They Who Believe

Gospel: John 3: 16-21

What does it mean to say that one believes in Jesus? Over the years we have come to answer that question by saying that it involves the recitation of a particular creed, the acceptance of certain intellectual propositions about Jesus, and the knowledge of catechetical information about Jesus.  But the Gospels and the larger New Testament are abundantly clear that belief in Jesus is not about any of those things, but about something more fundamental.

To believe in Jesus is to do the works Jesus himself performed.  It is to be about the work of extending peace and mercy to others through healing, liberating, and nourishing others.  This is done in concrete, specific ways: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, welcoming the stranger - all of whom are seen as Christ himself and not as an "other."

To believe in Jesus is to be the Good Samaritan, not the priest and Levite.  It is to embody the beatitudes in our entire life and being.  Final judgment is about how we cared for the poor and marginalized, for those who needed mercy.  It is not a catechism quiz, nor is it a recital of creedal formulae.  It is solely about whether we loved others as Jesus loved us.   

Learning to Let Go

Gospel: John 3: 9-15

"The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." How often do we seek to control God and make God subject to our will.  We create elaborate theologies in order to find certitude and security, when in reality all we are doing is seeking to hide from God.  We worship our definitions and our theologies, but not God.

We speak so much about Christian culture and the need for it.  We create elaborate institutions, attachments to liturgical forms, music, architecture, education systems and the like.  But we find ourselves worshipping those things rather than God.  When confronted face to face with God alone, we run and hide in our theological categories, ideologies, and political strongmen claiming to defend Christendom.  We create a countless array of false gods.

If Holy Week and the Easter season teach us anything at all, it is that the path of God is the path of the cross, one that is not secure or certain at all.  It is one of utter faith and dependence in God alone, just as Jesus' time in the desert had been.  The Christian must be a mystic, or nothing at all.  The trappings of culture, institution, and ideology are idols and hiding places from God.  Today is our day to embrace the Spirit and go where she wills. 

Visitors by Night

Gospel: John 3: 1-8

Nicodemus, a Pharisee of prominent rank, comes to visit Jesus at night.  He sees the good deeds Jesus performs.  He is attracted to a life of mercy and loving service to others that Jesus invites us to live.  Yet, he is afraid, knowing well the world of religious institution and secular power where there is no interest in a world of care for all.  Power, after all, is had by exclusion and rivalry; the care for all is difficult to monetize.  

Over time, Nicodemus grows in his faith and becomes more open.  His next visit with Jesus is at dusk where some light exists.  He will then seek to defend Jesus at his trial against those who seek his death.  Finally, Nicodemus will be there to help with the preparations for Jesus' burial in broad daylight.  At this point he has been removed from his seat of power and influence.  

How often are we like Nicodemus? We too are attracted to Jesus' care for all, a life of mercy and loving service.  We know all too well the power of religious institutions and secular forces that lead only by division and exclusion.  We too seek to grow in faith and courage as Nicodemus did, to stand up for Jesus - to stand up for those excluded and on the margins and to care for all people in love and mercy.  This is our Easter mystagogy, the ongoing reflection on the life of Jesus and imitation of his way. 

Peace and Mercy

Gospel: John 20: 19-31

The topic of divine mercy begs the question as to whether there is any other kind.  We find so precious little of it among human beings, especially in our own day, and so lacking among those claiming to be followers of Jesus.  But today we celebrate mercy, and the Gospel portion of the day provides us with a fitting setting with which to reflect on this topic.

Consider: in the past ten days the men holed up in the upper room today have betrayed Jesus, denied him to others, and abandoned him at his trial and execution.  What is more, they have refused to believe Mary Magdalene and the other women, along with two men from Emmaus who have all seen the risen Lord and have told these men their experiences of him.  And in spite of all this, Jesus appears to these men and extends them the message of peace and reconciliation.  He then instructs them to extend this peace and mercy to others in the world.

Mercy is always something we want for ourselves, but we are so unwilling to extend it to others.  In celebrating divine mercy we cannot do so only for ourselves, but we must celebrate it in the lives of others.  And, we must extend mercy and peace to others in our lives in imitation of and obedience to the One who has showed us mercy and extended peace to us.

