31 May 2026 - the heart of the matter

Today's Readings
(Audio)

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son

God himself gave what he asked but did not require of Abraham. He stayed the hand that would have offered Isaac as a sacrifice but did not hold back from giving his only Son as the savior of the world. We might wrongly imagine God to be someone infinitely rich, rich enough to solve any problem from a distance simply by pouring into it his abundant resources. And we know there are people in our own world that are willing to give of their abundance as long as they never need to get overly involved. But from the beginning God's plan was not to give merely some extraneous resources. It was rather to give himself. The point of his plan was specifically to be involved. Thus we see in his theophany to Moses: God revealed himself in order to be in relationship with Moses and the people.

If I find favor with you, O Lord,
do come along in our company.
This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins,
and receive us as your own.

But what does it mean to be in relationship with God? Is it merely something he adopts because we are relational beings? Or is his existence defined in some way by relationship even apart from the created order? The doctrine of the Trinity teaches us that God is not only acting relational in order to be intelligible to us. Rather he is a set of subsistent relationships himself, always has been, and always will be. The fact that we are relational creatures is not accidental. It is so we can correspond to this deep truth about God. He himself is the primary relationship for which we are made.

Mend your ways, encourage one another,
agree with one another, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace will be with you.

God's very essence is that of perfected relationship, or, in other words, love. That fact means that he doesn't enforce morality on us for external or arbitrary reasons. God is Love. And thus love is the primary principle ordering all of reality down to and including the meaning of our lives as individuals. We are thus called to correspond to the deepest nature of God and the world by being loving individuals ourselves, and insofar as possible being defined by love just as is God himself. The doctrine of the Trinity, far from an abstraction, has real consequences for our lives. If God is the kind of God who enters into loving relationships, and if that is what he cares about, then we are not only meant to be recipients, but also givers of love, since that is what it means to participate in the love that is at the very heart of God's nature. And this is a reasonable definition for theosis, which means becoming God. We don't become God in the sense that we become all knowing or all powerful. But we do become transformed more and more into love itself, both giving it and receiving it.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world. But the world was required to respond to the revelation it received, and make a choice about whether or not to believe in the Son. There may have been other ways God could have addressed the symptoms of the problems sin unleashed in the world. But he sought to heal our relational nature that was at the heart of the issue. Thus he couldn't stay away or intervene from a distance. And therefore the only answer that would suffice was relationship with him. The possibility of not believing and of condemnation was a consequence of the fact that none of this could be forced. God had no answer to give other than himself. Any other answer, taken to the extreme, would prove to be hell. But he would not and could not compel anyone to accept his offer. Love freely given had to be freely received.

We tend to talk about love and celebrate it in an abstract and sentimental sense. But from the way that the Trinity intervened in human history in the life, death, and resurrection, of Jesus, we see what love really means. It is always the right choice. But it is not always an easy choice. In fact, God came to become one of us because we were so often unwilling to choose love over selfishness. He not only demonstrated how to choose love, but he gave us the Spirit. Filled with the Spirit choosing love consistently and cheerfully is possible, the first of the fruits we are meant to receive from him.

To the glorious God who chose to stoop down and teach us how to love let us repeat the refrain of today's psalm in all sincerity: "Glory and praise for ever!"

David Crowder Band - How He Loves

 

30 May 2026 - tell us what you really think

Today's Readings
(Audio)

“By what authority are you doing these things?
Or who gave you this authority to do them?”

They made it sound like they actually cared about authority or about truth. But they were not concerned with either of these in the abstract or for their own sake. Sure, they probably sincerely believed that Jesus didn't have the right to do what he did or claim what he claimed. They probably believed that Jesus was the one telling people what they wanted to hear and was thus only interested in his own popularity. But they wanted to exploit this, not for the sake of divine law or truth, nor for the sake of bystanders who might believe him, nor to correct him, but instead to sully his reputation. They attempted to exploit the truth in service of ensuring their own popularity to his detriment. 

Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 
Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”

If they were really concerned about truth they could have answered truthfully with the fact that they considered John and Jesus both to be of human origin. If authority mattered to them they could have also tried to undermine the perception of the authority of John along with Jesus. But John was apparently already too popular for such an attack. They would not say what they really thought for the sake of how it would be perceived. They imagined it was Jesus who was trying to appeal to the crowds but it was in fact they themselves. Jesus was the one speaking truth based on the authority of the Father no matter how others felt about it. We see that he never held back merely to ensure that he was popular. A particular instance of this occurred in the Bread of Life discourse when he refused to compromise on the realism of the Eucharist even though many disciples left him as a consequence (see John 6:66).

They discussed this among themselves and said,
“If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”– 
they feared the crowd,
for they all thought John really was a prophet.
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”

The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders were in a state of mind that prevented them from perceiving the truth about the identity of Jesus. They had convinced themselves that truth and proper divine authority were their top priorities. But they were in fact manipulating the truth for the sake of public opinion and popularity. In other words, their egos, and not the truth, were running the show. This is a trap to which it is easy to succumb. It is easy to manipulate the truth to generate feelings of self-righteousness as those religious leaders did. It is easy to use it to project a self-image of ourselves as pious religious individuals. But do we have a genuine concern for the truth? Or is our real goal controlling how others see us? If we can't set our egos aside we won't be able to perceive reality clearly or discern truth from falsehood. Giving priority to the truth means that it stands in judgment on us, and not the reverse. Truth is true whether or not it is popular or profitable. This is why Jesus was such a breath of fresh air. People who tell it like it is often are in a world of people telling us only what they think we want to hear. When they do this selflessly and without ulterior motives they naturally come across as highly credible. 

Then Jesus said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

We often hold back from fully owning up to the false things which we believe so that others can't critique them. But if we can't at least be honest about where we stand forward progress will remain elusive. Yet for us, because of what we have been given, it should be different. Because we strive to build ourselves up in our most holy faith and remain in the love of God our weakness does not lead to despair. Rather, it should help us be sympathetic to others who struggle, just as was Jude in our first reading.

On those who waver, have mercy; 
save others by snatching them out of the fire;
on others have mercy with fear

Newsboys - Not Ashamed

 

29 May 2026 - making room

Today's Readings
(Audio)

The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.

Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf,
he went over to see if he could find anything on it.

