16 May 2024 - that they may all be one

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:

"I pray not only for these,

but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

Having prayed for himself and for his disciples Jesus continued his high priestly prayer by praying for those who would come to believe through the word of the disciples, the entirety of the new spiritual Israel of God (see Galatians 6:16).

so that they may all be one

Jesus did not pray primarily that his followers would be successful. His chief concern was not so much that they win arguments, persuade, and achieve power and influence. He asked not for the largest possible number of disciples but rather that those who did believe would be one. This oneness was a unity that was not a matter of mere consensus, not simply an alliance of shared interest. It was rather a supernatural unity with its basis in the oneness of the Triune God.

as you, Father, are in me and I in you,

that they also may be in us,

that the world may believe that you sent me.

The oneness Jesus desired for the Church was to be rooted in something more the human convenience. Rooted in the union of the Father and the Son, the love who is the Holy Spirit, the union of the Church would give evidence of the truth of what Jesus said about himself. This would seem to be a problem for us in the Church, wouldn't it, since we can't seem to agree about anything? And yet the oneness of the Church herself exists in spite of members not being correct on every point of theology, even in spite of the fact that we don't always get along with each other any better than random individuals in the world. There is nevertheless a spiritual oneness which the Church has maintained through her two thousand year history. It becomes apparent only when we step back and look at her persistence through history in spite of so many forces of opposition arrayed against her. Without the supernatural grace keeping the Church in tact she doubtlessly would have found herself torn by disputes just as Paul was almost "torn to pieces" by the argument of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. But the Church bore out the validity of the wisdom of the rabbi Gamaliel, who said, "if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men" (see Acts 5:38-39).

And I have given them the glory you gave me,

so that they may be one, as we are one,

I in them and you in me,

that they may be brought to perfection as one,

that the world may know that you sent me,

and that you loved them even as you loved me.

Jesus poured out the glory he himself received from the Father on the Church. He did this not because everyone in the Church was already perfect and deserving of such glory. Rather the glory of gave was that they might "be brought to perfection as one". This ought to be reassuring when we look at the Church in see, humanly speaking, something less than perfect. The oneness for which Jesus prayed is a supernatural reality that will always exist. But individuals are not automatically and immediately perfected and unified as a consequence. Rather, they work out their salvation by coming ever more deeply into the hidden spiritual reality that ensures the oneness of the Church. They are brought to perfection by the love of Jesus poured out for them, which is the same love he himself received from the Father.

I made known to them your name and I will make it known,

that the love with which you loved me

may be in them and I in them.

It is not simply a cheap spiritual maxim to say that the Church is one. The oneness if the Church ensures us of our access to the inner life of God and the inner life of God is the basis of the guarantee of the oneness of the Church. Even though in history this oneness is not immediately apparent it nevertheless reveals itself in the lives of Christians who strive to embody it. Even when they fail those failures are taken up into a larger narrative and plan of God himself, preserving his rock solid promise. Even problems so difficult that they would seem to undermine our hope are not so great that they can't be used by God to reveal his glory.

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage.

For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem,

so you must also bear witness in Rome."

Jars Of Clay - They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love

15 May 2024 - consecrated in truth

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Holy Father, keep them in your name

that you have given me,

so that they may be one just as we are one.

The basis of our unity with one another and with the Father and the Son is that the unity of the love of the Father and the Son for us, resulting in their commitment to protect us in their own name. Normally, if someone wanted to get a loan, he would have to persuade someone else that he was worthy of credit in order to persuade that person to cosign with her own name. But Jesus gave us access to the his own name and the name of his Father because he knew that the power of those names was more than sufficient to make up for any shortcomings on our part. It was more than enough to ensure that none of the disciples were lost except Judas, so that Scripture might be fulfilled. His commitment to us did not result from our perfect past performance, but from his love and his desire to share his joy with us. This is not to say that those so loved by Jesus would not face obstacles. We see this in today's Gospel in the fact that Jesus does not ask us to be taken out of the world where we would face no danger, but to be kept safe in the midst of danger.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world

but that you keep them from the Evil One.

They do not belong to the world

any more than I belong to the world.

We see the same sentiment from Paul as he prepared to leave Ephesus. He knew that the flock would face danger, but knew also that the solution was the "gracious word" of God that would give them an inheritance with those who were "consecrated". Paul protected them by his presence as Jesus protected the disciples by his presence. But when he had to leave he knew that consecration in the truth, in the word, would be the thing that kept them from savage wolves and from the Evil One. This paralleled what Jesus prayed for his disciples, consecrating himself for them, "so that they also may be consecrated in truth". 

They do not belong to the world

any more than I belong to the world.

Although it is particularly true of the successors of the apostles it is true also of us that we do not belong to the world and yet remain in the world. We are exposed to dangers, the chief of which are spiritual dangers. But these spiritual dangers, unlike lesser ones, have a more certain remedy in the truth given to us by Jesus, that being the consecration in his own holy name which can shield us from the power of the Evil One. Our part is to remember that, although we are in the world, although we are accustomed to seeing it, smelling it, and tasting it, we are not of the world. The world can have a hypnotic effect on us if we let it. But then we will forget the higher truth that ultimately has the power to keep us safe and lead us to joy. 

And now I commend you to God

and to that gracious word of his that can build you up

and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated.

Holy And Anointed One

14 May 2024 - remain

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Remain in my love.

