31 May 2020 - unlocked, unleashed

Today's Readings

(Audio)

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,

Without the Holy Spirit we too are afraid as are the disciples. We tend to, even when not required by circumstance, to lock ourselves away from situations where we might be called to share our gifts. We are not yet ready to head out on mission. Into this fear Jesus comes to us and wishes us peace.

Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

His words have power for us because the one who speaks is the same one whom we saw crucified. He reveals himself to us as alive, not a ghost, not just a disembodied spirit, but risen both body and soul.

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

He wishes us peace a second time. By doing so a second time he seems to emphasize that this peace comes from his revelation of his resurrected body and leads to the gift of the Spirit.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.

The new creation began here when Jesus breathed life into it, just as the original creation began with the breath of life breathed into Adam. The Hebrew word for breath, ruah, also means Spirit. And the basis of the new life in Christ is precisely this life-giving Spirit.

We receive peace from our faith in the resurrection of Jesus. The peace our faith in him gives us allows us to be open to new life by the power of the Spirit, whereas without it we our minds would be too overcome with fear to welcome him.

The Spirit is the principle by which any threats to new life in Christ are avoided or healed. The principle threat is sin, which can collapse our new life back into a natural state tending toward death. Hence the Spirit guides us away from sin, toward all truth. He advocates for us against the Accuser. He convicts us about sin and righteousness. And he himself is the one through whom forgiveness is given. He himself is the salve that heals and restores life.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

We might think that we would be ready to head out on mission after this new life is given. But Jesus has more that he wants us to receive.

While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for "the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit" (see Acts 1:4-5).

The resurrection faith is not all Jesus has for us. Sacramental grace is not all he has for us. He calls us to remain where we are until we are filled with the Holy Spirit. It is this Spirit that transforms moments of revelation into a new and reality on which we can base our lives. 

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 (see Acts 1:8).

Until we receive the Holy Spirit in this way we lack the power to live the lives that Jesus intends for us. We will have moments of faith and revelation but we will vacillate between those and fear and doubt still strong enough to keep us locked away and ineffective.

Confirmation is meant to be the place where we receive the Holy Spirit. It is supposed to make the grace of Pentecost present to each believer. But for how many of us did confirmation truly translate to power to live the Christian life? For how many did it genuinely strengthen our ability to bear an adult witness to the faith? If the answer is almost none of us that isn't surprising. Our preparation often missed the expectant prayer that characterized the early Church as she prepared for the first Pentecost.

All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers (see Acts 1:14).

This does not mean that Confirmation was any less efficacious for us. But it does mean that for most of us there is much untapped potential latent within us. The Holy Spirit has placed his seal upon us (see CCC 1293) and his power within us. We need to prepare ourselves for it to be unleashed. From the resurrection peace of Jesus we are free enough from the world to come together and devote ourselves to expectant prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to come.

When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

The Holy Spirit responds to us, accepting any invitation he is offered. 

Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.

The coming of the Holy Spirit is always miraculous and often dramatic. But no two encounters with him are the same. It would not serve him to make everyone speak only one language while there was still a world that spoke many. It would not serve him to empower only a single gift when the world needs his manifold grace.

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.

Our preparations for receiving him should include prayer that he remove any doubts we have about his power or any limits on our expectations about what he can do in us specifically. As soon as we hear that each gift is unique we tend to excuse ourselves from looking for the specially miraculous so as to avoid disappointment. But it should rather be that we realize that all of the gifts of the Spirit, even those that seem the most mundane, are equally miraculous, equally impossible without his presence.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.

When the Spirit fills us we can begin to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus in a way that is powerful. Whatever our gifts, they come together in this one proclamation. It is here that the division of Babel of finally reversed.

yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God.

You Will Receive Power - John Michael Talbot

Set a Fire - Jesus Culture

30 May 2020 - what's it to ya?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours?  
You follow me.”

It doesn't serve us to compare our paths to those of others. We may be tempted to judge whether or not we are living at our call correctly by comparing our sense of our own results with our sense of those in the lives of others. This is dangerous because our perspective on both is so limited. It may seem to us that our own calling is particularly difficult, that others are allowed to coast on without much effort, always full of spiritual nourishment, heads always reclined on the breast of Christ as his beloved.

Our own calling may feel at times to be more like that of Peter. It may seem more like going where we don't want to go and doing what we don't want to do. If this describes us, we will probably be tempted, like Peter, to look around us at all of the people who appear to have it easier. We ask, 'Lord, what about him? About her? About all of them?' His response to us is stark, "What concern is it of yours? You follow me."

The point Jesus wants to make is that we can't see the hearts of others, neither where they are nor what they need. What we think we see from our external perspective is anything but exhaustive.  Hearts like John's experience the cross in one way, our own, perhaps in another. But no one is exempted from a share in the Passion of Jesus. Each has a cross to carry.

