Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Father,
Your love never fails.
Hear our call.
Keep us from danger
and provide for all our needs.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Mark 12:1-12
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture passage: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?" They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away.
3) Reflection
• Jesus is in Jerusalem. It is the last week of His life. He has returned to the portico of the Temple (Mk 11:27) where He now begins the direct confrontation with the authorities. Chapters 11 and 12 describe the diverse aspects of this confrontation: (a) with the men buying and selling in the Temple (Mk 12:11-26), (b) with the priests, elders and the scribes (Mk 11:27 and 12:12), (c) with the Pharisees and the Herodians (Mk 12:13-17), (d) with the Sadducees (Mk 12:18-27), and (e) once again with the scribes (Mk 12:28-40). Finally at the end the confrontation with all of them, Jesus comments on the widow’s mite (Mk 12:41-44). Today’s Gospel describes part of the conflict with the priests, elders and the scribes (Mk 12:1-12). All of these confrontations make the disciples, and us, understand more clearly what is Jesus’ plan and what is the intention of those who have power.
• Mark 12:1-9: The parable of the vineyard: the direct response of Jesus to men of power. The parable of the vineyard is a summary of the history of Israel. A beautiful summary taken from the prophet Isaiah (Is 5:1-7). Through this story, Jesus gives an indirect response to the priests, scribes and elders who had asked Him, “What authority have You for acting like this? Who gave You authority to act like this?" (Mk 11:28). In this parable Jesus (a) reveals the origin of His authority: He is the Son, the heir (Mk 12:6); (b) He denounces the abuse of the authority of the tenants, that is, of the priests and of the elders who were not concerned about the people of God (Mk 12:3-8); (c) He defends the authority of the prophets, sent by God, but massacred by the tenants of the vineyard! (Mk 12:2-5); (d) He unmasks the authority which manipulates religion and kills the son because they do not want to lose the source of income which they have succeeded in accumulating for themselves throughout the centuries (Mk 12:7).
• Mark 12:10-12: The decision of men of power confirms the denunciation made by God. The priests, the scribes and the elders understood very well the meaning of the parable, but they were not converted. Rather, they maintained their own plan to arrest Jesus (Mk 12:12). They rejected “the cornerstone” (Mk 12:10), but they do not have the courage to do it openly, because they fear the people. Thus, the disciples know what awaits them if they follow Jesus!
• The men of power at the time of Jesus: In chapters 11 and 12 of the Gospel of Mark we see those in power: priests, elders and scribes (Mk 11:27); Pharisees and Herodians (Mk 12:13); and Sadducees (Mk 12:18).
-Priests: They were the ones in charge of the worship in the Temple, where one tenth of the income was collected. The High priest occupied a central place in the life of the people, especially after the exile. He was chosen among the families who had more power and who were richer.
-Elders or Chiefs of the people: They were the local chiefs, in the villages and in the cities. Their origin was the heads of the ancient tribes.
-scribes or Doctors of the Law: they were those in charge of teaching. They dedicated their life to the study of the Law of God and taught the people how to observe the Law of God in all things. Not all the scribes followed the same line. Some of them were with the Pharisees, others with the Sadducees.
- Pharisees: Pharisee means “separated.” They fought in order that by means of the perfect observance of the Law of purity, people would succeed in becoming pure, separated, and holy as the Law and Tradition demanded! By means of the exemplary witness of their life within the norms of the time, they governed in almost all the villages of Galilee.
-Herodians: this was a group bound to Herod Antipas of Galilee who governed from 4 BC until 39 AD. The Herodians formed part of an elite class who did not expect the Kingdom of God in the future, but who considered it already present in Herod’s kingdom.
- Sadducees: They were an elite class, willing to incorporate Hellenism into their lives. They did not believe in oral law, only a literal interpretation of the written law, and thus, they did not accept the changes defended by the Pharisees, for example, faith in a resurrection and the existence of angels.
- Sanhedrin: This was the Supreme Tribunal of the Jews with 71 members among high priests, elders, Pharisees and scribes. It had the role of great power before the people and represented the nation before the Roman authority.
4) Personal questions
• What is your reaction to Church authority? What is the difference between “just authority” and “unjust authority”?
• How do you exercise authority within your community, your family, and among peers?
