The promise of a Consoler. The Holy Spirit,

teacher and living memory of the Word of Jesus

John 14:15-16,23-26

1. Opening prayer

Most merciful Father, on this most holy day I cry to You from my room behind closed doors. I raise my prayer to You in fear and immobility in the face of death.

Grant that Jesus may come to me and dwell at the center of my heart that He may drive away all fear and all darkness. Grant me Your peace, which is true peace, peace of heart. Grant that the Holy Spirit may come to me, the Spirit who is the fire of love, that warms and enlightens, that melts and purifies; who is living water, flowing even to eternal life, that quenches and cleans, that baptizes and renews; who is the strong and at the same time soft wind, the breath of Your voice and breath; who is a dove announcing pardon, a new and lasting beginning for the whole world.

Send Your Spirit upon me when I read and listen to Your Word so that I may penetrate the mysteries it holds; grant that I may be overwhelmed and submerged, baptized and made into a new person, so that I may give my life to You and to my brothers and sisters. Amen.  Alleluia

2. Reading

a) Placing the passage in its context:

These few verses, which are not even well connected, are a few drops of water taken from an ocean. In fact, they are part of that long and grandiose discourse in John’s Gospel, which begins with chapter 13:31 and goes up to and including the whole of chapter 17. The whole of this very deep discourse deals with only one theme, that is, the “going of Jesus”, which we find in 13:33: “Yet a little while I am with you… Where I go you cannot come” and in 16:28: “I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again I leave the world and go to the Father” and again in 17:13: “Now I am coming to you, [Father]”. Jesus’ going to the Father signifies also our going, our faith journey in this world; it is here that we learn to follow Jesus, to listen to Him, to live like Him. It is here that we receive the complete revelation of Jesus in the mystery of the Trinity as well as the revelation concerning a Christian life, its power, its tasks, its joys and sorrows, its hopes and struggles. In reflecting on these words we find the truth of the Lord Jesus and of ourselves before Him and in Him.

These verses speak especially of three very strong consolations for us: the promise of the coming of the Consoler; the coming of the Father and the Son within those who believe; the presence of a master, the Holy Spirit, through whom the teachings of Jesus will never cease.

b) To help us with the reading of the passage:

vv. 15-16: Jesus reveals that the observance of the commandments is not a matter of obligation, but a sweet fruit that is born of the love of the disciple for Him. This loving obedience is due to the all-powerful prayer of Jesus for us. The Lord promises another Consoler, sent by the Father, who will always remain with us in order to drive away our solitude once and for all.

vv. 23-24: Jesus repeats that love and observance of the commandments are two vital truths essentially related to each other, that have the power to introduce the disciple into the mystical life, that is, into the experience of immediate and personal communion with Jesus and with the Father.

v. 25: Jesus says something very important: there is a substantial difference between what He said while He was with the disciples and what He will say later, when, thanks to the Spirit, He will be in them, within them. At first, understanding is limited because the relationship with Him is an external one: the Word comes from outside and reaches ears, but not pronounced within. Later, understanding will be full.

v. 26: Jesus announces the Holy Spirit as master who will teach no longer from outside but from within us. He will give new life to the words of Jesus, those forgotten will be remembered and will be understood by the disciples within their capabilities.

c) The text:

"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." Jesus answered and said to him, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name - he will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you."

3. A time of prayerful silence

I go to the Master’s school, the Holy Spirit. I sit at His feet and I abandon myself in His presence. I open my heart, without any fear, so that He may instruct, console, reprove and make me grow.

4. A few questions

a) “If you love Me”. Is my relationship with Jesus a relationship of love? Do I make room for Him in my heart? Do I look within myself honestly and ask, “Where is love in my life? Is there any?” If I realize that there is no love within me, or just a little, do I try to ask myself, “What is preventing me, what is it that keeps me closed, imprisoned, rendering me sad and lonely?”

b) “You will observe My commandments”. I notice the verb “to observe” with the many meanings it implies: to look after well, to protect, to pay attention, to keep alive, to reserve and preserve, not to throw away, to keep carefully, with love. Am I aware and enlightened by these attitudes, by my relationship as disciple, as Christian, with the Word and the commandments that Jesus gave us for our happiness?

c) “He will give you another Consoler”. How often have I searched for someone to console me, to look after me, to show me affection and care for me! Am I truly convinced that true consolation comes from the Lord? Or do I still trust much more in the consolations I find, the ones that I beg for here and there, that I gather like crumbs without ever being able to be satisfied?

d) “Make our home with Him”. The Lord stands at the door and knocks and waits. He does not force or oblige. He says, “If you wish…”. He suggests that I might become His home, the place of His repose, of His intimacy. Jesus is ready and happy to come to me, to unite Himself to me in a very special kind of friendship. But, am I ready? Am I expecting His visit, His coming, His entering into my most intimate, most personal self? Is there room for Him in the inn?

e) “He will…bring to your remembrance all that I have said”. The word “remembrance” recalls another very important, even essential matter. Am I challenged and scrutinized by scripture? What is it that I recall? What do I try to remember, to bring to life in my interior world? The Word of the Lord is a most precious treasure; it is the seed of life that is sown in my heart; but do I look after this seed? Do I defend it from a thousand enemies and dangers that assail it: the birds, the rocks, the thorns, the evil one? Do I, every morning, carry with me a Word of the Lord to remember during the day and to make my inner light, my strength, my food?

5. A key to the reading

I now approach each one of the characters in the reading and I listen prayerfully, meditatively, reflectively, in contemplation…

The face of the Father:

Jesus says, “I will ask the Father” (v. 26) and thus draws aside a little the mysterious veil surrounding prayer: prayer is the life that leads to the Father. To go to the Father, we are given the way of prayer. As Jesus lives His relationship with the Father by means of prayer, so also must we. I need to read the Gospels and become a careful searcher of signs concerning this secret of the love of Jesus and His Father, so that, by entering into that relationship, I too may grow in the knowledge of God, my Father.

“He will give you another Consoler”. The Father is the one who gives us the Consoler. This gift is preceded by the Father’s act of love, who knows that we need consolation: He saw my misery in Egypt and heard my cry. He indeed knows my sufferings and sees the oppressions that torment me (cf. Ex 3:7-9); nothing goes unnoticed by His infinite love for me. That is why He gives us the Consoler. The Father is the Giver. Everything comes to us from Him and no one else.

“My Father will love him” (v. 24). The Father is the lover who loves with an eternal love, absolute, and inviolable . Thus do Isaiah, Jeremiah and all the Prophets say (cf. Jer 31:3; Isa 43:4, 54: 8; Hos 2:21, 11:1).

“We will come to him”. The Father is united with the Son, Jesus, and is one with Him, and with Him, comes to each one of us. He moves, goes out, bends and walks towards us. Urged by a mad and inexplicable love, He comes to us.

