Year: 2024

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Gospel: John 20: 19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When you think of the Holy Spirit, what image comes to mind?

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Perhaps you imagine that peaceful dove hovering over the Lord after he was baptized by John in the Jordan River. 

Or maybe you imagine something different: the tongues of fire that came rushing upon the Apostles in our first reading.

These are two very different images of the Holy Spirit: a docile bird versus blazing fire. 

The Irish wisely merge the two together, often depicting the Holy Spirit as a goose, a wild bird with fire in its belly.

If you try boxing a goose in, it will bite! Your only warning before a painful pinch is that loud, jarring HONK! 

Loosely translated, it means something like, “Outta my way!”

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The Holy Spirit is like a fiery goose, because it moves wherever it wills. And when it bites, you know it! 

You become like the God you represent – peaceful as a dove, yet as noisy, protective, and passionate as a goose. There’s fire in your belly!

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Consider the difference in Saint Peter before and after he receives the Holy Spirit.

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Today’s Gospel begins with Peter hiding somewhere in Jerusalem. The grim reality of Good Friday is still fresh in his mind. Understandably, he and the others are terrified that the Lord’s fate might become their own. 

So, they hide.

On a deeper level, they’re also afraid of change.

Ask any one of the Apostles – it would’ve been much easier if they could’ve tethered Jesus to their waist, stopping him from going to Calvary that fateful Friday afternoon. 

But they cannot turn back the clock; the Lord was crucified.

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Suddenly, Jesus appears in their midst and says to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathes on Peter and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

This gesture of breathing on Peter is evocative of the Book of Genesis, when God first gave Adam life by breathing into his nostrils, making him a new creation.

Similarly, Peter is now made new.

Like a wild goose, he bursts out of that locked inner room in Jerusalem, rushing to preach to the crowds who wanted the Lord dead.

In his first public sermon, Peter proclaims:

“Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God… This man you killed, using lawless men to crucify him… God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Now, repent and be baptized, every one of you!”

I can imagine Peter’s face fire red, his finger pointed outward, his voice full of passion and conviction.

There’s no other logical explanation for this dramatic change in his behavior – from cowardice to courage – unless he has seen the Risen Lord and received the Holy Spirit. 

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Like Peter, who once hid in that locked inner room, how many of us are afraid of change? 

Or how many of us yearn for the fire of the Holy Spirit – a fire that burns away fear, cleanses sin, and empowers us to do God’s will?

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Anyone who’s filled with the Holy Spirit has an easily identifiable trait: enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm comes from the Greek – en theos – meaning, “God within.”

In Peter’s case, his enthusiasm comes out in his preaching. The Gospel is like a fire in his bones; he cannot help but preach it!

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So, what might this enthusiasm – this force of “God within” – look like in our own lives?

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Perhaps it’s that remarkable energy that pushes you to do a thousand little things to serve your family, keeping your household together.

Maybe it’s the zeal you’ve found for ministry. You want to do more and more.

Maybe it’s what inspires you to speak up, inviting a friend or co-worker to, “Come and see.”

God’s fiery Spirit is revealed in a multitude of ways.

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On this Feast of Pentecost, may the Holy Spirit – the “wild goose” – make us a new creation, smitten by grace with fire in our bones, ready to do whatever the Lord may ask.

Come, Holy Spirit!

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Image credits: (1) Psephizo (2) (3) Tekton Ministries

A confession of faith from Peter.

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Gospel: John 21: 15-19

After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, 
he said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” 
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
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.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
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.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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It’s time to be reconciled.

Jesus has been raised from the dead. Now he’s appearing to Simon Peter, who denied him three times during his darkest hour. 

It’s only fair to ask Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

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A flustered, repentant Peter responds the only way a Christian can, “Lord, Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

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“Lord, Lord,” Peter says.

In Latin, “Domine, Domine.”

It’s from the Latin word, Domine, that we get the English word, dominate. 

It’s a beautiful play on words: 

Lord, Lord…Domine, Domine…dominate.

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To “dominate” means, “to have a commanding influence; to be the central figure; or primary force behind action.”

It’s not something we’d ordinarily say to someone, “dominate.” But what Peter is saying to Jesus is that he has become the central figure – the commanding influence – in his life.

Peter will prove this while he preaches to the nations for the next thirty years, and finally as he dies upon a cross in Rome, much like his Lord.

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Perhaps we could ask ourselves the same question: Is the Lord the center of my life? Or are there others competing for my highest affection?

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“Lord, Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

You are the center of my life. 

May we all repeat Peter’s words, not only with our lips, but also with our lives.

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Image credits: (1) AtoZMom’sBSF blog (2) Antique Church Furnishings (3) Shutterstock

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Gospel: John 17: 20-26

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
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.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
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.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Twenty percent of John’s Gospel comes from one conversation that Jesus has with his friends – and it happens to be during his final night on earth. Today we refer to it as the, “Last Supper Discourse,” covering four chapters in John’s Gospel.

We’ve been reading through it over the last number of days.

In today’s portion, the Lord reveals several important truths: 

He prays for us.

He loves us.

He longs for us.

He has entrusted us with his ministry.

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I find this a fascinating and beautiful truth. In his final hours, Jesus looks at the men who will betray and abandon him. He washes their feet, feeds them with his very Self, and calls them his “friends.”

Then he prays for them – as he prays for us – that we would carry on his ministry in the world.

Clearly, the Lord is not dwelling on the disciples’ faults or failings; if he did, then he’d neither trust them nor call them his friends.

Rather, he sees the good in them; their potential; and their budding faith, which will eventually be restored and help to change the world.

What the disciples will learn is that God’s power is made perfect in their weakness. What they cannot accomplish on their own – the courage they lack, the faith they need, the words they must find – will all come from the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

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The same is true in our own lives.

If today feels like you’re standing at the base of an impossible mountain, which you must climb, remember this: God’s power is made perfect in your weakness.

In allowing Jesus to share the yoke of life with you, you’ll not only overcome what lies before you, you’ll also glorify God along the way. 

“Do not be afraid,” the Lord says, “I have overcome the world.”

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Image credits: (1) Wholeness/Justice/Onenness, jdm.org (2) The Last Supper, Vicente Juan Macip (3) Jesus Culture, X.com