• A position of authority is often at odds with humility. How do you, or would you, balance authority and humility in action?
5) Concluding Prayer
Integrity and generosity are marks of Yahweh
for He brings sinners back to the path.
Judiciously He guides the humble,
instructing the poor in His way. (Ps 25:8-9)
The promise of the Spirit:
Jesus will send the Spirit in the Father’s name
John 16:12-15
1. LECTIO
a) Opening prayer:
O God, who in sending Your Son Jesus have revealed abundantly Your love for the salvation of all people, stay always with us and continue to reveal Your attributes of compassion, mercy, clemency and fidelity. Spirit of Love, help us to grow in the knowledge of the Son so that we may have life.
Grant that, by meditating Your Word on this feast day, we may become more aware that Your mystery is a hymn to shared love. You are our God and not a solitary God. You are Father, fruitful source. You are Son, Word made flesh, close and fraternal love. You are Spirit, all-embracing love.
b) Reading of the Gospel:
Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."
c) A time of prayerful silence:
With St. Augustine we say, “Grant me time to meditate on the secrets of your law, do not shut the door to those who knock. Lord, fulfill your plan in me and unveil those pages. Grant that I may find grace before you and that the deep secrets of your Word may be revealed to me when I knock.”
2. MEDITATIO
a) Preamble:
Before we start the Lectio, it is important to pause briefly on the context of our liturgical passage. Jesus’ words in Jn 16:12-15 are part of a section of the Gospel known by exegetes as the Book of Glory (13:1-17:26). In His farewell discourse, Jesus reveals His intimate self, calls the disciples friends and promises them the Holy Spirit who will accompany them as they accept the mystery of His person. The disciples, then, are invited to grow in love towards the Master who gives Himself to them completely.
In this section, we can distinguish three well-defined sequences or parts. The first includes chapters 13-14 and treats of the following theme: the new community is founded on the new commandment of love. Through His instructions, Jesus explains that the practice of love is the way that the community must walk in its journey to the Father. In the second part, Jesus describes the position of the community in midst of the world. He reminds them that the community He founded carries out its mission in the midst of a hostile world and can only acquire new members if it practices love. This is the meaning of “bearing fruit” on the part of the community. The condition for a fruitful love in the world is: remain united to Jesus. It is from Him that life flows – the Spirit (Jn 15:1-6); union with Jesus with a love like His so as to establish a relationship of friendship between Jesus and His disciples (Jn 15:7-17).
The community’s mission, like that of Jesus, will be carried out in the midst of the hatred of the world, but the disciples will be strengthened by the Spirit (Jn 15:26-16:15). Jesus tells them that the mission in the world implies pain and joy and that He will be absent-present (Jn 16:16-23a). He simply assures them of the support of the Father’s love and His victory over the world (Jn 16:23b-33). The third part of this section includes Jesus’ prayer: He prays for His present community (Jn 17:6-19); for the community of the future (Jn 17:20-23); and expresses His desire that the Father glorify those who have known Him and, finally, that His mission in the world may be fulfilled (Jn 17:24-26).
b) Meditation:
- The voice of the Spirit is Jesus’ voice
Previously, in Jn 15:15, Jesus had told His disciples what He had heard from the Father. This message was not nor could it have been grasped by the disciples in all its force. The reason is that the disciples, for the present, ignored the meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross and the substitution of the new way of salvation for the old. With His death, a new and definitive saving power comes into the life of humanity. The disciples will understand Jesus’ words and actions after the resurrection (Jn 2:22) or after His death (Jn 12:16).
In Jesus’ teaching there are many matters and messages to be understood by the community as it gradually faces new events and circumstances; it is in daily life and in the light of the resurrection that it will understand the meaning of His death-exaltation.
It will be the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ prophet, who will communicate to the disciples what they have heard from Him. In the mission that Jesus’ community will carry out it will be the Holy Spirit who will communicate to them the truth in that He will explain and help them to apply that which Jesus is and means as the manifestation of the Father’s love. Through His prophetic messages, the community does not transmit a new doctrine but constantly proposes the reality of the person of Jesus, in the witness to and orientation of its mission in the world. The voice of the Holy Spirit, which the community will hear, is the voice of Jesus Himself. In the wake of the Old Testament prophets who interpreted history in the light of the covenant, the Holy Spirit becomes the determining factor in making Jesus known, giving the community of believers the key to an understanding of history as a continual confrontation between what the “world” stands for and God’s plan. The starting point for reading one’s presence in the world is Jesus’ death-exaltation, and as Christians grow in this understanding they will discover in daily life “the sin of the world” and its harmful effects.