“And we will make our home with him”. The Father builds His house within us; He makes of us, of me, of my existence, of my whole being, His home. He comes and will not leave but faithfully stays.

The face of the Son:

“If you love Me…” (v. 15); “If anyone loves Me…” (v. 23). Jesus enters into a unique and personal relationship with me, face to face, heart to heart, soul to soul; He wants to have an intense relationship, unique, unrepeatable, and He unites me to Him by love if I so wish. He always puts an “if” and says when He asks me by name: “If you wish…”. The only way He constantly seeks to come to me is through love. In fact, it is noticeable that the use of the pronouns “you” and “anyone” are connected to “me” by the verb “to love” and no other verb.

“I will ask the Father” (v. 16). Jesus is the one who prays, who lives by prayer and for prayer. The whole of His life is summed up by prayer and in prayer. He is the supreme and eternal priest who intercedes for us and offers prayers and supplications together with tears (cf. Heb 5:7), for our salvation; “He is able at all times to save those who come to God through Him, since He lives always to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25).

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word” (v. 23); “He who does not love Me, does not keep y words” (v. 24). Jesus offers me His Word, He gives it to me in trust that I may look after it and guard it, that I may place it in my heart and there keep it warm, watch over it, contemplate it, listen to it and thus make it bear fruit. His word is a seed; it is the most precious pearl of all, for which it is worthwhile selling every other wealth; it is the treasure hidden in the field worth digging for without counting the cost; it is the fire that makes the heart burn within my breast; it is the lamp that illumines our steps even in the darkest night. Love for the Word of Jesus can be identified by my love for Jesus Himself, for His whole being, because, after all, He is the Word. That is why, in this passage, Jesus is crying out to my heart that He is the one I must keep.

The face of the Holy Spirit:

“The Father will give you another Consoler” (v. 16). The Father gives us the Holy Spirit; this is “the good gift and every perfect gift from above” (Jas 1:17). He is “the other Consoler” other than Jesus, who goes and comes back so as not to leave us alone, abandoned. While I am in this world, I do not lack consolation, but am comforted by the presence of the Holy Spirit, who is not just consolation, but is much more: He is a living person and living with me always. This presence, this company is capable of giving me joy, true joy. In fact Paul says, “The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace…” (Gal 5:22; cf. Rom 14:17).

“to be with you forever”. The Spirit is in our midst, He is with me, just as Jesus was with His disciples. His coming is a physical, personal presence; I do not see Him, but I know that He is there and that He will never leave me. The spirit is always here and lives with me and in me, with no limitations of time or space; thus He is the Consoler.

“He will teach you all things” (v. 26). The Holy Spirit is the teacher, He who opens the way for conscience, experience; no one except Him can lead me, inform me, give me new form. His is not a school where one acquires human knowledge that creates pride and does not liberate; His teachings, His whisperings, His precise directions come from God and lead back to God. The Spirit teaches true wisdom and true knowledge (Ps 118:66), He teaches the Father’s will (Ps 118:26.64), His ways (Ps 24:4), His commandments (Ps 118:124.135), which are life. He is a teacher capable of leading me to the whole truth (Jn 16:13), who gives me deep freedom, even to the time of the separation of the soul and the spirit, for He alone, who is God, can bring me to life and resurrection. As God, He is humble; He lowers Himself, descends from His throne and enters into me (cf. Acts 1:8; 10:44), He gives Himself to me entirely and absolutely; He is not jealous of His gift, of His light, but gives without limits.

6. A moment of prayer: Psalm 30

A hymn of praise to God,

who has sent us the new life of the Spirit from on high

Ref. You have given me the fullness of life, Lord, alleluia!

I will extol Thee, O Lord,

for Thou hast drawn me up,

and hast not let my foes rejoice over me.

O Lord my God, I cried to Thee for help,

and Thou hast healed me.

O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol,

restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. 

Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints,

and give thanks to His holy name.

For His anger is but for a moment,

and His favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning. 

As for me, I said in my prosperity,

"I shall never be moved."

By thy favor, O Lord,

Thou hast established me as a strong mountain;

Thou didst hide Thy face, I was dismayed.

To Thee, O Lord,

I cried; and to the Lord I made supplication. 

Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!

O Lord, be Thou my helper!"

Thou hast turned my mourning into dancing;

Thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

that my soul may praise Thee and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to Thee for ever. 

7. Closing prayer

Holy Spirit, allow me to speak to You again. It is difficult for me to go away from my meeting with the Word because You are present there. Therefore, live and act in me. I present to You, to Your intimacy, Your Love, my face of disciple; I mirror myself in You, O Holy Spirit. I offer You, finger of God’s right hand, my features, my eyes, my lips, my ears… work in me Your healing, Your liberation and salvation that I may be reborn, today, a new person from the womb of Your fire, the breath of Your wind. Holy Spirit, I was not born to be alone. I beg You, therefore, send me brothers and sisters that I may proclaim to them the life that comes from You. Amen. Alleluia!

The mission of the Church:

To give witness to the pardon which Jesus offers to all

Luke 24, 46-53

Opening prayer

Shaddai, God of the mountain,

You who make of our fragile life

the rock of your dwelling place,

lead our mind

to strike the rock of the desert,

so that water may gush to quench our thirst.

May the poverty of our feelings

cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night

and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence

until the dawn,

wrapping us with the light of the new morning,

may bring us,

with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute

who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,

the flavour of the holy memory.

 1. LECTIO

a) The text:

46 and he said to them, 'So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses to this. 49 'And now I am sending upon you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city, then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.' 50 Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and raising his hands he blessed them. 51 Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. 52 They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; 53 and they were continually in the Temple praising God.

b) A moment of silence:

Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.

2. MEDITATIO

a) Some questions:

- In the name of the Lord: In whose name do I live my daily life?

- To all nations. Am I capable of welcoming all or do I discriminate easily according to my point of view?

- Stay in the city. Do I have staying power in the most difficult situations or do I try, even before I understand their meaning, to eliminate them?

