"Love One Another as I Have Loved You”                   

       (John 13:34)

Because we hear these words of Jesus so frequently, they don’t startle us.  But in hindsight, when the Apostles reflected on His words, their hearts were broken. They remembered that Judas had just left the table when Jesus spoke those words.   

Jesus loved Judas.  He called Judas to be an Apostle.  Jesus had just broken bread with him, when Judas betrayed Him. Amazingly, Jesus didn’t stop loving Judas even after He was betrayed.  Unfortunately Judas didn’t realize that. 

Why did Jesus love Judas so much? Why does He love any of us so much?

John Lukaszewicz, a deceased priest friend of mine, used to say, “Once you know a person’s story, you will almost always love that person.” I repeatedly realize the truth of that sentence. When we know the history of a person and some of the struggles they have faced, it is almost impossible not to love him/her. 

Jesus knew Judas well.  So, of course Jesus loved him…no matter what happened.

Jesus knows our stories better than we know our own.  He knows our checkered histories and our disorders too.  He also knows our gifts.  And He loves the whole package!

Who do you love the most?  Do you love the whole package?  Who loves you the most? Do you think they love the whole package?

Good Shepherd Sunday

Did you know that the Latin word “Pastor” is literally translated “Shepherd”?

That was clearly in the mind of Pope Francis when he said that pastors ‘should have the smell of the sheep on them’.  His point is that pastors need to be down-to-earth leaders who feel what people feel and have ‘pastoral hearts’.    

That same thinking underlies many of his homilies and writings.  Recently he reminded Pastors that we should not be overly legalistic when we deal with people’s situations and decisions.  He did not advocate changing church laws, but he made room for pastoral responses.

Pastoral responses help people look at their situations and to make good conscience decisions in the light of them. 

The Holy Father also reminds us that we must follow our consciences.  And  he points out that it’s a pastor’s role to help people form their consciences …but not replace them. 

Jesus followed His conscience too.  Some Scribes and Pharisees didn’t like that.  For example, He healed people on the Sabbath Day. Why? Because Jesus looked at their situations and decided that was the best thing He could do for them.   He was a Good Shepherd.

Consider this: Pastors aren’t the only shepherds in the world.  In many ways, all of us are shepherds.  How are you a good shepherd?  Who has been a good shepherd to you?

Easter Breakfast 

I love the Easter story about Jesus appearance on the shore of Galilee.  He sees Peter and the gang offshore and asks if they caught anything.  They yell ‘”no.” So He tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat.  They do that and they catch boatloads of fish! 

Only then does someone recognize that Jesus is the onshore man.  At that, Peter jumps into the water and the others bring the loaded boats to shore.  When they reach Jesus, He already has grilled fish and bread prepared.  He says: “Come. Have breakfast.” 

We refer to Jesus as the Good Shepherd or the Prince of Peace or the Bread of Life.  But maybe we could also call Him the Comforting Cook.    

During the days after His Resurrection the disciples were like fish out of water, trying to take in all that had happened and to figure out what to do next.  Imagine the comfort that came from seeing how much Jesus loved them.  Cooking is such a loving thing to do, isn’t it? 

Remember people who cook for you…or treat you for breakfast or lunch sometimes. 

Remember good conversations you’ve had with people around the table. 

Ponder this: If you had breakfast with Jesus, what would you talk about?

Peace in Place of Chaos

I use a great preaching resource, written by Verna Holyhead.  She says “The first gift of the resurrection that Jesus offers them (the disciples) is peace.  The biblical opposite of ‘peace’ is not ‘war’ but ‘chaos’…”*

Chaos is exactly what the disciples experienced after the death of Jesus. 

Jesus tried to prepare them beforehand.  But when Jesus mentioned the issue of his suffering and death, His disciples didn’t want to hear it.  So they, like us sometimes, ignored the bad news…hoping it would just go away. But, of course, that didn’t happen.

Their chaos only subsides when they hear Jesus say “Peace be with you.” And He repeats it several times, hoping those words will sink into their chaotic hearts. 