Jesus hungers and thirsts for righteousness, and knows that he can find that fruit in season or out of season since the one who trusts in the Lord "is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit" (see Jeremiah 17:8). Thus the Gospel is preached in season and out of season, since it always has the power to bear fruit (see Second Timothy 4:2). There are, however, real consequences, for those who fail to bear fruit. "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away" (see John 15:2). But who are the ones who fail to bear fruit? They are the ones that choose not to abide in Jesus as branches on a vine. They fail to trust in the Lord and put their trust in lesser things such as money, power, or pleasure. They fill the temples of their souls, intended for the worship of God, with idols, making them dens of thieves.

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples?
But you have made it a den of thieves.

There is a subtle implication that the people who had surrendered to these base desires did so partially because they failed to make room for others in their hearts. It wasn't only that they failed to make room for God directly, but also failed to share his priorities. Each time they encountered another person who was marginalized or excluded they could have chosen to love him and invite him in to the worship of the one God. Or instead, they could close their eyes to such people, passing by on the other side of the road. But when they ignored what God wanted, what was left but to fill the void with things to assuage their egos? They had to fill that absence with something, and the didn't fill it with what God had offered.

Jesus, as King, has the authority to command us to use our the temples of our souls for the glory of God. As the presence of God on earth, he wants us to make room in our hearts to worship him. But this worship not be self-serving. It must instead be God-serving, reaching out to and inviting others in rather than existing in some kind of isolated euphoric state. When we choose lesser things and fail to bear fruit he does not come at once to destroy the temple. He first casts out the money changers that represent our varied forms of idolatry. We can easily imagine the whip of cords he uses is not going to be a pleasant experience. But it is meant to open space for Jesus himself so that we can become who we are meant to be. In other words, the results are worth the price. But once the temple has been emptied of pretenders we need to fill it with right praise. Otherwise the gift of our being cleansed will be only temporary, and things will revert to an even worse condition than where they started.

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first (see Matthew 12:45).

If this seems like too much to consider all at once let us finish our reflection with Saint Peter's summary of what it is really all about.

Above all, let your love for one another be intense,
because love covers a multitude of sins.

Maranatha! Music - I Will Delight (In The Law Of The Lord)

 

28 May 2026 - that I might see

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.

Bartimaeus was blind and realized he was blind. He was not like the spiritual leaders Jesus criticized who claimed and even convinced themselves that they were able to see. Bartimaeus knew he couldn't discover the right path to take through life for himself. Unlike those with spiritual blindness the falls he would experience if he started imposing his imagination on reality were not merely metaphorical, but physical. But we imagine that he also realized something deeply spiritual as a consequence. The fact that he couldn't take the path ahead for granted was something he internalized both physically and abstractly. Others could guide him from one place to another. But few were qualified to tell him where he ought to go or what he ought to do. All he could really ask of others was to beg for temporary assistance to survive a little longer. Until, that is he heard Jesus of Nazareth was coming. 

“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” 

Jesus offered something greater than the ability to get from point A to point B. But how did Bartimaeus, who was blind, realize what so many others failed to realize? It seems that his absence of ability to see anything else did not negate the ability of his spiritual sight to perceive Jesus, or at least a potential answer that went much deeper than anything else could. In the way a deaf person might more readily perceive the still small voice of God, so too might a blind person be more open to recognizing his presence. The privation of the worldly ensured space for the heavenly.

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”

The world couldn't see what he saw in Jesus, nor appreciate the possibility that Jesus might see something in him. They opposed him because they assumed Jesus had more important things to do, that his Kingdom was not about the poor, marginalized, or the disenfranchised. They opposed him because they underestimated both the blind man and Jesus himself. And the world is still like this. It tries to tell us both that we are not worthy of being helped and that, in any case, Jesus has no power to do so. If we're content to ask once and hope for the best it may not be enough. We need a firm resolution that calls out and keeps calling. The door is opened when we knock and keep knocking. The favor is given when we ask and keep asking. So it was for Bartimaeus.

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”

We see that the saving action of Jesus also had a pedagogical effect on the crowd. They seemed surprised to discover that Jesus did in fact respond, and told Bartimaeus he was doing so with the impression that it was something that seemed to them far fetched or impossible. But by seeing it they had to recon with the fact that the priorities of Jesus were different than their own. It was perhaps not Bartimaeus that needed courage to face this fact so much as it was they themselves.

Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”

Jesus knew what Bartimaeus desired, knew it before he asked, knew it before their paths even crossed. But he wanted to hear it from Bartimaeus himself. Jesus was indicating that what mattered to Bartimaeus also mattered to him. He didn't simply impose what he thought Bartimaeus would need, but gave him the thing he desired which they both agreed was good.

Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.

Jesus left him free to follow his own path. But how could he, now that his life had been changed forever by Jesus? No normal path of life seemed sufficiently worthwhile to compare with just being near to one who was so good and beautiful as was Jesus. What would Bartimaeus do with his new gift of sight? Would he use it to go and see all of the sights he had missed thus far? Only secondarily. He chose rather to see more of the saving acts of Jesus. After all, what could be more beautiful?

Vertical Worship - I See The Lord

 

27 May 2026 - what about us?

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be handed over

What indeed was the right thing to say in response to something like that? Peter tried to express concern by responding "This shall never happen to you", and was famously shot down with the rebuke, "Get behind me, Satan" (see Matthew 16:22-23). The right answer was by no means obvious. It was not to tell Jesus has was wrong. After all, charging headlong into Jerusalem, the seat of power for his opponents, was fraught enough to make it all together likely. It was not to tell Jesus that there might be another, better plan. That was what Peter had attempted. It was hard for the disciples to respond well because they had not yet purified themselves "by obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love" and thus could not yet love Jesus "intensely from a pure heart". Such a heart would have able to listen with compassion to what Jesus said, clarifying what it meant for Jesus and for itself, without the need to look away or seek distraction. Such a heart could have remained present with Jesus, as Jesus always invited his disciples to do. But before his crucifixion they failed at every turn, falling asleep in the garden, and fleeing from him at his arrest. 

"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
They answered him,
"Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."

