31 March 2024 - the empty tomb

Today's Readings

(Audio)

On the first day of the week,

The first day of the week was Sunday, now not only the first day of the week, but of a new creation inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus. It was for this reason that the followers of Jesus immediately beginning to celebrate Sunday as the Lord's Day, the celebration of the resurrection, which superseded the Sabbath. The Sabbath rest corresponded to the time Jesus was in the tomb. But the Lord's Day corresponds to the resurrection. It is for this reason that we say that every Sunday is a little Easter.

Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,

while it was still dark,

and saw the stone removed from the tomb.

Although the world was still shrouded in the darkness of the horrific death of Jesus, Mary Magdalene's love could not be constrained to abandon her beloved. She still awaited the light that only the personal experience of the resurrected Jesus could bring to her. Only this experience could make sense of the otherwise unaccountable fact of the empty tomb. Her love, and therefore her grief at the death of Jesus, were deep. Only the restoration of the presence of the beloved could give life to the part of her heart that died when Jesus died. But again, we see some kind of hope within her, vague and undefined perhaps, but which nevertheless persisted in pursuit until her beloved was revealed to her in all of the splendor of his risen glory.

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter

and arrived at the tomb first;

he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

In our love we desire to run ahead to see what the empty tomb means for us and in our lives. Yet, we wait for Peter, the representative of the Church to make a definitive pronouncement. Yes, our excitement and eagerness are powerful motivations that help us to arrive, perhaps more quickly, at the meaning of the resurrection. But for just the same reason our eagerness often makes us abrupt or incautious in our reasoning. So we wait for the Church to confirm the meaning of our personal spiritual experiences.

When Simon Peter arrived after him,

he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,

and the cloth that had covered his head,

not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

Grave robbers wouldn't have bothered to leave the burial cloths, much less to roll than up and set them aside. It was also clear that, whatever happened, it was a different case from that of Lazarus who came forth from his own tomb still bound in his burial garments. This hints at what Paul explained in his letter to the Romans, that the case was Jesus was not merely a resuscitation, but something more.

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him (see Romans 6:9).

Peter and John saw the empty tomb and came to understand that it was God at work and not merely grave robbers. There was no merely human explanation for their discovery. And yet, their resurrection faith was not yet mature, could not be mature, until they encountered the risen Christ himself. Only this encounter could make sense of the Scripture about him, just as it also did for the disciples at Emmaus. 

Once, however, the disciples did encounter the risen Lord, they evinced striking clarity about the meaning of all of the events that had previously been veiled in darkness. They were not merely detectives that had solved a mystery. They had become witnesses.

We are witnesses of all that he did

both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.

They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.

This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible,

not to all the people, but to us,

the witnesses chosen by God in advance,

who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

    

30 March 2024 - something strange is happening

 

From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday via DivineOffice.org

(Audio)

Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

Ike Ndolo - Awake, O Sleeper

29 March 2024 - the tree of life

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him,

went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?”

The events of the passion of Jesus were not surprises to him, nor were his circumstances at any point out of control. He laid his life down of his own accord. Though he was the recipient of brutality, violence, and hatred, he was in fact choosing to bear our infirmities and to endure our sufferings. Harsh treatment of an innocent individual like this would have been tragic in any other case. But because of the one to whom it happened and how he received it it was in this case transformative. His love for us creatively reshaped the suffering he received into a life-giving remedy for sin. The only one for whom this was possible was the one revealed to be the great "I AM", the one who bore the divine name revealed to Moses by God at the burning bush.

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,

struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.

The slave’s name was Malchus.

Peter was capable of bold and courageous action for the sake of Jesus. No doubt he meant to prove the truth of the words he said when he told Jesus that he would die for him. But he was less capable of remaining steadfast when he could not exercise any sort of control of the situation. When he was called to demonstrate meekness rather than strength it was then that he could no longer remain faithful to his commitment to Jesus.

Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm.

And they said to him,

“You are not one of his disciples, are you?”

He denied it and said,

“I am not.”

Many of us are probably like Peter. When we can boldly proceed according to our own plans we seem strong and committed. But when our own plans our upended and we ourselves seem to be on trial alongside Jesus we sometimes try to hide, become evasive, and even resort to dishonesty to avoid meeting a fate beyond our control. 

Fortunately, just as Jesus creatively transformed all of the violence inflicted upon him into mercy for the world, so too does he transform our own failures and new and deeper strength, provided we repent, just as he did for Peter.

And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,

and clothed him in a purple cloak,

and they came to him and said,

“Hail, King of the Jews!”

Somehow even in their mockery of Jesus they still couldn't help but acknowledge his kingship. On some deep intuitively level they seemed to know that he was in fact "the King of the Jews" as the inscription on the cross read. But he was not such a king as they could tolerate, they who saw value only in violence and strength. 

There was a vessel filled with common wine.

So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop

and put it up to his mouth.