- My prayer. Do I praise the Lord for all he does in my life or do I ask things for myself?

b) A key to the reading:

These few lines speak of life, motion, journey, meeting… This is the aim of the so it is written and all the nations. Life is marked by witness. The apostles are those sent, they do not bring anything of their own but become life, motion, journey, meeting, a way that brings life wherever they go.

v. 46. «So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. What is written? Where? The only scripture we know is that of encounter. It seems that God cannot do without humankind, and so God goes seeking people wherever they are and will not give up until God embraces them. This is what is written: An eternal love, capable of enduring suffering, of drinking the chalice of pain to its dregs, so as to look once more upon the face of the beloved children. In the depths of non-life, Christ descends to take the hand of humankind to lead humankind back home. Three days! Three moments: passion, death, resurrection! This is what is written for Christ and for all those who belong to him. Passion: you surrender trustingly, and the other does with you whatever he wishes, he embraces you or ill-treats you, he welcomes you or rejects you… but you go on loving to the end. Death: a life that cannot be taken back… dies, is snuffed out… but not forever, because death has power over the flesh but the spirit that comes from God goes back to God. Resurrection: Everything makes sense in the light of Life. Love once given will not die but will always resurrect again.

v. 47. And in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.Jesus’ word, spoken in time, does not come to an end. It needs those who proclaim it. The apostles go, sent in the holy name of God. They go to all nations. No longer to one chosen people, but to all who are now chosen. They go to put their arms around the shoulder of their brothers and sisters and to convert them, to turn them around towards them and to tell them: All is forgiven, you can live the divine life once more, Jesus died and rose again for you! Faith is not an invention. I come from Jerusalem, I saw him with my eyes, I experienced him in my life. I am telling you no more than my story, a story of salvation.

v. 48. You are witnesses to this. We know God from experience. To be witnesses means carrying the word that is Christ written in one’s skin, woven syllable by syllable. When one is touched by Christ, one becomes a bright lamp, even without one’s knowledge! And if one wanted to put out the flame, it would light up again, because the light comes not from the lamp but from the Spirit poured into the heart and beams eternal communion endlessly. 

 v. 49. And now I am sending upon you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city, then, until you are clothed with the power from on high». Jesus’ promises are always fulfilled. He goes away, but he does not leave his friends orphans. He knows that they need God’s constant presence. And God comes back to humankind. This time no longer in the flesh, but invisibly in the fire of an intangible love, in the ardour of a bond that will never be broken, the rainbow of the ratified covenant, the splendour of God’s smile, the Holy Spirit. Clothed in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, the apostles will not be afraid and can finally go!

v. 50. Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and raising his hands blessed them. The moment of separation is a solemn one. Bethany is the place of friendship. Jesus raises his hands and blesses his own. This is a salute and a gift. Goes does not draw away from his own, God simply leaves them to come back in different guise.

v. 51. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. Every separation brings sorrow with it. But in this case the blessing is a legacy of grace. The apostles live in such an intense communion with their Lord that they are not aware of a separation.

v. 52. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy. Great is the joy of the apostles, the joy of going through the streets of Jerusalem with a limitless treasure, the joy of belonging. Christ’s humanity goes to heaven, to open a gate that will never be shut again. The joy of the superabundance of life that Christ has now poured into their experience will never cease…

v. 53. And they were continually in the Temple praising God. To stay… is a very important verb for the Christian. To stay presupposes a special strength, the ability not to flee from situations but to live them out savouring them to their depths. To stay: an evangelical programme to be shared with all. Then praise flows out sincerely, because in staying God’s will is sipped like a healthy and intoxicating drink of bliss.

c) Reflection:

The witness of charity in the life of the church is without any doubt the clearest mirror for evangelisation. It is the instrument that loosens the soil so that when the seed of the Word falls it may bear abundant fruit. The good news cannot choose other ways to touch the hearts of people than that of mutual love, an experience that leads directly to the source: «This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you» (Jn 15:12). We find all this in the early Church: «This is the proof of love, that he laid down his life for us, and we too ought to lay down our live for our brothers» (1 Jn 3:16). The disciple who met and knew Jesus, the beloved disciple, knows that he cannot speak of him and not walk the ways he walked. «I am the way, the truth and the life» (Jn 14:6). What better words can express that the high road of every evangelisation is gratuitous love? Christ is the way of evangelisation. Christ is the truth to transmit in evangelising. Christ is evangelised life. And the love with which he loved us is evangelisation, a love given without conditions, that will not retreat but goes forward to the end, faithful to itself even at the price of death on a cross of malediction, to show the face of the Father as one of Love, a love that respects the freedom of human beings, even when this means rejection, contempt, aggression and death. «Christian charity has a great evangelising force. To the extent that it reveals itself as a sign and a window of God’s love, it opens the minds and hearts to the proclamation of the Word of truth. As Paul VI said, today’s people who look for authenticity and concreteness, value witnesses more than teachers, and generally will only allow themselves to be guided to discover the depth and the demands of God’s love if they have been touched by the tangible sign of charity». (CEI, Evangelisation and the witness of charity, in Enchiridion CEI, vol. 1-5, EDB, Bologna 1996 n. 24). Every pastoral endeavour that wants to show the deep relationship between faith and charity in the light of the Gospel, and that characteristic note of Christian love that is proximity and caring, has the duty of motivating and sustaining openness to others in service. (cfr Lk 10:34).

3. ORATIO

Psalm 22, 22-31

I shall proclaim your name to my brothers,

praise you in full assembly:

'You who fear Yahweh, praise him!

All the race of Jacob, honour him!

Revere him, all the race of Israel!'

For he has not despised

nor disregarded the poverty of the poor,

has not turned away his face,

but has listened to the cry for help.

Of you is my praise in the thronged assembly,

I will perform my vows before all who fear him.

The poor will eat and be filled,

those who seek Yahweh will praise him,

'May your heart live for ever.'

The whole wide world will remember

and return to Yahweh,

all the families of nations bow down before him.

For to Yahweh, ruler of the nations,

belongs kingly power!

All who prosper on earth will bow before him,

all who go down to the dust will do reverence before him.

And those who are dead,

their descendants will serve him,

will proclaim his name to generations

still to come;

and these will tell of his saving justice to a people yet unborn:

he has fulfilled it.

4. CONTEMPLATIO

Lord, I know that evangelisation requires deep spirituality, authenticity and holiness of life on the part of witnesses, people of mature faith, able to mix well so as to make their personal experience of faith a meeting place and a place of growth in interpersonal contacts thus building deep relationships open to the Church, the world and history. As yet, I feel inadequate. In a context where images, words, proposals, projects and records follow each other swiftly and disorient, almost intoxicate thought and confuse feelings, bearing witness is a privileged word for a reflective pause, for a moment of rethinking. But am I one who is carried away by these images, words and projects?  Of one thing I am certain, and this comforts me. Even the most beautiful witness would in the long run be powerless were it not enlightened, justified, made explicit by a clear and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus. The Good News, proclaimed by a living witness, sooner or later needs to be proclaimed by the word of life. I will justify my hope by proclaiming your name, your teaching, your life, your promises, your mystery as Jesus of Nazareth and Son of God. This seems to me to be the simplest way to arouse interest in knowing and meeting you, Master and Lord, who have chosen to live as son of man so as to show us the face of the Father.  Every pastoral endeavour today that finds itself chained by faith, will be able to ask you, God, that the gates of preaching be reopened to proclaim the mystery of Christ, the kind of preaching that as divine word works wonders in those who believe.

The Holy Spirit will help us

understand Jesus’ words

John 14:23-29

1. Opening prayer

Shaddai, God of the mountain,

You who make of our fragile life

the rock of Your dwelling place,

lead our mind

to strike the rock of the desert,

so that water may gush to quench our thirst.