Where can we find stability in a changing world, or what truly lasts? It is a safe bet that the world would propose a variety of options different from what Jesus taught. It would ask us to remain, not in love, but in its strength and protection and power and wealth in order to insulate ourselves from potential difficulties as much as possible. But Jesus taught us that there is a higher ground which we can occupy, a safe place amid the ever shifting sands of life in time and space. That place what we discover when we are rooted in the love of Jesus for us. Just as Jesus himself is rooted in his Father's love so too are we meant to be rooted in his love. The commandments describe what this looks like in order to help us stay on the path and avoid potential pitfalls. But the rules themselves are only representative of an openness to receive life from another. Jesus continuously receives all that he is, his entire being, from his Father, and we in turn are meant to receive all that we are from him.

I have told you this so that my joy might be in you

and your joy might be complete.

The world tells us that we can only have happiness when we are free to act independently with as few restrictions as possible on our exercise of individual agency. It suggests that it is this exercise of our choice itself, rather than the intrinsic value of anything, that creates value. But Jesus tells us that this is precisely backward. Joy comes from opening ourselves to the source of joy that is bigger than ourselves and our choices.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.

No one has greater love than this,

to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

We were not created to be receivers only, as the world might suggest. The world values accumulation and consumption, of feeding the ego by fulfilling every desire for pleasure or experience. But just as Jesus himself did not content himself with receiving from the Father but wished to gift this life upon us, so too are we called to give what we have received to others. It is ultimately in this giving that we realize what we are meant to be. Saint John Paul the Great loved to quote the Vatican II document Gaudium et spes which said "that man, who is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself" (see Gaudium et spes, 24).

Jesus himself demonstrates the reality that it is being rooted in another that is the firmest foundation for oneself. He is the living example of what John the Evangelist wrote, that "the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever" (see First John 2:17). Thus, rooted in him, not only do we remain, but even the fruit we bear begins to take on lasting value. 

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

I no longer call you slaves,

because a slave does not know what his master is doing.

We are no longer slaves who obey merely to avoid punishment. We are now friends who understand the inner logic behind what our friend Jesus asks of us. We can clearly see that he asks it for our good and the good of the whole world. Since he himself has chosen to call us friends let us respond by acting as good friends and joining him in advancing his plan for our joy, and the joy of all.

Israel Houghton - Friend Of God

13 May 2024 - do you believe now?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?

Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived

when each of you will be scattered to his own home

and you will leave me alone.

Sometimes we are inclined to think we are further along the path of discipleship than we actually are. We hear enough messages that the content starts to sound familiar. Because it sounds familiar and because we know how it fits into the larger picture of theology we tend to imagine that our own belief is mature and that, as a consequence, we should be able to live is mature disciples. But to know what Jesus is saying is different from living what he says. Faith does have a component of head knowledge that is useful for categorization and explanation. But it also has to do with the application of the truth to reality in our own individual lives. This is why it is one stage to know something but a higher stage to remain with Jesus even when we are put to the test. What was for lacking for the disciples in this case was not necessarily affection for Jesus. We must imagine that Peter held a deep affection for his Lord and yet nevertheless was among those who were scattered and who himself was among those who betrayed him the most deeply. 

But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.

What was the "this" that Jesus told them so that they would have peace in him? He told them that although they would abandon him it did not mean he was alone for the Father was always with him. In a way he was saying that his plans could not be thwarted by our own failures. The key relationship in his life was always maintained. But he did not tell them this to condemn the disciple but rather so that they could have peace in knowing that even their failures were accounted for a factored into his plan for the salvation of the world. In advance he had taken their failures in hand and planned with his Father to use them to bring about our the redemption of the world.

In the world you will have trouble,

but take courage, I have conquered the world.

We tend to think that if we manage to optimize our knowledge or behavior we might then be able to live in the world without trouble. After all, this is a large part of what motivates us to work at it. And we can certainly go a long way to avoid trouble, especially the trouble which is so frequently of our own making. But it does not mean that the world will be transformed into a utopia or that a seemingly endless stream of new and difficult circumstances will stop coming at us. In order to stand tall even amidst such difficulties we need more than right knowledge or behavior. We need the courage that comes from knowing that Jesus has already defeated the difficulties that we still face. That means that even as we face them we can nevertheless have a direct connection to the truth that they will not only end, but end in a way that results in the glory of God.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (see First Corinthians 15:57).

for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (see First John 4:4).

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith (see First John 5:4).

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death (see Revelation 12:11).

In order to be connected to the victory of Jesus in a way that will make it real, applicable, and useful, in our lives, we need more of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us a living connection to our Lord Jesus, not merely one that is abstract. He takes our head knowledge but uses it to change our patterns of thinking in order to renew our minds, allowing us to live a new and victorious way of life. He helps us to realize that even our history of past failures need not define or limit our future hope. Since none of us lives in this victory of Jesus as much as we would like let us open our hearts more to the Spirit who will connect us ever more perfectly with the one who is himself the victor.

Hillsong Worship - This Is How We Overcome

12 May 2024 - God mounts his throne

Today's Readings (for the Ascension)

(Audio)

When he had said this, as they were looking on,

he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.

Jesus departed from the realm of immediate physical visibility to his disciples, but he did not abandon them by doing so. What they lost in the ability to see his body and to hear his audible voice would be more than balanced by his newly deepened spiritual closeness. He had promised, "I am with you always, to the end of the age" (see Matthew 28:20) and we read about the fulfillment of this promise in today's Gospel were Mark wrote that "the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs".

The Ascension was not a retreat or a withdrawal. It was not stepping aside and becoming inactive so that the disciples could now act instead, as though he were Aslan traveling to a distant land and leaving Narnia to fend for itself, perhaps to learn some important lessons. Rather the Ascension, as we hear in today's psalm, was an enthronement.