The violent strength of the authorities of this world and those who did their bidding was nevertheless unable to stop Jesus from fulfilling his plan. In fact, they were all instrumental in it being brought to completion. This hyssop branch was just one example. As a hyssop branch was used to spread the blood of the passover lamb during the exodus (see Exodus 12:22) so too here must this hyssop branch have been covered with the blood of Jesus, the lamb of God, and anointed the earth.

but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,

and immediately blood and water flowed out.

Just as blood and water flowed out of the temple during the passover as countless lambs were sacrificed so too did blood and water flow from the new temple and the true lamb of God. This is the precious blood that is the source of our forgiveness and new life. This is the living water of the Holy Spirit who would fill and animate the Church.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved

he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”

Then he said to the disciple,

“Behold, your mother.”

One of the great gifts Jesus gives us in his passion is giving us his mother to be our mother. She is called "Woman" because she is the new Eve, mother of all of those who truly live, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (see Revelation 12:17). The passion of Jesus is intense to the degree that we are often tempted to look away. Even when we don't it is still a lot to take in. But Mary, who remained at the foot of the cross in faithfulness to her son, can be a point of entry for us. If we remain with her she can help us to remain with him. Her love for him can teach and inspire us to make our own love and commitment for him deeper.

As we have insisted, the passion was no tragedy or accident but a part of the plan of the Father and the Son to save the human race. As such, we do it as disservice if we simply shed and a few tears and then move it. It is meant to inspire something much greater in us than this initial repentant sorrow:

So let us confidently approach the throne of grace

to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

Songs In His Presence - Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs

Dan Schutte - Behold The Wood

28 March 2024 - foot clan

Today's Readings - Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper

(Audio)

We may treat the washing of the disciples feet as some negligible symbolic action, especially as we are tempted to tune out during that particular part of the celebration of the Holy Thursday liturgy, having experienced it year after year. But it is in fact the blueprint and luminous inner meaning of how Jesus "loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end". It revealed the reality that underlied both the Passion and the Eucharist. 

So, during supper,

fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power

and that he had come from God and was returning to God,

he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.

It might otherwise have seemed that the Passion was something that was done to Jesus against his will. But it was his choice to obey the Father, to take off the outer garments of his mortal life on the cross. It was his choice to humble himself even to the point of becoming the sacrificial lamb, and therefore also the bread and wine we receive in Holy Communion. The world thought it was taking from Jesus when it stripped him of his clothing and nailed him to the cross. But in fact he was acting with complete sovereignty to hand himself over into our hands.

He took a towel and tied it around his waist.

Then he poured water into a basin

and began to wash the disciples’ feet

and dry them with the towel around his waist.

We see Jesus acting out symbolically what Paul described in his letter to the Philippians, that "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (see Philippians 2:6-8). What began by the infinitely transcendent God stooping down to visit his creatures in the incarnation reached the "end" for which it was begun. The true meaning of the fact that Jesus "came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (see Matthew 20:28) was now being revealed. The one of whom John the Baptist said, "the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie" (see John 1:27) now washed the feet of the disciples. 

Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered him,

“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”

The humility shown by Jesus brings full attention to the filth with which we have dirtied our feet and to our own unworthiness before the gift Jesus desires to give us. Yet, nevertheless, we must allow how to clean us as he desires, both because we need it and because it is a gift he himself desires to give. The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture summarizes this fact in a useful way:

The foot washing signifies Jesus’ loving action on the cross, and Peter must yield to Jesus’ loving action in order to share in Jesus’ life, which the cross makes possible.¹

We too must yield to Jesus' loving action in order to share in Jesus' life. We do this primary in our reception of the sacraments. We think in particular of the Eucharist, since this story of the foot washing in John's Gospel parallels the story of the institution of the Eucharist in the synoptics. This is the reason why this reading is given for Holy Thursday, since it commemorates both the institution of the Eucharist and of the priesthood. 

Do you realize what I have done for you?

You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’  and rightly so, for indeed I am.

If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,

you ought to wash one another’s feet.

Do we realize what Jesus has done for us, by giving his Church the gift of the priesthood, and through it, the Eucharist? His priests are called to view their own ministry as a washing of the feet of their peoples. But the washing of the feet is not given only for priests to imitate. We are all meant to live lives characterized by this kind of humble service. We are called to become what we receive in the Eucharist. And this can only happen to the degree that we in turn become bread for others. We have our own feet washed in order that we might serve.

I have given you a model to follow,

so that as I have done for you, you should also do.

--

1) Martin, Francis; Wright, William M. IV. The Gospel of John (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture): (A Catholic Bible Commentary on the New Testament by Trusted Catholic Biblical Scholars - CCSS) (p. 235). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

Matt Maher - Adoration

Pange Lingua Glorisoi

27 March 2024 - you have said so

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“What are you willing to give me

if I hand him over to you?”

They paid him thirty pieces of silver,

and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

This is reminiscent of the time when the brothers of Joseph sold him into slavery in Egypt for twenty pieces of silver. They, however, realized that they ought not kill their own brother, if not for love of him, at least because committing such a crime would pose a difficulty for them. 