May the poverty of our feelings

cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night

and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence

until the dawn,

wrapping us with the light of the new morning,

may bring us,

with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute

who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,

the flavor of the holy memory.

2. LECTIO

a) The text:

Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. "I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe."

b) A moment of silence:

Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.

3. MEDITATIO

a) Some questions:

- “And we will come to Him and make our home with Him”: looking in our interior camp, will we find there the tent of the shekinah (presence) of God?

- “He who does not love Me does not keep My words: Are the words of Christ empty words for us because of our lack of love? Or could we say that we observe them as a guide on our journey?

- “The Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”  Jesus returns to the Father, but everything which He has said and done remains with us. When will we be able to remember the marvels which divine grace has accomplished in us? Do we receive or accept the voice of the Spirit who suggests in our interior the meaning of all that has taken place, all that has happened?

- “My peace I give to you” The peace of Christ is His resurrection: When will we be able in our life to abandon the anxiety and the mania of doing, which draws us away from the sources of being? God of peace, when will we live solely from you, peace of our waiting?

- “I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe”: Before it takes place... Jesus likes to explain to us beforehand what is going to happen, so that the events do not take us by surprise, unprepared. But, are we ready to read the signs of our events with the words heard from Him?

b) Key for the reading:

To make our home, Heaven does not have a better place than a human heart which is in love. Because a dilated heart extends the boundaries and all barriers of time and space disappear. To live in love is equal to live in Heaven, to live in Him who is love, and eternal love.

v. 23. Jesus answered him: If a man loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him. In the origin of every spiritual experience there is always a movement forward. Take a small step, then everything moves harmoniously. The step to be taken is only one: If a man loves Me. Is it really possible to love God? How is it seen that His face is no longer among the people? To love: What does it really mean? In general, to love for us means to wish well to one another, to be together, to make choices to construct a future, to give oneself... to love Jesus is not the same thing. To love Him means to do as He did, not to draw back in the face of pain, of death; to consciously walk into pain and suffering if need be for the sake of another; and love as He did takes us very far... and it is in this love that the word becomes daily bread to eat and life becomes Heaven because of the Father’s presence.

vv. 24-25. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. If there is no love, the consequences are disastrous. The words of Jesus can be observed only if there is love in the heart; otherwise they remain absurd proposals. Those words are not the words of a man. They come from the Father’s heart who proposes to each one of us to be like Him. In life it is not so much a question of doing things, even if they are very good. It is necessary to be human, to be sons and daughters, to be images similar to the One who never ceases to give Himself completely.

vv. 25-26. These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. To remember is an action of the Spirit; when in our days the past is seen as something lost forever and the future is there as something threatening to take away our joy today, only the divine Breath in you can lead you to remember it. To remember what has been said, every word coming from God’s mouth for you, and forgotten because  time has gone by.

v. 27. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. The peace of Christ for us is not absence of conflicts, serenity of life, health... but the plenitude of every good, absence of anxiety in the face of what is going to happen. The Lord does not assure us well-being, but the fullness of son-ship in a loving adherence to His plans which are good for us. We will possess peace, when we will have learned to trust in that which the Father chooses for us.

v. 28. You heard Me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you’. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. We come back to the question of love. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced. But what is the meaning of this statement pronounced by the Master? We could complete the phrase and say: If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father... but since you think of yourselves, you are sad because I am leaving, going away. The love of the disciples is an egoistic love. They do not love Jesus because they do not think of Him, they think of themselves. Then, the love which Jesus asks is this love:  a love capable of rejoicing because the other will be happy! It is a love capable of not thinking of self as the center of the universe, but as a place in which one feels open to give and to be able to receive: not in exchange, but as the “effect” of the gift received.

v. 29. I have told you before it takes place, so when it does take place, you may believe. Jesus instructs His own because He knows that they will remain confused and will be slow in understanding. His words do not vanish.  They remain as a presence in the world, treasures of understanding in faith: an encounter with the Absolute who is always and for always in favor of man.

c) Reflection:

Love: a magic and ancient word as old as the world, a familiar word which is born in the horizon of every human being in the moment in which he or she is called into existence. A word written in his human fibers as origin and end, as an instrument of peace, as bread and gift, as himself, as others, as God. A word entrusted to history through our history of every day. Love, a pact which has always had one name alone: humanity. Yes, because love coincides with humanity: love is the air that we breathe, love is the food which is given to us, love is the rest to which we entrusts ourselves, love is the bond of union which makes of us a land of encounter. That love with which God has seen in His creation and has given: “It is something very good”. God has not taken back the commitment taken when man made of himself a rejection more than a gift, a slap more than a caress, a stone thrown more than a silent tear. He has loved even more with the eyes and the heart of the Son, up to the end. This man who became a burning torch of sin, the Father has redeemed Him, again and solely out of love, in the Fire of the Spirit.

4. ORATIO

Psalm 37:23-31

The steps of a man are from the Lord,

and He establishes him in whose way He delights;

though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord is the stay of his hand.

I have been young, and now am old;

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children begging bread.

He is ever giving liberally and lending,

and His children become a blessing.

Depart from evil, and do good;

so shall you abide for ever.

For the Lord loves justice;

He will not forsake His saints.

The righteous shall be preserved for ever,

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

The righteous shall possess the land,

and dwell upon it for ever.

The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip.

5. CONTEMPLATIO

I see you, Lord, dwelling in my days through Your word which accompanies me in my more intense moments, when my love for You becomes courageous, audacious and I do not give up in the face of what I feel that does not belong to me. That Spirit which is like the wind: blows where it wants and His voice is not heard, that Spirit has become space in me, and now I can tell You that He is like a dear fried with whom to remember. To go back to remember the words said, to the lived events, to the presence perceived while on the way, does good to the heart. I feel profoundly this indwelling every time that, in silence, one of Your phrases comes to mind, one of Your invitations, one of Your words of compassion, Your silence. The nights of Your prayer allow me to pray to the Father and to find peace. Lord, tenderness concealed in the folds of my gestures, grant me to treasure all that You are a scroll which is explained, in which it is easy to understand the meaning of my existence. May my words be the dwelling place of Your words, may my hunger be Your dwelling, bread of life, may my pain be the empty tomb and the folded shroud so that everything that You want may be accomplished, up to the last breath. I love You, Lord, my rock.

The new commandment:

to love our neighbor as Jesus loved us

John 13:31-35

1. LECTIO

a) Opening prayer:

Lord Jesus, help us understand the mystery of the Church as community of love. When You gave us the new commandment of love as the charter of the Church, You told us that it is the highest value. When You were about to leave Your disciples, You wished to give them a memorial of the new commandment, the new statute of the Christian community. You did not give them a pious exhortation, but rather a new commandment of love. In this “relative absence”, we are asked to recognize You present in our brothers and sisters. In this Easter season, Lord Jesus, You remind us that the time of the Church is the time of charity, the time of encounter with You through our brothers and sisters. We know that at the end of our lives we shall be judged on love. Help us to encounter You in each brother and sister, seizing every little occasion of every day.

b) Reading:

When Judas had left them, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and God will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

c) A moment of prayerful silence:

The passage of the Gospel we are about to reflect on recalls Jesus’ farewell words to His disciples. Such a passage should be considered a kind of sacrament of an encounter with the person of Jesus.