 

Reacting to Death

Gospel: Mark 16: 9-15

This week we have seen various reactions to the death and resurrection of Jesus.  In today's Gospel portion, Mark recounts the persistent disbelief of the apostles.  Shut away in the upper room, they are paralyzed by fear and their own cowardice over the death of Jesus.  They are not open to the experiences and testimony of others that the life of Jesus continues on and that death has not won the day.  They are in a tomb of their own making.

We have also seen disciples return to their former way of life as if nothing at all had happened.  Jesus had died; he had risen from the dead.  But these events have had no impact on their lives.  They live as they had previously, and that led to fruitless effort with no results.  But upon the appearance of the risen Jesus in their midst, they do encounter new life and new success in their old endeavors.

Finally, we have the women - the only ones who were present at the death of Jesus.  They are the only ones with the courage to come to the tomb to perform the necessary rites of burial, to anoint the body of Jesus and to say the necessary prayers.  They have faced his death and burial head on, and they would be rewarded with seeing Jesus risen first.  They would be the first to believe and to tell others.  These women show us how to face death and how to be open to resurrection and new life. 

A Reconciliation Meal

Gospel: John 21: 1-14

The disciples have returned to their former way of life in Galilee.  They have taken up again the fishing trade, and they do not find any success in that endeavor.  But then, unawares to them, Jesus appears on shore and suggests to them casting their net on the opposite side of the boat where, to their amazement, they find a great deal of success.  It must indeed be Jesus on shore, and so it is.  

There on shore Jesus has prepared a meal for them at a charcoal fire, a meal of bread and fish.  The charcoal fire was the place of Peter's denials of Jesus not that long ago, and the Eucharistic meal of bread and fish hearkening back to the multiplication miracle - all of this becomes the setting for a great reconciliation between Jesus and his disciples.  These men who had betrayed him, denied him, abandoned him, disbelieved him and others and who now have returned to their former way of life - they now must be transformed by this meal.

Is this not the same with us?  We too have betrayed, denied, abandoned, and disbelieved the Lord, rejecting him in the person of others.  We who claim discipleship in him return again and again to our former ways of living.  But the Lord is ever there, ever preparing and providing a reconciliation meal for us as well, hoping that perhaps this time it will transform us and our former way of life from fruitless toil to great success.  That is the difference the presence of the risen Lord makes in our lives. 

The Source of Disbelief

Gospel: Luke 24: 36-49

Since the day of Jesus' execution, the apostles have sequestered themselves inside the upper room.  When the women came telling them they saw the risen Lord, they did not believe them.  Now, two men claim to have encountered Jesus in Emmaus, and again the apostolic band did not believe them.  So now Jesus appears in their midst and still they are slow to believe in him.  It is only when Jesus rebukes them that they come to believe.  

When religious leaders seal themselves off from the world and disregard the experiences of other people, it is they themselves who are disbelievers in the risen Jesus present in the world.  It is they who create disbelief and secularism in the world which they love to deride and decry.  These leaders again and again set themselves up for rebuke by the Lord who continues to be present and at work in the lives of all people.  

It is only when we leave the upper room that we come to discover the empty tomb and encounter the presence of the risen Jesus in the world.  It is only then that we can engage in the work to which the Lord has called us - the work of healing and mercy extended to all people in all parts of the world, the ministry of inviting to the table all peoples so that they may be nourished, transformed, and that they too may come to know him in he breaking of the bread. 

A Spring Day Stroll

Gospel: Luke 24: 13-35

Two men are taking a walk, seemingly without purpose.  They are followers of Jesus and are talking about all the events of his recent execution.  Jesus appears to them, though they are unaware.  He asks them to share these events from their own perspective, which they do.  Jesus then sets about to situate his own execution within the context of the Hebrew scriptures and history of Israel.  As he did so, the hearts of the two men burned within them, but they still did not recognize the Lord.

When they arrive at an inn for the evening, they all sit down for a meal.  It is only when this table fellowship occurs, when Jesus breaks the bread for them and with them that they come to recognize his presence among them.  They have encountered the risen Jesus, but then he disappears from their midst.  They will come to realize later that Jesus forever remains with his people in this table fellowship, in this breaking of the bread.  It is that action that summarizes all that he was about on earth, all that scripture foretold.