Judas, however, appeared to have no such restraint. He, though one of the twelve, actively sought out the enemies of Jesus to see what he could get in exchange for his life. This was only the beginning of a period where he planned his conspiracy. There must have been some period of time before the Last Supper when Judas continued to present himself as one of the twelve and a loyal follower of Jesus all while considering the most effective way to give him up to the authorities. Judas no doubt assumed he was using his vast intellect to salvage something from a situation in which he no longer found any value. Jesus wasn't turning out to be the messiah he wanted him to be. So he would get from him what he could. Perhaps he even initially planned to put that money toward some other scheme to overthrow the Romans, some supposedly good cause. He certainly seemed to think that his cleverness made him superior to Jesus and the other eleven. Yet for all of this, he was only enacting the prior plan of God, as we read in the prophet Zechariah:

Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter (see Zechariah 11:13).

Not only did scripture predict the betrayal of Judas but Jesus, at the Last Supper, made it clear that he was aware of the plot, saying, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me". What was it like for Judas to realize that Jesus understood the conspiracy against him, and yet did not attempt to unmask it or avert its consequences? Judas seemed in some way seemed to hope that he might still remain hidden, that it could yet be any of the twelve, using the words they had used to pretend not to be the one. 

“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”

He answered, “You have said so.”

The more clearly Judas realized that Jesus knew that he was the traitor the more urgently he felt the need to execute his plan. He could not stand long before the compassionate gaze of Jesus as he tried to inform him of the horrific consequences of such an act. He must do what he planned to do while he was still steeled to do it, lest a weaker sympathetic compassion overwhelm him.

How much comfort should we take in the fact that Judas was only one of the Twelve, and therefore an edge case? Perhaps not all that much. It may well be that Jesus was ambiguous in stating, "one of you will betray me" precisely so that we would each look into our own heart and find within it the same treacherous impulses to which Judas gave himself. Because of Jesus' announcing his impending betrayal we read that the disciples began to say to one another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?" They could not reassure themselves. They needed the Lord's assurance. But in fact, in some way, they all betrayed him. They at least ran from his presence at one point in order to protect themselves. 

And they all left him and fled (see Mark 14:50).

Of the Twelve it is only recorded that John managed to be near Jesus at the cross. But are we not similar to the Twelve in this way? Once there are potential consequences or once there is a potential cost to discipleship aren't we likely to make every effort to run? Don't we generally spend time at the foot of the cross only when all other options are closed to us? And finally, don't we often refuse to be associated with Jesus except after all of our excuses have proven false? We too say, "Surely it is not I". We too hear, "You have said so". But for this year, and for this Triduum at least, let us make a conscious resolution to remain with Jesus, to be identified with him, and to remain near him as he demonstrates for us the depth of his love.

Matt Maher - Abide With Me

26 March 2024 - foreknowledge

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,

"Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."

The fact that Jesus was God and thus able to foresee the events of his passion did not necessarily make those events any easier. In fact, it is quite possible that the ability to foresee those events combined with the necessity not to avoid them made them even more difficult. We see here that Jesus was deeply troubled to know that one of his closest followers would turn against him. 

Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me (see Psalm 41:9).

Even Judas was not completely corrupt at the beginning. He was one of the twelve sent out to preach and to work signs and wonders. He was one of those who were in closest fellowship with Jesus during his earthly life. Yet even though Jesus certainly loved Judas there was not a way for him to turn Judas aside from the course which Judas himself had decided to carry out. Any possible alternative would have been unfair to Judas and would have at the same time prevented Jesus from fulfilling his Father's perfect plan.

After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.

So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly."

Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.

Even with Peter Jesus could not in advance prevent the betrayal he was to commit, not even by warning him that it would be so. The burden of this divine knowledge was to see all of this coming but to stand fast and allow his love to absorb it and transform it into the possibility of repentance and mercy.

Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me?

Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow

before you deny me three times."

Jesus did show mercy to Peter, a mercy that was always a part of his plan not only for Peter but for all of those who would be strengthened by Peter's restoration. This is why Jesus told him, "when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers" (see Luke 22:32). And Jesus would have shown mercy even to Judas had Judas but been willing to ask it of him. But does this willingness of the Lord to forgive mean that we should not even set resolutions like those of Peter to follow Jesus no matter the cost, since we know our own fallibility? Should we simply plan to sin in advance to ease the disappointment of our eventual failures? This is part of the question addressed by Paul: 

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (see Romans 6:1-2).

We have to face the world with a firm purpose of amendment, of living the grace we have been given. We can't skip past the inevitability of failure been planning on it. Rather, we must make every effort to respond to the grace we have been given. Yet when we do invariably find we fall short it is then that we can take comfort in the limitless mercy to be found in the heart of Jesus. After all, he did not come for the perfect, not to help angels (see Hebrews 2:16), but rather "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I [Paul] am the foremost" (see First Timothy 1:15).

It is in his accomplishing of our salvation, of his pouring out his blood that we might receive mercy, that his glory is most fully revealed. It is from the cross that Jesus becomes a "light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth"

Songs In His Presence - Our Eyes Are Fixed

25 March 2024 - poured out

Today's Readings

(Audio)

They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,

while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.