In the case of James and John in our Gospel this morning we see another failure to stay present and take seriously what Jesus was telling them. It was as though their egos responded to fear and uncertainty by trying to make sure there would still be something left for them when the dust settled. Maybe it wasn't so unbelievable a response as it first appears. Peter himself had just asked about what rewards awaited those who gave up everything for Jesus. So James and John were simply shifting back to that topic, trying to ensure maximum results for themselves. Yet in doing so they ignored the fact that even in Jesus's answer to Peter he included persecutions in the content of the reward. And yet there was truly a reward awaiting the disciples. They would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (see Matthew 19:28). But the path to the throne was always the cross. In fact, in a certain sense, the cross was the throne. And to sit on his right and his left on that throne was not yet what James and John had in mind.

Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
They said to him, "We can."

What is so reassuring for us about the selfish bravado of the sons of thunder was how Jesus did not dismiss it entirely, but redirected it. The chalice they were to drink was not the one they imagined. But their eager energy could still be directed to seeking it out. Their desire for power and position could be put into service. That service would teach them to be servants. Only then could they be the leaders Jesus knew they could be.

When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.

The power play of James and John had the cascading negative effect of arousing jealous and ambition in the others, a microcosm of the way the world works. None of them understood the necessary consequences of Kingdom power that Jesus had implied. So he spelled things out more plainly.

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.

Instead of trying to climb to the top by stepping over others and using the misfortune of leaders for our own gain we are meant to begin our ascent by descending, by stooping down to help as many others as possible. The point of power is not to exist for its own  sake, but rather for the sake of love. We tend to cynically dismiss such an idea as hugely impractical. And for humans it is. But it works for Jesus. And he can show us how.

For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.

 

Brotherhood of Hope - To Love You And To Make You Loved

 

26 May 2026 - what about me?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Peter began to say to Jesus,
"We have given up everything and followed you."

Peter and the other disciples had already done, basically, what the rich young man could not. Or had they? After all, they had less to tie the down to begin with. Had they really passed through the eye of needle so as to be saved? They were so impressed by what Jesus said to the rich young man that it sounded as though salvation wouldn't be possible for anyone at all. And indeed Jesus confirmed the fact that, "For human beings it is impossible". But Peter, perhaps recognizing he had given up less to follow Jesus than would have been required of the young man, asked for confirmation of the fact that he and the other disciples really had made the required choice. He left his net and his livelihood and chose treasure in heaven. But how could he have done so if it was impossible for human beings? Yet Jesus did not deny that he had done so. It must have been grace. Grace enabled Peter, James, and John to leave their nets. Grace enabled Matthew to leave his post as a tax collector. The same grace had been offered to the rich man, when Jesus looked upon him with compassion, but was not accepted or embraced. 

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel 

For the disciples it was not only a matter of what they gave up. What mattered more was their reason for doing so. It was not the negatives or the lesser positive things that they left behind. It was the greater good, the one thing necessary, that they chose to replace them that made all the difference. Thus it was insufficient to merely sell one's property to the poor, for instance. It was not noble to leave brothers or sisters or mother or father for something less than Jesus himself. The invitation was not to be apart from others and have nothing. It was to be with Jesus and therefore to have everything. Peter and the others had made an initial choice in that direction. But to reap the fruit of the promise they had to continue to live for Jesus and the Gospel. The blessings promised to those who did so were not greater material blessings, but rather spiritual. They were such as would not even register to those with earthly priorities. But to those who sought first the kingdom they would amount to much more than whatever was left behind.

who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.

We receive a new land and a new spiritual family. But this seems like a tedious obligation to those with an earthly mindset. Only followers of Jesus realize the treasure we have been given in the Church. It is in fact the case that even persecutions are not only part of the plan, but, in a sense, genuine treasures, since they help to refine us like gold in the fire, equipping us to follow Jesus ever more closely, and to choose the one thing necessary above other things with more and more of our whole hearts. When we do so we realize that we really have been granted the great privilege of seeing "things into which angels longed to look". Knowing what lies ahead for us makes us sober, but compels us to set our "hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ". We can't be holy without God's help. But if we choose Jesus we will have all the help we need.

Songs In His Presence - Prayer Of Augustine

 

25 May 2026 - behold, your mother

Today's Readings
(Audio)

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.”

It is of course touching that among the last acts of Jesus was to ensure that his mother would be cared for by the beloved disciple. To the very end he was a faithful Jew who kept the commandment to hold his parents in honor. More than that, he clearly loved her with love beyond all telling, just as she did him. Yet this event was about more the next few years or decades of her earthly life. It was also archetypal. He addressed her as Woman because she was to be the fullness of what womanhood was meant to be, as Eve had been meant to, but failed to achieve. Eve was meant to pass on her maternal blessing to all subsequent generations, she the mother of the living, and they her children. But to do so required faithfulness to the promise and plan of God, faithfulness which she rejected. But things did not end there. The blessings that were meant to come through Eve were not so much negated as they were delayed.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
He will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.

Jesus not only gave Mary to be the mother of John, but also to every beloved disciple, in whom all of us are meant to see ourselves. This was clearly about more than ensuring that she would be comfortable for the rest of her earthly life. She was to convey maternal blessings, far exceeding those vouchsafed to Eve, to all of her children. In a real way she would be a mother to them, helping bring to birth the image of her son in them. Eve chose death when prompted by the serpent and thus was never truly the mother of the living she was meant to be. But Mary chose to be faithful to the call of the angel and to the mission of her son and thus became the mother of those who truly live, who "keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (see Revelation 12:17). Her motherhood is not merely decorative, or a saccharine story we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel better. Jesus decided that it was through her that the blessing of life would be given to the world. And he still chooses her to convey to us the blessings with which he intends to fill his Body, the Church.

Jesus said, “I thirst.”

There appears to be a connection between the gift to the Church of the Mother of God and that of the Holy Spirit. We remember the other time Jesus said he was thirsty to the Samaritan woman at the well which led to his promise of streams of life-giving water (see John 4:1-36). Here on the cross, after giving Mary as mother to John, he mentioned this thirst again. And it was not long that his thirst would be sated, not so much by the wine he was offered, as by the flow of water unleashed from his side. Whereas the pierced side of Adam brought forth Eve who, together with him, chose death, the wounded side of Jesus unleashed the Spirit upon the world and brought forth the Body of which Mary was both mother and exemplar.