The role of the Holy Spirit is a determining factor for the interpretation of the mystery of Jesus’ life in the life of the disciples: He is their guide in undertaking a just commitment on behalf of humanity. To succeed in their activities for humankind, the disciples have to listen to the problems of life and history, and be attentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, the only reliable source for getting a real sense of the historical events in the world.
- The Holy Spirit’s voice: true interpreter of history
Then Jesus explains how the Holy Spirit interprets human life and history. First, by manifesting His “glory”, that He will take “what is Mine”. More specifically, “what is Mine” means that the Holy Spirit draws His message from Jesus, whatever Jesus said. To manifest the glory means manifesting the love that He has shown by His death. These words of Jesus are very important because they avoid reducing the role of the Holy Spirit to an illumination. The Spirit’s role is to communicate Jesus’ love and places Jesus’ words in harmony with His message and also with the deeper sense of His life: Love expressed in giving His life on the cross. This is the Holy Spirit’s role, the Spirit of truth. Two aspects of the role of the Holy Spirit that enable the community of believers to interpret history are: listening to the message and understanding it, and being in harmony with love. Better still, Jesus’ words mean to communicate that only through the communication of the love of the Holy Spirit is it possible to know who a person is, to understand the purpose of life, and to create a new world. The model is always Jesus’ love.
- Jesus, the Father, the Holy Spirit and the community of believers (v.15)
What does Jesus mean when He says “everything the Father has is Mine”? First that what Jesus has is shared with the Father. The first gift of the Father to Jesus was His glory (Jn 1:14), or more precisely, faithful love, the Spirit (Jn 1:32; 17:10). This communication is not to be understood as static but rather as dynamic, that is, on- going and mutual. In this sense the Father and Jesus are one. Such mutual and constant communication permeates Jesus activity so that He is able to realize the designs of the Father and His plan for the whole of creation. So that believers may be able to understand and interpret history, they are called to live in harmony with Jesus, accepting the reality of His love and making this love concrete for others. This is the Father’s plan that the love of Jesus for His disciples may be realized in all. God’s plan as realized in Jesus’ life must be realized in the community of believers and guide the believer’s commitment in their endeavor to improve everyone’s life. Who carries out the Father’s plan in Jesus’ life? It is the Holy Spirit who unites Jesus and the Father and carries out and fulfills the Father’s plan and makes the community of believers partakers in this dynamic activity of Jesus: “will be taken from what is Mine”. Thanks to the action of truth of the Holy Spirit, the community listens to Him and communicates Him concretely as love.
The Holy Spirit communicates to the disciples all the truth and wealth of Jesus; He dwells in Jesus; “comes” into the community and when He is received renders the community partakers in Jesus’ love.
b) A few questions:
- A serious danger threatens the Christian community today. Are we not tempted to divide Jesus, following either a human Jesus who through His actions has changed history, or a glorious Jesus detached from His earthly existence and thus also from ours?
- Are we aware that Jesus is not just a historical example but also and above all the present Savior? That Jesus is not just an object of contemplation and joy, but the Messiah whom we must follow and with whom we must collaborate?
- God is not an abstraction, but the Father made visible in Jesus. Are you committed to “seeing Him” and recognizing Him in Jesus’ humanity?
- Do you listen to the voice of the Spirit of truth who communicates to you Jesus’ whole truth?
3. ORATIO
a) Psalm 103: Send your Spirit, Lord, to renew the earth
This is a joyful hymn of thanksgiving that invites us to meditate on humanity’s fall and God’s eternal mercy. After sin, sickness and death, comes the kind and loving action of God: He fills us with good things all our lives.
Bless Yahweh, my soul,
from the depths of my being,
His holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all His acts of kindness.
He forgives all your offenses,
cures all your diseases,
He redeems your life from the abyss,
crowns you with faithful love and tenderness;
He contents you with good things all your life,
renews your youth like an eagle's.