This banquet would seem to be an image of heaven, where those who serve Jesus gather around him to feast together with him. It is a banquet where those who, like Lazarus, were once dead but are now alive share a meal together with Jesus himself. And it is a meal that is Eucharistic, since we see gifts offered to the Lord in thanksgiving that prepare in some way for his Sacrifice.

Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil

made from genuine aromatic nard

and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;

the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

True love does not know how to measure or ration itself. It is not content to give by halves. It wants to bestow itself wholly on the beloved. For Mary, this was a response to how she knew herself to be first loved by Jesus. She realized that the entirety of Jesus' own life was a gift for humanity of which she was a privileged recipient. She sensed the truth that "he gives the Spirit without measure" (see John 3:34) and she, in turn, wanted to give herself without measure. 

It is fitting to give all that we have and all that we are to the one who first poured out his life blood for us. Compared to his gift, our own is fractional such as to seem trivial. But it is not nothing. Jesus allows our gifts to be taken up into his own gift of self. We, like Mary, in some way, anoint the body of the Lord for his burial. And the result is this, that, "the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil". But our gift is not meant to be merely one expensive possession from our collection. Rather, we ourselves, are very lives, are meant to become this fragrance.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere (see Second Corinthians 2:14).

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (see Ephesians 5:2).

But there is nothing that the ego likes less or fears more than this entire gift of self. If Mary's ego tried to stop her it seemed like she was too caught up in love to even notice let alone to slow down or change plans. But for us, like Judas, our egos tend to present love as a conflict of interest in a zero-sum game.

Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,

and the one who would betray him, said,

"Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages

and given to the poor?"

When we would pour out our life recklessly on Jesus in worship our ego would have us believe we should be doing something, anything else, perhaps some act of service for our neighbor. Yet when we do that other thing our ego always has some other option to present as what we ought to prefer. It is always trying to turn us from the moment where true love may be expressed to the merely hypothetical, keeping us trapped in analysis. It does seem, from a human level, that worship is a commitment that excludes other opportunities. But Jesus assures us that the way love works is different, that we will have every occasion to show love. If this is the case, we should do what love motivates in the particular situation at hand rather than looking for excuses to hold ourselves back.

So Jesus said, "Leave her alone.

Let her keep this for the day of my burial.

You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

In a similar way, we might say that there are many other good opportunities for action in the world, but Holy Week is a unique and privileged time that we have only once a year. We should therefore make every effort to enter in with our whole hearts, to make of ourselves a gift of thanksgiving in response to all that Jesus has done for us. He is the gentle lover about whom Isaiah wrote:

Here is my servant whom I uphold,

my chosen one with whom I am pleased,

Upon whom I have put my Spirit;

he shall bring forth justice to the nations,

Not crying out, not shouting,

not making his voice heard in the street.

A bruised reed he shall not break,

and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,

Until he establishes justice on the earth;

the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

Elevation Worship - Fullness

24 March 2024 - your king comes

Today's Readings

(Audio)

[ Most insights from the Gospel of Mark (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Sacred Scripture) by Mary Healy ]

Go into the village opposite you,

and immediately on entering it, 

you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat.

In the Old Testament it was a common requirement for animals for sacred use to have never been used for anything ordinary. This tethered colt brought to mind Jacob's prophecy of a king that would come from the tribe of Judah:

The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until he to whom it belongs shall come

and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

He will tether his donkey to a vine,

his colt to the choicest branch;

he will wash his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes (see Genesis 49:10-11)

Jesus instructed the two disciples that he sent out as to exactly what they would find and how they should respond when they did.

Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone should say to you,

‘Why are you doing this?’ reply,

‘The Master has need of it

and will send it back here at once.

On a human level this could indicate that he had disciples in Jerusalem who were ready surrender their property according to his will. But at a deeper level we see Jesus perfectly in control of his destiny even as he approached the cross. He went toward his death not as a horrific accident, but rather with salvific purpose. Human authorities and conspirators thought they were the ones in charge, the ones directing the destiny of Jesus as they wished. But Jesus said, "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father" (see John 10:18). Just as disciples found everything as Jesus described it, so too would his descriptions of the coming passion provide assurance that he saw everything that was to come, and that it was part of the charge he had received from his Father. Even their own abandonment of Jesus in his hour of need was subsumed by his under this higher purpose of Jesus when he spoke of it in advance.

So they brought the colt to Jesus

and put their cloaks over it.

This colt brought to mind the prophecy of Zechariah about the coming of the messianic king to Jerusalem: "Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass" (see Zechariah 9:9). The humility of entering the city demonstrated that Jesus came in peace and not in conquest. It also brought to mind the royal procession of Solomon, son of David, into the city at his coronation (see First Kings 1:32-34). Jesus was truly the son of David entering Jerusalem. And he was indeed entering Jerusalem to be enthroned. But his throne was to be the cross and his crown, a crown of thorns. The crowds, who would later reject a weak and suffering messiah, were still stoked at this point, and responded with homage to the coming of a new king by laying their "cloaks on the road" (see for example Second Kings 9:13).