God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

Since the Son of God was never absent from the throne in his divinity we must infer that it was his glorified human nature that was now made to sit down at the right hand of the Father. And because his disciples and we ourselves are not actually distant from the risen and ascended Lord this has direct consequences for the Church and for us. The Ascension led directly to the sending of the Holy Spirit. It was by implicating our own humanity in the full Trinitarian life of God that the gift of Pentecost was made possible. It was the glorification of the humanity of Jesus, begun at the resurrection, but realized more perfectly in the ascension, that overflowed into the mystical body of Jesus, the Church, filling it with every grace and blessing.

And he put all things beneath his feet

and gave him as head over all things to the church,

which is his body,

the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

There are clearly some responses to the ascension that are not appropriate for Christians. The first one is "standing there looking at the sky" in a daze of disinterest in the world below. The disciples had heard from the master that it was not for them to know when Jesus himself would restore the kingdom. The temptation was no doubt to sit and wait for him to do so. But the temptation on the opposite extreme was equally invalid. There was no sense in trying to set about the work of establishing the Kingdom without his help as though he were absent and it was now their turn to work. Thus there was the insistence that the disciples would be the witnesses of Jesus throughout the world. But they could not do this until they first received power from on high in the form of the Holy Spirit. They needed this connection to the ascended Lord in order to be able to fulfill their mission. Just as the Spirit drove and directed Jesus in his own life on earth so too was that Spirit meant to guide the Church.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

throughout Judea and Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth.

We can see that the Church Jesus founded was always meant to be in some sense Pentecostal or charismatic. The Spirit himself was meant to be the source of the power and the vital energy that filled her and made her children effective witnesses. Without the Spirit signs and wonders meant to be evidence for unbelievers would be absent and important roles and ministries would be unfilled. Not only would the Church be missing  prophets in such a case she would even by missing the pastors and teachers and evangelists whom the Holy Spirit himself wished to chose and anoint for their tasks. If we ourselves neglect the Holy Spirit in our own lives we risk neglecting many gifts he wants to give us and give others through us. We risk living a dry and boring Christian reality that was never the intention of Jesus himself. He longs to continue to work with us to confirm his word. Will we open ourselves to his presence in our midst?

John Michael Talbot - You Will Receive Power

11 May 2024 - that your joy may be full

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Amen, amen, I say to you,

whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

Until now you have not asked anything in my name;

ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

Jesus promised his disciples a joy that no one could take away from them. Today we see that the perfection of that joy required cooperation on the part of the disciples. It was not a thing they could attain on their own as people in our own day try so desperately to do. It was not an answer that could be found in the self-help section nor even in the depths of psychological research, much less in drugs or other forms of escape. Complete joy was to be found in the name of Jesus, specifically when, in this name, the disciples approached the Father.

On that day you will ask in my name,

and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.

Asking the Father in the name of Jesus was something more than merely putting Jesus between themselves and the Father. If that is what it was they would still be at a distance from the Father, still knowing him only vaguely and in figures of speech. But to go before the Father in the name of Jesus spoke of a much more intimate reality where they could truly experience the presence and the love of the Father himself. It was to be the same love with which he loved the Son that the disciples received, because their prayers in the name of the Son caused him to recognize and to love in them what he first loved in Jesus. 

For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me

and have come to believe that I came from God.

This experience of the Father's love for us is what will bring our joy to completion and perfection. It is not any specific things for which we ask in prayer, no matter how miraculously we may receive them, that can produce this fruit of joy in us. It is rather the result of experiencing in fullness the love for which we were created. The whole fallen world seems ordered to make us doubt that such love exists, or that, if it exists, we are worthy of it. Certainly our previous experiences of love in the world aside from this love have been partial and contingent, requiring us to perform perfectly and others to be in the right mood to result in even a facsimile of joy. But this love of the Father for us is not like any other love. It is the unshakable foundation of reality itself. And now we are privileged, through the name of Jesus, to enter in and receive this love as much as we could ever desire and then still more. This is the clear truth beyond figures of speech. This is the goal of creation and redemption. No wonder Jesus himself was eager to return to the Father. It must have been sorrowful to see him go, but in doing so he demonstrated the path that we ourselves may one day hope to follow. And if the joy we have in the Father now is so great, what awaits us then?

For king of all the earth is God;

sing hymns of praise.

God reigns over the nations,

God sits upon his holy throne.

Hillsong Worship - What A Beautiful Name

10 May 2024 - joy awaits

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,

while the world rejoices;

you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

For the Christian short term sorrow is destined to give way to lasting joy. In the moment, however, the world may seem to have preferred the better option. They rejoice in power, oppression, and pleasure. They snatch what they can get while they can get it and try to make the most of the brief moment of their lives. But the party that the sinful world is celebrating cannot last forever. The vindication of the righteous, though it is not something we can empirically verify, is nevertheless inexorably on the way. The reason for this is that the righteous one who suffered at the hands of the world has been vindicated by the resurrection. Sin and darkness seemed to be ascendent and the world rejoiced. But the Son of God rose and sin was condemned. Although the world itself has not yet been fully restored, and although the times and seasons are not given to us to know, we do know for sure that creation itself will share in the resurrection of Jesus and be set free.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God (see Romans 8:20-21).

The level of suffering that Jesus had to undergo was so great that it was enough to make the disciples forget about the promise of joy that awaited them. It is no doubt hard for a mother giving birth to think of much besides the pain. But the analogy is poignant in that it promises that the joy waiting to be revealed is so great that it will relativize all previous suffering which will one day be gone and forgotten.