If our own path seems hard and we are tempted to envy the apparent path of others let us remember the call of Jesus which applies to both us and them.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (see Matthew 11:28-30).

It still seems unlikely that many of us will face martyrdom. But even if our situation slides more rapidly in that direction than seems likely, even if we must die for Jesus like Peter and like Paul, even so the burden can still be just as easy and just as light as for anyone. It is precisely Jesus being close to us that makes us capable of martyrdom. John's eventual exile on Patmos, his forced social distancing, was probably a great burden for one who loved his flock as much as did John. And yet in the Spirit on the LORD's day John did experience the consolation of the presence of Jesus. No circumstance need separate us from the love of God in Christ.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (see Romans 8:38-39).

Paul definitely understood how to live in the peace and the rest of Christ even when circumstances seemed stacked against him. He was wearing chains on account of the hope of Israel. Yet this did not cause him to wallow in self-pity, to give up, or even to have his hope diminished. He had learned that the grace of Jesus was enough for him.

He remained for two full years in his lodgings.
He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance
and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God
and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul still spoke with complete assurance. His message was proclaimed without hindrance. Most of us face much less than imprisonment and chains. So rather than considering our own hardships or the apparent lack there of in the lives of others we need to focus on our proximity to Jesus. We need to come to him, with our minds and with our hearts. We need to learn not to run from this place of rest when our circumstances offer us occasion to fear. Even if Jesus seems asleep in the boat it is his presence that keeps us safe in any storm.

The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD’s throne is in heaven.

All Who Are Thirsty - Kutless

Come to the Water - Matt Maher

29 May 2020 - in deed and truth

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

Peter was called to express his love for Jesus in a new way. He had loved Jesus, even zealously. But Jesus wanted to transform this love that Peter had for him into a love for the things about which Jesus himself cared. Because his lambs were in fact parts of his body this really was still love for Jesus himself in a genuine and more encompassing way than before.

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen (see First John 4:20).

This new way to love Jesus helped lift Peter out of the temptation to love Jesus only in a way that was self-serving, from which he himself could draw benefit. His old way of loving Jesus, while real, was insufficient to prevent him from running and denying Jesus when the dark hour approached. Before, his love was often predicated on the appreciation of the greatness of Jesus and the majesty of his Kingdom. Good truths, to be sure, but partial ones. He needed to learn to love Jesus even in his humility and disgrace.

“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

Loving one another has a sort of gritty realism attached to it. Caring for sheep helps us to avoid a subjective experience of religion that relies only on consolation and good feelings. This is why Jesus used a strategy of broadening the love of Peter outward in these concentric circles to include not just the head, but the body as well. Jesus knew that this concrete expression of love would mean a cross for Peter. But he knew that, for love, a cross could be borne.

He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

Paul learned early on the unity between Jesus and his disciples.

And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting (see Acts 9:5).

Because of his love for Jesus, Paul was motivated with missionary zeal. His love expressed itself concretely whenever anyone was willing to listen to his testimony. It expressed itself in his tears of concern for the churches about which he had particular care. It was this love of Jesus himself, expressed concretely in love of the brethren, that let Paul offer his own life as testimony, just as it did for Peter.

And when Paul appealed that he be held in custody
for the Emperor’s decision,
I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.

We too want to love Jesus more. And so we can gauge how we are loving one another to see how truly that love is taking root in us. Each time Jesus asks us if we love him he is trying to draw a wider and deeper love from us, one that can bear hardships for the sake of the gospel (see Second Timothy 1:8), that can lay even lay down its own life for others.

Bless the LORD, all you his angels,
you mighty in strength, who do his bidding.

28 May 2020 - till all are one

Today's Readings

(Audio)

that they may all be one,
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.

Unity means more to Jesus than it probably does to us. We live in a world where agreeing to disagree is not only necessary but in some ways is seen is the highest good. Each ones has their own truth which no one can dictate for another. The only rules that are appropriate in such a world are rules that prevent one from imposing himself on another. There is no common good because there is no common truth. Insofar as possible the right of each to self-definition must be preserved. As a Supreme Court justice wrote, "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life".

Christians certainly speak against the relativism embodied in the culture. We know that there is a common truth and a common good. But functionally, in our interactions with the world, we often appear no different from the world. We still try to create the same boundaries and spaces wherein each can go their own way, even when it is to their own detriment, and that of society as a whole. We do this because to do otherwise has obligations. It means caring even when we put ourselves and our own egos at risk to do so. The very occasions of our compassion may be seen even as bigotry. This is a risk worth taking.

Christians ought to "preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (see Ephesians 4:3) at least among one another. Here the problem is not only different ideas and doctrines, though that is a problem about which we must be willing to speak. Here the main problem is a lack of willingness to care more about unity than our own comfort. We are willing to get together, to work together, to pray together, and to live our mission as Christians together only insofar as it fits nicely into our own plans. It will only be when our concern for others begins to overtake our concern for ourselves that Jesus will be revealed in us.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (see John 13:35).