One thing the two Gospel readings of Palm Sunday make clear is the fickleness of the crowds. One day they welcomed Jesus with shouts of joy. Very soon they were shouting to have him crucified. This is something that is probably true about ourselves as well. At times we kind find ourselves riding the high of hype and excitement as our faith produces feelings of joy and consolation in our hearts. But do we remain faithful during the darker and more difficult times? Or do we rather run from Jesus or join in those who mock and ridicule his apparent impotence? We probably don't say anything as blatant as "He saved others; he cannot save himself". And yet, do we not sometimes secretly judge Jesus for not intervening in situations in just the way we think he should, and for allowing suffering we think he should prevent? But he knew in advance that we would sometimes be fickle and half-hearted in our commitment to him. He was prepared to accept this, and all ignominy, in order to transform it by his own suffering and death into a deeper and more unshakable trust in him.

When the centurion who stood facing him

saw how he  breathed his last he said, 

“Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Hillsong  - Hosanna

23 March 2024 - the plan behind the plans

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary

and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.

But some of them went to the Pharisees

and told them what Jesus had done.

Jesus manifesting himself resulted in some believing but others hardening their hearts. In raising Lazarus from the dead he drew many Judeans to himself. But some went to tell the Pharisees, precipitating the events that would lead to the death of Jesus himself. It seemed that in healing others suffering and difficulty always fell upon Jesus himself. Even more so with the raising of Lazarus that led to his own crucifixion. But he was the one who came to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows (see Isaiah 53:4). He knew what the consequences would be and yet he still desired to reveal himself as savior and life-giver.

“What are we going to do?

This man is performing many signs.

If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,

and the Romans will come

and take away both our land and our nation.”

In their hardness of hearts they recognized that the signs that Jesus performed were all but irrefutable. The natural outcome of signs such as he performed was for all to believe in him. But they didn't consider any deep or spiritual implications of this fact. Instead, they only thought about the practical consequences, seen from an earthly point of view. They weren't concerned with what the signs of Jesus might say about what God was doing in their midst. They were worried only about how the Romans might see such signs, and how that might have hard and immediate ramifications for their way of life. They certainly seemed to have a fear of the Romans but there was no evident fear of the Lord in their discernment.

“You know nothing,

nor do you consider that it is better for you

that one man should die instead of the people,

so that the whole nation may not perish.”

Caiaphas only intended to say that the death of Jesus ought to appease the Romans and keep them in check for the time being. But God spoke a deeper message through the mouth of Caiaphas even as he would accomplish a deeper purpose through the death of Jesus. Caiaphas and the earthly authorities who colluded with him had one purpose but God had another higher purpose. It was a purpose that they not only could not hinder but would actually be instrumental in bringing to fruition. God made all things, even their plans for evil, work together for the good of those who loved him and were called according to his purpose (see Romans 8:28).

He did not say this on his own,

but since he was high priest for that year,

he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,

and not only for the nation,

but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.

The savvy and politically expedient plans of Caiaphas did not in fact save the nation of Israel from Roman aggression which destroyed the temple and dispersed the people to distant lands. But the death of Jesus did result in the salvation and gathering around himself of all of the dispersed children of God. No longer within a physical nation around a human king, but now gathered in the Church around a single Good Shepherd, those who believed found a communion deeper and more unbreakable than any earthly state. This was the spiritual fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel.

I will take the children of Israel from among the nations

to which they have come,

and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land.

I will make them one nation upon the land,

in the mountains of Israel,

and there shall be one prince for them all.

Just as Ezekiel promised that "there shall be one shepherd for them all" so too did Jesus affirm that "there will be one flock, one shepherd" (see John 10:16) within his fold. 

We are sometimes tempted to anxiety or despair when we see worldly leaders pursue priorities which are, shall we say, not the highest and the best. But in this life we will always see this conflict between the city of man and the city of God. Yet we can rest assured that even in the misguided plans of corrupt leaders God is able to bring about a greater good. We temper that confidence with the realization that the greater good often looks like the cross before it looks like Easter Sunday. But if we hang on to Jesus in faith we know that Easter will come, inexorably as the dawn.

My dwelling shall be with them;

I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD,

who make Israel holy,

when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.

Jesus Culture - Your Love Never Fails

22 March 2024 - reconnecting...

Today's Readings

(Audio)

You, a man, are making yourself God.

Some modern people are unclear on the point, but the Judeans very much understood the claim Jesus made. And Jesus didn't back down on the point or try to clear up confusion as though he didn't intend to be taken in that sense.

Jesus answered them,

“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘?

If Scripture could in any meaningful sense refer to a group of authorities as gods perhaps the idea that a man could even more perfectly an intimately bear the identity of God and Son of God was not so far fetched as strict Jewish monotheism might have made it seem.