We can talk on and on, sharing our own perspectives about Jesus.  We can have Bible studies aplenty until the end of our days.  But we will never recognize the Lord in our midst until we come together at the table and break bread as he did.  It is ultimately in action and not in words that we come to discover the presence of the Lord, that we come to make present the Lord in our world.   

Mistaken Identity?

Gospel: John 20: 11-18

There is an irony about Mary Magdalene thinking that Jesus was the gardener.  We are initially led to think that it is a mistake, but is it?  John has portrayed Jesus as the pre-existent one, the one present at creation - the creation of Eden, the creation of man and woman.  Recall the scene of the crucifixion: a tree (the cross), a man and a woman (John and Mary), two streams flowing (blood and water), and Jesus buried in a new tomb in a garden.  We are in Eden once again!

Jesus had come to re-create the world anew, to restore our lost innocence and return us once again to that relationship with God untainted with human self-interest.  The tree of Calvary provides us with the food we need to live and die as Jesus showed us to live and die.  By it we are given the example of living a life of love and mercy for others.  By it we are shown how to die with acceptance and dignity.  In both we have a platform to preach the only sermon necessary: Father, forgive them.  

Mary is tasked with informing the brothers that the gardener has returned and has made all things new.  She becomes an evangelist, the apostle to the apostles that our lives are made new, that we are back in the innocence of Eden with the Lord.  We have nothing to fear.  We must share that love and mercy with others so that all fear and the ultimate fear of death may be overcome in each life on earth.

Whom to Believe?

Gospel: Matthew 28: 8-15

Today's Gospel scene is a bookend reminder of who the faithful disciples of the Lord are throughout the Gospels.  At the tomb we have angels appear to Mary Magdalene and the other women telling them of Jesus' resurrection.  Then, Mary and the women actually encounter the risen Lord himself.  He makes them the first missionaries to proclaim his living presence to an unbelieving crowd, in this case the male disciples.  The women immediately obey and do what the Lord said.

Recall how the Gospels began.  An angel appears to a woman, telling her she would be the mother of Jesus.  She accepts this mission readily and is the first to encounter the Lord at his birth.  By contrast, Mary is surrounded by men who doubt and do not believe, and yet she carries out her mission with the support of other women, showing us again the model of discipleship.  Men throughout the story show us discipleship through the via negativa - what not to do.  

At the two great feasts of the Church, Christmas and Easter, we are presented with women as the model disciples for us to imitate and follow as we seek to become better disciples each day.  As we encounter the risen Lord in our daily lives, may we imitate the women who took great risks in even being at the tomb and even more risk in telling the disbelieving and mocking menfolk the Lord's message.   

An Uneasy Emptiness

Gospel: John 20: 1-9

In this Gospel version, there are no angels at the tomb, nothing at all to indicate any meaning to what the women will encounter.  Here, they come upon an empty tomb, and they figure the authorities have taken the body of Jesus somewhere.  This theory makes sense, for they would not want a place for the followers of Jesus to rally and create unrest.  But the authorities did not move the body; the followers of Jesus were too paralyzed by fear to even leave the upper room.

But Mary Magdalene spurs them to action: she tells them the tomb is empty, and thereupon they rush out to see.  They inspect the tomb and so begins the long reflection on what it all means.  They will not realize Jesus is risen from the tomb until he begins appearing to them - first to Mary Magdalene, then to the others in various places.  Even then, the mystery is never exhausted and the ongoing reflection upon it continues.

Jesus came to bring love to the world.  The world responded by seeking to destroy that love with all the forces and deception at its disposal.  Death had its day, but love overcame it and enabled us to withstand our greatest fear, which is death itself.  Do not fear death, even at the hands of cruel and merciless men who rule our world.  Love has overcome it and will live beyond the event of death.

An Uneasy Silence

Today there is an eerie silence.  The deed has been done, and we are left to reflect on the events of this past week and our participation in it.  We who call ourselves disciples find ourselves reckoning with our betrayals, our denials, our abandonment of the Lord for our own self-preservation.  We who were casual followers of him found ourselves calling for his crucifixion and for the release of Barabbas.  We found ourselves among the mocking crowd.