Why are we not succeeding at unity and peace amongst ourselves and in the world? It is because such unity has supernatural origin. It seems like it would be purely practical. But we cannot live it unless we rely on the glory that Jesus gives us, the love with which he first loves us.

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.

Unity comes from the Spirit. It is only by a sharing in the unity of God himself that we ourselves can live it out. It is for this reason that it is a revelation.

Without unity we are easily divided just as are the Pharisees and Sadducees. But this means that when we have unity and purpose we are strong. We are not easily scattered or turned aside.

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.”

27 May 2020 - set apart

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Consecrate them in the truth.
Your word is truth.

consecrate - to make or declare sacred; set apart or dedicate to the service of a deity (Dictionary.com)

The Word of God is sacred, set apart for the service of the Father. Jesus prays that we my share in his own consecration to the Father. This means that we can no longer live as if we belong to the world.

Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? (see James 4:4).

This consecration comes with both perks and responsibilities. It comes with the protection and favor of the Father, just as it did for Jesus.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world
but that you keep them from the Evil One.

To be clear, being consecrated does not exclude us from suffering and pain. But it does mean that none of us need ever be lost. Because of it, we can have great confidence that he who began a good work in us will bring it to completion (see Philippians 1:6). It means that, to the degree that we do allow ourselves to come apart from the world, the Father won't let anyone interfere with his perfect will and plan for us. 

The consecration of Jesus was marked by his anointing with the Holy Spirit. So too with us. The giving of the Spirit is the answer of the Father to the prayer of Jesus in the Gospel today. The Spirit is the source of our protection from the evil one. Just as the Ark of the Covenant was so set apart that it was not even to be touched, just as Mary was so set apart that she was preserved from original sin, so too does our own consecration place us under God's protection in a special way. The Spirit is also the One who makes us one even as Jesus and the Father are one.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (see Ephesians 4:3).

Because Jesus, filled with the Spirit, offered himself as a consecrated offering for us, we too can become Spirit filled and offer own lives for the sake of God and neighbor. It is as though his own consecration and anointing were broken open upon the cross and made available to all. We are consecrated for the same mission for which Jesus came, sent as he was sent, to reveal the love of the Father and his plan of salvation for the world.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (see Romans 12:1).

The consecration Jesus offers us is meant to make our hearts like that of Paul, who admonished the Church of Ephesus unceasingly and with tears, who could not leave them without weeping together loudly. In Christ he was consecrated for them. He longed for them to fully share in this same consecration.

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.

The question is how do we enter more and more into this consecration? It does not happen automatically. We need the word that can build us up and the Spirit that responds to that word to do so. As we learn the word more and more and open ourselves to the Spirit more and more the consecration will set us apart, just as it did for Paul, as Jesus himself was set apart.

Show forth, O God, your power,
the power, O God, with which you took our part;

How would our day look different if we believed we were consecrated and set apart for God?

26 May 2020 - glorify thy name

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

Eternal life means knowing the Father and the Son. It means seeing in the resurrection the Father's action of glorifying the Son. In turn, it means seeing in the Son's offering back to the Father his chosen people, now filled with the Son's own glory, the Son glorifying the Father.

“Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.

From all eternity the Father and the Son glorify one another in their love for one another, the love who is himself the Holy Spirit. But Jesus came to open this hidden reality to us so that we ourselves could know it, by knowing it share it, and by sharing it possess eternal life.

I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,
because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine,
and I have been glorified in them.

Counterintuitively it is this prayer for the revelation of the glory that is his that initiates the movement toward the cross. The cross is not the fulfillment of the prayer, yet it is the path, and somehow already a revelation itself.  Even in the very midst of his agony the glory of the LORD already began to be made manifest.

When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (see Matthew 27:54).

And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (see Luke 23:42).

The centurion and the good thief already began to see the truth of who Jesus was. In seeing that they realized the necessity that the Father would respond to this offering, that the cross would not be the end, that God would not abandon his Son to the grave. It was impossible that the grave should hold him.

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it (see Acts 2:24).

In this Easter season we celebrate the revelation of the fullness of the glory of God in Jesus Christ. And while their ought to be many good feelings about this, much affection, and exuberant praise, it is more than any of this. If we let it, it can become the knowledge which is itself eternal life. It was precisely this knowledge that the good thief showed in his final moments. If we truly share it our own lives can be transformed as well.

Paul knew the only true God, and the one whom he sent, Jesus Christ. This knowledge, which is itself eternal life, allowed Paul to go forward even when it seemed to mean that his temporal life would come to an end.

Yet I consider life of no importance to me,
if only I may finish my course
and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus,
to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.

He wanted Jesus to be glorified in him so that through him the Father would be glorified. His own life had already begun to enter into the same dynamic sharing of glory between the Father and the Son about which Jesus prayed. And that dynamic was a power like dynamite. It was more than the world could match. And it is meant for us as well.

