30 April 2013 - priorities set in stone

30 April 2013 - priorities set in stone

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

Worldly peace is always short lived and yet we put so much energy into trying to preserve it.  We work so hard for comfort which is impermanent.  We give so much for pleasures which are transient.  Think back over the past week.  What did we invest in the lasting things of the kingdom and what did we invest in chasing pleasures and running from suffering?  There isn't anything wrong with entertainment or health or the myriad other things we seek.  But they ultimately can't satisfy us.  We need to be thankful for our temporal blessings but to be sure our hearts are set on higher things.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.

How else can we even make sense of people like Paul?  After being stoned he immediately heads back into the city to continue the good work of proclaiming the good news.  The softer stones of discomfort easily keep us from the work of the kingdom, but not Paul.

They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing that he was dead.
But when the disciples gathered around him,
he got up and entered the city. 

Paul can now use himself as an example of kingdom-centered living to build up his brothers.

They strengthened the spirits of the disciples

It is vital that they not only let God use them in this way but that they allow it to be an example to the whole community.

And when they arrived, they called the Church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Jesus is able to work with power in people who put the kingdom first.  He wants to work with power in us.  Let us heed the example of Paul and Barnabas so that our lives to may become examples of the power of the risen Christ.

29 April 2013 - know relationship

29 April 2013 - know relationship

Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

Love is how we come to know God.  This may seem counterintuitive.  Why can't he just blast knowledge of himself to the whole world so that everyone can know him?

“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”

The relationship which God wants with us is one which can't be based on knowledge alone.  We can know all sorts of things and yet have no real relationship with them.  We can even know all sorts of details about historical personages and yet not have a relationship with them.

“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

Love, and therefore relationship, is first and foremost a matter of the will.  Putting oneself at the service of the other and wanting to be conformed to the other are fundamental.   Knowledge of the other can exist without any of this and so it isn't necessarily helpful.  Even the demons believe, James tells us.

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;

Jesus really does want to reveal himself to the whole world.  He wants to be in relationship with all people and to pour out his love upon us all.  But he won't settle for disinterested knowledge.  Without love at its base this knowledge quickly degenerates into exploitative use of the one who is known.

This is how God can entrust the power of kingdom to human beings such as Paul and Barnabas.  If all they had of God was knowledge and he bestowed on them his power it would be easy for them to exploit it to make their own names great.  But they do not.

We are of the same nature as you, human beings. 
We proclaim to you good news
that you should turn from these idols to the living God,
who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.

This relationship which they have with the LORD is based on love.  It reveals to the world something more than its philosophies and superstitions to which by which it is otherwise quick to categorize its entire experience as do the people at Lystra.

“The gods have come down to us in human form.” 

Philosophies and religions apart from relationship are idols.  They are precisely something one can have knowledge of but not with which one can have true relationship.

Our God is in heaven;
whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.

It is loving relationship which enables one to say "[n]ot to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory."

He is preparing his people for the revelation of who he is.  But this knowledge, like the knowledge of a husband and wife, can only happen in the context of love.  And the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son.  We share in this love by observing the commandments and keeping the word of Jesus.  And in sharing in this love we experience the true revelation of the face of God!

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit 
whom the Father will send in my name– 
he will teach you everything

So let us bless his name from our hearts.

May you be blessed by the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

28 April 2013 - a whole new world

28 April 2013 - a whole new world

“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the kingdom of God.”

It is necessary but it is so worthwhile.  No one escapes suffering in this life even if he wants to.  A new world is at hand.  These sufferings are preparing us for it.  Ultimately they only last for the blink of an eye from the perspective of eternity.

The former heaven and the former earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,

The glory of the world to come is made manifest in the midst of our sufferings just as it is for Jesus even on the very cross itself.

“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

But even Jesus endures the cross for the joy which is set before him (cf Heb 12:2).  The revelation of God's glory begins in suffering because it reveals to this world that there is something beyond the focus on self which can only try to run from and minimize suffering.  It it ends in the joy set before us all.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain,
for the old order has passed away.”

Free from all tears we will join with the psalmist in exultant praise.

I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.

So how can we make known such a great but difficult truth?  

This is how all will know that you are my disciples,

if you have love for one another.”

Suffering can only be endured with love.  Our love and suffering can lift up others amidst their own pains.  And when we are still selfish and don't love as we ought let us turn to Jesus who is the only one with the power to do any of this in us.

“Behold, I make all things new.”

2013 April 27 - revealing word

2013 April 27 - revealing word

From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 
Philip said to Jesus, 
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” 

It is a dark sort of knowing.  That is how Philip can turn and ask Jesus for the very thing that Jesus just said was the case.  We need to trust Jesus even when he tells us mysteries that we will never fully grasp.

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? 

Yes, LORD, we believe, but we don't fully understand.

Fortunately the LORD is always working in us to reveal himself more and more.  We may never fully understand it, but Jesus is telling us about his unity with the Father for a reason.  One of the consequences of this unity which Jesus wants us to understand is that he shares the power of the Father and bestows it on his disciples when they ask for anything as long as they ask in his name.  He is the word of the Father and when that word is spoken by his disciples it always has power.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father. 

And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

This is amazing.  We are right to be taken aback by it and to wonder at it.  But it is also necessary for the great mission he has for us.

For so the Lord has commanded us,

I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
that you may be an instrument of salvation
to the ends of the earth.”

In order to steward the "word of salvation" which we have been entrusted we need to understand that it comes from the Father and is therefore utterly unique from all human words.  His word contains his power.  When it is proclaimed he himself acts to reveal himself.

The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. 

The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. 