All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

As the disciples prepared to receive the gift of the Spirit themselves they did so together with Mary, who had already experienced being overshadowed by the Spirit. She knew how to welcome him and could convey that to those in one accord with her. We may know have a sense of the way that bringing a spirit-filled individual with us to a prayer gathering of those with less experience can elevate the atmosphere. This would be like that, but infinitely greater. This gift was not just for John, nor for those early disciples, but is meant for us well. Like John we are meant to make room for Mary in our lives and in our homes. Like the disciples we are to join ourselves to her in our prayers so that we may be as open as possible to receive the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus, we are to prioritize our love for her above almost everything else, knowing our love for her won't stop with her, but redound to the glory of God and the good of our neighbor.

And of Zion they shall say:
“One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her
is the Most High LORD.”

Songs In His Presence - Bright As The Sun

 

24 May 2026 - he breathed on them

Today's Readings
(Audio)

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

We read about an encounter of the disciples with the Risen Lord in our Gospel this morning. We read this same Gospel on Divine Mercy Sunday to learn what it teaches about the gift of forgiveness. But the reason we do so today is that it also teaches us about the giving of the Holy Spirit, and what marks his coming. When we think about receiving the Holy Spirit we often think of situations where Jesus was apparently absent, on the morning of Pentecost itself, or at our own Confirmation. And yet, we always receive the Spirit from the Father through the Son. Jesus is always present when the Spirit is given. At Pentecost the strong driving wind was the same breath with which Jesus breathed on the disciples in the reading from the Gospel. The tongues of fire that descended on them were different manifestations of the one tongue of the Body of Christ. It was precisely for that reason that they could speak to all those gathered and why the Church can speak her message to all the nations. The tongues were manifestations of the Spirit working through the many parts of his one Body. His breath united them to himself and equipped them to continue his mission. But before they went out into the streets it is clear that they received a more full measure of the peace that Jesus gave them in his resurrection greeting in our reading from the Gospel. His giving them peace when he was still present and the peace they received on Pentecost were the same fruit of the Spirit. It was, perhaps, from the perspective of heaven, only one event of giving forth the Spirit, even if it had an initial and then a more complete fulfillment from an earthly point of view. Thus we can see that the coming of the Holy Spirit is always marked by this fruit of peace.

We suggest that our own Confirmations were also a participation in the one breathing forth of the Spirit from heaven into the Body of Christ on earth. Jesus was present in a myriad of ways on the day that happened for us, particularly in the person of the bishop or his representative. Thus, in a way, Jesus himself breathed forth his Spirit on us, just as on his disciples. Bishops in particular make this greeting, "Peace be with you", there own, whereas priests tend to use the familiar "The Lord be with you", reminding us of their special role in imparting the Spirit. But it is Jesus himself who gives the Spirit to us, no matter who administers the sacrament. And along with it it is his peace, not that of the bishop as an individual, that we are meant to receive. It is meant to be a peace that both empowers us with charisms for mission and casts out the fear that holds us captive. Without peace as a fruit of the Spirit in our lives we remained locked in the upper room for fear of the Judeans as surely as did the Apostles.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Jesus breathed on his disciples, giving them an initial experience of the Holy Spirit, along with the power to convey the central Gospel blessing of forgiveness, and yet there was more they needed before beginning their mission to the nations. They truly received the Spirit at that time, for who could deny the the verity of the words of Jesus? But they needed to have another more powerful experience of receiving him in order to experience the fullness of peace that was initially promised, and to be transformed and equipped for mission. So too with us, especially if we did not experience the grand majesty of Pentecost on the day of our Confirmation, it is not too late. We can open ourselves to more just as the disciples on whom Jesus had breathed opened themselves to more, precisely because he told them there was more, and that they were to seek it. He told them to do it first and only then go forth, saying, "stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high" (see Luke 24:49). It's not just any one of us, as though we in particular failed at Confirmation or a Life in the Spirit seminar, and now need to make up for it. Rather, it is for everyone because there is always more. Our openness to receive never measures up to the generosity with which Jesus himself desires to bestow blessings. This, no doubt, is why Pentecost is an annual event. So we should pray with great expectation, "Come Holy Spirit", and never grow tired of that prayer or let it become more routine. Can't we feel the wind of the breath of Jesus even now, just thinking about it?

Paul Wilbur - Let Your Fire Fall

 

Matt Maher Featuring Martin Smith - Come Holy Spirit

 

23 May 2026 - what about him?

Today's Readings
(Audio)

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?"

Peter was still not thrilled at the prospect of his own martyrdom. If it was necessary for Peter to die for the glory of God, what about the others? In particular, Peter wasn't going to let John, the beloved disciple get off easy. If Peter couldn't settle for less than giving his life for the Lord he would ensure that his friend/rival John wouldn't either. Or so his motivation seems to us.

Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come?
What concern is it of yours? 
You follow me."

Jesus responded to Peter that it was no business of Peter's how he worked in the lives of others. Comparison of what the Lord asked of one person to what he asked of another would be unhelpful. He could purify a soul through a long life or a short one. He could receive glory through a death bearing witness to him or a long life of hidden fidelity. If Peter fixated on forcing others into a certain mold it would be unhelpful for them and a mere distraction for him, a detour from the purpose that was now before him. We are often like Peter in this way, using other peoples' business to distract us from our own unique path with the Lord. We do want to be known and loved by him as individuals. But we often hope that means he will let us off easy rather than challenging us to rise to the level of our potential. So when we see others who seem to have it easier than ourselves let us say, 'What concern is that of mine? I will follow Jesus', and all will be well.

So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die.
But Jesus had not told him that he would not die

There was some confusion after the statement of Jesus, as though he actually implied that John would remain until the second coming. But nothing about John's future was actually implied. The only point was that, to Peter and the others, it was of no consequence.

And yet, after a fashion, John is still present with us glorifying God to this day. He is present through the text of this, his Gospel. When we believe his words we receive life in Jesus's name and God is indeed glorified. Peter too is still present after a way. He speaks through his successors, the bishops of Rome, teaching us how to interpret the Scriptures and Tradition that have been handed on to us by Apostles, the deposit of faith. So rather than striving for the longest possible life, let us think of our legacy more in terms of glorifying God through every opportunity he gives us. What matters is not so much life here below but the life that comes from faith in Jesus, both receiving it, and then sharing it with others, as Paul never ceased to do.

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.