But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,

and no one will take your joy away from you.

The promise of joy Jesus gave was not merely a one time consolation for a particular trial. He promised a joy that the world could not take from his disciples. This promise that "no one will take your joy away from you" is surely one of the greatest promises of the Gospel, and it does not apply only to the first generation of disciples who witnessed the resurrection firsthand. It is meant to apply to all of us, in whom the Spirit bears witness to the risen Lord.

On that day you will not question me about anything.

There is a day in awaiting us in the future where all of our questions will be so satisfactorily answered that we will no longer have any need or desire to ask anything else. We will be so viscerally satisfied by the reality of the resurrection that all of the sorrow and hardship of the world will appear in the larger context of God's loving plan for humanity. We can draw nearer to this day by experiencing the reality of the resurrection here and now through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This will build up trust in our hearts in the power of Jesus and the goodness of the Father and teach us to pray prayers that will be answered, ushering the coming Kingdom into the world.

Matt Maher - Because He Lives (Amen)

9 May 2024 - a little while

Today's Readings

(Audio)

A little while and you will no longer see me,

and again a little while later and you will see me.

We know that the disciples had difficulty directly understanding the fact that Jesus would die before the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus tried to explain in a way that would allow them to cling to hope even when the hour of darkness was upon them. He virtually never spoke of his coming death alone but also always of the resurrection, the fact that the disciples would indeed see him again.

So some of his disciples said to one another,

"What does this mean that he is saying to us,

'A little while and you will not see me,

and again a little while and you will see me,'

and 'Because I am going to the Father'?"

So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he speaks?

We do not know what he means."

Let us note how the disciples approached the question. They were afraid to ask the teacher so they speculated with one another. We may suggest that this was a flawed approach and therefore yielded no fruit. All it did was magnify their own existing confusion. They had some reasonable questions about what a little while meant, given that the resurrection of the body was something most Jews believed was reserved for the end of the age. They did not know what it meant to go to the Father by way of the cross, because, in human terms, how could the cross be the way to the Father? They did not yet see it in terms of obedience and self-offering. The love that was the inner logic of such an offering was still obscure to them.

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,

"Are you discussing with one another what I said

Jesus, for his part, was not content to leave the disciples isolated in their own confusion. Yet, knowing that the truth was difficult, he gave them another indirect approach by which they could begin to grasp it. He did not spell things out in literal and concrete terms at that moment because he was patient with their inability to bear some things right away. He knew that the Holy Spirit was needed in order to bring the reality of Paschal mystery home to their hearts. Only the Spirit that raised Jesus himself from the dead could fully enlighten them about this mystery.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;

you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

It was not required of them just then that they gaze directly on the bright sun of the Passion. It was enough that they be able to understand that the impending sorrow they would see and feel would not be the end of the story. This hope was enough to give them something to which they could cling even during the the crucifixion of Jesus when all hope seemed beyond reach and even the sun in the sky was darkened. All that had been done, all that had been built, all that Jesus had accomplished and taught, seemed to be for naught. But Jesus anticipated this in advance and mitigated what would otherwise have been unbearable by his promise of hope. He does the same thing for us, in all of our circumstances, no matter what darkness we face.

But this speech of our Lord’s is applicable to all believers who strive through present tears and afflictions to attain to the joys eternal.

- Alcuin

Darrell Evans - Trading My Sorrows

8 May 2024 - step by step

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.

It is reassuring to know that Jesus understood that his disciples were not angels who understood entirely with one movement of intellect, but rather creatures made of both matter and spirit whose understanding came in successive stages. Even though Jesus himself was the greatest of teachers it did not negate the humanity of the students who would need to come to terms first with this then with that aspect of revelation. This was partially a matter of the working of the human mind. But it was also constrained by the working of the human heart. For how could the disciples bear the truth that was contingent on their understanding of the cross in the divine plan when they were still afraid to even ask about the cross, as we saw in yesterday's Gospel reading (see John 16:5)? To be ready for more required a certain maturity of lived experience. It required the interaction of divine grace and human failure in the course of history. And finally, it required the insight of the Spirit of truth himself to bring them, one step at a time, into all truth.

But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,

he will guide you to all truth.

The Spirit does guide us as individuals. But it is as a body led by the successors of the disciples that we attain to the fullness of truth. This is clear from the fact that even the most amiable and well educated individual Christians are prone to deep disagreement on key points of doctrine. But this role of the Holy Spirit in the Church does not mean that he is not also meant to have a role in the lives of individual believers. It is true that we, like the disciples, are limited in what we can believe at first. This is true because we need to have a firm grasp on basic principles before we can understand their corollaries. But wholistic understanding, what we might call the understanding of the heart, is something in which we must grow by the guidance of the Holy Spirit as well. Like the disciples we tend to shy away from gazing directly upon the cross. It is at first in hindsight that the providence of God makes sense and is revealed. Things go wrong, we ourselves flail and fail, but God still brings good from what appeared to be only evil. Crosses eventually reveal their relation to the resurrection. Once the Holy Spirit makes this connection real in our minds and hearts he is more free to proceed to help us understand "the things that are coming", the heavenly realities which are our hope at the end of time, but in which, as the Spirit assures us, we already begin to share here and now.

Everything that the Father has is mine;

for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine

and declare it to you.

The Father loves the Son with all that he has and all that he is. This love of the Father for the Son is the very gift that Jesus shares with us by the Holy Spirit. It is no mere academic declaration that he gives us. It is rather the love of God poured out.