But here we are like the Roman centurion, reflecting on these events, realizing that truly this was the Son of God, and that we have put him to death.  How could we have done this?  Isn't it the case that after every human atrocity we ask ourselves this question, only to find ourselves engaged in another atrocity not long thereafter? Even now we find ourselves watching our modern day chief priests and religions rabble evoke bloodlust upon immigrants, migrants, refugees, foreigners of all kind and upon those who care for them.

Today, however, we must reflect like the Roman centurion, and commit ourselves to a different course of action.  We are conscious of our failures.  It is for us to repent and to reform.  Today we resolve to stand with the Lord, to be present at the tomb no matter the risks.  Today we stand with the poor and vulnerable, with those who are mocked and deprived of human dignity.  For they are Christ now among us, and we cannot abandon them, we must not abandon them.   

An Unlikely Sentence

Gospel: John 18: 1-19: 42

Imagine the following: You have spent the last three years following a man who goes from town to town encouraging people to repent of their sins.  In every town in which he goes, he heals people of their infirmities, he liberates them from the demons that plague them, and he nourishes them at table fellowship.  He owns no weapons and rejects all calls to use violence.  He encourages others to give and care for the poor.

But today he is sentenced to a cruel execution by the religious and secular authorities who accuse him of being a terrorist and a threat to the state.  No evidence is brought against him.  His execution was had solely by a mob organized by religious and secular forces that yelled false claims, called for his execution, and threatened violence if their demands were not met.  And so this man of mercy and love meets his earthly end.

If this story sounds familiar, it is because this scene is played out time and time again throughout our world.  Jesus is the victim of this day, but he is so in the person of so many people today unjustly and falsely accused of the same and denied due process of law - all at the hands of religious leaders and the secular state.  Jesus told us not to weep for him, but for ourselves and our continual crucifixion of him in the person of others day after day.  Every day is Good Friday...

An Unlikely Feast

Gospel: John 13: 1-15

Imagine you are aware of the fact that a friend of yours is betraying you, and that this betrayal is going to lead to your arrest, torture, and cruel execution.  Imagine also another friend whom you've appointed leader who you know will deny ever knowing you.  Finally, consider that the rest of your merry band of friends will abandon you in your time of greatest need, leaving you all alone.  How would you react to this knowledge?  Probably the way most people do: anger, resentment, seeking revenge.

Now consider the actions of Jesus in possession of such knowledge.  What does he do?  He has already pre-planned the celebration of the most sacred ritual in their faith tradition and invited these friends to dine with him.  Then, he takes up a towel and basin and washes the feet of all these faithless friends.  He dines with them, calls them his friends, and later in the midst of his agonizing death he will forgive them all for what they did.  

The gap between us and Jesus is a vast one.  That gap is the road we must take in order to be like Jesus in our lives.  It is a constant struggle, one fraught with many failures on our part, especially in reflecting on Holy Week and how far we are from the ideal of Jesus.  But we keep going on the way, trusting that one day we will be able to love as he loved, to live as he lived, for that is what it is to be a disciple of the Lord. 

At What Cost?

Gospel: Matthew 26: 14-25

Judas sells Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave in a system of human trafficking and exchange.  What led Judas to do so?  Was it for financial gain?  Was it because he was disillusioned in Jesus, that he was not the political Messiah for which everyone longed?  Did he worry about Roman severity if Jesus were not handed over?  Perhaps it was a combination of all these things.  Whatever the case, it is an unseemly and horrid thing to do.

And yet we are willing to hand people in droves over for a lot less.  Consider how many immigrants, migrants, refugees, and people from foreign countries regardless of status are readily given over to foreign torture prisons.  Consider our willingness to reject the idea of due process and the idea of innocence before proven guilty - and all in the name of Jesus who himself was the victim of all these things.  While we ponder Judas' motives, we might well ponder our own in selling off great swaths of humanity, people who are God's image, another Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit.

As we continue to re-enact the drama of the final days of Jesus, we come face to face with the reality that we betray, condemn, mock, torture, and execute Jesus again and again in the person of so many people whose humanity and dignity we deny.  In using Jesus' name to do so, we take his name in vain, we commit the worst of all blasphemies.   