Chris Tomlin - I Will Follow

 

22 May 2026 - do you love me more than these?

Today's Readings
(Audio)

"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

Peter was always one to insist that he had love greater than any of the others. He had said, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away" (see Matthew 26:33). And yet he had betrayed him before a charcoal fire, just like the one he was at now. At the time he must have rationalized it, telling himself that they were just words, that there was no need to bring down any additional scrutiny on himself. But eventually he came to realize that he had fulfilled the Jesus's prediction of his betrayal. He may have thought that words didn't matter. But they represented choices that ultimately did amount to abandoning his Lord in his hour of need. Here after the resurrection Jesus asked about his love in such a way that it almost seemed like he was saying 'I told you so', in that he had always been correct about his perception of the weakness within Peter. Even referring to him as Simon seemed to put whether or not he was deserving of the title of 'rock' in question. In response, Peter tried to muster the old bravado, but to us he did not seem convinced. It seemed rather that he was going through motions ingrained by habit than that he was truly boasting about his indefectible spirit. 

Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time,
"Do you love me?" and he said to him,
"Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."

Peter may have thought that Jesus continued to ask because Jesus was not convinced. But when he repeated the question three times it became more evident that it was because he knew that Peter was no longer convinced, no longer fully able to believe in himself. Jesus knew that Peter would need to again have certainty about his place in the mission. It would be a more realistic certainty, now with a built-in awareness of his fallibility. But it would in fact be a stronger certainty, because it was based now on the unwavering love of Jesus for him first, and his own response second. Even when his own response wavered and failed Jesus allowed him to fully repent. The threefold denial was erased by the threefold affirmation. And thus there was nothing, not even Peter himself, that could destroy the love of Jesus for him or prevent his plans for him from being fulfilled.

Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

The words of Peter affirming his love for Jesus were more than just words, they were firm resolutions to begin again after his former failures. In the same way that his words of betrayal determined his actions opposing Jesus so too did these words determine his future of loving and serving him. The words themselves could not provide the comfort of knowing he was fully restored and rehabilitated. In order to know that for sure he actually had to live it out. His act of betrayal had to be erased with his love for the sheep. But the words were firm enough to ground him in the certainty afforded to him by the strength of Jesus, allowing him to believe that is was possible. 

Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; 
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.

Peter would indeed do what he had naively promised before he understood his own weakness and die for Jesus. But he would not do it through his own strength. Rather it was through grace that he would persevere, without running from his destiny. It did not ultimately depend on him, and would not be ruined by him any more than he had been able to ruin his role as rock or shepherd. All he had to do was to never give up on Jesus since Jesus, for his part, would never give up on him. Nor will he give up on any of us. So let us join Peter in showing him our own response of love by doing what we can in our own lives to feed his sheep.

 

Songs In His Presence - Song of Peter (Lord, You Know)

21 May 2026 - till all are one

Today's Readings
(Audio)

When we think of being in union with others we often have a thin or shallow conception of unity. We are typically content to act without interfering with one another, toward goals that are similar enough that we all benefit from our common effort. But it is not necessarily a deeply personal unity, unless we're talking about marriage or particularly strong friendships. And even these are often tactical, with each person pursuing the relationship for his own benefit, although also providing benefit for the other to enjoy.

so 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.

The union that is possible and that is meant to characterize Christian relationships transforms the merely mercenary alliances that tend to define relationships outside the Body of Christ. It is built upon something more substantial than egos, and rooted in something deeper than individual neediness. It is a supernatural sort of unity, which is only possible because God allows us to share in the relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit, that is properly his. This union is possible when being-for-self is replaced with being-for-the-other, as with the Father, who loves the Son completely, and the Son, who gives everything for his Father, and for the Spirit who is the manifestation of the love between them. They are not three pieces of a whole that together yield a result greater than the sum of its parts. Rather they are both a true unity, and yet also real distinction. Their relationships don't ultimately collapse into a bland and monotonous oneness. There is space, yes, even necessity, for individual identity in the Trinity, because only thus can the love that exists from all eternity be received, only by Persons.

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,

The glory of Jesus is a consequence of the fact that his existence is a revelation of the Father himself, that he himself is a perfect image of the Father's glory. He gives this glory to his disciples and to us precisely by enabling us to enter into relationship with his Father and himself. He goes beyond the normal forms of self-introduction that contain information about one's past, family, or other interesting anecdotes, and reveals the luminous inner life that is at the very essence of the identity of the Triune God. When we receive this revelation we are transformed by it. We have to be. Only by being rewired for this higher level of life and participating in it can we know it in any meaningful sense. Love that only reaches the level of talk amounts to no more than idle words. But the love Jesus reveals is a force that is poured into us by the Spirit and it does not leave us unchanged.

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.

In general it seems fair to say that we have been inadequate witnesses to the glory we've been given. We barely even manage a political or utilitarian unity, even in the bounds of the Church. And this political agreement to which we tenuously cling is not often polite. It is not the result of a unified and selfless pursuit of God. It is rather the compromise of many conflicting agendas when absolute victory for any one of them could not be achieved. We are surely meant for more than this. And indeed, it must be possible, since Jesus prayed that it would be so. 

It may be a deficiency on the part of we, the members of the Church, that has rendered Christianity impossible for the modern world to believe. Our unity is no more impressive than that of the Sadducees and Pharisees in today's reading from Acts. They were ultimately prevented from achieving their common purpose in opposing Paul by their lack of true union. But we miss out on something much greater when we don't allow the glory of the Father and the Son to be the source of our union, the strength of the Church, and her truest identity. We are meant to live that union now, and to know a foretaste of the glory to be revealed, because that glory is also where we are headed, and meant to abide for eternity.

Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

John Keating - Come Holy Spirit

20 May 2026 - that they may be one

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Holy Father, keep them in your name
that you have given me,
so that they may be one just as we are one.

Jesus prayed that his disciples would remain spiritually united, precisely because he knew that the tendency of the Evil One was to separate and to scatter. His Church was meant to be a gathering force, drawing together women and men, Gentiles and Jews. It was to be compromised of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. It was to be a manifestation on earth of the love that united the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in heaven. The supernatural glue of love known as the Holy Spirit was to be its binding force. 