God is a saving God for us;
the LORD, my Lord, controls the passageways of death.

25 May 2020 - I have conquered

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Now we realize that you know everything
and that you do not need to have anyone question you.
Because of this we believe that you came from God.

We should be careful when we think we have Jesus figured out. Even though our understanding may be correct it is still an open question as to whether it can guide us when things get tough.

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.

They accepted that Jesus knew everything and came from God. But when this belief of theirs encountered the specific circumstance of his suffering and death it proved inadequate. It wasn't a wrong belief. It was just partial. They had to learn it was still true even when they themselves proved to be weak and faithless. They had to learn that the Father was with Jesus even in spite of all appearances to the contrary. He told the disciples he had conquered the world just before the moments when it seemed that the world had most certainly conquered him.

But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.

Later the disciples no doubt felt great remorse for their fear and lack of faith that let them be scattered when Jesus was arrested, tortured, and killed. But they had these words he had given them which now took on their full meaning, "I am not alone, because the Father is with me." They were able to see in these words a way to peace even in spite of their own betrayals, a way to peace that no circumstance could henceforth overwhelm.

I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but take courage, I have conquered the world.

Jesus guides us in ways that seem mysterious at first. We never know as much as we think we do. We often fail and sin even when we technically 'know better.' This does not surprise Jesus. He doesn't need to reformulate his perfect plans for us when we make mistakes. The plan Jesus has for us makes use of our failures. It makes use of our sufferings. The troubles we have in the world help us learn what it means that the Father with Jesus, not just sometimes, but always. We learn that the truth that Jesus has overcome the world is still true even when we face trouble. The more we learn the truth of this victory, its unshakeable nature, and the fact that it doesn't finally depend on our perfection, the more we share in it ourselves.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (see First John 4:4).

The one who has overcome the world is in us in a way that he was not yet in the disciples in today's Gospel reading. He has sent his Holy Spirit into our hearts. This indwelling allows us to share in and live his victory in a new and more powerful way.

He said to them,
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”

The Sacramental life of the Church is so essential because it is the normative gateway to life in the Spirit. But even after we have been baptized and confirmed it is still vital that we fan into flames the gift we have been given (see Second Timothy 1:6). To neglect and not avail ourselves of the gifts we have been given eventually results in allowing ourselves to be scattered and overcome. Yet the promise of Jesus that he has overcome the world remains even then.

We are more united to Jesus than the disciples when they were scattered. More so than them, our own weakness can serve to reveal the power of God. When we fail to walk by the Spirit let us see it as a call and an invitation to return to the one who is always with the Father, an invitation back to the victory Jesus won for us. When we fail we are so close to mercy and restoration that we can learn walk by the power of his victory even in spite of our weakness. We become less and less disturbed by the flaws in ourselves and more and more ready to come quickly to Jesus for mercy.

Let us therefore open our hearts to the receive more of the Holy Spirit today and as we draw closer to Pentecost.

And when Paul laid his hands on them,
the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Altogether there were about twelve men.

The Holy Spirit is the way by which the presence and victory of Jesus can fill our own lives. He is able to be in us and do his work even in spite of our mistakes, even in the very moments when we are scattered. This becomes more true as we welcome him. And there is no upward limit on how much we can receive.

God gives a home to the forsaken;
he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.

24 May 2020 - a cloud took him from their sight

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.

Even after Easter, after we have become witnesses of the resurrection, we can still find ourselves among the disciples who worship, yes, but who also fall back into doubt.

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

Our unspoken expectation was that Easter ought to have been the great climax and therefore the conclusion of salvation history. But the days and weeks that followed proved that the resurrection was not yet the coming of the Kingdom in fullness. With the disciples, we wonder what we are still doing here. What remains to be done now that the resurrection victory is won? It might seem like the triumphant Jesus would immediately bring the world of time and change to an end, permanently casting out death and sin.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

We worry and we doubt that we are simply moving backward to a time before he was present to us. Was Easter just a brief, joyful moment in time that ultimately left things the same, untransformed? No! Rather, at his ascension Jesus inaugurated the era of the Church. Instead of simply bringing things to a conclusion himself apart from us he chooses, in mercy, and in kindness, to use his Mystical Body, that is, to use us, to bring all into one in him.

The Ascension is in no way a move backward into a more natural life after a brief and miraculous interval. This is true because, while Jesus ascends, he does not thereby withdraw. He goes, yet he does not leave us.

and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.