Yahweh acts with uprightness,
with justice to all who are oppressed;
He revealed to Moses His ways,
His great deeds to the children of Israel.
Yahweh is tenderness and pity,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love;
His indignation does not last for ever,
nor His resentment remain for all time;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve,
nor repay us as befits our offenses.
As tenderly as a father treats his children,
so Yahweh treats those who fear Him;
But Yahweh's faithful love for those who fear Him
is from eternity and for ever;
Bless Yahweh, all His angels,
mighty warriors who fulfill His commands,
attentive to the sound of His words.
Bless Yahweh, all His armies,
servants who fulfill His wishes.
Bless Yahweh, all His works,
in every place where He rules.
Bless Yahweh, my soul.
b) Closing prayer:
Spirit of truth
You make us children of God,
so that we can approach the Father in trust.
Father, we turn to You
with one heart and one soul
and we ask You:
Father, send Your Holy Spirit!
Send Your Spirit upon the Church.
May every Christian grow in harmony with Christ’s love,
with the love of God and of neighbor.
Father, renew our trust
in the Kingdom that Jesus came to proclaim
and to incarnate on earth.
Let us not be dominated by delusion
or be conquered by weariness.
May our communities be a leaven
that produces justice and peace
in our society.
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God, loving Father,
Mary went with haste to visit
her cousin Elizabeth in her hour of need.
May we too rejoice in the Lord
when we can hurry to see people
to bring them the Lord
as we to share in their needs and their joys.
With Mary, may we become
a blessing to them.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 1,39-56
Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth.
Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, 'Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.'
And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name,
and his faithful love extends age after age to those who fear him.
He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly.
He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love
-according to the promise he made to our ancestors -- of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.
Mary stayed with her some three months and then went home.
3) Reflection
• Today is the Feast of the Visitation of the Virgin, and the Gospel narrates the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. When Luke speaks of Mary, he thinks of the communities of his time which lived dispersed in the cities of the Roman Empire and offers to them, Mary as a model of how they should relate to the Word of God. Once, hearing Jesus speak about God, a woman in the crowd exclaimed: “Blessed the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you”, praising the mother of Jesus. Immediately Jesus answered: “More blessed still are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Lk 11, 27-28). Mary is the model of the faithful community which knows how to live and practice the Word of God. In describing the visit of Mary to Elizabeth, he teaches how the communities should act in order to transform the visit of God into service of the brother and sisters.
• The episode of the visit of Mary to Elizabeth also shows another typical aspect of Luke. All the words and the attitudes, especially the Canticle of Mary, form a great celebration of praise. It seems to be a description of a solemn Liturgy. Thus, Luke evokes the liturgical and celebrative environment, in which Jesus was formed and in which the communities should live their own faith.
• Luke 1, 39-40: Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Luke stresses the haste with which Mary responds to the demands of the Word of God. The Angel spoke to her about the pregnancy of Elizabeth and Mary, immediately, rises in order to verify what the Angel had announced, she goes out of the house to help a person in need. From Nazareth to the mountain of Judah there are about 100 kilometres! There were no buses or trains!
• Luke 1, 41-44: The greeting of Elizabeth. Elizabeth represents the Old Testament which ends. Mary, the New One which is beginning. The Old Testament welcomes, accepts the New One with gratitude and trust, recognizing in it the gratuitous gift of God which comes to realize and to complete whatever expectation people had. In the encounter of the two women, is manifested the gift of the Spirit which makes the child jump with joy in Elizabeth’s womb. The Good News of God reveals his presence in one of the most common things of human life: two housewives who exchange the visit to help one another. A visit, joy, pregnancy, children, reciprocal help, house, family: Luke wants to make the communities (and all of us) understand and discover the presence of the Kingdom. The words of Elizabeth, up until now, form part of the best known and most recited Psalm in the world, which is the Hail Mary.
• Luke 1, 45: The praise which Elizabeth makes of Mary. “Blessed is she who believed that the promise made by the Lord would be fulfilled”. This is Luke’s advice to the communities: to believe in the Word of God, because it has the force to realize what it says. It is a creative Word. It generates a new life in the womb of a virgin, in the womb of the poor and abandoned people who accept it with faith.
