Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: John 14: 15-21

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Abraham Lincoln once said, “All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my mother.”

Isn’t that true for many of us? So much of our faith, our morality, and the wisdom we’ve gained in life started with our mother. 

It was she who first welcomed us into this world. She who comforted us when nightmares woke us up, who held us in her arms when our hearts first broke, who dared us to dream.

The same could be said of Mary and Jesus. 

God not only understood the unique bond a mother shares with her child; but he also desired it, so much so that he became a child himself. Mary was the only person to be with Jesus, from his conception in her womb to his being laid in a tomb. 

On this Mother’s Day, we honor the love and sacrifices made by our mothers – those who are still with us, and those who’ve gone before us. May those who’ve gone before us rest from their labors, and intercede for us alongside Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, and our Blessed Mother.

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Curious to gain different perspectives, I asked a few moms about the struggles, joys, and rewards of motherhood. 

One mom said, “The greatest joy is watching my children make good choices, becoming who God created them to be.”

Another said, “Watching them grow and discover their talents. Each stage of their life is precious and a wonder to watch.”

When asked about the challenges of motherhood, one said, “Worrying about their safety… letting them learn from their mistakes… and wondering what kind of people they’ll become once they leave the nest.”

All of them said the most difficult struggle was witnessing their child experience pain.

Every mom has been there – you know that helpless feeling of watching your child weep from a fractured bone, from the ache of disappointment, even from a broken heart. You’d do anything to take their pain away, desperate to bear it yourself.

But all you can do is hold them in your arms, assuring them that everything will be okay because, “Mommy’s here.” I still remember being that child, feeling absorbed, safe, and protected by Mom’s warmth and soft embrace.

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My Mom went to heaven twelve years ago. Physically speaking, I lost that safe space. But I also recognize how blessed I am to have known it in the first place. 

Sadly, some children grow up without knowing the warmth of their mother’s embrace. Perhaps their mom was emotionally absent, or she bore some hidden pain in her heart, or she left this world too soon. 

Maybe this is why today’s Gospel is providentially paired with Mother’s Day. Jesus seeks to comfort all of us when he says, “I will not leave you orphans.” God assures us that we will never be deprived of love.

As I’ve grown in my relationship with Jesus, I’ve found his words to be true. Everything that is holy, good, and beautiful in motherhood we can also find in the Lord. 

Like a mother, Jesus has the ability to nurture, to calm, and to feed… He nurtures us with his grace, calms us with his peace, and feeds us with his very Self in the Eucharist.

Like a mother, Jesus willingly sacrifices himself for us, seeking to shoulder our burdens, to protect us from evil, to heal us from our sorrows, and to reconcile us with our heavenly Father whenever we go astray.

As the prophet Isaiah foretold nearly 800 years prior, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”

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That is what we celebrate today – not only the love of our mothers, but also the unconditional love of God, who is always tender and will never forget us. Taking Abraham Lincoln’s words a little deeper, we could say, “All that I am or hope to be, I owe to Jesus.”

May the Lord and his Blessed Mother intercede for us as we pray:

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

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Image credits: (1) Thera-Mom (2) Relief Society Women (3) The Virgin with Angels, William-Adolphe Bougeareau

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Gospel: John 15: 12-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.
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.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In his final testament at the Last Supper, Jesus looks at his disciples and says, “I no longer call you slaves, but friends.”

Both words – “slaves” and “friends” – carry significant meaning.

In the Old Testament, to be considered a slave, or servant, of God was considered to be the highest honor. For example, Moses – one of the greatest prophets – is referred to as the servant of the Lord. So is his direct successor, Joshua. 

Even King David, the greatest of Old Testament kings, referred to himself as God’s servant.

Saint Paul uses the same term to introduce himself to the Christians in Rome. “I, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God.”

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And yet, the Lord says to us today, “I no longer call you slaves (or servants), but friends.”

Roman emperors assigned this title, “friend,” to a few select individuals who ranked higher than their servants, advisors, even their generals.

“Friends” of the emperor were granted unlimited access to him. They were even allowed to enter his bedchamber before sunrise, when the emperor was considered to be most vulnerable. They were his trusted inner circle who had unguarded access to his heart.

This is the type of intimacy that Jesus offers us – direct access to God.

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More than Moses, Joshua, even King David, we who call upon the name of the Lord in faith at any hour of the day will be heard, “for whatever you ask in my name,” Jesus says, “I will do it.”

More than servants, we are his friends.

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Image credits: (1) Come and Reason Ministries (2) Marcus Aurelius and the Jews, Aish.com (3) Soaking in God’s Word

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Acts 15: 7-21

After much debate had taken place,
Peter got up and said to the Apostles and the presbyters,
“My brothers, you are well aware that from early days
God made his choice among you that through my mouth
the Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel and believe.
And God, who knows the heart,
bore witness by granting them the Holy Spirit
just as he did us.
He made no distinction between us and them,
for by faith he purified their hearts.
Why, then, are you now putting God to the test
by placing on the shoulders of the disciples
a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?
On the contrary, we believe that we are saved
through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they.”
The whole assembly fell silent,
and they listened
while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders
God had worked among the Gentiles through them.

After they had fallen silent, James responded,
“My brothers, listen to me.
Symeon has described how God first concerned himself
with acquiring from among the Gentiles a people for his name.
The words of the prophets agree with this, as is written:

After this I shall return
and rebuild the fallen hut of David;
from its ruins I shall rebuild it
and raise it up again,
so that the rest of humanity may seek out the Lord,
even all the Gentiles on whom my name is invoked.
Thus says the Lord who accomplishes these things,
known from of old.

It is my judgment, therefore,
that we ought to stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God,
but tell them by letter to avoid pollution from idols,
unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled animals, and blood.
For Moses, for generations now,
has had those who proclaim him in every town,
as he has been read in the synagogues every sabbath.”

The Word of the Lord.

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Reading through the Acts of the Apostles reveals the inspiring journey of the early Church. These Christians lived with immense courage and conviction as they faced poverty, persecution, and in some cases, death for their beliefs.

To edify each other, they lived in community, they pooled their resources together, they prayed, and fasted often.

However, life within the early Church was not without conflict. Although there was an abundance of grace at work in their hearts and communities, they were still human. Like us, they wrestled with uncertainty and sin.

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One of the earliest problems the Church faced was that of growth. While the first Christians were Jewish converts, a steady stream of Gentiles started flooding the Church. 

On the surface, that was great news! The Church was growing! But beneath that growth arose the issue of identity. The Jews saw themselves as God’s chosen people. Even Jewish converts carried this conviction in their hearts.

The Gentiles were seen as different, or worse, impure. As a result, some Gentiles complained about being treated like second class citizens. Some of the religious leaders tried resolving the issue by requiring everyone to follow Old Testament rituals. 

But Peter insisted that faith in Christ is enough.

“Why are you placing a yoke on their shoulders that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?” he says. “On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.”

Although this issue was formally resolved – all were to be treated equally – there remained work to be done in terms of removing a judgmental eye or prejudice from some people’s hearts.

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It remains a challenge for the Church to create a culture of openness, mercy, and welcome as some still debate who is or isn’t “worthy” of welcome, of the Sacraments, or how many hoops one must jump through before being embraced. 

May Peter’s words remind us that in spite of our differences – whatever they may be – we are all equal, beggars before God.  

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Image credits: (1) Was Blind But Now I See, Michael Valliant (2) New Covenant Church (3) Williamsburg Presbyterian Church