Betrayal and Denial

Gospel: John 13: 21-33, 36-38

Today's Gospel portion is bookended by two aspects of discipleship in every time and place - betrayal and denial.  The story starts with Judas' betrayal of Jesus, and it ends with Peter's threefold denial of Jesus.  As much as we do not wish to admit it, all of us will take part in this drama of Jesus' trial, execution, and death in these ways throughout our life.  We have our moments of betrayal, denial, and yes even in the torture and mocking of Jesus.

Consider how modern Christianity rejoices in the death of a child with measles, or in the carnage of Gaza, the firing squad of death row, the betrayal of Ukraine, the unjust deportation of legal residents, the exile of citizens, the abuse and mistreatment of immigrants, migrants, and refugees.  The person of Jesus is betrayed, denied, mocked, and scourged in the persons of the vulnerable, innocent, and marginalized - and in the mocking of empathy itself.  The passion play is re-enacted, and we often play the most unseemly roles in it.

This Holy Week, however, let us make a resolution to play a different part.  The role of Simon of Cyrene is available, as is Mary Magdalene, the centurion who repents his role in the carnage, Mary and John, Jesus himself.   This year, may we adopt a new role, one befitting a true disciple of the Lord, one that carries the cross with the Lord and bears the burdens of others.

The Power of Love

Gospel: John 12: 1-11

When an institution - be it political, religious, or business - becomes defensive and perceives threats to its existence, there immediately ensues a recourse to violence.  Initially, the justification is minimalist - it is necessary for one man to die for the sake of the nation - but then as in today's Gospel we find the lust for violence spread to others who now need to die.  Today it is Lazarus, tomorrow it may be his sisters or some of the disciples.  Who can say for sure?

It is, of course, unseemly that religious figures are engaged time and again in the scheming to take the lives of others.  It is perhaps more unseemly that we have come to expect it as a matter of normal operating procedure.  The apologetics machine so defensive of faith claims now is employed to justify its allegiance to worldly powers and its vehicles of violence and lies.  Holy Week is played out in real lives year after year, week after week.

The authentic religion of Jesus raises the dead to life, heals the sick, liberates people from their demons, and nourishes them at table.  It rejects the path of lies and violence but is instead their victim, offered freely in love for others.  False religion will choose Barabbas, a political revolutionary and murderer.  The authentic Christian will choose the way of Jesus.  This is our choice this week and every week of our lives. 

The Final Pilgrimage

Gospel: Luke 19: 28-40; 22: 14 - 23: 56

We might well wonder why Jesus goes to Jerusalem, knowing that it will likely lead to his arrest and eventual execution.  In the past he had escaped previous attempts on his life in his home town of Nazareth and elsewhere.   But here Jesus does not seek to escape or avoid his impending death.  Here, Jesus embraces the fate that awaits him.  

The first thing to be said is that Jesus is a faithful Jew.  It is the feast of Passover which is a pilgrimage festival to Jerusalem.  Like any faithful devotee of the Jewish faith, Jesus goes to celebrate the Passover with his people.  He had already made preparations for the feast, and he was going to have the Passover meal with his friends one last time.  

But more importantly, Jesus could not avoid his death any more than we can.  At some point we all come face to face with our mortality and eventual demise.  Jesus provides us with a model for facing that eventuality.  Yes, there is some anxiety about it, but Jesus accepts his fate and his death with calm and serenity, forgiving everyone who has wronged him and entrusting himself to God.  We must face our own death in this way too, with hope of a resurrection to come.

Authentic Religion

Gospel: John 11: 45-56

Jesus spends his entire life in service to others, in extending the mercy and love of God to all people.  He does this through acts of healing, freeing people from the demons that oppress them, and in nourishing others at table.  Every act Jesus performs is to restore life and enable it to flourish.  This ministry finds its fullest expression in the raising of Lazarus from the dead, an act for which the religious authorities now want to put him to death.