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (see Galatians 4:6)

The teaching of Jesus, that even his disciples could not accept everything all at once, gives us hope for others who do not immediately accept (but hopefully also do not entirely reject) the Gospel message. We saw such people in Paul's encounter at the Areopagus in Athens. We may hope that a response like, "We should like to hear you on this some other time" is sincere and that the Holy Spirit will guide people at all different stages of the journey until all come to believe.

Rich Mullens - Sometimes By Step

7 May 2024 - courage of his convictions

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Now I am going to the one who sent me,

and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'

Peter had tried to ask this question before but got an answer that wasn't what he wanted to hear. He couldn't follow Jesus and in his effort to do so he would end up denying him (see John 13:36-38). After that it seemed that no one was bold enough to pursue the question. It did sound a lot like Jesus was talking about suffering and death as a destination. It was enough to make grief fill the hearts of the disciples but it did not inspire them to ask for details. Was it at that point a failure of their friendship that they seemed unwilling to understand what Jesus had in his heart as that which he must do? They grieved for Jesus going insofar as it affected them, but they could not offer him the consolation of appreciative understanding. They looked away from the darkness to provide temporary solace for their own hearts while leaving Jesus alone and isolated. 

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.

For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.

But if I go, I will send him to you.

Jesus knew that there was a missing piece without which his disciples would not be able to fully understand or appreciate what he was doing or why it must be done. Without the Advocate the disciples only had worldly standards "in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation". These were the standards by which the world judged Jesus to be a sinner and worthy of condemnation. The disciples would need the power of the resurrection and the assurance of the Holy Spirit to fully recognize that the cross was not the world's judgment on Jesus but rather that of Jesus on the world. In the eyes of the authorities the cross condemned Jesus as sinner. But in the eyes of the Spirit the cross was a condemnation of sin itself. One who was a wholly innocent and spotless lamb was condemned by the world, had abuse and violence heaped upon him, and yet was vindicated. Sin itself, cycles of abuse, violence and scapegoating were all unmasked. It seemed that on the cross it was Jesus that was condemned. But it was rather both sin and death that were condemned along with the ruler of this world. Jesus was the one who was revealed, through the cross, to be the righteous one of God. And it was the Holy Spirit who would so cement these realities in the hearts of the disciples and future generations of believers that they could base their entire lives henceforth on the conviction they received from him.

But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.

Do we really believe Jesus when we hear that he said that it was better that he go? Most of us do not find this to be an immediately obvious truth. Even by looking at a decent portrayal of Jesus in a movie or on TV we can easily imagine how wonderful it would be to have him physically present in our lives. Yet he promised and assured us that the Holy Spirit was a blessing that was still greater. If we find it hard to believe it may well mean that there is still power in the promise of the Holy Spirit that is untapped and remains for us to claim as our own. Maybe we're still living without the full conviction about the truth of the Gospel message that he longs to seal in our hearts. Certainly the coming of Pentecost is the perfect time to open ourselves more entirely to all that he wants to do in us.

About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying

and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened,

there was suddenly such a severe earthquake

that the foundations of the jail shook;

There is no other way to explain the behavior of Paul and Silas than to say that they were motivated by the full conviction of the Holy Spirit. They knew Jesus was the righteous one and as such they knew that to be imprisoned and condemned in the eyes of the world was no failure on their part. They were able to rejoice even in the most difficult circumstances because the Holy Spirit had them rooted in the higher reality of Gospel truth. He wants to root us in that same reality, if we will but let him.

in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise

Jesus Culture - Holy Spirit

6 May 2024 - that you may not fall away

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I have told you this so that you may not fall away.

Let's take a second look at exactly what Jesus found it necessary to tell his disciples so that they wouldn't fall away since it happens to be important for us as well. He told them about the coming of the Advocate, the Spirit of truth, and about his role in their lives.

When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,

the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,

he will testify to me.

Like the disciples we live in a world that is not exactly in perfectly alignment with the Gospel message. We participate in a society where there is no clear cut representation of Gospel values in mainstream politics. To be a completely committed Christian is to be somewhat alienated from the world. And in recent years we find increasing hostility against different aspects of God's plan. For the world, the way is anything that seems good to oneself and does not hurt others (at least not immediately and obvious). The truth is confined to what can be demonstrated by empirical science. And life is whatever one chooses to make of it while it lasts. There is clear gravity pulling us toward these values, a sort of downhill momentum that makes changing directions and doing something else difficult. But what is at the bottom of this hill, since the downward trajectory is not sustainable indefinitely? If we don't want to crash and burn we need the Holy Spirit within us in order to keep us tuned in to the real truth. Only he can prevent the sort of highway hypnosis that the world so easily inflicts upon us.

And you also testify,

because you have been with me from the beginning.

To speak against the world when it is wrong is a difficult challenge. Even in the cases where Christians are persecuted to the death those who do so are often in some sense true believers who think they are "offering worship to God", and doing what they do out of a misguided sense that it is a good thing. Such individuals, even if they go so far as violence, let alone if they use antagonistic harsh words, are not our enemies. They are people who do not yet know either the Father or Jesus, but also people who are meant to know them.

I have told you this so that when their hour comes

you may remember that I told you.

In addition to remembering the importance of the Holy Spirit Jesus also wanted his disciples to understand that suffering and persecution were not reasons to fall away, as though such things meant they were doing something wrong. It was not the case that his disciples would necessarily live lives of blessed luxury if they did everything according to the will of God. Rather, just as the path of Jesus himself led to the cross, so too would his disciples have crosses of their own which they would need to bear. And so too for us. But it is in particular when we suffer that other options become appealing and other truth claims seem more compelling. The only real way to stay grounded in the Gospel is by relying on the Holy Spirit, whose testimony within us can remain, motivate us, and give us strength, even in the most difficult of times.