The words are words of salvation for the whole world.  Let us give thanks with the psalmist.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation by our God.

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;

break into song; sing praise.

2013 April 26 - way beyond ourselves

2013 April 26 - way beyond ourselves

“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?” 

We don't know exactly where he is going.  Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what God has prepared for those who love him.  We can't even see what is over the next rise in this temporal world in which we live.  But we need not see it.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. 

Jesus is here with us now if we open our hearts to him.  We don't have to climb the next mountain to find him.  He is here and we are not lost because he himself is our way. But he is also there, in the future, preparing a place for us.  He transcends time itself but he is always motivated by his love us.  He is there preparing a place for us but not simple for the sake of a place.  It isn't for abstract pearly gates and streets of gold amid the clouds. The place matters, not because it is in heaven, but because it is in the Father's house.  It is a place where we our spirit can abide with the Father even while we await the resurrection of our bodies.  We cannot come to the Father on our own.  We quickly get lost and give up.  We set our hearts on this temporary world and try to make it our home.  Only Jesus can get us safely to the Father's house.

No one comes to the Father except through me.”

If we set ourselves on anything but Jesus we quickly turn aside.  The "place" he really brings us is into his unique relationship with the Father.  There is no way to find it on our own but he delights to share it with us.

what God promised our fathers
he has brought to fulfillment for us, their children, by raising up Jesus,
as it is written in the second psalm,
You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.”

Jesus allows us to become sons and daughters of the Father by sharing in his resurrection.  He wants us to know the love of a Father who never wavers in his love for us, who never acts selfishly or in irritation with us.  Everything he does he does for us.

Jesus is the "word of salvation" which the Father speaks to us.  Let us not only hear this word.  Let us reecho it throughout the earth.  Let us join with Paul, saying that "[w]e ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you" that all may "with trembling rejoice."

And, since there is a song relevant to my bad pun:

25 April 2013 - cast, removed

25 April 2013 - cast, removed

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Here we see part of why humility is so good.  We must become too small to carry our problems on our own.  Humility means knowing that without God we can do nothing.  The world thinks being powerful is great.  It values being effective and having everything under control.  Humility knows this is an illusion.  It recognizes that by worry we cannot add one hour to our lives (cf. Mat 6:27).  The more the world tries to carry on its own apart from God the greater the burden that eventually drags it down.  Humility does not need to have the source of success within itself and so it casts each and every care upon Jesus.  We are able to do this when we recognize that he cares for us.  It is this care which moves us from despair in our own resources to confidence in him.

Humility is also the secret to seeing our suffering transformed.

The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.

Note that our part is to suffer a little.  It is God who will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us.  We don't have to struggle  It is the difference between trying to heal ourselves and trusting in the divine physician.  If we trust him, suffering will not move us because we know that he is doing everything for our good.

Humility is the sine qua non of evangelization.  No matter how clever or well reasoned our efforts we have absolutely no power to convert others.  Jesus does want to use us but he wants our obedience much more than our skillfulness.  The Holy Spirit has all the power he needs to make his own case if we aren't too busy with our own ideas to let him do so.

But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Without humility we eventually turn out to be preaching ourselves and not Jesus (cf 2 Cor 4:2-5).  We are more interested in pride based on our cleverness than on spreading the gospel.  This can infect both our corporal and spiritual works of mercy. At times when we are tempted to rely on ourselves let us take the time to revel in the utter uniqueness and greatness of our God.  We can't expect to be motivated by it if we don't take the time to behold it.

For who in the skies can rank with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the sons of God?

Ultimately, we want know and share the joy that comes from knowing the LORD and walking in his presence.

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.

Let our aim be to walk in the light of his face and to shout with joy to his name together with all mankind.  The LORD lives in the praises of us people (cf Psalm 22:3). Let us all forever sing his goodness.

24 April 2013 - facing the truth

24 April 2013 - facing the truth

I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. 

The world certainly doesn't know it is in darkness.  It is proud and self sufficient.  And yet, without knowing God and the big picture all it knows really amounts to nothing.  It is, after all, passing away.  This darkness affects us all to some extent but it is not the will of Jesus for us to remain in this condition.

for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. 

He saves us by shining his light upon us.  The light is the light of his face.  It is not abstract or New Age.  It isn't impersonal.  This is the light of the knowledge of his person.

May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.

Jesus comes to reveal this face to us.  What even Moses was not permitted to see is now revealed to us.

and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.

By revealing the Father's face and living in perfect obedience to his will he makes known salvation.  And so he perfectly manifests the prayer of the psalmist.

So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.

As we continue to seek him he sends the Holy Spirit to make known the light of his face more and more, both to us and to the whole world.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,

“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them.” 

In order to spread the light of Jesus to the whole world we must be attentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  He has a specific mission for each one of us.  Whether he tells it directly to us or whether he uses others in the Church who are attentive to the Spirit it is no coincidence that he speaks when the focus is on God (worship) instead of the world (fasting).    It is helpful to be amidst brothers and sisters who are also listening attentively to God so they can help us to hear his voice.

Jesus comes to save the world but we don't sufficiently share his concern.  We give it lip service but we do not take the time to listen to his plan for how it is to happen.  Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to change our hearts so that we can make the prayer of the psalmist our sincerely own.

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!

23 April 2013 - where the heart is

23 April 2013 - where the heart is

Glorious things are said of you,
O city of God!

We are invited to make our home in the city of God because here we have no lasting city (cf. Heb 13:14).  The eternal city breaks forth into the world as Church.  In her we see glimpses of the peace and joy in which we are invited to dwell.

And all shall sing, in their festive dance:
“My home is within you.”