• Luke 1, 46-56: The canticle of Mary. Most probably, this canticle was already known and sung in the Communities. It teaches how it should be prayed and sung. Luke 1, 46-56: Mary begins proclaiming the change which has come about in her life under the loving look of God, full of mercy. This is why she sings joyfully: “My spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour”. Luke 1, 51-53: she sings the fidelity of God toward his people and proclaims the change which the arm of Yahweh is bringing about in behalf of the poor and the hungry. The expression “arm of God” recalls the liberation of the Exodus. It is this saving force of God which gives life to the change: he has routed the arrogant of heart (1, 51), he has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly (1, 52), he has sent the rich away empty, and has filled the starving with good things (1, 53). Luke 1, 54-55: at the end, she recalls that all that is the expression of God’s mercy toward his people and an expression of his fidelity to the promises made to Abraham. The Good News is not a response to the observance of the Law, but the expression of the goodness and the fidelity of God to the promises made. That is what Paul taught in the letters to the Galatians and to the Romans.
The second Book of Samuel tells the story of the Ark of the Covenant. David wants to put in his own house, but he is frightened and says: “How can the Ark of Yahweh come to be with me?” (2 S 6, 9). Then David ordered that the Ark be placed in the house of Obed-Edom. And the Ark of Yahweh remained three months in the house of Obed-Edom, and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and his whole family” (2 S 6, 11). Mary, waiting for Jesus, is like the Ark of the Covenant which, in the Old Testament, visited the houses of the persons granting benefits. She goes to Elizabeth’s house and remained there three months. And while she is in Elizabeth’s house, the whole family is blessed by God. The community should be like the New Ark of the Covenant. Visiting the house of the persons, it should take benefits and the grace of God to the people.
4) Personal questions
• What prevents us from discovering and living the joy of God’s presence in our life?
• Where and how does the joy of the presence of God take place today in my life and in that of the community?
5) Concluding Prayer
Bless Yahweh, my soul, from the depths of my being,
his holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all his acts of kindness. (Ps 103,1-2)
1) Opening prayer
Holy God,
we often turn our hearts
into houses of pride and greed
rather than into homes of love and goodness
where you can feel at home.
Destroy the temple of sin in us,
drive out all evil from our hearts
and make us living stones of a community
in which can live and reign
your Son Jesus Christ,
our living Lord for ever and ever.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 11:25-30
At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.
Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
'Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.'
3) Reflection
• Today we celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the Gospel we will listen to the invitation of Jesus: “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart”. The Gospel shows the tenderness with which Jesus welcomes, accepts the little ones. He wanted the poor to find rest and peace in him.
• The context of chapters 11 and 12 of Matthew. In this context is stressed and made evident the fact that the poor are the only ones to understand and to accept the wisdom of the Kingdom. Many people did not understand this preference of Jesus for the poor and the excluded.
a) John the Baptist, who looked at Jesus with the eyes of the past, had doubts (Mt 11, 1-15)
b) The people, who looked at Jesus with a purpose of their own interests, were not capable to understand him (Mt 11, 16-19).
c) The great cities around the lake, which listened to Jesus’ preaching and saw the miracles, did not want to open themselves to his message (Mt 11, 20-24).
d) The wise and the Doctors, who judged everything according to their own science, were not capable to understand the preaching of Jesus (Mt 11, 25).
e) Not even his relatives understood him (Mt 12, 46-50).
f) Only the little ones understood him and accepted the Good News of the Kingdom (Mt 11, 25-30).
g) The others want sacrifice, but Jesus wants mercy (Mt 12, 1-8).
h) The reaction against Jesus impels the Pharisees to want to kill him (Mt 12, 9-14).
i) They said that Jesus was Beelzebul (Mt 12, 22-32).
j) But Jesus did not draw back. He continues to assume the mission of Servant, as described in the prophecies (Mt 12, 15-21). This is why he was persecuted and condemned to death.
• Matthew 11, 25-26: Only the little ones understand and accept the Good News of the Kingdom. Jesus addresses a prayer to the Father: “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do!” The wise, the doctors of that time, had created a series of laws which they imposed upon the people in the name of God. They thought that God demanded this observance from the people. But the Law of love, brought by Jesus, said the contrary. What is important is not what we do for God, but rather what God, in his great love, does for us! People understood the words of Jesus and were filled with joy. The wise thought that Jesus was not right. They could not understand this teaching which modified the relationship of the people of God.