2. MEDITATIO

a) Preamble to Jesus’ discourse:

Our passage is the conclusion to chapter 13 where two themes crisscross and are taken up again and developed in chapter 14: the place where the Lord is going; and the theme of the commandment of love. Some observations on the context within which Jesus’ words on the new commandment occur may be helpful for a fruitful reflection on their content.

First, v.31 says, “when he had gone”, who is gone? To understand this we need to go to v.30 where we read that “as soon as Judas had taken the piece of bread he went out. It was night”. Thus the one who went out was Judas. Then, the expression, “it was night”, is characteristic of all the “farewell discourses”, which take place at night. Jesus’ words in Jn 13:31-35 are preceded by this immersion into the darkness of the night. What is the symbolic meaning of this? In John, night represents the peak of nuptial intimacy (for instance the wedding night), but also one of extreme anguish. Other meanings of the dark night are that it represents the moment of danger par excellence, it is the moment when the enemy weaves plans of vengeance against us. It expresses the moment of desperation, confusion, moral and intellectual disorder. The darkness of night is like a dead end.

In John 6, when the night storm takes place, the darkness of the night expresses an experience of desperation and solitude as they struggle against the dark forces that stir the sea. Again, the time marker "while it was still dark" in John 20:1 points to the darkness which is the absence of Jesus. Indeed, in John’s Gospel, the light of Christ cannot be found in the sepulcher, that is why darkness reigns (20:1).

Therefore, “farewell discourses” are rightly placed within this time framework. It is almost as if the background color of these discourses is separation, death or the departure of Jesus and this creates a sense of emptiness or bitter solitude. In the Church of today and for today’s humanity, this could mean that when we desert Jesus in our lives we then experience anguish and suffering.

When reporting Jesus’ words in 3:31-34 concerning His departure and imminent death, John recalls his own past life with Jesus, woven with memories that opened his eyes to the mysterious richness of the Master. Such memories of the past are part of our own faith journey.

It is characteristic of “farewell discourses” that whatever is transmitted in them, especially at the tragic and solemn moment of death becomes an inalienable patrimony, a covenant to be kept faithfully. Jesus’ “farewell discourses” too synthesize whatever He had taught and done so as to draw His disciples to follow in the direction He pointed out to them.

b) A deepening:

As we read the passage of this Sunday of Easter, we focus, first of all, on the first word used by Jesus in His farewell discourse: “Now”. “Now has the Son of man been glorified”. Which “now” is this? It is the moment of the cross that coincides with His glorification. This final part of John’s Gospel is a manifestation or revelation. Thus, Jesus’ cross is the “now” of the greatest epiphany or manifestation of truth. In this glorification, there is no question of any meaning that has anything to do with “honor” or “triumphalism”, etc.

On the one hand there is Judas who goes into the night, Jesus prepares for His glory: When he had gone, Jesus said: “Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and in Him God has been glorified. If God has been glorified in Him, God will in turn glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him very soon” (v.31-32). Judas’ betrayal brings to maturity in Jesus the conviction that His death is “glory”. The hour of death on the cross is included in God’s plan; it is the “hour” when the glory of the Father will shine on the world through the glory of the “Son of Man”. In Jesus, who gives His life to the Father at the “hour” of the cross, God is glorified by revealing His divine essence and welcoming humankind into communion with Him.

Jesus’ (the Son’s) glory consists of his extreme love for all men and women, even to giving Himself for those who betray Him. The Son’s love is such that He takes on Himself all those destructive and dramatic situations that burden the life and history of humankind. Judas’ betrayal symbolizes, not so much the action of an individual, as that of the whole of evil humanity, unfaithful to the will of God.

However, Judas’ betrayal remains an event full of mystery. An exegete writes, “In betraying Jesus, it is revelation that is to blame; it is even at the service of revelation” (Simoens, According to John, 561). In a way, Judas’ betrayal gives us the chance of knowing Jesus better; his betrayal has allowed us to see how far Jesus loves His own. Don Primo Mazzolari writes, “The apostles became Jesus’ friends, whether good friends or not, generous or not, faithful or not, they still remain his friends. We cannot betray Jesus’ friendship: Christ never betrays us, his friends, even when we do not deserve it, even when we rebel against him, even when we deny him. In his sight and in his heart we are always his “friends”. Judas is the Lord’s friend even at the moment when he carries out the betrayal of his Master with a kiss” (Discourses 147).

c) The new commandment:

Let us focus our attention on the new commandment.

In v.33 we note a change in Jesus’ farewell discourse. He no longer uses the third person. The Master now addresses “you”. This “you” is in the plural and he uses a Greek word that is full of tenderness “children” (teknía). In using this word and by His tone of voice and openness of heart, Jesus concretely conveys to His disciples the immensity of the tenderness He holds for them.

What is also interesting is another point that we find in v.34: “that you love one another as I have loved you”. The Greek word Kathòs “as” is not meant for comparison: love one another as I have loved you. Its meaning may be consecutive rather than causal: “Because I have loved you, so also love one another.”

There are those who, like Fr. Lagrange, see in this commandment an eschatological meaning: during His relative absence and while waiting for His second coming, Jesus wants us to love and serve Him in the person of His brothers and sisters. The new commandment is the only commandment. If there is no love, there is nothing. Magrassi writes, “Away with labels and classifications: every brother is the sacrament of Christ. Let us examine our daily life: can we live with our brother from morning till night and not accept and love him? The great work in this case is ecstasy in its etymological sense, that is, to go out of myself so as to be neighbor to the one who needs me, beginning with those nearest to me and with the most humble matters of every day life” (Living the church, 113).

d) For our reflection:

- Is our love for our brothers and sisters directly proportional to our love for Christ?

- Do I see the Lord present in the person of my brother and sister?

- Do I use the daily little occasions to do good to others?

- Let us examine our daily life: can I live with my brothers and sisters from morning till night and yet not accept and love them?

- Does love give meaning to the whole of my life?

- What can I do to show my gratitude to the Lord who became servant for me and consecrated His whole life for my good? Jesus replies, “Serve Me in brothers and sisters: this is the most authentic way of showing your practical love for Me.”

3. ORATIO

a) Psalm 23:1-6:

This psalm presents an image of the church journeying accompanied by the goodness and faithfulness of God, until it finally reaches the house of the Father. In this journey she is guided by love that gives it direction: your goodness and your faithfulness pursue me.

Yahweh is my shepherd,

I lack nothing.

In grassy meadows He lets me lie.

By tranquil streams He leads me

to restore my spirit.

He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits His name.

Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death

I should fear no danger,

for You are at my side.

Your staff and Your crook are there to soothe me.

You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup brims over.

Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life.

I make my home in the house of Yahweh

for all time to come.

b) Praying with the Fathers of the Church:

I love You for Yourself, I love You for Your gifts,

I love You for love of You

And I love You in such a way,

That if ever Augustine were God

And God Augustine,

I would want to come back and be who I am, Augustine,

That I may make of You who You are,

Because only You are worthy of being who You are.

Lord, You see,

My tongue raves,

I cannot express myself,

But my heart does not rave.

You know what I experience

And what I cannot express.

I love You, my God,

And my heart is too limited for so much love,

And my strength fails before so much love,

And my being is too small for so much love.

I come out of my smallness

And immerse my whole being in You,

I transform and lose myself.

Source of my being,

Source of my every good:

My love and my God.

(St. Augustine: Confessions)

c) Closing prayer:

Blessed Teresa Scrilli, seized by an ardent desire to respond to the love of Jesus, expressed herself thus:

I love You,

O my God,

In Your gifts;

I love You in my nothingness,

And even in this I understand,

Your infinite wisdom;

I love You in the many varied or extraordinary events,

By which You accompanied my life…

I love You in everything,

Whether painful or peaceful;

Because I do not seek,

Nor have I ever sought,

Your consolations;

Only You, the God of consolations.

That is why I never gloried

Nor delighted in

That which You made me experience entirely gratuitously in Your Divine love,

Nor did I distress and upset myself,

When left arid and small.

(Autobiography, 62)

Fr. George Mangiacina, O.C.D

GOSPEL

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?

By no means! But l cell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"

And he told them this parable: "There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil? He said to him in reply, 'Sir, leave it for this year also. and l shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it: it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down:" LUKE 15: 1-9

ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS

When John of the Cross writes about repentance, he is very thorough. 'Those desiring to climb to the summit of the mount in order to become an altar for the offering of a sacrifice of pure love and praise and reverence to God must first accomplish these three tasks perfectly. First, they must cast out strange gods, all alien affections and attachments. Second, by denying these appetites and repenting of them—through the dark night of the senses—they must purify themselves of the residue. Third, in order to reach the top of this high mount, their garments must be changed. By means of the fro two works, God will substitute new garments for the old. The soul will be clothed in a new understanding of God in God (through removal of the old understanding) and in a new love of God in God, once the will is stripped of all the old cravings and satisfactions. And God will vest the soul with new knowledge when the other old ideas and images are cast aside [Col 3:9]. He causes all that is of the old self, the abilities of one's natural being to cease, mud be attires all the faculties with new supernatural abilities. As a result, one activities, once human, now become divine. This is achieved in the state of union when the soul, in while God alone dwells, has no other fiction than that of an altar on whirl, God is adored in praise and love.

"God commanded that the altar oft& Ark of the Covenant be empty and hollow [Ex 27:8] to remind the soul bow void of all things God wishes it to be i f it is to serve as a worthy dwelling for His Majesty. It was forbidden that the altar have any strange fire, or that its own go out; so much so that when Nadab and Abilm, the sons of the high priest Aaron, offered strange fire on our Lord's altar God became angry and slew them there in front lithe altar [Lv 10:1-2]. The lesson we derive bore is that one love for God must never fail or be mixed with alien love( (tone wants to be a worthy altar of sacrifice. (my emphasis!" (A 1.5.7).

REFLECTION

From time to time we hear the lament that Catholics are not going to confession as much as they used to. Maybe in some way this is good as it shows that Catholics have moved away from confessing minor faults and venial sins. On the other hand, it may be something serious. It may be a sign that we as Catholics have lost our way in knowing how we stand before God. Maybe we have lost knowing how to examine our conscience and our knowledge of who we are.

The selection from John of the Cross challenges us to grow in self-knowledge. While it is true that we do nor worship false gods of the past, we may havc some new ones. For example. how much time and money do we spend for things other than God? or. how much time and energy do we spend for products or services that we cannot afford? Asking ourselves these types of questions can further us along the path of conversion that our Lord calls us to travel today.

PRAYER

Lord, God, through the Season of Lent, you call us to conduct a spiritual spring-cleaning of all that we find within us that is not of you, through prayer, fasting, and self-denial. Grant, we ask, that we may continue to persevere in this work so that when Holy Week arrives, we may be able join in spirit with your Son who will climb the mountain of his gift of self to you through his crucifixion. We ask this through Christ. our Lord. Amen.

Fr. George Mangiaracina, O.C.D

REFLECTION

When Jesus had died on the Cross his dark night came to an end. When did his dark night began is hard to say. Certainly, it was apparent at the Garden of Gethsemene. There was his betrayal by Judas; but even before then Jesus was persecuted by his own after he healed the man who could not make it to the pool because others got in front of him (Jn 5:1-16 ). Whenever this dark night for Jesus began, it affected him in his most intimate center. When this happens to us, it feels as though death would be a relief from the constant torment, a torment that cannot be reasoned away nor consoled by a dear friend or counselor. This was something like Jesus underwent in his dark night.

From an empirical point of view, Jesus suffering and death were no different from that of any other person's suffering and death. His death may have been provoked by him, the crowds, or just simply a mistake. In any case, it was just another human being's suffering and death.

From the point of view of faith, Jesus' suffering and death is the fulfillment of scripture, of God's plan for his Son and the human race. For John the Evangelist, Jesus' death was not a simple dcath of a man, but a triumph of the Son of God planned by God. For John of the Cross, Jesus' death achieved the reconciliation between God and the human race.

Whether you see in Jesus' death a victory over the world planned by God the Father; or, the reconciliation and union of the human race with God through grace, you are seeing the event of Jesus' death through the eyes of faith. This faith comes co us at Baptism and grows stronger or weaker as we invest our life in the reality of Jesus in deeds such as prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and accepting the crosses our own life hands us with faith, hope and love. God has given us the grace to see Jesus' death as salvific but he does not force it upon us to develop that grace. That he leaves to our freedom and our desire to be renewed in being born anew as children of God as John in his Gospel says: But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God"[ Jn 1:12 ].

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, to merit our return to communion with God, our Father, you accepted being emptied for our sake at your Incarnation and again at your Crucifixion. Grant, we ask, that we too may accept those crosses of our self-emptying in imitation of you and in order to participate in the divine life you have merited for us. We ask this in your name. Amen.

by Sister Helena of Mary, O.Carm

In our Catholic liturgical calendar, the Lenten season opens with Ash Wednesday.

I have never been to a desert. I have never seen one. I don’t believe this is a unique experience. I have seen nice pictures of deserts with sand and sun, a play of darkness and light, and they have awakened in me a deep sense of the transcendent and mysterious. But I don’t think I would even try to visit a place like that even if the opportunity arises.