But our song is halting and our dance is sporadic and interrupted.  Voices of the world press in.  They tell us to stop along the way before we reach our goal.  They give us reason after reason why we should not dance.  Look at Boston, they say.  Look at Texas.  And so on.  Fortunately the shepherd's voice calls us on to the lasting joy of the eternal city that no earthly tragedy can touch. Even though the world is loud with the insidious tyranny of the immediate we can always hear our shepherd's voice if we just listen.

My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me. 
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. 

Think of all the things about which we are afraid.  Think of the things which, even today, make us nervous or give us anxiety.  Let us place those fears squarely alongside the promise of the shepherd.  Let us make this promise our prayer against are petty fears.

No one can take them out of my hand. 

What do we really have to fear?  Jesus and the Father are united in the love they have for us.  They hold us in their hands and no one can take us from them.

So let us "remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart" and give the world a reason to identify us as Christians just as the disciples at Antioch did.  We can't keep this to ourselves.  It means too much.  There is something which is at best imperfect about any Christianity which won't be shared.  Fortunately, sharing it isn't so difficult.  It doesn't require any complex theology.  It is the proclamation of a person and what his love and friendship means to us.

There were some ... proclaiming the Lord Jesus. 
The hand of the Lord was with them
and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 

We don't even have to worry so much about being convincing.  Let us proclaim Jesus and trust that his hand is with us!  May the prayer of the psalmist by fulfilled:

All you nations, praise the Lord.

22 April 2013 - past yourself

22 April 2013 - past yourself

Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?

We drink from so many streams which leave us thirsty.  We recognize that only God can sate this thirst of ours.  No earthly stream can help.  They weary us with the false promise of refreshment that they cannot provide.  If we want to find our way to streams of living water which can truly satisfy us then we must search in the pastures of the Good Shepherd.

I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.

The water for which we thirst is actually the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

‘John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 

He wants to fill us in a way which is so profound that even onlookers can tell it is happening.  It isn't so subjective is at may first sound.

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning

Have we experienced the Holy Spirit so intensely?  Even if we have there is always more.  No wonder we thirst.  The only thing that can sate us is God himself!

Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.

Only in his dwelling place will find joy.  Only in his pasture will our thirst be quenched.

He is the gate as he tells us.  There is no other admittance to these pastures.  Let us listen to the voice of Jesus as he shepherds us so that we are not misled by the false promises of the world.

When shall I go and behold the face of God?

To behold his face is the only real happiness that exists.  And he calls us to himself.  He calls us to lift up our eyes to him.  We know that we don't desire this in proportion to its goodness and value.  Fortunately, he is clear about why he comes.

I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Let us come to know this life by trusting the shepherd and following his voice.  He lead us out from our selfishness, which can't see that blessedness and the fullness of life are in him alone, and into his pastures.


Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!

21 April 2013 - tearless

21 April 2013 - tearless

“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.

What defines us as his sheep is that we recognize his voice.  So how do we come to recognize his voice when he speaks?

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,

The Father gives us to the Good Shepherd to be his sheep.  And since being his sheep means we hear him that must be part of the gift.  We don't attain it with effort.  We listen in faith trusting in our shepherd.  Our shepherd has also become a lamb like us so we can relate to him, know him, and trust that he has our greatest good at heart.

For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne
will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

His love is so great that he wants to bring the whole world into his flock so that he can be the shepherd of all.  So many wander lost and his heart is wounded for them.  Sheep without a shepherd are hapless and pitiable.  Fortunately he will not rest until all are safe in his pastures.

I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
that you may be an instrument of salvation
to the ends of the earth.”

We are meant for his pastures.  On our own our eyes are filled with tears and our mouths with thirst.  But under his care we rejoice knowing that there is nothing we lack.

The LORD is good:
his kindness endures forever,

20 April 2013 - not our thoughts

20 April 2013 - not our thoughts

“This saying is hard; who can accept it?”

We would like to think that we're past the stage where we question the teaching of Jesus but we aren't entirely.  His thoughts are not our thoughts.  This will always be the case while we are yet imperfectly transformed.  Even so, let us trust him.  When we trust at such times we release great grace in our lives.  Let us not be like the crowd that returns to its former way of life.  

As a result of this,

many of his disciples returned to their former way of life

and no longer walked with him.

Walking with Jesus makes such a big difference and our former way of life just can't compare.  Even when we don't understand what he tells us we can cling to him because we know who he is.

You have the words of eternal life.

We have come to believe

and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Peter has been walking with Jesus long enough that he can trust him even when doesn't really understand what Jesus is saying better than the crowd that leaves.  When we are tempted to return to our former ways of life we ask "to whom shall we go?"    We don't understand, Jesus.  But we know it is you or nothing at all.   You are the Holy One who alone has these precious words of eternal life. 

If we cling to him even when we don't understand he will be able to work through us to bless his whole Church.

She was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,

and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit she grew in numbers.

Peter's trust is so strong that he doesn't hesitate when the LORD calls him to heal a paralytic and even to raise the dead.  These things clearly defy merely human understanding but Peter has learned to take Jesus at his word.  Because it is all based on trust there is no room for pride.  That is why he is able to attend fully to the situations at hand and not just the supernatural and exciting parts.

He gave her his hand and raised her up

She is already alive once more but he doesn't leave her on her own after this.  He gives her his hand.  The LORD wants to use our hands to raise up our brothers and sisters as well.  He wants the whole Church to be able to pray with the psalmist:

How shall I make a return to the LORD

for all the good he has done for me?

