6 May 2017 - words of Spirit and life

Today's Readings

It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.

On our own we are left with hard sayings that we cannot accept. The Spirit does more than simply helping us to accept sayings. The Spirit really does give life. He plants the truth within our hearts in a way that allows us to live it rather than simply understand it. A precise theologically correct understanding of the Eucharist, or a perfect grasp of transubstantiation, ultimately counts for nothing if these truths don't affect our lives. This life changing power of the Spirit is visible in the early Church.

She was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,
and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit she grew in numbers.

These disciples do care about truth. They do meet to discuss the teachings of the apostles. But they come together in a community that lives that truth and experiences all the blessings that it entails. We see that for them the truth has power.

Peter said to him,
"Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed." 
He got up at once. 

We hear this and retreat. We don't see anything of this magnitude going on around us. We try to content ourselves with a merely intellectual approach. But what if the Holy Spirit really desires more from his people? What if he really does want to renew his wonders in our day as by a new Pentecost? And if he does, what limits on his power can there possibly be?

Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed. 
Then he turned to her body and said, "Tabitha, rise up." 
She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up. 

There are no limits. It is a sign that our faith is more in our heads than in our lives if we find ourselves placing limits on what God can do or making assumptions about what he wants to do. We hear this and find it a hard saying. It is, after all, by definition, letting our intellect take second place. But we do not leave, even when we are challenged. We are convinced that this is truth.

Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

5 May 2017 - descaling

 Today's Readings

It's not always easy to recognize Jesus at first. When we encounter him in a new and unexpected way we risk missing him, just as many do when they first see him after he is risen. Just as Saul does on the road to Damascus.

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
He said, "Who are you, sir?"
The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

We need to have our eyes opened in order to recognize him.

Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes
and he regained his sight.
This is especially true when it comes to the most important way in which Jesus is present to us today: the Eucharist.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
The Church wants everyone to see Jesus. From the Church people are sent to pray for and deliver those who do not yet know Jesus.

The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight
and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.
Note that while the individual is concerned that Saul is a bad person and probably not a good candidate to be a Christian at all, let alone a disciple, the LORD is not concerned about this. We are often like Ananias, arguing with the LORD about his plans, thinking we have better (and likely safer) ones. But it is difficult to even imagine Christianity without Paul. So we should assume the LORD knows what he is doing.
Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

In the story of Saul and Ananias we see that Saul is prayed over, recovers his sight, and is baptized. But only once he has eaten does he recover his strength. We need to eat the Eucharist with eyes of faith in order to become and remain strong. It is the source of life for us.

Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
Again, it's hard to see. But God wants to open our eyes to it this morning.

 

4 May 2017 - not drawing a blank

Today's Readings

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day.

Jesus does not tell us this because there are some drawn by the Father and some who aren't. After all, from there he quotes the prophets:

They shall all be taught by God.

He tells us that we cannot come to him unless we are drawn to him. He is explaining the spiritual posture we need to have. We do not make spiritual progress happen through our hard work. We have to let God draw us. And he is drawing. He is teaching.

When we try to draw near to him and need help along the way he provides the help we need.

Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said,
"Do you understand what you are reading?" 
He replied,
"How can I, unless someone instructs me?" 

The Father wants to draw us closer to Jesus. He wants us to understand more fully what the Cross means for us.

Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said,
"Do you understand what you are reading?" 
He replied,
"How can I, unless someone instructs me?" 

He shows that it is more than just a sad act of violence but something with the power to transform our lives.

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

The Father reveals that Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven. He is the only one that can help us believe in the truth of the Eucharist. We need to sit in his presence and let ourselves be drawn.

As we get better at letting God draw us we find ourselves being drawn to places where we ourselves can help others.

The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip,
"Get up and head south on the road
that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route." 

After all, God isn't just drawing us. He desires all to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). He wants all of us to allow ourselves to be taught by him. What he has to teach is Good News! It is the truth of the depths of his love.

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

3 May 2017 - built upon the apostles

Saint Philip and Saint James

 Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

First and foremost, it is the Apostles who have seen Jesus. They hand on to the Church the truth about who Jesus is.

that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;

Jesus is revealed to us by the Church. In her charismatic and sacramental life she makes Jesus present. This is thanks to Apostles like Philip and James who hand on to the Church what they themselves receive. In the usual course of events, barring dreams and miracles which do also occur, we come to know Jesus only through his Church and therefore through the living tradition handed down from the Apostles.