If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,

and Scripture cannot be set aside,

can you say that the one

whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world

blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

Those to whom the word of God came could be called gods only loosely and by analogy. But the word of God himself was truly the Son of God. It is precisely in the coming of the word to us that we ourselves become partakers of the divine nature. In some way, greater than that of those about whom Scripture spoke, but still not in the utterly unique way in which it is true for Christ, we become divinized. Humanity was always meant to have a potential to receive divine life. 

I  said, “You are gods,

sons of the Most High, all of you;

nevertheless, like men you shall die,

and fall like any prince.

The divine image in which man was created was obscured by the fall, and our capacity to receive the divine life was compromised. We were meant to share life together with God forever but instead were forced to share the fate of, not just any prince, but any man or woman since the fall in the garden of Eden.

Although the fall put a barrier between humanity and what was meant to be our destiny, nevertheless the Scriptures that revealed a future hope could not be set aside. Even the vaguest hints that we might yet attain to something more and greater than the valley of the shadow of death were worth treasuring. Small and seemingly trivial verses still in fact pointed toward the coming of Christ, and, in him, the restoration of the purpose and destiny of mankind in God.

If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me;

but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,

believe the works, so that you may realize and understand

that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.

Even if we have difficulty with the words of Jesus, his works bear out the truth of his words. In particularly, the resurrection is the unanswerable sign that all that he said and taught was true. If we know a tree by its fruit there is no more worthy tree than the cross, no better fruit than the Holy Spirit which he poured out for us. If he was only going to give us one sign, the sign of Jonah, it was nevertheless enough of a sign to change the entire world forever. Death was not the end for Jesus. Nor need it be the end for anyone. True life is ultimately not something we can have apart from God who is the source of life. But in the resurrection we are brought back online and plugged back in to that source.

Because Jesus came to give us life, and defeated death itself, we can have a confidence that is greater than that of Jeremiah:

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:

my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.

We can have a faith even stronger than that of the psalmist:

Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,

and I am safe from my enemies.

Chris Tomlin - Whom Shall I Fear? (God Of Angel Armies)

21 March 2024 - before Abraham

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever keeps my word will never see death.”

The word of Jesus is different from the word of leaders of other world religions and philosophies. It is different even than that of the prophets, even the greatest of the prophets. The word of Jesus has a power that no one else dared claim, not Abraham, Moses, or any other.

Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?

Or the prophets, who died?

The prophets called people to keep, not their own word, but the word of God. And even then it was understood that death was still the inevitable fate waiting even for the faithful. There were vague hints that things would be different for the faithful.

Those who trust in him shall understand truth,

and the faithful shall abide with him in love:

Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,

and his care is with the elect (see Wisdom 3:9).

But even though Wisdom suggested some form of immortality and the Maccabean martyrs looked forward to some form of resurrection, none of that was ever predicated on the words of a single individual, an uneducated rabbi from the backwater of Galilee no less. The Judeans weren't wrong to be so taken aback by the claims of Jesus. No one sane person would dare to claim what he claimed, at least not unless it were true.

Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;

but it is my Father who glorifies me,

of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’

Jesus did not make the claims that he did in order to glorify himself. He did it because he desired that people would come to him and find life, but they refused (see John 5:40). And yet this was the whole point of his coming, the unifying factor behind all of his ministry, that in him people could have life in abundance (see John 10:10).

Jesus was the only one capable of revealing the Father to humanity, the only one so deeply related to the Father that he could manifest the Father to the world. Others insisted that they did know him already, but how could they? And the way they lived gave the lie to those claims. Specifically, the way they refused to embrace the words of Jesus proved that they did not embrace the Father either, and that the God they thought they knew was at least partially a construct of their own minds, created for their own convenience.

Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;

he saw it and was glad.”

Those who had true faith always looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, even if they only saw him through a veil and from a distance. Insofar as God's plan hinted in the direction of Jesus these devout faithful accepted that plan, and it was as though in doing so they were putting faith in Jesus himself.

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth (see Hebrews 11:13).

“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,

before Abraham came to be, I AM.”

There can be no equivocating about the claims made by Jesus. Though humble and truthful and sane he appropriated the divine name to himself. He claimed to have no origin in time, but to have always existed since before the foundation of the world, to be being itself, perfectly united with the Father. There can therefore be no abiding in the word of Jesus as a mere philosophy or system of living. It must always be first and foremost a response to Jesus himself, and a trust in who he reveals himself to be. Everything else flows from that revelation.

May we, like Abraham, rejoice in the revelation of Jesus to us. If he is who who says he is we can believe him about everything else he wants to tell us, not only about the Father, but about who we are in him, and who he believes we can yet become. Even the promises made to Abraham and dwarfed by what God has now prepared for those who love (see First Corinthians 2:9).

I will render you exceedingly fertile;

I will make nations of you;

kings shall stem from you.