But the desert is often synonymous with the Season of Lent. I guess because a desert embodies a vision of solitude, silence, deprivations and purification. Early in our Christian history, and even at present, some individuals sought God in earnest and were inspired to “leave the world” and fled to the desert to encounter him there. They sought solitude and silence to better hear what God had to say to them. They embraced the deprivations of that cruel place to tame the body and bring it under the control of the spirit. But more often than not, one also meets someone else in the desert- one‘s self. You know the saying "you can run from the world, even run from the devil, but you can never run from yourself." And it’s interesting to note that the best stranger we can meet in life is one’s self.

The Lenten season is a time to do a spiritual inventory. We are invited to take a serious and closer look at ourselves in the light of Jesus’ teachings and make an assessment on where we stand in the spiritual journey. I do not mean here an unhealthy preoccupation with our spiritual profile but an honest approach to gain more self-knowledge. In my opinion, Lent is not a time to cut down on the carbohydrates and sweets just to make us feel good about doing something for Lent. Sadly, even among good people, Lent is turned into "a good time to diet." I liken Lent to a big sale. If we are patient enough and diligent enough to browse around our spiritual nooks and crannies, we may find something worthy our time and attention. During a big sale, those endowed with a flair for shopping may endure the crowd and traffic, for what they consider to be a worthy cause.

If we are honest enough, I think our lives and minds are filled with crowding distractions, preoccupations, inordinate attachments and useless activities of all sorts. We are often times left exhausted and ruffled. But if we find the patience and goodwill to sort through the maze, we might obtain the grace to see the pearl of great price hidden in the midst of them.

For example, why do we work frantically and slavishly like there is no tomorrow? Is it for the glory of God or a hidden self-satisfaction of knowing that nobody else can do a better job? Why do we feel angered when someone disagrees with our opinions? Is it because we love the truth or because we think we are often right basing only on our training, education and authority? Why do we feel offended when someone else takes the initiative of performing an act of charity? Is it true love of service or is it because helping others makes us feel superiorly good? In other words, what motivates you and your good actions? What is the fuel that drives your engine?

These are hard questions to ask ourselves but, more accurately, hard questions to honestly answer. The effort of being honest can shatter our imaginary sense of spiritual security. But this is the consequence of following Jesus. He came so that we may be full of life. We have to give up what is not life-giving and open ourselves to a transfusion of grace that only comes to those who are willing, courageous and humble enough to receive it. But before we can give anything up, we have to name it and own it. This is part of the reason for Lent. After going through this spiritual exercise we will experience the joy of rising with Our Lord at Easter.

The journey to self-knowledge is both exciting and disconcerting. But it is the science of the Saints. It is the door to true life. It is both an acquired skill and an infused gift by the Holy Spirit. We are never able to completely know ourselves and purify ourselves however much we try, according to St. John of the Cross, but we can lay the ground works and do our part. God will eventually finish the job of purification and transformation so that we can be the person he created us to be.  Saint Teresa wisely noted that in looking at ourselves, we must not remain there.  We must immediately turn our gaze back to Jesus.  Why did she say that?  Because there is a danger that in looking too much at our miseries and imperfections, we would fall into discouragement and despair.  But fixing our gaze on Jesus on the Cross, we are reminded that He already knew what kind of person we are but still loved us and went to die for us.  Then are we made to understand that the Heart of God is all merciful.  Realizing this our hearts are engulfed in love and we are moved to love Him back.  "Love is repaid by love alone," says St. John of the Cross.  And John also said, "I look at your Cross, O Christ, and I see there the song of Your love."

Lent is a beautiful time given us by God.  It is a great gift of His mercy.  Let us not receive it in vain.  "If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts."

Sister Helena of Mary, O.Carm is a Carmelite Sister for the Aged and Infirm.

Fr. John Russell, O.Carm.

GOSPEL

JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES:
The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save ir. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?' LUKE 9: 22-25

ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX

On New Year's day, 1888, Jesus again gave me a present of his cross, but this time I was alone in carrying it. It was all the more painful as I did not understand it. A letter from Mother Marie de Gonzague informed me that the Bishop's answer had arrived December 28, feast of the Holy Innocents, but that she bad not told me as it was decided that my entrance would be delayed until after Lent. I was unable to hold back my tears at the thought of such a long wait I really want to believe I must have appeared unreasonable in not accepting my three months exile joyfielly, but I also believe that, without its appearing so, this trial was very great and made me grow very much in abandonment and in the other virtue? (Story of a Soul, 143).

REFLECTION

The cross enters everyone's life and we notice in today's Gospel reading that the cross is a daily event. For St. Therese the cross was experienced in the delay she had to endure before her entrance into the Carmel of Lisieux. She would encounter more crosses in her brief life, e.g., physical illness and temptations regarding the existence of heaven.

People meet the cross in disappointments with children, in job loss and financial crises. Also the cross comes in the form of a migraine headache, in risky surgery, in stress, in long waiting lines, in dryness in prayer, in rejection in relationships. The cross may be brief and transitory or permanent. It may be simply an annoy¬ance or a dark period in one's life which threatens ones overall mental health. In the Christian tradition we walk in the footsteps of Christ, who can take our suffering and turn it into a saving grace for others. We may find that our desire to unite with Christ and his suffering provides us with the ballast of peace and hope. For St. Therese suffering provided the joy of knowing Christ Jesus in profound love.

PRAYER.

Gracious and loving God, your presence among us invites courage and fidelity in adversity. Suffering can cause feelings of anger and pain as well as a heart that may question your goodness. Take our lives and transform our hearts to cruse in your love and your presence within us. Like St. Therese may we obtain the grace of abandonment to your providential love. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

by  Fr. Leopold

Camtelites take their primary inspiration from the fiery prophet of Mount Carmel, Elijah the Tishbite. The Books of Kings relate the exploits of this committed man of God, a hero to Jews, Christians and Moslems alike. His name means "My God is Yahweh," and Elijah is uncompromising on that fact.

The story is set in the 9th century BC, during the violent reign of King Ahab, velto probably ruled from about 869 to 850 BC. He represents a new low in corruption and infidelity to Israel's faithful God. Ahab complicated his own shortcomings by marrying Jezebel of lyre, a queen whose name has become a symbol of evil and debauchery: Jezebel worked actively to stamp out the worship of the true God, and kill those vitro tried to remain faithful.

She promoted the worship of Baal, the lyro-Canaanite god of storms and fertility. Baal ("the Lord") was identified with the forces of nature which sustain crops and domestic animals. Worship was simple and uncomplicated by any moral standards. Symbolic offerings of grain and animals were seen as "bribes" for favorable weather conditions. Male and female prostitution through temples of Baal invited worshippers to "greater union" with the god. Jewish prophets preached vigorously against contact with idolaters, because of the dangers of following these rites in a moment of weakness.