Because Jesus is with us nothing is the same. Even though, without the eyes of faith, the world doesn't look all that different, with the eyes of our hearts enlightened we know the hope of our call, the riches of the inheritance which is ours, and the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe.

ording to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come;

We are not simply inspired by the Risen one. We are not simply directed by words and memories passed down about him. Rather, we are connected to him in a new and immeasurably greater way. Because he has taken our humanity with him through the veil into the presence of the Father our own humanity as we live here below is transformed, made new, and filled with power.

and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The Ascension is the enthronement of Jesus, there to reign, not just over heaven, but over earth, precisely through his body, through those who remain. Because this is true Jesus insists that we can't live the life we are meant to live in this era through the powers we have by nature.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sama'ria and to the end of the earth.

It is fitting that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit depends first on the Ascension. Our humanity is exalted to a royal dignity in the Ascension. Therefore, the Spirit which Jesus has in virtue of his divinity is something in which redeemed humanity can now share. It is through the Spirit that we are equipped to carry out the mission of the Church.

What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended into the lower [regions] of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (see Ephesians 4:9-12)

It is through the Spirit that we reign even in this life.

much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ (see Romans 5:17).

Given the importance of the Spirit, should we simply pass quickly over the Ascension in our hurry to Pentecost? No! In God's design the way to Pentecost passes first through the Ascension. If we want to celebrate Pentecost well we need to allow the Ascension to set our direction, and anchor our hope. In order to pray "Come Holy Spirit" well we must first ask, with Paul, for the grace of "having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you". When this reality takes hold of us we will understand the joy of the psalmist, who wrote "God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet."

23 May 2020 - in the name of

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Until now you have not asked anything in my name

The name of Jesus is not merely a magic word we can append to our prayers to make them work. Yet his name is meant to define and shape our prayer.

for by, in My name, must be understood not the mere sound of the letters or syllables, but that which is rightly and truly signified by that sound. 

- Saint Augustine 

The name of Jesus includes the revelation of the Father. Jesus is the Son for whose sake the Father loves us. He is the one who came forth from the Father and who returned to the Father. To ask in the name of Jesus means to ask as Jesus himself would ask. It means that whatever we have asked for until know cannot count as "anything" because it is too temporary and too little. Jesus alone knows the fullness of complete joy that can be found in the Father. Yet he makes it known to us as well, insofar as we are willing to receive it. He himself is the way by which we become daughters and sons who therefore share his joy as our inheritance. In his name our prayers can come forth from the Father, grounded in in our confident love of him, love and return to the Father, by asking for the goodness he longs to give.

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

Jesus has so many promises for those who believe in him. And yet we still regard his ways as obligations. If we occasionally encounter joy it is more as something incidental along the path of keeping such obligations. Most of us only very occasionally convince ourselves to seek him as if he truly is our greatest good.

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (see John 10:10).

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (see Matthew 11:28).

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you (see John 14:27).

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (see Matthew 13:44).

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (see Romans 14:17).

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:7).

These are just a small sampling of the promises of peace, joy, rest, and life to the full that the Scriptures contain. To seek these is not selfish when we seek them as Jesus sought them. Just as Jesus was willing to do his Father's will, even unto the cross, for the sake of the joy set before him (see Hebrews 12:2), so too must we be willing. Do we have crosses to bear? Of course we do. But Jesus asks us to bear them in his name.  This is not meant to be a meaningless abstraction, but something that is actually transformational.

The ultimate prayer is the name of Jesus is the Mass. Within it we are united to Jesus in one perfect offering of praise to the Father. Because we ourselves are contained in the body offered, our sufferings and failures are transformed into something acceptable to the Father. Our deepest longings and desires are realized. Every other prayer we pray in the name of Jesus is subsumed into this great and irresistable request to the Father.

Baptism in the name of the LORD Jesus is where we become sons and daughters in him. This is why even a good doctrinal understanding of "the Way of the Lord" and the ability to speak and teach "accurately about Jesus" is not enough. The Sacramental economy of the Church is meant to be essential.

He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and,
with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus,
although he knew only the baptism of John.

We are real people, individuals, who become sons and daughters of the Father. Praying in the name of Jesus is not meant to flatten our prayers into generic things to distant to us to be true desires. Praying in the name of Jesus should rather compel us to enlarge and hone our desires, seeking more and more after he who can alone fulfill them. It will therefore not neglect any aspect of our own lives that matters to us. These desires themselves will be taken up and transformed. We see in Apollos an example of desires being heightened and refined as he entered more and more into the mission and the name of Jesus.

He vigorously refuted the Jews in public,
establishing from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.

22 May 2020 - suffering transformed

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.

There are times when it seems like the world is winning. It seems like the dark strategies of power, pleasure, and pride, are producing results while the Kingdom ways of humility and love are failing. The world rejoices for apparent success. We weep and mourn for all of the myriad ways in which the Kingdom is not yet come. Yet ours is the long view, are oriented toward fulfillment, toward joy. 

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (see Romans 8:22-23).

All sufferings that are suffered in the Spirit, united with the life-giving act of Jesus on the cross, eventually give way to joy. It is not merely a joy that results from the fulfillment of a temporary desire that goes away as quickly as it comes. It is the joy of the coming to birth of the universe that was meant to be, free from sin and death. It is therefore a joy that cannot be taken from us.