Now, transformed by love, we can better understand the words of Jesus about the Eucharist.  And so we answer our own question:

The cup of salvation I will take up,

and I will call upon the name of the LORD

19 April 2013 - unsightly individual

19 April 2013 - unsightly individual

“Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man,

On a human level we know we're better off not proclaiming the gospel to certain people.  They seem like lost causes to us because of how closed they are to the message.  Yet most of these aren't as closed as Saul of Tarsus who is in fact "still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord" when Ananias is called to go to him.  And the message he is called to deliver isn't all sunshine and rainbows.  He is to tell him "what he will have to suffer for my name.”  

Ananias goes.  He is able to obey in part because the LORD reveals to him that he has already been working in the life of Saul.  He is able to proclaim even the difficult parts of Gospel because Jesus shows him the bigger picture.  He knows that the LORD is working for Saul's greatest good and for his as well.


“Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me,
Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came,
that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

And indeed he finds Saul as receptive as the Ethiopian in yesterday's gospel reading.  Jesus works in both Saul and Ananias to prepare them for this encounter.  He wants to use both of them in the building of his kingdom.  He is clearly able to do miraculous things in the lives of both of these men separately.  Yet he does not will to do all supernaturally or apart from human instrumentality.  How good it is that Ananias heeds the LORD's command.  And the result is that even though he is involved what Saul does from there proves a supernatural transformation.


and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,
that he is the Son of God.

His zeal for God has been transformed from something earthly and tainted to a zeal which can give itself over to the proclamation of the psalmist.

Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

And with sight restored to his eyes he can now recognize that the Good News is a person: Jesus Christ.

We may be following God zealously as Saul thought he was.  But we need to be ready to lay down our plans if God tells us to do so because our plans are never one hundred percent pure.  They are always tainted by our flesh. We need our eyes to be opened to recognize in Jesus in the ways that he comes to us.  Especially in the Eucharist we can see the true vision of the Father for mankind.  All of our plans should be seen in that light as a litmus test for whether or not they are valuable.


Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. 

He wants to give life to the world.  And he wants to give us hearts for the world and empower us to bring his life to it.

whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 

His love for us is immense beyond all we can ask or imagine.  Let us lay our plans down at his feet and trust in him alone.


For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

18 April 2013 - spirited away

18 April 2013 - spirited away

The Spirit said to Philip,
“Go and join up with that chariot.” 

We need to be ready to move when the Spirit calls.  The Father is moving to bring all of humanity to the LORD Jesus and he wants to use us as instruments.

Jesus said to the crowds:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,

The Father is definitely drawing the court official of Ethiopia.  His receptivity is obviously supernatural.


As they traveled along the road
they came to some water,
and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water. 
What is to prevent my being baptized?” 

But without Philip he would not have been able to understand the scripture passage he was reading.  There are many such "divine appointments" which the LORD prepares day after day.  We must be attentive to the Spirit so that people like the court official whose hearts are genuinely open aren't left to struggle on their own.


They shall all be taught by God.

Just as God teaches through Jesus he teaches through his body the church.  Just as Jesus makes the Father visible to the world so the Church is called to make Jesus visible.  But to do so we must be animated by the Spirit like Philip is.  Body without Spirit is lifeless.  It has nothing to offer a dying world.  The Body of Christ most perfectly makes Jesus present in the Eucharist.  It is the Spirit that brings him to us in this way.  And it is the Spirit who enables us to recognize him in the appearances of bread and wine.


I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;


Animated by the Spirit and drawing our nourishment from Jesus in the Eucharist we move through the world with immense freedom moving from one point of the LORD's plan for us to another in ways that the world can't even understand.  And in our wake we leave rejoicing.


When they came out of the water,
the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away,
and the eunuch saw him no more,
but continued on his way rejoicing. 

The Ethiopian official has been freed to join the psalmist in his praise.


Bless our God, you peoples,
loudly sound his praise;
He has given life to our souls,
and has not let our feet slip.

17 April 2013 - scattered, not shaken

17 April 2013 - scattered, not shaken

And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,

The Father does not will that Jesus should lose any who are given to him.  And that means that there are no circumstances which can pull us from his hands (cf. Rom 8:38-8:39).  We should have great courage even in the face of difficult circumstances.


There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem,
and all were scattered

They are scattered but not lost.  They are farther from one another but no farther from Jesus.  They are persecuted but not abandoned (cf 2 Cor 4:9). They have to leave their places of comfort but they do not lose heart.

Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.

They know that the God who transformed the death of Jesus on the cross into life for all can also work amidst these circumstances.


Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.

Persecutions can't hold us down, they tell us, because the grave could not hold him.  They are confident  enough to tell us to come and see God work even in the midst of difficult circumstances such as these.  When we face difficult circumstances are we confident enough in God to believe that even or, perhaps, especially in these circumstances we can be witnesses to the power of God.

Jesus really does want to give us a confidence that transcends our circumstances.  He tells us more about what it means that we won't be lost:


For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”

And seeing the Son means something very specific:


“I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.


Recognizing him in the breaking of the bread is key because this is how he choses to fill us with his risen life.  Eating and drinking are mere prophetic symbols for the true reality of the life we receive from him.  The victorious march of Jesus over the dry land of sin and death should inspire us with confidence and praise because we share it with him.


He has changed the sea into dry land;
through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.

16 April 2013 - open door policy

16 April 2013 - open door policy

So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 

But we are stubborn.  We like to imagine ourselves as religious people without actually being transformed.


You received the law as transmitted by angels,
but you did not observe it.”

We do have a law transmitted by angels, but not so that we might be prideful or have an attitude of superiority.  We are reluctant to recognize Jesus in our self satisfaction with our current degree of religious practice.  We think that because we do and believe certain things we are all set.  And these things are often good.  But they are not God.  We must always be ready to look to him.  We must be ready to see when he is calling us onward to something new.