We are meant to bring the Gospel to places where it never was, to places where it was but no longer is, and to strengthen it in places where it remains but has grown lukewarm. Sometimes there will be the useful infrastructure of a shared cultural understanding, like synagogues, from which we can begin. Sometimes we will need to start at simple places of prayer, like that where Luke and Paul met Lydia by the river. There is no one right way to proceed, nor a formula that will always work the same way every time. But if we follow the Holy Spirit we will find open doors in abundance.

One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth,

from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened,

and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention

to what Paul was saying.

Dan Purkapile - Come Holy Spirit

5 May 2024 - remain in my love

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,

just as I have kept my Father's commandments

and remain in his love.

Jesus loved us first. He now desires that we remain in his love. We do this by obediently loving in the same way that he first loved us. We are commanded to let the love that found us and saved us to flow through us to others. Just as Jesus loved us with a self-sacrificial love so too are we called to lay down our lives for one another. The love of Jesus for us transformed into friends of God where before we were once not even servants but enemies. He proved his love for us in that even when we were still hostile toward him and unable to move a single step in his direction he himself crossed the distance to us. Our hearts were closed to him, unable to recognize our need for the gift he desired to give, but he loved us anyway.

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

I no longer call you slaves,

because a slave does not know what his master is doing.

I have called you friends,

because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.

Jesus made us his friends by teaching us what love really is. He demonstrated in time and space the love that was also the inner logic of his divine life with the Father. The cross was Jesus demonstrating in history that he loved us just as the Father loved him. It was a visible and verifiable revelation of the fact that "God is love". As friends of Jesus we learn that this love is at the center of existence, the very thing that "moves the sun and the other stars" as Dante wrote. In order to abide in friendship with Jesus we must live lives rooted in this love. His command is thus not merely that we offer some proof of our fidelity, but a call to make ourselves correspond to reality at the deepest level. 

In this is love:

not that we have loved God, but that he loved us

and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

Our response to the commandment of Jesus is never primary or first. It does not make us worthy of his love or his friendship. It is rather a consequence of the fact that his love has already done so that means that we are now called to accept and embrace that gift. We are made capable of bearing fruit that remains not because of our own initiative but precisely because it was he who chose us and appointed us to do so.

Jesus desires us to live as his friends and so be filled with his joy. This is the joy that clearly defined the life of the early Church as seen in the book of Acts. But it is not meant to be an artifact of the past. The Holy Spirit desires to fall afresh on us with blessings that are ever new. When this happens we too, like the believers who accompanied Peter, will be "astounded" as we see our world transformed.

While Peter was still speaking these things,

the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.

Israel Houghton - Friend Of God

Paul Wilbur - Let Your Fire Fall

4 May 2024 - dark forces

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.

Jesus was provocative when he appeared on the scene as a teacher and worker of wonders. One would have thought that his complete goodness and unfailing generosity would have been enough to win over even the most recalcitrant hearts. He was kind and full of compassion but there were some who were willing to take this as a kind of weakness. He was not, however, the sort of person who was content to tell others what they wanted to hear when what they wanted to hear differed from what they needed to hear. He thus always spoke the truth whether convenient or inconvenient for himself or for his listeners. His was the first to "preach the word" both "in season and out of season" (see Second Timothy 4:2). It was by proclaiming the truth his Father desired him to reveal that Jesus set the world on fire. 

If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;

but because you do not belong to the world,

and I have chosen you out of the world,

the world hates you.

Jesus did not enter an arena of neutrality in which he would find only glad converts. Rather he entered the hostile enemy occupied territory known as the world. Ever since the fall in the garden the world was marked by systems of oppression, darkness, and violence that were opposed to the goodness of God and his plans for the flourishing of humanity. The world in that sense was ruled by the devil which is why he could legitimately offer it to Jesus when he tempted him (see Matthew 4:7-9). It was this hostile system that opposed Jesus. People caught up in it were in reality pawns in an unseen spiritual struggle. Even those most directly responsible for the death of Jesus were not acting from genuine human freedom so much as from the influence of the world in this sense.

We do not belong to the world under the power of the devil precisely because Jesus came on a rescue mission to free us. He was the stronger man who was able to bind the devil and take his away his spoils (see Luke 11:22). He came to "deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (see Hebrews 2:15). We should remember, therefore, that other humans, even when they are still in the grip of this slavery, do not deserve our hatred, but rather our compassion. They aren't the real enemy. As Paul wrote, "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (See Ephesians 6:12). This is why we don't often encounter entirely hostile opponents. Usually people are somewhat drawn to Jesus even if the system to which they still belong also causes them to be repulsed to some degree. But there is hope for anyone who can yet perceive the goodness of Jesus in any facet that they may one day embrace him entirely.

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

The world persecutes us not so much by individual hostility and violence but rather by collusion and creation of systems that make it impossible for us to speak the Gospel message. It is not obviously the work of any particular person or group, but rather the outcome of the fallen aspects of many different people being played and used by unseen spiritual forces. In order to prevent such systemic sin from being codified and enshrined in society would require fully conscious  and intentional opposition that most people in the world are not sufficiently free to make.