Unity was directly related to living out the commission of love. It was therefore to be the core identity of the Church. Obviously if the Church was to be the Body of Christ, severed limbs were antithetical to this identity. The Evil One sought to attack the unity of the Church precisely because he realized how essential unity was to its mission. If everyone was grounded in the same truth they would be, as a consequence, united. But if their unity was shattered so too would be their connection with the truth. They would be reduced to the postlapsarian state of Adam and Eve who lost their unity with God when they chose to decide for themselves about good and evil rather than consenting to the way things actually were in reality. 

In many ways that Evil One has been sadly successful in his efforts, both by causing heresies and schisms leading people away from the true Church, and even by the political divisions and personality cults dividing the Church from within. Yet the prayer of Jesus has not failed, nor has it ceased to be efficacious. It is still possible for us to enter and remain in the unity Christ desired for us. But to do so we must remain in the care of those consecrated to continue the unifying ministry of Jesus toward us. The bishops and priests who remain in communion with the ancient Church and the modern Magisterium are the ones who can protect us in Jesus name, and guard us, so that none might be lost.

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,
and they will not spare the flock.
And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth
to draw the disciples away after them.

Paul too realized that attacks on the Body of Christ would come from within as well as without. He commended the presbyters to vigilance, ensuring that they remained faithful to "that gracious word of his". It was not just an abstract word, but had the power to build up, both individuals, and the Church as a whole. This word is conveyed to us through the Scriptures and Apostolic tradition as authentically interpreted by the Magisterium of the Bishop of Rome and those in communion with him. As long as we remain under the protection of that powerful word we will be safe from the Evil One's attempts to undermine us. The result of preserving the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (see Ephesians 4:3) is not merely synchronicity of movement, as though we all become marionettes dancing in harmony. External conformity is not in itself union. True union, of the sort for which Jesus prayed, can be recognized because it results in the genuine joy that only love can give. It is what happens when we live for the purpose for which we were created.

I speak this in the world
so that they may share my joy completely.

So let's allow the mighty word of Jesus to build us together in union with one another, and to build, even a little more, his joy within our hearts.

 

Matt Maher - Hold Us Together

 

 

19 May 2026 - what it's all for

Today's Readings
(Audio)

In the high priestly prayer of Jesus he imitated the prayers made my the high priests, first for themselves, then for the priests, and then for the people. But it wasn't as though the people came last because they were the least important. The priesthood existed at the service of the people. The high priest had the most important role in ensuring the fidelity of the nation to the covenant, the most critical role in the ritual atonement for sin. It was, in a way, the cornerstone of the edifice. The priests were pillars. But the people were the ones who put the structure to its intended use. Thus, when Jesus prayed for himself, it was not because he had unmet wants or needs of his own. No, his prayer for himself was that he could be the one whom the Father meant him to be, "so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him".

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

The kind of knowledge that conduces to eternal life is not conveyed through data, but rather through glory. It was glory that was made manifest in the cross and resurrection of Jesus himself, and opened up a vision of the divine life he shared with the Father. Glory was the love of the Father for Jesus, and the obedient outpouring of the life of Jesus to the Father. This glory captivates those who witness it, but does not stop there. It is the glory of Jesus lifted up from the earth, drawing all to himself, uniting all those who behold it to both his dying and his rising. In short, one cannot truly see this glory and remain unchanged. The full effect of the change is to become so like Jesus that we become able holy; able and desirous to share in his life with the Father and the Spirit forever.

Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
because the words you gave to me I have given to them,
and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.

Jesus prayed for his disciples who shared in his mission in a way that was unique. They were the ones who would ensure that the grace of Jesus, and thus his glory, would be available after he returned to the Father. Their successors, the bishops, would have the duty of preserving the availability of that grace in all subsequent generations. But, like him, they would do so in a world that was ultimately opposed to his mission, hostile to the idea that any kind of change from the status quo was necessary. The clergy of the Church does face this world own its own strength. It is not run primarily on its own power. Nor does it succeed on the basis of the skills possessed by its members. Rather it has run and is still running on the power of this prayer of Jesus, which was not terminated when he finished speaking, but is still pleading and efficacious before the Father's throne.

We can see the way the high priestly prayer of Jesus had immediate consequences for the first generation of his Apostles in the way it impacted Paul. In his own prayer at Ephesus about which we read in Acts this morning we see desires that transcend what fallen, wounded, and selfish human nature would seek.

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.

Jesus cared about nothing more than accomplishing the work the Father gave him to do. And now Paul, because he belonged to Jesus, also belonged to the Father, and cared about nothing more than completing the task given to him by Jesus, such that he too was among those who "have kept your word". He tasted the glory of the Lord and could no longer turn back to the world for satisfaction. The mission did indeed look dire. The Holy Spirit warned him again and again of the suffering that he had to endure. But the revelation of glory, given by Jesus himself, assured him it was worth it.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (see Second Corinthians 4:17-18).

Vertical Worship - Open Up The Heavens

 

18 May 2026 - living in victory

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?

There are different degrees of belief. It is one thing to acknowledge that Jesus is from God and knows everything. It is another to live on the basis of that knowledge. There are the facets of belief that we accept. But they prove whether or not they are real to us when we are tested. When the hour comes, do we flee? Are we scattered? Or does what we believe about Jesus cause us to hold our ground and remain near him? We remember his exhortation, "Remain in me", precisely here, when we considering doing otherwise. In the moment of testing everything in our flesh tells us it is unwise to continue trusting Jesus. It may seem that he is calling us to persist at a hopeless task or to win and unwinnable battle. It may seem like Jesus alone is not enough to face the very real problems of our lives. 

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

Jesus is not alone, because his Father is with him. It may seem as though Jesus is the one at a disadvantage, and if we believe this it will make us afraid. But if we believe that everything is in the hands of the Father, playing out according to their shared plan for the world, we can have peace. This is why Jesus tells us in advance that we will have trouble in the world. Not simply so that we can brace ourselves for it. But so that we can believe that his providence extends even so far as that. He is not surprised. The troubling circumstances of life do not put his plan at risk of failure. The victory is in fact already his. From the divine perspective he shares with the Father he already possesses it even before everything finishes playing out here on earth.

take courage, I have conquered the world.