“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?

Jesus is willing to meet us at this point.  He is willing to offer all he has: himself.  He does so in a way that transcends all that we know so far.  To imply otherwise would mean we have already attained the beatific vision.  That is why "eye has not seen and ear has not heard" (cf 1 Cor 2:9).  It is so far beyond the things with which we satisfy ourselves and yet so humble that it can be hard to accept.  This is the bread that the Father gives.  Let us not be so focused on ourselves that we don't recognize it.

We need to pray: “Sir, give us this bread always.” 

He will certainly answer.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;

whoever comes to me will never hunger,

and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

If we are willing to let Jesus move us from the good we know to the vision of God himself we will be empowered to see God just as St. Stephen did.

“Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

He is seeing what the psalmist prays to see.

Let your face shine upon your servant;

save me in your kindness.

This is the vision that is meant to be our eternity.  And it begins now if we will just surrender.  The final journey from this life to the next will be a seamless transition where we have the courage to truly pray:

Into your hands I commend my spirit;

you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.

15 April 2013 - sealed for freshness

15 April 2013 - sealed for freshness

Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you. 
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” 

Jesus calls us out for having priorities which are too earthly and which give too much weight to things which are passing away.  We are often building on sand rather than rock in our lives.


So they said to him,
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”

There are a few different reasons we ask this.  We recognize our own weakness and wonder if we can really ever lift our desires from the earthly bread we to lasting things.  There is an undertone of despair in this version of the question.  Others, having their pride wounded by Jesus's criticism now try to ask something which sounds impressive.  They say that they will do the works of God if they are just told how.  They won't just contribute to them but they will in fact accomplish them.  The emphasis here is on their own abilities.  But they ask it in such a way that it seems like a separate issue from caring too much about the earthly bread which is temporary.  They don't realize that if they are so fixated on earthly bread they won't have the freedom they need to contribute God's works. 

In both cases we don't ask a question which addresses what Jesus wants to address.   We want bread too much and the kingdom too little.  And the answer Jesus gives applies to both variants:

Jesus answered and said to them,

“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

If we reorient our lives around the person of Jesus we can find true freedom.  If we trust him we can lift our wills from earthly things to the lasting things of the kingdom.  And we can do it in a selfless way that allows Jesus to work in us to accomplish the works of the kingdom.  Our Father knows we need our daily bread.  Believing in the one he sends allows us to put his priorities first and to trust in him for the rest.

This is the secret which St. Stephen knows.

Stephen, filled with grace and power,

was working great wonders and signs among the people.

He is accomplishing the works of God precisely because he believes in the one God sent.  The Spirit is therefore able to work with amazing power in him.  He isn't interested accomplishing the works of God in his own way because he is fully convicted that the way Jesus offers him is better than that.

Yes, your decrees are my delight;

they are my counselors.

14 April 2013 - total re-coal

14 April 2013 - total recoal

So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin,

rejoicing that they had been found worthy

to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

What is it that changes men so fearful that they couldn't stay near Jesus at the cross into men who rejoice to share in that cross?   It is not simply seeing Jesus risen once and then being perfect thereafter.  And interestingly, it isn't just seeing him once and then immediately being filled with the Holy Spirit at Penetecost.  There is a process whereby Jesus reveals himself as risen.  It is a process that paves the way for Pentecost and teaches us to be open to the Holy Spirit.

Most of us are in a similar situation the the apostles after the first appearances of the risen Jesus.  We know he lives but we are limited by our own past and the knowledge of how we've failed.  Fortunately he continues to appear to us amidst the familiar aspects of our lives and transforms our memories of failure into new triumphs.  He heals us exactly where we hurt.  This is why he meets the disciples in the context of a meal.  It is why he meets Peter at a charcoal fire so very like the one where he denied him.  It is why he asks Peter not once but three times if he loves him.  He heals the apostles exactly where they have been hurt so that they can say:

You changed my mourning into dancing;

O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.

Jesus is risen and death has been defeated.  The past no longer has any power over those who are in Christ.  Jesus wants to free us to behold the truth of what has happened.

“To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor, glory and might,

forever and ever.”

The four living creatures answered, “Amen,”

and the elders fell down and worshiped.

People who see this vision can't shut up about Jesus.  They are joyful even to share the suffering he endured because they behold the power of his victory even now.

13 April 2013 - storm chasers

13 April 2013 - storm chasers

It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.
When they had rowed about three or four miles,
they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat,
and they began to be afraid.

The wind has already been blowing and the waves are already tossing the boat but they don't begin to be afraid until they see Jesus coming toward them.  They have been so disoriented by the storm that they don't recognize him and he has to reassure them that it is him.  The storm is the actual danger but they are oblivious.


They wanted to take him into the boat,
but the boat immediately arrived at the shore
to which they were heading.

Sometimes taking Jesus into the boat is appropriate but this time it is better that they not be in the boat at all.  Jesus sometimes wants to jump in to the stormy circumstances of our lives to be with us and to help us within them.  But other times he wants to completely transplant us to new circumstances by bringing us out and away from the power of stormy seas.  We need to avoid fixated on such circumstances to be able to let them go if we are so led.  We have to watch Jesus and follow his lead but we know that we don't have to be afraid.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,

upon those who hope for his kindness,

To deliver them from death

and preserve them in spite of famine.

We need people filled with the Holy Spirit so that we can discern the ways in which Jesus is trying to lead us.  This is the key to the success of the early Church.

Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men,

filled with the Spirit and wisdom,

whom we shall appoint to this task,

Because they are Spirit-filled they won't try to stay in the boat when Jesus is calling them to the shore.  If Jesus is calling them out on stormy seas they will not fear because they are filled with his presence.  No matter by what path he guides us he is entirely trustworthy.

