Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: John 15: 9-11

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 might be in you and
your joy might be complete.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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This Gospel passage is a tiny sliver of the final words that Jesus speaks during his final night on earth. He tells his disciples many things about where he’s from and where he’s going.

Then he concludes by saying, “I no longer call you slaves, but friends” (John 15:15).

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At the time of Christ, there was a wide-ranging social hierarchy. 

There were slaves, commoners, soldiers, generals, trusted advisors, and at the very top a select group of people known as, “friends of the emperor.”

These “friends” had unlimited access to the king. They could even disturb him in his bedchamber!

They knew everything about him; and, most importantly, they access to his heart.

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“I no longer call you slaves, but friends,” Jesus says. Meaning in Christ we have access to the very heart of God.

There we find all of the grace, mercy, and strength we need for our Christian journeys.

What Jesus asks us in return is to love one another the way that he’s loved us. “By wthis they will know you are my disciples,” he says, “if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

How might we be that kind of friend for another person, offering love, mercy, and strength?

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Image credits: (1) Dreamstime.com (2) Time Literary Supplement, How to be Roman Emperor (Mary Beard) (3) Life of a Minister Mom, WordPress

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Gospel: John 15: 1-8

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine,
so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire
and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Over the last year, I’ve developed an interest in gardening. It’s a nice way to relax after a day’s work.

One basic lesson I’ve learned is that there are two types of branches – those that bear fruit and those that don’t.

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We’ve all seen withering branches. They’re dark, limp, and slow to die. But even as they wither, they sap energy from the vine.

It’s a fascinating truth: withering branches take energy to die.

It’s why gardeners must prune them; they take away nutrients that could otherwise be used by healthy branches.

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In the Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit.”

Meaning, God will prune those withering branches in our heart, which sap our energy and give nothing back. Consider poor habits, relationships, or grudges.

They steal our time and energy, without making us happier.

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What’s the withering branch in my heart? Who or what takes my energy without bearing fruit?

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Every gardener knows that pruning makes plants healthier.

Similarly, it may cause some suffering, but allowing the Lord to remove withering branches from our hearts makes us happier, healthier people.

Come, Holy Spirit.

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Image credits: (1) Gardening Know How (2) Insight of the King (3) Young-Catholics.com

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Acts 14: 19-28

In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium
arrived and won over the crowds.
They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing that he was dead.
But when the disciples gathered around him,
he got up and entered the city.
On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

After they had proclaimed the good news to that city
and made a considerable number of disciples,
they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples
and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,
“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the Kingdom of God.”
They appointed presbyters for them in each Church and,
with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord
in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch,
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the Church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Then they spent no little time with the disciples.

The Word of the Lord.

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It’s another tough day for Saint Paul. 

As it says in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, “They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.”

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Imagine Paul barely breathing… covered in rubble… left for dead.

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Suddenly, that pile of rubble starts shaking. A dusty and bruised Paul emerges victoriously!

Doesn’t that scene foreshadow the resurrection? Paul knows that the day will come when he will be laid in a tomb one final time.

But he also knows that – like today – he will rise from that rubble. He’s not afraid; he’s seen the Risen Christ and knows that this is his destiny, as well. 

As he later writes says, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”

Paul is so convinced of the resurrection that he cannot help but share this news with the world, even at the cost of great physical pain. He’s a man in love with Jesus, who has to tell the world about the God who stole his heart.

So, he stands up, shakes the dust from his feet, and continues to preach the Gospel until he draws his very last breath.

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Imagine the comfort Paul’s faith brought him. If the Lord blessed us with the same spirit, would our burdens feel lighter? Would our sorrows be turned into joy? Would our behavior change?

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“Ask and you shall receive,” Jesus say, “seek and you will find.”

May the Lord gift us all with the faith of Saint Paul, who in spite of trial and pain, never gave up.

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Image credits: (1) St. Paul Center (2) Saint Paul Stoned, Jean Baptiste Champaigne (3) Never Lose Faith poster, Keep Calm-o-Matic