If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

Yet, in spite of the systems of the world and the forces of darkness with a vested interest in suppressing the Gospel, hope always remains. There will never come a time when the word of God is stripped of its power. There will always be those waiting to hear it. They are the ones who would have kept the word of Jesus but now can only gain access to that word through us. Let us not keep them waiting. Rather, let us be attentive to the Spirit as were Paul and his companions. Then the system of the world will not have the final word. Instead, God will connect those with a word to speak with those who need to hear it.

During the night Paul had a vision.

A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words,

"Come over to Macedonia and help us."

Maranatha! Music - The Battle Belongs To The Lord

3 May 2024 - one way

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

God sent John the Baptist to repeat the cry of Isaiah to "make straight in the desert a highway for our God" (see John 1:24, Isaiah 40:3). Naturally, it sounded as though he were talking to us, about all of the things we would need to add and remove from our lives and our society to be ready for the coming of the Lord. And he was inviting us to get ready. Yet it seems that the final plan for highway maintenance was not to be carried out by us. Rather, Jesus himself was to be that smooth and level way. He was the way by which God came to humanity and by which humanity ascended to God. This is why he was like Jacob's ladder, on which angels ascended and descended (see John 1:51). It made sense that only Jesus was a way that could truly lead to the Father. All other paths were limited by earthly horizons and terrestrial gravity. Only the one who united human and divine nature in himself could be the bridge between heaven and earth.

Jesus was the truth, not merely an abstract and unrelated collection of facts, nor merely even an accurate assessment of how things were in the world, but rather the truth that could set individuals free (see John 8:32). What sort of truth had the power to do more than entertain or inform but could actually transform human hearts and minds? It was the truth of who God was and the fact of his absolute fidelity to his promises. A related idea was described by Paul when he said "all the promises of God find their Yes in him" (see Second Corinthians 1:20). He was therefore proof, not just of any truth in general, but of the truthfulness of God, and therefore of the reality of his love and of his mercy. And this proof was something on which one could base a transformed and renewed life.

Jesus did not merely come to give life, as a doctor might rehabilitate a patient and then release then back to their old life in the world. Rather he came to be the very source of life for his followers, on whom they would ever after depend. We saw this idea expressed in the analogy of the vine, where Jesus himself was the vital source of the energy that enabled the branches to bear fruit. But Jesus did not insist on dependence on himself for egotistical reasons. Rather, he was pointing to a mode of life and a realm of existence that was higher than the biological. He was inviting his followers to share in his own divine life which he himself shared with the Father and the Spirit. This was a life of communion, consisting above all in relationship, and was not something one could have a private possession in an isolated life in the world.

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

The Father sent Jesus to reveal the truth of his heart for his people. For too long people had misperceived this heart as angry, petty, and vengeful. Jesus himself would demonstrate beyond all doubt that it was a heart defined above all by merciful love. In order to lead us to the Father Jesus invited his followers to place their faith in him as the one through whom the Father was revealed. This was necessary because the reality of the Father revealed by Jesus was not immediately obvious or self-evident. Discovering it required changing the course of one's life so as to place it on the way that was Jesus himself, directed by Jesus as truth, and fueled by Jesus as life. The goodness of his works made the case for why this was desirable. And yet we still often accept other ways, truths, and promises of life instead. Let us reject these substitutes and seek the fulfillment of all of our desires in the Lord where and where only they can truly be realized.

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,

of the Gospel I preached to you,

which you indeed received and in which you also stand.

Through it you are also being saved,

if you hold fast to the word I preached to you

Newsboys - Step Up To The Microphone

2 May 2024 - remain in my love

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As the Father loves me, so I also love you.

Jesus always did what the Father commanded and thus remained in his love. But this was not to say that the Father's love was capricious, as though he was awaiting obedience to bestow love he might otherwise withhold. Rather the Father's love was the power in which the life of Jesus, including his human nature, was rooted. Jesus allowed the love of the Father to express itself through him. He did not stand in the way of that love or interpose some additional self will or indeed any other objectives or desires of his own apart from those of the Father. 

Remain in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love

We are called to root our own lives in the love we receive from Jesus Christ. The way we do this is by keeping the commandments, which, we remember, are fundamentally about love anyway. Jesus was never particularly interested in the arbitrary or merely formal aspects of keeping the law. He didn't get excited about nuance for the sake of nuance, nor of obedience as a means of ostentatious display. For him, law was about mercy, love of God, and love of neighbor. The fact that such a love could be commanded was simply a matter of saying that it was in fact real and concrete and could be seen in the world. It wasn't merely some whimsical subjective feeling that could only be captured in fleeting poetry. There were some things that genuinely were loving and things that were not. And for those who wanted to remain rooted in the love flowing from Jesus it would be important to choose those things that were actually love and not mere facsimiles. They would need to be sure that what flowed out from them was as real and vital as what Jesus himself poured in.

I have told you this so that

my joy might be in you and

your joy might be complete.

Jesus told us to remain rooted in his love. He did not do this because he was a tyrant or in any way domineering. Rather, he wanted to keep us on the one path to joy, to keep us open to receiving joy from the only source from which it came: his own heart. The commandments he gave could be seen as ways to ensure his followers kept their hearts open to the joy he desired to give them and to never attempt to sate themselves on the false and illusory joys offered by the world. In the worldview of Jesus, love, commandments, and joy were intimately related. He knew this first hand because of how he experienced all of these things in relation to his own Father. The joy that was set before him was enough to relativize all of the suffering he would face in the world (see Hebrews 12:2) precisely because he trusted in the reliable reality of his Father's love. He desires us to learn to trust him in the same way.