Upright is the word of the LORD,

and all his works are trustworthy.

12 April 2013 - we're kingdumb

12 April 2013 - we're kingdumb

“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” 
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

This is one of the reasons why Jesus cannot always answer prayers in just the way we want.  Sometimes he has to withdraw to the mountain lest we enthrone him as king of our pre-existing worldview.  He isn't going to rule according to our ideas of what he should do.  Our priorities are earthly whereas his are heavenly.


Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.


Sometimes he does answer our prayers for human needs.  Sometimes he does give us bread when we are hungry.  But he does this first and foremost to teach us to trust in him as the source of all goodness.  He wants us to trust him so much that we can come to believe him when he tells us about the heavenly Bread of Life which he truly longs to give us.  He wants to place this desire deep with us.

One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.

He wants us to trust him above all things.  He wants us to recognize that any other goods pale in comparison to the life which flows from him.  Seeking him thusly is the only explanation for the attitude of the apostles in the face of persecution:


So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin,
rejoicing that they had been found worthy
to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

They seem to only be tangentially aware that bad things are happening to them because they are so fixated on Jesus and his presence in their lives.


And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes,
they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus.

In the practical sense they have a great deal to fear and yet with their Christocentric viewpoints they are uniquely able to pray with the psalmist:


The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?

11 April 2013 - overflow

11 April 2013 - overflow

He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.

Why not?  He is the "one who comes from heaven" and is therefore "above all."  Our paradigm is earthly.  We don't have a shared frame of reference.  We don't even have appropriate categories of thought.  And our wills twist words to fit into our current perspectives and to therefore keep us comfortable.

Yet apparently even though no one accepts it some do.  Here is a Gospel paradox.

Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.

How can this be?  The apostles give us a clue when they are reproached for preaching Jesus.


We are witnesses of these things,
as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

The Spirit himself must give us not only the content of the message but also the means of accepting it.  He must provide new categories of thought and a new volition which won't twist the heavenly to conform it to the earthly (and this is why we should never give up on anyone's ability to receive it).

This is why we should rejoice when he tells us that he "does not ration his gift of the Spirit."

He will fill us even beyond our human ability to receive and accept him rather than rationing himself to us. He himself will become our acceptance of him if we allow him to do so.  There is therefore no limit to what he can do in us.  This is why it is more than we can ask or imagine (cf. Eph 3:20).  This is why belief is so fundamentally important.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,

Belief surrenders or our perspectives, categories, and willfulness to him who is absolutely trustworthy.  It places all of these things at the feet of the Son.  Belief frees God to reveal himself on his own terms.  How could sin and death hinder one who is so filled with God?

We must recognize our own poverty and, simultaneously, the one whose generosity knows no limits.

The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

There are still many earthly words corrupting or speech.  Let us long to be so taken with him that "his praise shall be ever in my mouth."

10 April 2013 - lighter than error

10 April 2013 - lighter than error

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.

Joy radiates from him.  All that we have to do is tilt our gaze toward that light and it will begin to transform us.  Even though we have much to be ashamed of his light will actually erase this rather than bringing it into a sharper focus.  What can happen to darkness in light but to disappear. We lift our gaze to Jesus in sacramental confession and we find ourselves not condemned but forgiven.


And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.

Let us not prefer the darkness.  Let us bask in the radiant presence of the Light of the World.  This does involve a separation from the works of darkness with which all of us have been complicit.  It involves an act of looking toward the light and thereby acknowledging that we ourselves are not that light and that we indeed live in darkness to one degree or another.

People may seek us in the dark places where they expect us to be but we will not be there.  The things which once held us captive no longer can.  Looking at us from the outside will only reveal further mystery.  There is no natural explanation for the freedom we now enjoy.  The world tries to throw us back into its prison but it can no longer keep us bound.


“We found the jail securely locked
and the guards stationed outside the doors,
but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

We can reach a place where the things which once ensnared us no longer slow us down.


“The men whom you put in prison are in the temple area
and are teaching the people.” 

They are teaching firstly just by their presence when the world expects that they should be in prison.  This seems like a lot to take in for those of us that are still in the gray areas between light and shadow.  We aren't living in the full blessings which the LORD has for us yet.  We aren't living free from the oppression of darkness.  Is the light really all that it promises?  Will it really liberate rather than accuse and condemn?


Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

9 April 2013 - order of cooperation

9 April 2013 - order of cooperation

With great power the Apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,

Much like our beloved new Pope Francis a key part of what makes their witness effective is that their lives are totally given over to Jesus.  There is no false dichotomy between spiritual and material.  Jesus is LORD of all aspects of their lives.


The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common.

They are united in their hearts and minds by the belief of who Jesus is and what he is doing.  This unity that comes from faith is what allows the unity even of possessions.  We no longer have to claw for our own piece of the pie.  Competition for the temporary becomes collaboration ordered toward the eternal.  If we want to be credible witnesses  it is essential that we have this unity that comes from faith in a way that transforms every aspect of our lives.


If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

Pope Francis tells us "about earthly things" and it is allowing an otherwise hostile culture to pay attention to him.  The community of believers in Acts shows us the same thing.  But this unity comes only from faith.  It is, as it were, top down.  We can't build up to this unity by doing good deeds.  This will in fact eventually prove to be a path of selfishness that has no power to testify to the risen LORD.

It can only begin with the revelation of who Jesus is.


so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

And with our recognition that he is LORD.

The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.

Everything will be marked by the tyranny of the passing and the temporary unless the principle of a life which cannot die takes hold of us as well.  Our life without Jesus is winding down.  It is gradually being reduced to dust.