• Matthew 11, 27: The origin of the New Law: The Son knows the Father. Jesus, the Son, knows the Father. He knows what the Father wanted when, centuries before, he gave the Law to Moses. What the Father wants to tell us, he handed it to Jesus, and Jesus revealed it to the little ones, because they opened themselves to his message. Today, also, Jesus continues to teach many things to the poor and to the little ones. The wise and the intelligent do well if they become pupils of the little ones!
• Matthew 11, 28-30: “Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest”. Jesus invites all those who are tired to find rest in him. These are the people who are tired under the weight of the impositions and the observances which the law of purity demanded. And he says: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart”. Many times this phrase has been manipulated to ask people to submit themselves, to be passive. What Jesus wants to say is the contrary. He asks people to leave aside the professors of religion of that time, to rest and to begin to learn from him, from Jesus, who is “gentle and humble of heart”. Jesus does not do like the Scribes who pride themselves of their own science, but he is like the people who live humiliated and exploited. Jesus, the new teacher, knows from experience what happens in the heart of the people and how much the people suffer.
• The invitation of divine wisdom to all those who seek it. Jesus invites all those who are oppressed under the weight of the observance of the law to find rest in him, because he is gentle and humble of heart, capable of relieving and consoling the people who suffer, who feel tired and depressed (Mt 11, 25-30). In this invitation resound the beautiful words of Isaiah who consoled the people who lived in exile (Is 55, 1-3). This invitation is bound to divine wisdom, which invites persons to the encounter with her (Ws 24, 19), saying: “her ways are filled with delight; her paths all lead to contentment” (Pr 3, 17). And he adds: “Wisdom brings up her own children and cares for those who seek her. Whoever loves her, loves life, those who seek her early will be filled with joy” (Si 4, 11-12). This invitation reveals a very important characteristic of the feminine face of God: tenderness and acceptance which consoles, which gives life to persons and leads them to feel well. Jesus is defence, the protection and the maternal womb which the Father offers to people who are tired (cfr. Is 66, 10-13).
4) Personal questions
• What produces tension in you and what gives you peace? For you, to live in community, is it a source of tension or of peace?
• How can these words of Jesus help our community to be a place of rest for our life?
5) Concluding Prayer
Yahweh is tenderness and pity,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love;
his indignation does not last for ever,
nor his resentment remain for all time. (Ps 103,8-9)
1) Opening prayer
Lord,
guide the course of world events
and give your Church the joy and peace
of serving you in freedom.
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Mark 10,46-52
As Jesus left Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus -- that is, the son of Timaeus -- a blind beggar, was sitting at the side of the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and cry out, 'Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.' And many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he only shouted all the louder, 'Son of David, have pity on me.' Jesus stopped and said, 'Call him here.' So they called the blind man over. 'Courage,' they said, 'get up; he is calling you.' So throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus. Then Jesus spoke, 'What do you want me to do for you?' The blind man said to him, 'Rabbuni, let me see again.' Jesus said to him, 'Go; your faith has saved you.' And at once his sight returned and he followed him along the road.
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today describes the cure of the blind man Bartimaeus (Mk 10, 46-52) which closes the long teaching of Jesus about the Cross. At the beginning of this teaching, there was the cure of an anonymous blind man (Mk 8, 22-26). Both cures of blind persons are the symbol of what happened between Jesus and the disciples.
• Mark 10, 46-47: The shouting of the blind man Bartimaeus. Finally, after travelling a long distance, Jesus and the disciples reached Jericho, the last stop before going up toward Jerusalem. Bartimaeus, the blind man was sitting at the side of the road. He could not take part in the procession which accompanies Jesus. But he calls out, asking for the help of Jesus: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” Throughout the centuries, through the practice of the monks of the desert, this invocation of the poor Bartimaeus became what is usually called: “The prayer of Jesus”. The monks repeated it orally, all the time, and from the mouth it went to the heart. The person, after a short time, no longer prays, in the sense that the person becomes prayer.