So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.

And while this joy will only be ours in fullness at the end of time, on the day when we have no questions left to ask, it is meant to begin to define us even now.

On that day you will not question me about anything.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

Our suffering can transform us and the world in such a way that it brings to birth new joy. Our own suffering can contribute to ending the power of sin and death in ourselves and the world. With grace, it can help us get out of our own way and receive those things which God desires for us. But we need to ask. When we become conscious of suffering we should know what to do.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (see Matthew 11:28).

We see in Jesus suffering turned to joy. We are united to him. We must not pretend to have a union with him that excludes these sufferings, as long as they are ours to bear. If we simply let him be with us, him and us and us in him, then our own sufferings will be transformed as a matter of course. We will find peace and rest for our souls.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church (see Colossians 1:24).

Without this engine of transformation at work in his own life Paul would not have been the effective missionary he proved to be. He was insulted, beaten, and imprisoned and yet he did not give up. This allowed him to remain in the presence of the Lord and to be attentive to his voice even when there was much that would tempt him to fear.

“Do not be afraid.
Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.
No one will attack and harm you,
for I have many people in this city.”

We often fear and fail to hear. This is because we haven't yet learned the lessons that suffering in Jesus can teach. We haven't yet truly begun to connect with a joy that the world is utterly unable to take from us. But we can. And so let us ask.

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full (see John 16:24).

This prayer will allow us to shout with joy at the enthronement of God even hear and now, in faith, in hope, and in love.

God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.

21 May 2020 - your grief will become joy

Today's Readings 

(Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter)

(Audio)

We do not know what he means.

Do we complain about not understanding what Jesus means and yet refuse to ask him to clarify? Are we afraid to ask where he is leading us or why we won't see him for a time? We learned yesterday that Jesus doesn't overload us with more truth than we can handle at once. But if we ruminate on things we don't understand without asking him and without submitting our minds to his answers we are only going to make ourselves upset and anxious.

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him

Fortunately, Jesus has compassion on us even when we ourselves are withdrawn from him. He knows our hearts. He understands why we are upset, and doesn't want to leave us to face it ourselves. He speaks his word to us as the antidote to our questions. His Spirit guides us through this word into all truth. Before we fully understand the mystery, and make no mistake, he says we have been given the wisdom for that (see Ephesians 1:9), even before it becomes crystal clear to us, his truth still affords comfort and direction.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

His words here don't unlock the full meaning of the Paschal mystery. They don't explain from the Scriptures why the Son of Man had to suffer and be raised on the third day. But they were enough to provide an anchor of hope for the disciples when they did come face to face with that suffering.

We need the Spirit to guide us so that we ourselves don't turn away when the LORD is trying to bring us to a new level of understanding. From a human perspective there is always the temptation to oppose him and revile him when he calls us higher, for, as they say, 'New level, new devil.' To look directly into the revelation Jesus gives us is to be made aware of uncomfortable truths about ourselves, about new ways in which we must resist the enemy, and be faithful to the master. At the beginning of a new level we don't usually understand everything about how to respond to the new challenges we face. But the Spirit makes known enough for us to have an anchor, keeping us connected to the source of joy, and pulling us through to the other side.

We need the Spirit to know how to share with others the right truths at the right moment. And we need him to know when nothing further will be helpful. We aren't necessarily called to be successful. But we aren't called to bang our heads against the same closed doors indefinitely either. The only way to know the right choice is by the guidance of the Spirit.

“Your blood be on your heads!
I am clear of responsibility.
From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

We are often victims of the sunk cost fallacy. We continue to spend our resources in the future simply because of how much we have already invested, regardless of whether a change of outcome is likely. We grumble about the lack of success but we don't often ask Jesus what we should do. Let us not be afraid to come to him for his word. It is the only way to make sense of our weeping. It is our only hope for joy on this, our pilgrimage.

The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.

20 May 2020 - God's timing

Today's Readings

(Audio)

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

Jesus doesn't overload us with more truth than we can handle. This is a great blessing but we often experience it as difficult. We imagine that we can in fact handle the truth and therefore feel slighted when it isn't given all at once. The truth is fundamentally good. God knows the plans he has for us, to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us a future and a hope (see Jeremiah 29:11). Yet not every intermediate end is a pleasant one. They are not all things we would choose for their own sake. Knowing too much at once would cause us to assess our ability to rise to meet the challenge according to what we currently of our abilities or at best according to our current level of faith.

But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.

Jesus does want to lead us into all truth. He wants to form us into disciples who can handle the bad for the sake of the good that lies in store for us.

For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God (see Hebrews 12:2).