Our beliefs may remain at the level of mere data, without practical consequences in our lives, without the Holy Spirit connecting our heads to our hearts by deeper revelation. We can be like the disciples in Ephesus who had done all of the proper preparation that could be expected of them, but had not yet experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. We have been baptized with a baptism of a different order from that of John. But even so, the full power of that baptism has probably not been fully unleashed in us, or, for that matter, in anymore. It is basically an infinite power source. There is always more. That is why the infilling of these disciples in Ephesus through the laying on of Paul's hands is supposed to be more than a pleasant reminder of our own experience of sacramental confirmation. Rather, we are meant to see how the Holy Spirit filled them in a way that clearly transformed them. And, we are meant to hunger and thirst for more of that transformation in our own lives. As we approach Pentecost there is no better time to seek it. The great feasts make the grace of the events on which they are based present again in a special way. Not that the Holy Spirit is limited to one weekend a year. But there is one weekend a year when he characteristically goes out of his way to make himself as available as possible to us. This is what we've been leading up to all Easter. Let's brace ourselves for his coming and expect to be changed by the wake of his drawing near.

Rend Collective - More Than Conquerors

 

17 May 2026 - up, up, and away?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.

Jesus ascended to heaven and the Father seated him "at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come". This was an enthronement of the glorified humanity of Jesus, about which we read in today's psalm: "God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord". But was this mere pomp and circumstance, or was there really a reason for Jesus to say, "it is to your advantage that I go away" (see John 16:7)? 

The reason Jesus gave to explain his going was not immediately intuitive. Why did the coming of the Counselor (or Helper) depend upon it? Could Jesus not stay and still send the Spirit? Yes, perhaps, it was a prerequisite for Jesus to be glorified and enthroned in his humanity in order to connect our own humanity to the circuit of divine power. But we still might imagine that he could have done this well enough while his body remained with us, perhaps on sitting upon a physical throne that corresponded to and represented the heavenly one. But the physical presence of Jesus in the world suggested a certain way of being in relationship with him. It meant that he was to be sought specifically in one place and not others. As God he was of course always present everywhere. But when people wanted to talk to him they went to where they could see his face and hear his voice. With such a mode of presence he was always going to be the primary actor with others approaching him and then deferring to him as he acted through his own human nature. But he wanted to change that relationship so that the human nature which he acted through was our own. The head wanted to henceforth move in the world by moving his body, the Church.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations

We tend to look longing after Jesus, transfixed by his departure, hoping that he will come and establish the kingdom himself, but not moving forward ourselves as much as we ought. We need to heed the words of the angels to the apostles and stop standing and looking up at the sky. We need to set about the work entrusted to us, and allow the Spirit Jesus has given us to animate his body. We can do this fearlessly since we do so in union with the one to whom all "power in heaven and on earth has been given". But in order to ensure this connection to him is as robust as possible we must first heed his words wait for the fulfillment "the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak". We have received the Holy Spirit in our baptism. But we may have never truly opened ourselves to the power he is meant to unleash in our lives. With only a week until Pentecost we are invited to prepare ourselves once more and open ourselves anew to the coming of the Spirit, falling on our hearts and giving us life like the sweet dew of the morning.

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.

Though we can no longer see him with our physical eyes Jesus is nevertheless more present than ever to the eyes of faith. No doubt this was why Paul prayed for the Ephesian that, "the eyes of your hearts be enlightened that you may know what is the hope". It was not only about their hope in the hereafter that he wanted them to know, but even the "surpassing greatness of his power" not only for those who were dead and saw him face to face, but "for us who believe". The Ascension is therefore not the end of Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us, but rather a new beginning. He remains present among us through Word, Sacrament, and community. But these all conduce to where he truly desires to be present: within us. And when he is present there our chief priority will be to secure that experience for as many others as possible. We too must do our part "and make disciples". We are the arms and legs of Jesus that are moving and reaching to gather all nations into union with him.

Songs In His Presence - The House Of God

Maranatha! Music - Lord I Lift Your Name On High

 

16 May 2026 - full clearance

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

Jesus was commending to his disciples a new way of praying. It was not like in previous stages of the covenant where, to be sure, people prayed to the Father, but where the truly important matters were handled through chosen mediators. There were different degrees of closeness to God that were possible based on one's status, with the high priest having the highest clearance to access the presence of God. Jesus was not suggesting that his disciples forego the direct route and rely on him to make their requests instead of them. It was not so much "that I will ask the Father for you" as  that "you will ask in my name". It was as though the disciples were given permission to use the access which Jesus himself had to the Father in order to appear before him and make their petitions. 

For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me
and have come to believe that I came from God.

By faith and love the disciples of Jesus had become so united with him that the Father recognized Jesus in them. It wasn't so much that they were going straight to the Father and leaving Jesus behind, as if in answer to Philip asking, "Lord, show us the Father" (see John 14:7), Jesus pointed him out and stepped aside. No, it was precisely in their union with Jesus himself that they had access to the Father. Jesus revealed him because the more they were united to Jesus the more they experienced his own relationship of mutual love with the Father. This was indeed the only way to have such access. When Jesus said, "I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you" he meant to imply, not that he wouldn't be involved, but rather that the disciples themselves would be involved, much more than they imagined. It was not Jesus on their behalf alone. Nor was it them without further need of Jesus. It was the union of both before the throne of the Father that would be efficacious in prayer.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

We tend to interpret "in my name" to be a caveat that means that prayer doesn't actually relate to things that we desire or that are relevant to us. It seems to mean we have to impose on our wills that of another if prayer is to yield results. And we tend to assume that prayer isn't really that meaningful if it can't get us what we want. And yet, if it does not result in the things we want, or even necessarily in those things that we think are necessary for others or ourselves, it does fulfill us in a different way. It does not necessarily immediate transform the circumstances of our lives or the world. But it is meant to tend to ever increasing joy.

Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

True joy is found in being united to Jesus and preferring the Father's will to anything else. When we, together with Jesus, ask that his will and not ours be done, and when we mean it, we are never disappointed. And if we trust the Father with trust like Jesus has in him we are not cynical about what he wills or even how he wills it to happen. This means that no matter how things seem in the world we can be routed in peace and in joy. But this requires an active posture of not just tolerating God's will, but desiring it, as Jesus does. He wants to share his joy with us, and does so in the only way he knows how, by bringing us with him to the Father.

For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me
and have come to believe that I came from God.

If we want to know the Father we need to open ourselves to Jesus revealing him. We no longer live in the ages of where he speaks in figures, where we might imagine that we have to solve the mystery ourselves. Rather, this is the age when the Spirit himself speaks within our hearts.