New Life Worship - Great I Am

20 March 2024 - the truth will set you free

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Knowledge of the truth and freedom do not come immediately, but only after remaining in the word of Jesus. We begin by believing him and the over time the truth of his word can reveal to us the reason for which we were truly made and convict us of they ways we have strayed from that purpose. Accepting Jesus' diagnosis of our condition requires a willingness to face up to it. This is difficult for us, as it was for those disciples in the time of Jesus who argued that they "are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone". In fact, they had been subjugated by one foreign power after another. They wanted to insist that they didn't need any help from anyone in order to be free because they were free already. They didn't want to depend on anyone else in order to attain truth that they felt they already possessed. But this self-sufficiency was an obvious illusion, and it masked a still deeper need.

Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,

everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.

We too tend to cherish the illusion that we are in control, particularly in terms of our moral lives. We tend to consider ourselves as in possession of sufficient truth to exercise our freedom in the situations of daily life. But the truth we need we cannot possess but must humbly allow to possess us. It is too easy, even for Christians, to develop blind spots that allow slavery to sinful tendencies to persist. The only antidote to this possibility is a long-term commitment to abide in the word of Jesus.

They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham."

We might say something to the effect of, 'We are Catholic' and Jesus would say to us, 'If you were truly children of the Church you would be doing my work in the world'. Yet we tend to prefer our own comfort to the message of Jesus, sometimes to such an extent that we would prefer to silence him rather than have him upset our status quo. We don't go so far as to try to kill him but we do sometimes close our ears to the truth that he heard from God.

Abraham did not do this.

It was faith that made Abraham pleasing to God, and faith is similarly the sine qua non necessary for those who would share in his inheritance. We can't rest on our laurels, assuming that past commitments are sufficient to ensure future results. We must continue to allow the word of Jesus to transform us and not rebel when it touches a sensitive spot within us.

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me,

for I came from God and am here;

I did not come on my own, but he sent me."

Jesus has allowed us to become adopted sons and daughters of his Father in heaven. Therefore let us love him, all that he is, and not only in order to receive pleasant affirmations. Then, slowly but surely, we will begin to act in a manner worthy of children of so great a Father. 

Let us look to the commitment of the three youths in the fiery furnace as an example of the power of trust in God even in the face of seemingly insurmountably obstacles.

"Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?"

"Assuredly, O king," they answered.

"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt,

walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God."

If we abide in the word, even the fire will not harm us. This is similar to what God promised through the prophet Isaiah:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you (see Isaiah 43:2).

John Michael Talbot - Be Not Afraid

19 March 2024 - seek and ye shall find

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,

and when he was twelve years old,

they went up according to festival custom.

The parents of Jesus were doing their best to raise the son given to them by God, immersing him in the traditions and the feasts of his people. This appeared to have become a part of their routine and as such they were able to trust that if Jesus was somewhere in the caravan then he would be safe even without their immediate attention.

After they had completed its days, as they were returning,

the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,

but his parents did not know it.

Jesus, who gave humanity the command to honor their fathers and their mothers, was not disobedient to the commandment. He did not break a positive command given by his parents. He did something which he certainly understood they would not prefer he do in order to meet the demands of a higher good, obedience to his heavenly Father. It was not merely a preference of his, but rather, as he explained it "I must be in my Father's house" (emphasis mine). It seems to us that he wished to expose his parents to the reality that the necessities of the Father's will in the plan of human salvation would often differ from what they might otherwise prefer. This three days that they spent searching for him pointed to another three days during which Jesus was in the tomb prior to the resurrection. After that, too, he was sought. Mary Magdalene, in that instance, said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away" (see John 20:15). In both cases we see images of the bride from the Song of Songs, crying out, "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" (see Song of Songs 3:3). And what did they ultimately learn in both cases but the truth of what Jesus taught when he said, "seek, and you will find ... the one who seeks finds" (see Matthew 7:7-8).

Son, why have you done this to us?

Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.

It was only natural that the parents would experience anxiety at a time like this. The saving will of God made demands upon them all. Even Jesus himself experienced anxiety in this regard so great that he would sweat drops of blood in Gethsemane. The parents were already participating, albeit unknowingly, in his salvific suffering. But Jesus gave them the reassurance of his confidence in the Father, the same confidence that allowed him to overcome his human aversion to suffering and to give his life for the sake of the world.

“Why were you looking for me?

Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

The parents thus came to understand even more deeply the connection of Jesus to his heavenly Father and the priority of his will. After treasuring these things in her heart Mary was prepared for the increasingly difficult nature of her son's mission. She treasured the fact that Jesus was not only her son but also the Son of the Father in heaven. She treasured the memory of when she heard from him, at age twelve, a wisdom so great that "all who heard him were astounded". This boy who was her son and also the Son of God could be trusted absolutely. His absence could therefore only result in an ever greater future union. As she stood on at the cross and wept she no doubt continued to treasure this memory in her heart as she persevered in faith. 

Damascus Worship featuring Aaron Richards - Hail Joseph

Matt Maher - Run To The Father

18 March 2024 - ground truth

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“Teacher, this woman was caught 

in the very act of committing adultery.

Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.

So what do you say?”