By his Spirit Jesus forms us into a people who don't fixate on the negative but instead setting our minds on things above (see Colossians 3:2). We learn that our readiness to face the future does not depend on our abilities. It does not depend on our current level of grace and faith. It depends on God who himself makes ready those who are not ready and gives them the grace they need at the moment they need it. He doesn't do so in advance so that we can comfortably rely on ourselves. He does so at the time we need it so that we learn to walk with him and rely on him. The truth into which we are led does not end in darkness, but culminates instead in the revelation of the glory of Jesus.

He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

Paul was led by the Spirit. He himself experienced a progressive revelation until he could say, "I know him in whom I have believed" (see Second Timothy 1:12). This enabled him to not overload those to whom he preached with too much at once. Rather, he started with where they were and with things they already understood, and planted seeds.

For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.

Many of us would stop at the similarities between our faith and those of others and go no further. We would, in fact, be so patient with the process as to not progress. But this is to fail to allow the Spirit to lead into all truth.

God has overlooked the times of ignorance,
but now he demands that all people everywhere repent
because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world
with justice’ through a man he has appointed,
and he has provided confirmation for all
by raising him from the dead.

Remember, God does not leave us in a state where we can't handle the truth. The truth is fundamentally good. Once we let God have his way in us we will be more effective tools in his hand to open the hearts of others.

Praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
His majesty is above earth and heaven.

19 May 2020 - conviction

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?’

They had asked, but were not yet ready to understand. Peter was willing to go down together with Jesus in a blaze of glory but he could not accept that he himself would be unwilling to accompany him in his path of self-surrender.

Jesus gave them the assurance that he went to prepare a place for them in his Father's house. He told Thomas that he himself was the way to that place. 

But even with those explanations that encompassed both the suffering and the glory the disciples didn't know what to make of the plan. The only had enough sense of it to be filled with grief.

But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.

It seemed to the disciples that something was about to happen that should not happen, that should be avoided at all costs if possible. The consolation of having places prepared in the Father's house seemed to be little more than a positive spin on surrender and defeat. It didn't seem like something that could have been the plan all along. And yet it was.

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 had to destroy the barrier of sin that separated us from God before the Holy Spirit could dwell in our hearts. It was only from his wounded side on the cross that living water could flow. And since the Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son it was fitting that it was from his position enthroned together with the Father that the Son poured forth the Spirit. This was not a nice spin on what was actually failure. It was not plan b. This was his purpose from the beginning.

And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:

These promises about the Spirit don't tend to capture us as much as hearing that he is our advocate, comforter, and guide. But they are perhaps equally important. Without the discernment offered by the Spirit we live with darkened minds. We could perhaps use our reason to determine what behavior of ours is sinful. But without the Spirit we are all too likely to substitute reason for rationalizations. Our reason works. But we are willing to fool ourselves. This is why it is such good news that the Holy Spirit will convict us in regard to sin. He will show us the places in which our belief in Jesus is not reflected in our lives. But this is not where he convicts us of condemnation. Rather, it is when he convicts us of sin that he at once points toward and holds out the hope of righteousness that we can find in Christ.

you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption (see First Corinthians 1:30).

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (see Second Corinthians 5:21).

The righteousness revealed in Christ is not meant to be something admired from a distance. It is meant to become a reality we express and live in our own lives.

Jesus did come to condemn, but he did not come to condemn us (see John 3:17). He came to condemn the evil one and to destroy his works (see First John 3:8). The reason he convicts us of sin, in other words, of a lack of transformative belief in Jesus on our part, is precisely to save us from this condemnation to which we would otherwise be subject.

Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (see John 3:18).

Paul and Silas show us what happens when people receive the Spirit and understand it. They did not simply go up for the sacrament of Confirmation, say yes, and then go back to their normal lives. They received the transformation he offered. It allowed them to have profound freedom but to not be so protective of that freedom as to miss the opportunity to witness to others.

But Paul shouted out in a loud voice,
“Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.”

When they were imprisoned they did not have to interpret this as something they should have avoided, not as a plan b, but precisely as a part of God's plan for their mission. Because they were so convicted about what was and was not important by the Holy Spirit they were able to share the gift of freedom with others rather than hoarding it for themselves.

He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds;
then he and all his family were baptized at once.

18 May 2020 - all truth, not all success

Lydia, dealer in purple cloth.

Today's Readings

(Audio)

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.

The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth (see John 16:13), he will remind us of everything Jesus said (see John 14:26), he will teach us to pray (see Romans 8:26), and give us words to say in testimony (see Matthew 10:20).

And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.

As amazing as the works of the Holy Spirit are, and as much as we are meant to rely on them, we each have a particular part to play. We do not become automatons speaking oracles from God. It is rather as partners with the Spirit that we speak. He reminds us of what Jesus has done in us since our own beginnings with him. Our own stories, insofar as they are centered on Jesus, become means through which the Holy Spirit calls others. He testifies to us, in us, and ultimately through us.

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.