We might well wonder why until we consider the following.  When religion is about the ongoing maintenance of buildings, the perpetuation of religious rituals, and the endowment of comfort on its leaders, the actual healing and care of others will be seen as a threat.  What if people actually give their money to help the sick, the poor, the hungry, and those in need? What if they stopped giving and supporting the established religious institutions that are not about these things?

We have a choice in deciding what religion is going to be like.  Will it be an institution of power and privilege, or will it be an instrument of healing, liberation, and nourishment that raises up life for people in this world?  This week is election week.  On the ballot is Barabbas and Jesus.  Whom will we choose? 

The Work of God

Gospel: John 10: 31-42

Jesus says he must be about the works of his Father - the works of God.  What are these works, what are these deeds that Jesus himself goes about undertaking?  He goes about from town to town healing people of all sorts of ailments, showing no discrimination at all and healing everyone who is brought before him. He does likewise to those held  bound by their demons, liberating them and setting them free.  Jesus eats and table and feeds others, again excluding no one and providing for all.

What is more, Jesus never condemns or kills anyone.  Despite being urged to do so, he rejects every invitation to violence.  He never lies or is deceitful to others; he respects the rights and dignity of all.  And yet for all this, people want to put him to death.  They claim they are fine with these good works, though time and again they object to these works, and time and again they want him to exact violence on others and diminish the dignity of those they do not like.  

If we claim God as Father and Jesus as Lord, it is for us then to be about the work of God, the work of healing, liberating, feeding, the work of nonviolence and respect for all people.  It is to do so for all people, turning no one away from the love and mercy of God.  We are either all God's children, or none of us are.  Jesus shows us the way.  It is for us to follow that path.

Jesus and Abraham

Gospel: John 8: 51-58

There were two ideas from the Greek world that Jewish theology opposed.  The first was the idea of an afterlife, of a heaven and hell.  In general, Jewish thinking held that this life on earth is the only one we have, and that any notion of an afterlife was at best just a land of the shades or place of the dead.  So when Jesus speaks of death here in reference to the death of the soul in the afterlife, we find that idea unthinkable by his conversationalists in today's Gospel passage.

Equally odious to Jewish thinking was the Greek idea of pre-existence prior to life on this earth.  Jewish belief held that a person begins their sole existence here at birth, that no prior existence has occurred.  So, when Jesus speaks of knowing Abraham and having this existence prior to this life of his on earth, this idea also becomes unthinkable to those speaking with him here.  

What does all of this mean for us in our lives? Our continuity and connection to Abraham is not had through ancestral lineage or belonging to a particular group of people.  The connection to Abraham is through faith in the one God and following God wherever that leads.  Jesus comes to provide the definitive example of following God through a life of mercy and love culminating in a selfless death for the sake of others.  This way of Jesus is the way of the one God, the way to the one God. 

Mitzvah, Not Membership

Gospel: John 8: 31-42

It is a perennial mistake in the life of religion to suppose that the most important part of religion is membership in an exclusive club or lineage back to a founding figure.  In today's reading Jesus' adversaries pin their faith life on being children of Abraham by ancestry, by being members of God's chosen people.  This is not unlike those who regard Apostolic succession or membership in the One True Church as being most important for faith life.

But Jesus dispels this notion rather quickly.  What makes for an authentic religious person is what is in the heart and what deeds one performs.  A heart full of love that brings forth deeds of mercy and compassion for others is what makes a person truly blessed.  One cannot claim to be a child of Abraham or member of the Church if one's heart is full of malice toward others, if one demeans immigrants, refugees, migrants, and anyone else you do not like.  

Membership in a particular group is important only to the extent that that group helps one another live a life of mercy and love for others.  If a group becomes destructive of that goal, then the group is no longer an effective instrument of God's grace in the world.  May our lives and our faith communities be places of care for others where mercy and love are nurtured and extended to all.

The Road Not Taken

Gospel: John 8: 21-30

In today's Gospel portion, Jesus says to his adversaries that there is much that he could say in condemnation of the world, but instead Jesus chooses a different path.  The way of condemnation in the past has led to untold bloodshed and loss of life.  It is the way of the warrior deity who rules by fear and intimidation, not by love and freedom.  In Jesus that way is a path that is forever rejected and removed from consideration.