“‘You must be born from above.’



Even those of us who have been baptized still have a choice.  We can let this risen life manifest in us or we can spend our time building castles on the sand.  Let us fix our eyes on the things of heaven.  Let us build on what lasts.  This will be the testimony that the world needs.  This will be the testimony that the world can hear.


And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O LORD.

8 April 2013 - inspired questions

8 April 2013 - inspired questions

But Ahaz answered,
“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”

Ahaz will not ask the LORD for a sign because he doesn't really trust the LORD.  He thinks he is trying to trick him into asking something which he should not.  Sometimes we do ask for signs in a way that is selfish.  We ask when we don't really need them.  We basically want to be entertained.  But this is not always the case.  Sometimes the LORD intends to build us up with a sign as he does with Ahaz.


Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us!”

He wants Ahaz to have agency in the salvation of the world by asking for the sign which brings it about.  But even though Ahaz doesn't trust as much as he should he is nevertheless blessed with the sign which the LORD intends.  

Ahaz fails in a way that is typical of us as fallen creatures.  As the Catechism tells us, "[m]an, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command." (CCC 397)

What the psalmist sings is therefore merely prophetic until the time comes and God sends his son to make all things new.


To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”

Mary is the first person in the whole history of humanity to be able to pray this psalm with all sincerity. It is implicit in her response to the angel.


Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”

This perfect obedience to God's will is perfectly fulfilled in Jesus on the cross.  Only Jesus has the power not just to obey perfectly but to offer all of us along with himself when we are still not only powerless but full of resistance and sin.  


Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.




His offering consecrates all of our wills, empowering us to delight in God's will too.  And so let us share in the thanksgiving of the psalmist.


Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.

7 April 2013 - winning team

7 April 2013 - winning team

The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:

The LORD wants us to share in his victory.  We are immobilized by fear, locked in the upper room.  But the LORD enters anyway and reveals himself.  He is not simply raised to the life he had before as Lazarus was.  He is the Risen One who will never die again.


He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid.
I am the first and the last, the one who lives.
Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.
I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.

And this is the victory we share.  As we share in it more and more the world around us is transformed.


A large number of people from the towns
in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered,
bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits,
and they were all cured.

Hearing us this may well inspire us to feel like Thomas if this hasn't been our experience of the Christian life.  We may feel left out that the others saw the LORD's resurrection and we haven't.  It may even make us stubborn and slow to believe what they tell us as his witnesses.  But no need to fear! The LORD comes for us as well.

Jesus came, although the doors were locked,

and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

He will not let anything stop him from revealing himself to us in the full power of the resurrection except for our own free will.  Let us not be somewhere off on our own.  Let us gather with the disciples so that the LORD may draw the confession of Thomas from the depths of our hearts as well:

“My Lord and my God!”

6 April 2013 - motivational speaking

6 April 2013 - motivational speaking

It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”

This is the attitude which the LORD desires for us as well.  He wants us to have so encountered him in the power of his resurrection that, frankly, we can't shut up about it.

But, we say, we haven't seen with our own as as they did and so of course they have an advantage in terms of entusiasm over us.


he appeared to them
and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart
because they had not believed those
who saw him after he had been raised.

He works powerfully in those who testify on his behalf.  The grace present in such testimonies is more than enough to cut to the heart and convert.  If we have trouble believing the witnesses he sends the problem is likely within us rather than them.  But even so, he doesn't leave us.  He appears to us, too, to confirm and renew our faith.  This empowers us to share the mission he has for everyone.


He said to them, “Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

As we experience the LORD's victory we are empowered to share it with all we meet.  Let us share the psalmist's experience of overwhelming joy in the LORD's victory so that our lives might radiate his presence to others in a way that is contagious.

“The right hand of the LORD is exalted;

the right hand of the LORD has struck with power.”

5 April 2013 - net profit

5 April 2013 - net profit

So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something.”
So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in
because of the number of fish.
So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”

Jesus wants us to recognize the characteristic ways in which he works in our lives.  Peter is to be a fisher of men so Jesus blesses him to see the fruitlessness of his own efforts compared to the huge numbers he catches when he listens to the voice of Jesus.

God is equipping Peter to answer this question:

“By what power or by what name have you done this?”

It is a preparation which is ultimately completed and sealed when he is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered them,

Filled with the Spirit he can speak definitively and with certainty:


There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”

He knows what happens when he fishes in his own name and what happens when he fishes in the name of Jesus.  Circumstances may make it seem like there is risk to the net itself (which might be the Church or the family or something else) but if he trusts in Jesus there is not.

Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.

If we don't know that there is only salvation in the name of Jesus we tend to try every other name first.  We build with every stone except the cornerstone of God.  The name of Jesus is a plan B or a last resort  for us.


He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.

Building on Jesus as the cornerstone means a lot more than a subjective decision about Jesus.  It means how that decision plays out in everything we do in life.  In fact, it means relinquishing control of the whole building project and letting the LORD do it.


By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.

What is he building?  A renewed world.  The world of time is being reoriented toward eternity.  The everlasting is breaking into the world even now in the lives of Christians who know the power of the name of Jesus.


This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.

4 April 2013 - i, witness

4 April 2013 - i, witness

Then he opened their minds

Even though he had spoken very plainly before about his death and resurrection the apostles couldn't quite accept it.  They were so fixed on their ideas of how he would "redeem Israel" that they couldn't understand his actual plan.  They are not left on their own to figure it out, however.  He himself opens their minds which by all indications would otherwise remain closed.  Still, one wonders why now and not sooner.  Apparently, the actual experience of the Paschal mystery is a prerequisite to understanding it.  Now they aren't just people with a certain special knowledge.  They are witnesses to an event.  