Paul's own story of conversion was never far from his mind. He knew that if God could convert him, chief among sinners (see First Timothy 1:15), then there was no one he could not save. He knew better than to second guess where God might be present and working after having been so wrong about the Christian movement. The Holy Spirit doubtlessly guided how he shared the good news with Lydia. Even after having said all, he still needed to rely on the Holy Spirit to open her heart to pay attention. No amount of words matter if the words are ignored or only shallowly heard. From one end of evangelization to the other the Holy Spirit does the work. But it is a work he does through us, using us. We can't just sit back and wait. We need to welcome him.

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

Jesus warns us that the consequences of witness are not always those for which we would hope. We don't always meet with success. We often encounter rejection, and sometimes even violence.

They will expel you from the synagogues;
in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you
will think he is offering worship to God.

It is in such cases that we are tempted to fall away from relying on the Spirit and turn to worldly wisdom about what seems practical or expedient or prudent. Yet it is clear that the Spirit sometimes guides us into situations where the outcomes don't seem worth the investment. It is only on a much longer timeline that such investments pay off. The blood of the martyrs does not always immediately seem to bear fruit. All of the thousands of particulars that go astray are eventually but not immediately taken up into the grand tapestry of God's design, though eventually they are all gathered. And so for us, we need to learn to invest in loss when we are called to do so. This means that we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us without forcing or insisting on certain outcomes, and to bear well as Christians any pain that comes.

God doesn't ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.

― Mother Teresa, The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living

The Holy Spirit has testimony to give us and words of reminder to refresh us when we begin to despair. Let us receive that testimony as comfort so that we will be able to comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received (see Second Corinthians 1:4).

Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches.

17 May 2020 - another Advocate

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

We remember that we love because he first loved us (see First John 4:19). The Holy Spirit himself pours the loves of God into our hearts, and so we read "hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (see Romans 5:5).

And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,

It isn't as though we earn the Holy Spirit's presence by keeping the commandments. It is the Holy Spirit himself who makes it possible for us to do good works, and thus be filled more and more with the Spirit.

It remains for us to understand, that he who loves has the Holy Spirit, and by having Him, attains to having more of Him, and by having more of Him, to loving more. 

Augustine (Tract. lxxiv. c. 1)

We are reborn by water and the Spirit in baptism (see John 3:5). It is then that we receive the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry "Abba, Father!" (see Romans 8:15). It is by means of the Spirit given in baptism that Jesus does not leave us orphans. We hear the Father calling us his beloved sons and daughters just as Jesus did at his own baptism. It is through the Spirit that he comes to us in a way that is invisible to the world. For the Spirit does not come alone.

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.

The promise of Jesus is not only that the Spirit will be with us, around us, surprising us in external things. The promise is that he will be in us. By this very fact we are united also to the Father and to the Son. By this very fact we share in the Sonship of Jesus, loving the Father with him in the power of the Spirit. This presence is profound, but it is easy for the world to ignore.

The love of the world hath not invisible eyes wherewith to see that, which can only be seen invisibly.

Augustine (Tract. lxxiv. 4)

The world can choose to be aware of invisible things. But often it prefers the modes of awareness to which it is accustomed. This prevents any challenge to the desires and priorities which it now considers important.

The Holy Spirit kindles in every one, in whom He dwells, the desire of things invisible. 

Gregory (v. Mor.)

Augustine tells that we "see the Holy Ghost then in us, in our consciences" (Tract. lxxiv. 5). Is it any wonder that the world wants to go on loving what it loves and doing what it does? This may seem understandable. To do otherwise would seem to be risking what it has for what is less certain. But this isn't quite correct. For the world refuses even to look, which carries no risk, lest it might be wrong. To convince the world it is worth it it helps if we first believe it is worth it ourselves. 

Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.
Always be ready to give an explanation
to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,

The Holy Spirit strengthens us to be able to bear witness to our faith. He is able to do so with a clear and clarion voice when we sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, when we prefer the one thing necessary, when set our minds on things above (see Colossians 3:2).

We can see from his role in living out the Christian faith why it is so vitally important that we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit in our own lives.

they sent them Peter and John,
who went down and prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
for it had not yet fallen upon any of them;

Just as it was important for these early disciples in Samaria to receive the Holy Spirit, so too must we continue to rely on the Spirit and live from his power. With Timothy we must consciously fan into flame the gift we have been given (see Second Timothy 1:6).

This then, should be our program, as we prepare for Pentecost: welcoming the Spirit more and more in our lives day to day, moment to moment. He is the Comforter. When we are lonely he reminds us of our identity as sons and daughters in the Son. He guides us into all truth and he himself makes us witnesses of that truth. He helps us prepare to give witness by opening our minds as we study the hope of our call. He even gives us the words to use when we do not not what to pray (see Romans 8:26), or what to say when we must give testimony (see Luke 21:14). He is the prerequisite to genuine, self-forgetful love.

Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!