Instead, Jesus chooses the way of nonviolence, the way where he becomes the one condemned, the one who undergoes unjust violence and derision.  But this path is the way of ultimate healing for the world, just as the seraph was the way to healing for Israel in the desert.  The ministry of Jesus involved. healing, liberation, and nourishing of others at table, all of which finds expression in his death on the cross that heals and liberates us from sin and becomes our Eucharistic Passover feast.

But the way of our healing is not just to look upon the crucified One but to imitate him in this very act.  It is for us now to set aside the way of condemnation and to embrace the path of mercy and love.  It is for us to suffer the injustice, to renounce the violent path, to become what we eat in the Eucharist by the actions we perform and the lives we live. 

The Lonely Stand

Gospel: John 8: 1-11

Susannah and the unnamed woman caught in adultery: two vulnerable women who are subject to the injustice of a bloodthirsty mob.  Do we notice how fragile are the rights and dignity of the marginalized and by extension all of us? Do we notice how few come to the defense of these women treated unjustly, and how many are in the mob of bloodlust?  

If it were not for one man in each story - Daniel and Jesus - these women would have been unjustly tortured and executed.  One man in each story risks their own life and reputation in order to defend the vulnerable and marginalized from the injustice of the crowd. Both men will have their own lives threatened  - Daniel is spared, Jesus is eventually put to death unjustly.  

Today is our day to decide.  Will we be among the mob of the bloodthirsty seeking to deprive the vulnerable and marginalized of their rights and dignity?  Or will we be like Daniel and Jesus, risking our own lives and reputations to protect those experiencing injustice? Yes, we may face an unjust death ourselves, but it is a noble death, one we are called to endure as disciples of the Lord Jesus. 

Mercy and Justice

Gospel: John 8: 1-11

It is customary that the sin of adultery involves the actions of two people, and yet in today's Gospel story we have only one person accused of this sin.  That only the woman is accused and not the man is a curious detail as well.  And that the woman's accusers state she was caught in the very act makes us wonder just what the crowd was doing in a private bedroom in broad daylight.  All of this sets the scene for the interaction between Jesus, the crowd of accusers, and the woman herself.

What Jesus writes on the ground will forever remain an unknown in this story.  Whatever it was, the writing and Jesus' statement: let he who is without sin cast the first stone - causes everyone to walk away.  The crowd's bloodlust has been stymied, and Jesus is now alone with the woman.  He does not condemn her, but instead encourages her to live a better life than she has up to now.  She has received mercy and the ultimate reprieve.  Her life now must be spent showing mercy to others.

Jesus always rejects the recourse to violence and vengeance that is suggested to him by others.  He does so here; when asked to cast fire on a Samaritan town; when the disciples want to take up the sword.  Instead, Jesus opts for encounter and mercy - mercy that always provides justice for the vulnerable and marginalized.  This woman represents all of humanity caught in sin.  Jesus has stepped in to save us from our accusers, to spare our life.  Now we too must live a life of mercy that spares the life of others.

Misplaced Priorities

Gospel: John 7: 40-53

The controversy around Jesus in today's Gospel portion has two important components.  The first is that the conversation centers around what is unimportant - the origins of Jesus as compared to the origin expectations in the scriptures.  This question overlooks the more important issue of Jesus' ministry of doing good for others - of healing, liberating, and feeding people at table.  People would rather have Jesus die than perform these good deeds.

The second component is the fact that people are so convinced that they know where Jesus is from that they do not take the time to even explore the question at all.  They do not consider at all the possibility of someone being born in one place, moving to another place, and being raised in that new place.  The animus against Jesus is so great that no openness whatever exists to exploring the question they regard as so important.  

How often do we regard less important questions like people's origins as more important than whether or not people are doing good deeds of mercy and love? We would rather see migrants and refugees caring for their families die because they are from that place.  We would rather see children orphaned or in abusive foster homes instead of in loving homes of gay or lesbian parents.  We would rather people go without the sacraments than to consider ordained ministry open to wider parameters.  Jesus was solely about the healing, liberation, and nourishing of people, and so must we be. 

Do We Know Him?