We think we're just looking at a Church much of the time. We think we are hearing formulaic teachings and dead tradition. But if we look with the eyes of faith we can see Jesus, see the Father, and see the Holy Spirit alive and working in our midst.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.

We ourselves are meant to become this presence of God to the world.

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

Perhaps we don't ask because it seems too good to be true. But if it seems that way, nevertheless let us ask! Let us take Jesus at his word.

Their message goes out through all the earth.

2 May 2017 - commendable spirit

 Today's Readings

Imagine if we had the courage of Saint Stephen in the face of our anxieties and fears.

But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
and Stephen said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

Perhaps we have known holy souls who have them unflappable peace even in times of crisis. Maybe we've even tasted it ourselves at one time or another. Even the stones being thrown at us are less real than the Son of Man in heaven. This is the result of "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith" (see Hebrews 12:2). But it is not just for ourselves and our own peace that we want to be in this spiritual state. We're just better people when Jesus is at the center of our lives.
Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice,
"Lord, do not hold this sin against them";
and when he said this, he fell asleep.

So how do we get there? How do we get to a place where we can trust Jesus so completely? How can we be so focused on him that even all earthly splendor seems to fade? Like the psalmist we make him our refuge. We make Jesus consciously the place we go when we are in trouble. Not just one time, but more and more. We learn to trust him enough to commend our spirits into his hands, just as he does with his Father, just as Stephen does with him.

Even more practically, we make his presence in the Eucharist our refuge. We go to him there when we are in trouble. We receive him when we hunger. This is the daily bread that teaches us to rely on God. When we learn to take refuge in him here when times aren't so bad we are more prepared to trust him when things are worse.
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

Then, no matter the circumstance, with Stephen and with Jesus we can pray:

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

 

1 May 2017 - the food that endures

Today's Readings

"Rabbi, when did you get here?"

The crowds don't know how Jesus got here. After all, he wasn't in the boat. They're trying to figure him out. They want some conventional reason to make sense of things. But this is beyond human understanding. They're mostly interested in Jesus because of the bread that fills their bellies. But there is a curiosity. There is a vague, muddled, sense of a deeper desire, for something more satisfying than bread. Like the woman at the well, implicit in every hunger and thirst is a hunger for the food the endures for eternal life and a thirst for the water of life. Implicit in every desire is a desire for God, who made us for himself, and who alone can satisfy us.

The proper response to this curiosity isn't to try to solve the problem with our cleverness. It isn't about figuring Jesus out. We don't have to know how he works or what causes him to choose to work. We need only know why. He does everything out of love for us. Knowing that reason we can trust him. We do not have to prepare our own words but we can rely on the Spirit to give us the words we need to speak.

Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyreneans, and Alexandrians,
and people from Cilicia and Asia,
came forward and debated with Stephen,
but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

The crowds pursuing Jesus and the crowds persecuting Steven have something in common. They aren't particularly interested in the truth. But God's response has something in common, too. They get the truth anyway. It isn't the question they think they're asking. But perhaps they realize it is what they need to hear.

Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."

Our spirits rebel. It is too simple. There is nothing here to feel prideful about. And yet, somehow it rings of truth. Stephen tells people the truth about Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. This does not keep the crowd from killing him. But perhaps a seed is planted.

All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him
and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Saul who will later become Paul is here. He witnesses the face of Stephen becoming radiant with the glory of God. Maybe this plants a seed and prepares the way for his conversion on the road to Damascus. It's hard to figure out how Jesus gets from point a to point b, especially when he is bringing people to faith. But we don't have to figure it out. We just have to believe in him and let his Spirit work.

30 April 2017 - taste of freedom

And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.

Jesus reveals himself to us in the Eucharist. In his Body and Blood we receive the Risen Christ, not dead flesh. Because of this the Eucharist heals us of our doubts. This is the same spotless lamb who ransomed us with his precious blood. But his body was not abandoned to the netherworld. So receiving we proclaim, "We have seen the LORD!"

Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, 
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.

What we taste in the Eucharist is the Resurrection. Because of this the Eucharist renews our faith. It renews our hope as well, our hope that God will not abandon us to the netherworld either, that we will one day rise as well. We taste our future in the Eucharist because it unites us to Jesus and promises the even deeper union we will one day know.

The Eucharist not only renews our faith and our hope, but also our love and charity. It is the flesh and blood that ransoms us from our futile conduct handed on by our ancestors. United with Jesus we are no longer slaves to the fear of death. We are no longer slaves to the selfishness that such fear creates. We are free to love as Jesus himself loves.

You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.