The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures
but I will tell you clearly about the Father.

We ought not avoid the Father as though he is too distant or unapproachable, much less because of suspicion on our part. We should ask the Spirit of Jesus to help us to know the Father as Jesus knows him, so clearly that asking him for what we need in the name of Jesus feels real to us, rather than like a mere ritual or pretend. When this happens his promise of joy will be realized in us. It is not only not wrong to seek that joy, but it is meant to be a guiding star for our lives.

 

Matt Maher - Run To The Father

 

15 May 2026 - she no longer remembers the pain

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn,
while the world rejoices;

The world rejoices in the absence of Jesus because it believes this means it is off the hook and can continue business as usual, that no drastic changes of behavior are necessary, and that the usual trifecta of pride, pleasure, and power can still be endlessly pursued. Such joy is not really worthy of the word, and is always short lived. A party of this kind can't go on forever. The longer it is forced to do so the more diminishing are the returns it offers.

The disciples were grieved during the hour of Jesus because he was taken from them, because it was painful, and because they didn't understand why it was necessary or what good could come from it. But there was a process of growth and transformation happening that was leading to a result so great that it made all of the pain negligible by comparison. 

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.

During our walk of discipleship we often experience grief because of these same reasons. Jesus sometimes seems distant and unavailable, or disinterested, or powerless. We don't understand why we have unmet needs or what good can come from our suffering. We fail to understand the big picture, the way that our hour of pain is truly leading to the coming of new life into the world. 

Eventually, however, the child is born, and sorrow gives way to joy. This ought to inspire us to follow Jesus ever more closely, and teach us to trust him even during the dark and difficult hours that we will always have to face. After all, the life that resulted was much greater than the death that preceded it. The death was temporary, transitional. The life is increasingly lasting and eventually eternal. The wrong attitude is remembering only the pain and deciding on that basis to never have another of these metaphorical children. Instead we are meant to be defined by the joy that results, the truly lasting change, rather than the momentary difficulty. Joy is something in which we can grow, and can mark our lives more and more as we connect ever more deeply with the risen Lord Jesus himself. But we don't typically grow when we avoid the process of growth for fear of the pain that is often entailed. We should celebrate what Jesus has done in our lives and treasure it in our hearts so that we can remember that trusting him is worth it. Then, the next time that trust seems to be all we have, we will cling to it.

But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.

We are shakable because we are not yet fully spiritually mature. But the joy of the risen Lord is unshakable. The more we experience the risen Lord, the more our lives are defined by encountering the fullness of life he offers, the more joy will predominant over sorrow in our lives. This is true even if, for a little while longer, there is more suffering that we must endure. As we grow increasingly united to Jesus himself, our wills become so conformed to his own that we are no longer ever disappointed in not receiving what we want from the Father, since all we want is his will.

Rend Collective - Joy Of The Lord

 

14 May 2026 - command performance?

Today's Readings
(Audio)

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.

If we view the words of Jesus with suspicion we will not understand him correctly. The point is not that his Father forced him to prove himself in order to earn his love. It is not that we have to prove ourselves to Jesus in order to be loved by him. The point is not demonstrating our loyalty by adherence to arbitrary rules. In fact, we are invited to remain within a love and approval we have already been given as a gift. Keeping the commandments is not about anything arbitrary. Rather, the commandments describe reality itself. In the same way that, at a lower level, gravity is a rule that describes how life on earth functions, which we ignore at our peril, so too do the moral laws given to us by God describe the truth of the way things are. Thus, they cannot be mere suggestions any more than gravity is a suggestion. The point of their being commands is not the imposition of a superior being's will over one who is inferior. After all, Jesus himself was obedient to the Father. The point is that the Father loved Jesus enough to make the all things known to him. And Jesus believed, accepted, and lived in accord with that knowledge. As creatures with free will we have another option. That option is to pretend that the commandments are arbitrary, to respond with suspicion, and to prefer our own view of reality to one which is divinely revealed. But we exercise this option at our peril. In doing so we walk off of a moral cliff, expecting, somehow, not to fall.

I have told you this so that my joy might be in you
and your joy might be complete.

The commandments aren't designed to be repressive or to make us suffer. The reason Jesus came and revealed himself to his disciples and, in turn, to us, was that we might share in the joy of being united with the Father that was properly his own. The Triune God thought the joy the had in one another was so good that they wanted to share it. That was, in a way, the whole reason for creation.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

On the one hand the goodness and necessity of what Jesus commands seems obviously right and just. But on the other it is often difficult to live out in this fallen world of ours. Love usually entails suffering and sacrifice. But the commandment reminds us that it isn't optional, or only for those who chose to go above and beyond. We are all meant to be defined by love of this kind. To fall short is to fall short of who we are meant to be as human beings. Without the example of Jesus, and his commandment to follow in his footsteps, we would be tempted to excuse ourselves when the going got tough. Without Jesus showing us what love was meant to be we would almost certainly be content to give less than all of ourselves. But he holds us to a higher standard because he desires more for us than even we desire for ourselves.

You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.

Jesus is not arbitrary in the criteria he gives for friendship with him. He desires all of us to be his friends. Yet to be his friends means we need to share his passion. We must want to walk with him on the shared path of the Father's plan. Without this we would have nothing in common with him, no basis on which to establish friendship with him. We can almost hear how excited he is to let us in on the mystery of his Father's will, and the degree to which that matters to him. And we can also hear the degree to which we matter to him in his eagerness to share all of that with us. He is naturally trying to combine the enjoyment of his two favorite things, his Father, and his creatures.

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you

We tend to get this backwards and assume that it was we who chose Jesus, that it was the result of a carefully calculated cost-benefit analysis on our part. Because we think we initiated the relationship we tend to insist on earning it. But the terms we impose on our worthiness are always our own arbitrary conditions. He already loved us before we thought of him for the first time. We became aware of him because he chose us and was directing our lives toward him all along. But he also has a purpose for us which we did not decide for ourselves, a purpose that is better than anything we could make up, since it directs us beyond ourselves to our destiny with him. That purpose is love. And in this world it takes the form of going forth and bearing fruit. Yet we know that the fruit is not properly our own, but rather the gift of his Spirit working in us. So we need not strive desperately, but rather cooperate with his gentle guidance in our lives.

Switchfoot - Meant To Live