You are witnesses of these things.”

The events of the Paschal mystery are not just historical knowledge to anyone.  They are an encounter with love himself and a choice of how to respond.


You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked that a murderer be released to you.
The author of life you put to death,
but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.


In our every sin we are there condemning the author of life.  But this is part of his plan from the beginning.  No wonder we can't understand fully at this point, still partly set against him as we are.  Even so, he holds out the choice to us:


Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away,
and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment
and send you the Christ already appointed for you, Jesus,

It isn't simply that he is going to let us get away with our crime.  It isn't even that he is just going to wipe it away, though he is.  He wants to grant us times of refreshment.  He wants to see the temporal order ("times") itself renewed. He wants to fill us with his joy.


O LORD, our Lord,
how glorious is your name over all the earth!

Just as he gave Adam and Eve dominion over the natural creation Jesus now bestows on us a supernatural dominion over sin and death by the power of his resurrection.


You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.

This is exactly what the beggar experiences from Peter in the temple.


And by faith in his name,
this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong,
and the faith that comes through it
has given him this perfect health,
in the presence of all of you.

Insofar as we let Jesus open our minds to his love and plan for the world we will begin to experience his dominion over sin and death.  Our hearts will be transformed and we will experience victory over habits of sin that seemed unbreakable.  We will be able to relate to people with a new and selfless generosity rather than just what we have left over after taking care of ourselves. Even physical healing is now possible if the LORD wills because death is defeated!  All this is possible in the name, that is, united with the whole divine and human person, of Jesus.

O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!

3 April 2013 - Close Encounters

3 April 2013 - Close Encounters

And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!

Isn't it interesting that he is walking alongside them, speaking to them, and teaching them. Yet they don't recognize him.  It isn't that the Risen One is far from them.  It isn't that he is silent.  It is a process. There is such a mixture of hopes and disappointments that keep pulling them in different directions and keep them from seeing the one who stands next to them.


Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning 
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.

And at the same time:


how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;

All the while Jesus stands next to them.  Even after he explains the whole plan to them they still don't quite get it.


Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.

But when he gives them the option to continue or not they know enough to keep him close.

But they urged him, “Stay with us,

for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”

Darkness is closing in on them but if he stays with them they know it won't be so dark.  Finally he reveals himself definitively and they are able to recognize him.

he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

The new mode of his presence already begins to supersede the old.  It may seem more abstract but it is actually much more intimate and close.  Now they can look back on their past with new understanding:

“Were not our hearts burning within us

while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”

It is this closeness which gives Peter the conviction he shows to beggar in the temple:

but what I do have I give you: 

in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.”

Jesus isn't just alongside of him.  He has the Spirit.  He has the Eucharistic LORD.  And he has such abundance that he can't help but give him to others.

Sing to him, sing his praise,

proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

Indeed, let the experience of the beggar be our own:

He leaped up, stood, and walked around,

and went into the temple with them,

walking and jumping and praising God.

2 April 2013 - called by name

2 April 2013 - called by name

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”

She doesn't realize that she talked to angels.  At first she doesn't recognize Jesus even when he himself is speaking to her.  The risen Jesus speaks to her but she doesn't realize it until he calls her by name.


Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” 

Only when it is personal and she is known in all of her individuality does is she finally able to see the one who is speaking to her.  We are not just one amongst a a congregation.  We are not just one lost in a sea of faces.  He knows us.  He calls our name.  He comes to us in all of our individuality to reveal himself as the risen one.  He knows about our preconceptions and struggles and everything that makes our case unique and difficult.  Mary Magdalene displays immense love for the LORD yet she clings first to the idea that he is dead and second to the idea that now things will be just as they were before he died.  In calling her by name Jesus penetrates past all this to the deepest part of her heart.  She is able to realize he is risen and is able to restrain her desire to keep him here as he is and so allow him to go to the Father in order that he might pour out the Spirit on his people.

The Spirit guides his people into all truth.  Whereas Jesus before his ascension is still external to us the Spirit is the very life of God within us.  Before the Pentecost we see cycles of fear when Jesus is distant and hope when he is near.  But now that the Spirit has come we are closer to God than ever before and need never be distant from him again.  His truth is now internal, written on our hearts, and so we can be confident like Peter.


“Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made him both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Transformed by the Spirit we can't help but want for others what we ourselves have received.


“Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We have doubted his plans for us and for the world at one time or another.  Maybe we're even doubting it right now.  But the Spirit is ready to fill our hearts with new confidence.


Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

1 April 2013 - life unlocked

1 April 2013 - life unlocked

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.

They are fearful yet they cannot keep this to themselves.  Everything is changed now.  Just a day ago all of their most profound hopes had been dashed to the ground.  Now everything seems possible.  But the fear is a remnant of the old world order.  It is even now being cast out by the Holy Spirit.


he poured forth the promise of the Holy Spirit 
that he received from the Father, as you both see and hear.”

Peter too experiences the joy of the resurrection but is still dominated by fear before Pentecost.  He sees the risen LORD but remains in the locked upper room.  Once the Spirit comes he can remain locked in no longer.  His boldness is striking.


This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.

Our encounters with the risen Jesus are meant to be a starting point.  Already we can't help but speak of the experience.  But there is still fear.  We need more and more the Holy Spirit in our lives.  He himself is the life of the resurrection alive in us. We need our own personal Pentecost to inspire us to unlock the doors and go out and tell a dying world about our hope in Jesus.


Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, 
and there they will see me.”

We need not fear any more because he lives.  Let us fix our gaze on him.


I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.