If Jesus said that the woman was to be stoned he would be violating Roman law that Jews could not administer capital punishment. If Jesus said that the woman should not be stoned he would be speaking against the Law of Moses which said that adultery was a capital crime. The Pharisees thought they had Jesus either way. It is rather disgusting to consider how they didn't care anything about justice but rather used this woman's situation as a weapon against Jesus. 

They said this to test him,

so that they could have some charge to bring against him.

The Pharisees probably imagined themselves to be sufficiently without sin to administer justice and were likely frustrated by the Roman law that usurped from them that prerogative. They hated the message of Jesus which sometimes appeared to take a deeper and more internal stance on the meaning of the law and at other times seemed lax to the point of disregarding it. They wanted him to commit to a position so that they could trap him in it. If he insisted on being more strict than them they had a way to expose him for that. If he insisted on the laxity of mercy they had a way to expose him for that. Or so they thought.

“Let the one among you who is without sin 

be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Although the Pharisees thought they ought to be able to stone her Roman law forbade them to do so. And so now the trap was reversed. If they did stone her then it would be they themselves and not Jesus who was guilty of violating Roman law since the implication was that Jesus did not consider them to be sinless. And if they, as happened in this case, did not stone her, then they would appear in the eyes of the crowd to be exposed as sinners who were unworthy to execute judgment.

“Woman, where are they?

Has no one condemned you?”

She replied, “No one, sir.”

Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.

Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

The Pharisees claimed to be representing the intentions of the law but in fact perverted those intentions for their own use. Jesus himself was the only truly sinless one qualified to execute judgment. And yet it was he himself who preferred to forgive the woman and show her mercy. It was not that Jesus disrespected the law but rather that he came to offer the mercy of God that they law could not give but which it could only foreshadow.

Only goodness and kindness follow me

all the days of my life;

And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

for years to come.

Craig Musseau - Good To Me

17 March 2024 - for this purpose

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Jesus was not only glorified after the dark hour of his Passion during the day of resurrection but rather in the cross itself he revealed God's glory to the world. He was to be lifted up in the resurrection and the ascension, lifted high in the praises of his people. But all of this was inextricably linked to his being lifted up on the cross. In the world a normal king would first have to assume great power in order to reign. But with Jesus his reign began when he divested himself of all power. A normal king would begin their reign with great show of honor, pomp, and circumstance. But Jesus began his reign by allowing himself to be emptied even of the common standards of human dignity. But God's power was such that in being broken open in love and emptied out on the cross that what seemed to be less than nothing in the eyes of the world became the most powerful and transformative event in human history.

Amen, amen, I say to you, 

unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 

it remains just a grain of wheat; 

but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

If one takes a seed and places it in an airtight jar on the shelf that misses the point of the existence of the seed. The seed does not exist to preserve its shape indefinitely. To the degree that one insists on preserving the seed as seed it becomes less and less interesting, increasingly stale, stagnant, and forgettable. This is more obvious in the case of seeds, that they are meant to surrender their current form in order to be transformed, so that their life can be shared by the fruit they bear. But in our own lives we often try to put our identities in a jar on a shelf and refuse to let anyone touch them. Yet we too are meant to be buried, broken open, transformed, and shared with the world. When Jesus says that whoever loves his life loses it he means that those who love it in the sense that they won't surrender it to the transformative power of God will never become what they are meant to be. And yet to surrender it in this way is always experienced by the ego as a kind of death. Thus it is only those who lose their life in this world preserve it for eternal life.

But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.

Jesus had already said a few things about his purpose in coming to our world. He came to preach and to heal (see Luke 4:43). He came to seek and save the lost (see Luke 19:10). He came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (see Mark 10:45). John would later say that Christ was revealed to destroy the works of the evil one (see First John 3:8). We see the culmination of all of these purposes, all of these threads coming together in the hour of his Passion. His preaching found fulfillment in the cross. The cross was the source of the healing power, because it was "by his wounds" that "we are healed" (see Isaiah 53:5). It was the way by which the lost would be sought, found, and saved, and the ransom paid for sinners. It was the most perfect revelation of the heart of God that had ever or could ever happen.

Father, glorify your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, 

“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”

The Father's name would be glorified even while Jesus yet hung on the cross. The judgment of this world and the defeat of the ruler of this world, the devil, were perfectly accomplished as Jesus began to reign from the throne of the cross.  Even before his death to draw all people to himself. We see it happen in the guard that recognized that Jesus was truly the son of God. We see it in the good thief asking him to remember him when he came into his Kingdom. We see it in our own lives when his cross moves our own hearts to deeper repentance and commitment to the Gospel message.

I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; 

I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

On Sinai the law was written on tablets of stone. But by the obedience of Jesus on the cross the law was written upon the human heart. By the cross all barriers to relationship was God were irreparably broken, making it possible for all, "from least go greatest" to know the Lord.

All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, 

for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

The invitation for us today is to allow ourselves to be so moved and captivated by the cross of Christ, so drawn to the one lifted high upon it, that we will follow him willingly, delighting as servants to be where the master is. Then we too will play some small part in drawing the world to Jesus. As the psalmist wrote:

I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners shall return to you.

Matt Maher - Lord, I Need You