None of us is saved by our ability to perform or brought into right relationship with God through our efforts. We are all saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus and we grow in love as faith purifies our hearts. Hence the call to remain in the love of Jesus is primary, and the keeping of the commandments as a solid indication that we are on the right path. It is a path that leads, not only to partial or occasional joy, but to a joy that is "complete".

Announce his salvation, day after day.

Tell his glory among the nations;

among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.

Newsboys - Joy

1 May 2024 - putting our lives on the vine

Today's Readings

(Audio)

He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,

and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.

The removal of dead branches isn't our job as rank and file Christian disciples. Nor is pruning. Those works are performed by the Father, the vine grower, through the Son. And although they sound as though they would be painful to experience the instrument that actually accomplishes them, according to Jesus, is "the word that I spoke to you". Imagine the relief of the disciples when they heard Jesus say they had already been pruned. Yet such, we know, is the power of the word of God. It isn't a dull blade, but rather is "sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (see Hebrews 4:12). The disciples chose to allow the words of Jesus to change them even when they cut against their natural dispositions and predilections. They chose to stay with Jesus even when the words he spoke didn't immediately make sense, knowing that his were the words of eternal life (see John 6:68). Others, of course, chose to leave. Those were among the branches that were taken away. And it wasn't as though they were snapped off and left for kindling. They self-selected out of the life of the vine because they refused to remain in proximity to the one from whom the life of the vine flowed.

Remain in me, as I remain in you.

Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own

unless it remains on the vine,

so neither can you unless you remain in me.

Our part is not the gardening. That is the work of the Father and the Son. And we know that the Son will do all he can to rehabilitate even an ailing fig tree (see Luke 13:6-9). Our part is to remain and to grow. We are called to stay close to Jesus, to allow his words to change our minds, our attitudes, and eventually our actions. It is the power of his words that eventually transforms us from within and manifests as the fruit we bear. This power is most perfectly vouchsafed to us through the Sacraments where his own words purify us and make us more like him. Then the sanctifying grace we receive from the Sacraments takes a myriad of shapes in our lives according to the blueprints given to us in his word. He fills us with the power to love with his own love but does not leave us on our own to figure out how to do it. In all things, if we remain in him, we have both power and guidance.

Anyone who does not remain in me

will be thrown out like a branch and wither;

people will gather them and throw them into a fire

and they will be burned.

It is not so much a matter of punishment for these branches that refuse to remain in Jesus that they wither and become fit for nothing but to be used for kindling. Rather, it is because there is no life to be found anywhere else. We can see this same contrast between those rooted in God's ways with those who refuse them in the Old Testament as well:

but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away (see Psalm 1:2-4)

Let us learn not to resist the work of the gardener in our lives. There are times when we will not immediately appreciate what he is about with his snipping back of some branches, his digging, and his use of fertilizer. It is a certainty he will be more in our business than will come naturally or comfortably to us. But we can be sure that he has our good and in turn the good of the entire vine in mind.

Maranatha! Music - I Will Delight

30 April 2024 - the peace of Jesus

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

Jesus is the only one able to promise peace and truly deliver it. Aside from him there are a wide variety of purported paths to peace in the world. And some of them may have some benefit, insofar as practicing virtue does help us be more free from the vicissitudes of the world than we would be otherwise. Others, however, advertise that we may find peace by destroying the parts of our humanity that long for joy and satisfaction. But this is not peace, but rather emptiness. And emptiness does not remain empty, but is quickly filled lesser and baser things. Only Jesus is able to give us something truly worthy of the name peace that is nevertheless not dependent on circumstances. It does not require us to ignore circumstances, nor always even to execute a perfect response to our circumstances. It is rather the gift from one who has conquered circumstances by conquering death itself. Jesus gives us his own way of thinking, rooted in trust of his Father, as a gift to renew our own minds. In no way does this gift depend on us except insofar as we must put it to use if it is to work in our lives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

Without care and prayer we can allow ourselves to slip into old ways of thinking which regard this world as ultimate and death as the final horizon of all striving. We are instead called to be transformed by the renewal of our minds (see Romans 12:2) so we can understand the genuine transcendent goods which are ours in Jesus, goods that neither time nor death can steal. Then we can set our minds on things above where Christ is seated at the right have of God and where our own life is, in some sense, already hidden with him (see Colossians 3:1-3). When our thoughts try to tell us that trouble and fear are the final world let us respond to them with the deeper truth that Christ has conquered death and he is victorious.

In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (see John 16:33).

Part of the challenge for the disciples was going to be losing access to the visible presence of Jesus. He would be taken in death but return in the resurrection. He would be taken in his ascension but would come again in glory. Even after it became clear he was not defeated by death it nevertheless seemed surprising and difficult that the old familiar mode of his existence among them must end. Yet what he was doing by departing was something worth celebrating when properly understood. It was the glorification of his own humanity, and therefore in turn also that of all who were united to him. Hence all who loved him would truly rejoice that he went to the Father, for they were taken up together with him.

Wherefore He says, If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father; for human nature should exult at being thus taken up by the Only Begotten Word, and made immortal in heaven; at earth being raised to heaven, and dust sitting incorruptible at the right hand of the Father.

- Augustine

Jesus was on a mission to destroy the ruler of this present darkness, to disarm the principalities and powers (see Colossians 2:15), and to share the treasures they had previously horded with the world (see Luke 11:21-22, Ephesians 4:8). One sense of what the meaning of that treasure was that it contained precisely those fruits that we were meant to bear, the good works prepared in advance for us to do (See Ephesians 2:10). For these reasons and many others let us sing the victory of Christ.

Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Newsboys - He Reigns