
verses, though one is explicitly promised in 16:7. Third, these verses are a
combination, in summary form, of the post resurrection appearances of Jesus in
the other Synoptic Gospels, in John, and in the Acts of the Apostles.
The text of today begins
with the command of the Risen Lord to the disciples to proclaim the Good News
to all nations. The disciples are challenged to go beyond their fear and with
confidence trusting in the power of the Lord. The Lord will accompany them
everywhere and their witness will draw all peoples to the Lord.
The enemy of faith is
fear. However imperfect our faith, and however many times we remain silent when
we should testify to the gospel, we can always return to the Lord. None of us
can get so far away from Jesus that we cannot be touched by God’s healing presence.
Jesus continues to use each of us even in our weakness to be his messengers of
the good news that, in him, God loves everyone.
Let the feast of St. Mark
be for each one of us an opportunity to live out our faith and inspire others
and draw them to the Lord.