So Elijah's confrontation of Ahab and Jezebel is presented as a showdown between Yahweh and Baal. It is not a question of which god is stronger, but of which is truly God. Elijah asserts that No rain or dew will fall on Israel until the word comes from my mouth." Since rain and weather were the realm of Baal, Elijah effectively slaps Ahab's god in the Lace.

Israel begins to dry up. Elijah went to his town of Tishbe beyond the Jordan. Beside the Wadi Cherith, ravens brought him food, just as God had fed the Israelites in the desert. When even this water source went dry, God directed him to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon. Deep in the heartland of Baal's cult, Elijah stays with a poor widow, who is also feeling the scarcity of the drought. The widow is not Jewish, but she recognizes the holiness of her guest. Her supply of food never fails, and God even raises her son to life. This simple woman accepts Elijah as a man of God.

After three years of drought, God sends Elijah back for a final test of strength. Jezebel likely ran the religious and domestic affairs of the kingdom, so Elijah takes aim at her hold on power. He challenges her prophets of Baal to a contest. On the slopes of Mount Cannel (a parallel to Sinai) he arranges for his competition, Two bulls are slaughtered and placed on altars to be burnt. Only the fire is missing. He taunts the prophets that their god of lightning and fire should make short work of the sacrifice.

As they pray and shriek loudly, Elijah ridicules the prophets and their god, very effectively making fools of them. Ile suggests that Baal is too stupid or incompetent to hear them, even day-dreaming, napping, or "on a journey' (which is a euphemism for answering the call of nature). After hours of wasted hysteria, the prophets have totally discredited themselves. Elijah calls the people to God. He drenches the bull and altar with water, an extravagant waste after a three-year drought.

Elijah addresses a simple prayer to God, and receives fire without delay. Just as the fire and the blood are the people's proof of God's power, so the rain will be the proof for Ahab. Elijah announces that rain will finally come. The wisp of cloud rising from the sea represents the hand of God, present in human affairs. The cloud grows, the rain begins, and Elijah runs ahead of Ahab's chariot back to Jezreel. There is no doubt who has won the contest between gods.

Ironically, Elijah has a crisis of courage after his greatest triumph; he feels afraid, and runs for his life. This retreat from Israel presents a vibrant image of our prophet as one who truly "stood before God." By describing himself in this manner, Elijah is describing an attitude: he lives in the conscious recognition that God and his power are everywhere.

Elijah's pilgrimage to Horeb takes him into the southern desert, away from Israel. God's question Elijah, why are you here?" is a mild rebuke to one who has left his assigned land. Elijah responds with self-pity that he is the only faithful one left. So God points out that there are still thousands of good people and that Elijah's work is already bearing fruit. God confronts this lack of courage with a demonstration of his presence. we learn that God is not in the wind, earthquake, or fire. Yet Elijah finds God's presence in the gentle silence which follows the more spectacular physical display. God is spirit, not a natural force, and talks to prophets as directly as he wishes.

Elijah returns home to food and companionship, and prepares the final stroke against Ahab andJezebel, who compound their evil activity by the murder of Naboth. Poor Naboth is treacherously killed because he is faithful. Elijah predicts the end of king and queen in grisly detail, and passes out of their lives forever. God is done with them, and so is he!

He selects Elisha as his successor, and then is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. The "double portion- of his spirit which Elisha requests is a special blessing, since the eldest son traditionally got twice the inheritance of other children. Elijah's cloak symbolizes his continuing presence, and the chariot sunds for the protection which God gives to faithful people.

Elijah shows how God is exciting enough to take our breath away. He lives in God's presence, confronts injustice and evil, and stands for a kind of allegiance to God which no one can misunderstand. If Ahab and Jezebel seem to be hapless victims of their own mistakes, their first failure was ignoring the God who is really there.

by Father John Welch, O.Carm.

She has been called a "Vatican II in miniature." Young Therese Martin as a Carmelite nun anticipated many of the contributions of that great pastoral council. The Fathers of the Council frequently invoked her name both in formal and informal sessions. And today her contributions are recognized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Saint Therese of Lisieux, “the Little Flower,” died in 1897 at the age of 24. Her spirituality was rooted in the gospels, long before Catholics were turning to scripture for nourishment. She preferred to think of the Blessed Virgin not as a Queen but as a young peasant woman facing the daily tasks common to all. Therese reinvigorated our belief in the "communion of saints." She trusted that her deceased family members still cared and heard her prayers. She herself promised not to forget those of us who remained on earth after her death.

Best of all, Saint Therese of Lisieux restored our confidence in a God who is loving and merciful. In a time when religion focused on sin and God's punishment, Therese relied on a God whose justice would take into account our poverty, and whose love would never turn away. Her little way is not a lessening of desire nor a retreat from life. It is a way of proceeding with absolute trust in God's merciful love. Therese declared, "Everything is grace!"

When Therese, under instructions from her prioress, wrote her autobiography, Story of A Soul, she said she was "singing of the mercies of the Lord." Our ordinary lives are filled with daily miracles, the mercies of the Lord. And she quoted Saint Paul: "So then there is question not of him who wills nor of him who runs but of God showing mercy' (Rom 9,16). Her emphasis was not on what she had done in her lifetime, but on what God's presence and love had done in and through her.

Thomas Merton attributed his vocation to her inspiration. Dorothy Day wrote a biography of Saint Therese. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said she chose her name, not from the great Saint Teresa of Avila, but from little Therese. In 1997 Pope John Paul II declared her "Doctor of the Universal Church," one of only 33 individuals to receive that recognition, and the third woman, after Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Catherine of Sienna. The Pope referred to Therese as one of the great masters of the spiritual life in our time."

Confidence and love

The Little Flower was convinced that God is not looking for people to punish. God is looking for people to love. Therese said, "How few there are who are willing to open their lives to that love." God's love is a transforming love. God wants to love people into life, into freedom, into a profound friendship.

When her sister Marie complained that she herself had none of the great desires to be holy that Therese had, Therese said it is not our virtues or our great desires God loves it is our "littleness." She wrote to Marie: The more one is weak, without desires and without virtues, the more one is suited for the operation of God's consuming and transforming love." We do not earn God's love; it is freely given. Therese is expressing a true, biblical faith when she said to Marie, It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to love."

Saint Therese's short life had its share of sorrows, including several final months of intense physical suffering, and challenges to her faith. Anticipating her death, Therese wrote to a missionary priest, When I shall have arrived at port, I will teach you how to travel...on the stormy sea of the world; with the surrender and love of a child who knows God loves us and cannot leave us alone in the hour of danger... it is the way of simple love and confidence."

Bishop Patrick Ahern, an ardent devotee of Saint Therese, described her spirituality: "The Little Way finds joy in the present moment. In being pleased to be the person you are, whoever you are. It is a school of self-acceptance, which goes beyond accepting who you are to wanting to be who you are. It is a way of coming to terms with life, not as it might be but as it is."

As she promised, the Little Flower went to God "With empty hands," knowing that would be enough. Her Feast is celebrated October 1.