Gospel: John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

It is an irony of the Gospels that those who sought to put Jesus to death claimed to know all about him: his origins, his family, his acquaintances, and his teachings.  At the same time, those who did know him as his disciples will claim they did not know him, and they will sit idly by as Jesus is put to death in the most cruel and unjust way.  It may in fact be ironic were it not for the fact that this same pattern exists in every time and place.

Consider those who claim to know Jesus: they know their scripture and have paid for their pew, and yet we find them so actively seeking the death of others in the death penalty, endless wars, the neglect and mistreatment of immigrants, migrants, and refugees, and the deliberate exclusion of people from access to health care.  At the same time, we find disciples who sit idly by allowing these things to happen and claiming not to know him in the person of others.

To know Jesus is to imitate and follow his example in the world.  He went about healing, liberating, and feeding others without discrimination and excluding no one.  He never killed anyone and rebuked those who sought to do so, even putting himself between executioners and a woman they accused of adultery.  To know Jesus is to do these things in our world and for the people we encounter.  To know Jesus is to know him in the person of every human being we encounter.

With and Without Love

Gospel: John 5: 31-47

When we live in a world without love where self-interest is the ruling passion, we find ourselves justifying all sorts of cruelties against other human beings.  We come to objectify others and see them as merely transactional entities, their value only dependent on their utility and random feelings we have for them.  We come to categorize and label others, thereby depersonalizing them and making it easier for us to justify these cruelties we inflict on them.

However, in a world where we are filled with the love of God we come to see things in their proper light.  All people are now seen as images and likenesses of God, other Christs, and temples of the Holy Spirit.  We now see everyone as our sister and brother, all part of the same human family, all redeemed by the Lord Jesus, all beloved by God.  We now have compassion and empathy for all people.

The path of love is the path of the Lord Jesus.  He went about healing, liberating, and nourishing others in a life of mercy and good deeds.  There is not a single instance in which he refused anyone who came seeking his help, and whenever anyone sought to exclude others from his love and care, Jesus ignored them and provided for that person in need.  To be a disciple of the Lord Jesus is to live as he did, to love and show mercy to others as he did. 

What's the Verdict?

Gospel: John 5: 17-30

As today's Gospel portion attests, Jesus does in fact speak of the judgment of God.  This is in keeping with the long tradition of Israel that God is our judge to whom we must give an account each day of our lives.  The judgment of God falls upon individuals as well as to nations and communities of people in as much as groups act as moral agents in the world.  For judgement is placed upon us for the actions we perform or do not perform, not for belonging to a particular group or club.

What is more, the judgment of God is consistently related to how one treats the poor and marginalized, whether one lives an authentic religious life or as a hypocrite who only serves oneself and not the needs of others.  The judgment of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25, the judgment of rich young man who neglected Lazarus, and the judgment of the prophets against the injustices of Israel make this fact abundantly clear.

Belonging to groups is important for us in supporting one another in our quest to live as Jesus lived and taught.  Groups provide opportunity for performing the works of mercy together and thereby having a greater impact.  When groups become abusive, when they no longer are about mercy, we must continue to be people of mercy wherever we go, finding support in people wherever they are who seek to be people of mercy, people of healing, liberation, and nourishment for others. 

What's the Sabbath For?

Gospel: John 5: 1-16

Imagine being crippled for 38 years with no one to help you get to the place of healing.  It is a reality that is all too common in our world, unfortunately.  Now, imagine a man comes along and provides you with the healing you have so long desired in your life.  Would you care on what day of the week this blessing occurred?  Not likely.  But other people are upset at that fact - people who did not in any way seek to help you in your lifetime and did not even care if you existed or not will object that this took place on the Sabbath.

Needless to say, you do not care what they think.  You are interested in the person who took an interest in you, the one who provided you with compassion and care.  You come to realize the point of view Jesus has, the one that was God's original intent behind the Sabbath and behind human existence in general.  The Sabbath was made for man, for our healing, restoration, and rejuvenation.  And human beings were meant to care for each other every day of the week.

You have taken part in the Sabbath experience.  You have been healed, refreshed, restored.  You have encountered the love of God in the person of Jesus.  What will you do now? Will you live your life as before, or will you now be a person of healing, liberation, and nourishment for others in showing mercy and caring for others in need?