 

Right now my life is in a bit of ‘chaos’ too.  As I approach retirement, I wonder what is in store for me.  Will I have enough to do?  Will I be alone too much?  Will my housemates tire of my hanging around the house all day?   Will I drive myself nuts???

It helps me to remember Jesus’ Easter words.  He tells me: “Peace be with you.”  And He doesn’t tire of repeating it.  So sometimes I just close my eyes and breathe in and out as I hear His calming voice repeat those words. And it helps me.  He comforts me.  

When your life is in chaos, how does Jesus comfort you?

*Verna Holyhead is the author of a homily resource entitled Welcoming the Word in Year A, B, and C.  It is published by Liturgical Press in Collegeville Minnesota

Easter Women

Mary Magdalene and a small group of women were the earliest witnesses to the Resurrection of Christ.  Although the Apostles treated their message as ‘nonsense’, Peter is curious enough to ‘run’ to the tomb to see what’s going on. 

Did you know that the word ‘apostle’ literally means ‘one who is sent’?  So, in that sense, Mary Magdalene and those women were apostles. Why were they sent to the other apostles?

I assume they were sent to the men because the men were scared and hidden in a locked room.  It’s interesting that the women weren’t so afraid to go to the tomb. Women were didn’t count for much in that era, so they could move about more freely.  Nonetheless the women were still very courageous to do what they did. 

Obviously those women were very close to Jesus.  Unlike most rabbis, Jesus traveled with women followers, in addition to the men.  We read about that in Luke’s Gospel.  So women heard His stories, witnessed miracles, and walked with Him to the cross and tomb.

Today I think of women who first shared faith with me.  My mom and my favorite teacher, Sr. Rosaire, were my early teachers of faith. Along with others, they are my ‘Easter’ women. 

Name women who first shared faith with you as a child.  Name women who continue to share faith with you now. Be grateful for them.

Dismantling the Table

                                                      (Holy Thursday)

Lots of changes are afoot in my life. Among other things I’m selling my condo.  So imagine the mess…cleaning out cupboards and the attic and the garage.  The good news is that I have given lots of things away.  For the most part it hasn’t been hard to let these things go.   

Except for my dining room table and chairs.  I gave it to my sister and her husband. The day after Christmas they measured the table. And they put the chairs in their hatchback and started to unscrew the table top from its base.  As they dismantled the table, my heart was in my mouth. I couldn’t talk.  If I had said anything, I would have sobbed. 

I have always thought of that table as a kind of ‘household altar’…a place to gather loved ones for a meal and a kind of communion. That table has dreams and people attached to it. 

The dismantling of the table is a symbol of the dismantling of my life right now.  (Retirement is also on the horizon.). These are dying moments.  In the midst of them, sometimes I cry.

Tears dried, I remembered why I gave my table to my sister and brother-in-law.  They’ll use it on Friday mornings when a group of their friends always come for coffee and donuts. They’ll sit around that table and enjoy each other’s company.  So my dream for that table lives on.  That is such a comfort.

Jesus had dreams too.  His best dream lives on in the Eucharist.  His table.

Have you ever thought of your table as a ‘household altar?  What dreams do you hope will live on when your life is dismantled?

                              Reading Hearts

When someone pushes me into something that I don’t want to do, I sometimes say: “Here’s where I draw a line in the sand.”  It means: Stop it! End of discussion!

My sense is that Jesus was at that point in his relationship with the Scribes and Pharisees. They dragged an adulterous woman to Jesus wanting to stone her and to trap Jesus.  He bends down, using his finger to write on the ground, drawing his own lines in the sand.

Those religious leaders didn’t care about the woman and they didn’t care about Jesus either.  As far as they were concerned, the world would be better off without either of them.  

But they didn’t realize that Jesus had a unique gift.  He reads hearts. He sees what’s inside us.

So He knew exactly what was in the hearts of those Scribes and Pharisees.  And He knew exactly what each of them was guilty of.  So He saved that woman and gave her another chance.  In fact, He gave those Scribes and Pharisees another chance as well. 

The good news and the bad news is that Jesus reads our hearts too. 

What does Jesus see in your heart today?  From what does Jesus want to save you?  When was the last time He gave you another chance?

*Read the story of the Adulterous John 8:1-11