Year: 2024

***

Gospel: John 15: 9-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
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.

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

***

***

When was the last time you saw Jesus? Or felt comforted by his embrace?

***

It’s an odd question if you’re looking for his flesh and bones, or a loud trumpet sounding from the heavens.

Christ reveals himself to us constantly, but in much humbler ways. So humble that if you’re not attuned to looking for him, then you won’t notice when he passes by.

***

When the Lord first appeared here on earth, he didn’t tear the heavens open by arriving in a blazing chariot of fire. Rather, he came as a helpless baby.

He connected himself to a family, and over the next thirty years, he taught them how to live and love as he did. When the appointed time for his public ministry came, he chose twelve Apostles, forming them in his school of mercy.

In a word, Jesus spent his life building friendships that slowly turned people into living examples of his love. 

This is how we still see and feel Lord’s presence today, through ordinary people like us who have learned how to love as Christ has commanded us.

“This is my commandment,” he says in today’s Gospel, “love one another as I love you… You are my friends… I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.”

***

So, what does a friend of Jesus look like? What kind of fruit does he expect us to bear? 

Consider what he does for the Apostles during the Last Supper, his final night on earth; the moment when he first calls them, “friends.”

***

Jesus reveals his affection for them in two ways.

First, he kneels down and washes their feet.

On the surface, the Lord is removing all of the dirt that’s accumulated around their ankles and toes that day, allowing them to enter into their host’s home for the evening to celebrate the Last Supper.

But in a deeper way, Jesus is bathing his friends in forgiveness, washing away all of the muck that’s accumulated in their hearts since he first called them three years ago.

Jesus is washing away the doubt and fear that once clouded Peter’s heart when he sank into the stormy Sea of Galilee. He’s washing away Peter’s selfishness after attempting to stop Christ from entering Jerusalem to suffer and die.

He’s washing away James and John’s pride after requesting to be the “greatest” in his kingdom by sitting at the Lord’s left and right. He’s washing away the lack of faith in the hearts of the others, who tried but failed to cast out demons in his name.

Jesus washes them clean – the first act of friendship.

***

Then, while seated at table, he feeds them with his very Self, a gift which the Church will later refer to as, “food for the journey.”

In the Eucharist, Christ leaves them with his abiding presence, assuring the Apostles that he will be with them throughout their journeys here on earth, journeys which will include both suffering and joy; failure and success. 

“Take this, all of you, and eat of it, this is my Body … this is my Blood, which will be given up for you. Do this in memory of me.”

Jesus gives them all he has left – his very Self – as food for the journey: a second act of friendship. 

***

“And you … You are my friends,” he says, “if you do what I command you.”

Meaning, bathe other people in forgiveness; wash their wounds clean. 

Then feed them with your very self; not in a literal way as he did, but by offering your time, your treasure, your talent, your energy, your prayers… lend your ears, your hearts, the warmth of your hugs to those in need.

Then we will be his friends, recognizing that these often tiny sacrifices lead others closer to God, the Source of all that is good.

***

So, when was the last time you saw Jesus? Or felt comforted by his embrace?

Hopefully, you can turn to your neighbor and say: The last time I saw you.

***

***

Image credits: (1) LinkedIn (2) Jesus Washes the Feet of his Disciples, Ford Madox Brown (3) Pinterest

***

1 Corinthians 15: 1-8

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
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;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred brothers and sisters at once,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the Apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.

The Word of the Lord.

***

***

In our first reading, Paul proclaims what is among the earliest, most complete, professions of our Christian faith, stating that Christ died, was raised, then he appeared to his disciples.

Out of all of Christ’s appearances which Paul mentions, three are particularly interesting.

***

First, his appearance to Peter.

Fear turned Peter into a coward the night Christ was arrested. As his Lord was being led off to be crucified, Peter kept his distance, then warmed his hands by a fire while Jesus stood trial. Finally, he denied knowing Jesus three times.

Then Peter runs off and cries his eyes out. 

After his death and resurrection, Jesus appears to Peter to console him, revealing the heart of our Good Shepherd. Jesus teaches Peter – and us – that God isn’t out to punish us; rather, after making our own mistakes, he comes to console us.

***

Then his appearance to James.

James, also known as the “brother” of Jesus – likely a cousin – is recorded in Mark’s Gospel as thinking the Lord was “out of his mind” while Jesus was preaching inside someone’s home, a sign the Lord was misunderstood, even by those closest to him (Mark 3:21).

As Jesus later says, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his native place.”

Perhaps the Lord appeared to James to calm his heart – much like Peter’s – bringing the gift of reconciliation to a member of his own family.

***

Finally, he appears to Paul.

Paul was one of the leading persecutors of the early Church until the Lord’s appearance transformed his heart, reminding us that no one is beyond the grace of conversion.

***

Such is our God: he consoles; reconciles; converts. Amen! Alleluia!

***

***

Image credits: (1) Doubting Thomas, Caravaggio (2) The Resurrection, Van Dyck (3) The Catholic Talks

***

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.

***

***

Parents have a tremendous influence over how their children grow up. 

Some parents are highly affectionate. They affirm their children by word and deed, honoring every accomplishment with praise; ending every phone call with, “I love you”; beginning each day with a hug.

Other parents are somewhere in the middle.

Still, others tend to be more silent. I’ve met some adults who’ve told me that, as a child, they never heard their parent say, “I love you.”

Often, that lack of affirmation leaves children feeling as if love must be earned, as opposed to being freely given.

***

In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the early Church is struggling with a similar idea. Is God’s love earned or is it freely given?

There were some Jewish converts to Christianity who believed that Christians still had to honor the Law, following it to a “t,” as if God’s love is earned through obedience.

But Peter and James speak up, saying that God’s love – much like an affirming parent – is freely given. We neither deserve it, nor earn it. It’s simply pure gift.

As Saint Paul says, “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

***

What is my own image of God the Father like? 

Is he someone to be feared? Or is he my greatest cheerleader, my defender, who delights in me simply for who I am – his child in need of his love?

***

Perhaps the prophet Zephaniah says it best: “The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior, who rejoices over you with gladness, and renews you in his love, who sings joyfully because of you” (Zeph. 3:17).

Ponder that for a moment:

God sings joyfully just because of you.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Olive Tree Bible Software (2) Forbes (3) Adobe Stock