• Mark 10, 48-51: Jesus listens to the cry of the blind man. The cry of the poor man bothers people. Those who are in the procession try to stop the poor man from shouting, but “he shouted even louder!” And what does Jesus do? He listens to the call of the poor man, he stops and said: Call him here! Those who wanted to keep him from shouting, to stop the disturbing shout of the poor man, now, at the request of Jesus, are obliged to bring the poor man to Jesus. “Courage, get up because Jesus is calling you”. Bartimaeus leaves everything and directs himself to Jesus. He does not have too much. Only a mantle; what he had to cover his body (cfr. Ex 22, 25-26). This was his security, the only thing he possessed. Jesus asks: “What do you want me to do for you?” It is not enough to shout. It is necessary to know why we shout! “Rabbuni, My Lord, let me see again!” Bartimaeus had called Jesus not with thoughts completely just, because the title “Son of David” was not particularly appropriate. Jesus himself had criticized this (Mk 12, 35-37). But Bartimaeus had greater faith in Jesus than what he could express with his ideas about Jesus. He does not express any demands as Peter did. He knows how to give his life without imposing any conditions, and the miracle takes place.
• Mark 10, 52: “Your faith has saved you”. Jesus tells him: “Go, your faith has saved you.” In that same instant Bartimaeus began to see again and he followed Jesus along the road. His cure is the result of his faith in Jesus. Once cured, he abandons everything, follows Jesus along the road and goes up with him toward Calvary to Jerusalem. Bartimaeus becomes a model disciple for all of us who want to “follow Jesus along the road” in the direction of Jerusalem. In this decision of walking with Jesus is found the source of courage and the seed of the victory on the Cross. Because the cross is not fatal, nor an exigency from God. It is the consequence of the commitment assumed with God, to serve the brothers and sisters and to reject privileges.
• Faith is a force which transforms persons. The cure of the blind man Bartimaeus clarifies a very important aspect of how faith in Jesus should be. Peter had said to Jesus: “You are the Christ!” (Mk 8, 29). His doctrine was right, exact, because Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. But when Jesus says that the Messiah has to suffer, Peter reacts and does not accept. Peter had a right doctrine, but his faith in Jesus was not so just. Bartimaeus, on the contrary, had called Jesus with the title of “Son of David!” (Mk 10, 47. Jesus was not too pleased with this title (Mk 12, 35-37). And this is why, even invoking Jesus with a doctrine which is not correct, Bartimaeus had faith and was cured! It was different from that of Peter (Mk 8, 32-33), he believed more in Jesus than in the ideas that he had of Jesus. He was converted and followed Jesus along the road toward Calvary (Mk 10, 52). The total understanding of the following of Jesus is not obtained through a theoretical teaching, but with practical commitment, walking with him along the road of service and of gratuity, from Galilee to Jerusalem. Anyone who insists in maintaining the idea of Peter, that is, a glorious Messiah without the Cross, will understand nothing of Jesus and will never be able to attain the attitude of a true disciple. Anyone who believes in Jesus and “gives” himself (Mk 8, 35), accepts “to be the last one” (Mk 9, 35), to “drink the cup and to carry the cross” Mc 10, 38), this person, like Bartimaeus, even having a not too correct idea, will succeed to perceive and “to follow Jesus along the road” (Mk 10, 52). In this certainty of walking with Jesus is found the source of courage and the seed of the victory on the cross.
4) Personal questions
• An indiscreet question: “In my way of living faith, am I like Peter or like Bartimaeus?
• Today, in the Church, is the majority of the people like Peter or like Bartimaeus?
5) Concluding Prayer
Yahweh is good,
his faithful love is everlasting,
his constancy from age to age. (Ps 100,5)
1) Opening prayer
Lord,
guide the course of world events
and give your Church the joy and peace
of serving you in freedom.
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Mark 10,32-45
They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem; Jesus was walking on ahead of them; they were in a daze, and those who followed were apprehensive. Once more taking the Twelve aside he began to tell them what was going to happen to him, 'Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the gentiles, who will mock him and spit at him and scourge him and put him to death; and after three days he will rise again.' James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him. 'Master,' they said to him, 'We want you to do us a favour.' He said to them, 'What is it you want me to do for you?' They said to him, 'Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.' But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I shall drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I shall be baptised?' They replied, 'We can.' Jesus said to them, 'The cup that I shall drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I shall be baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.'
When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, 'You know that among the gentiles those they call their rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. Among you this is not to happen. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of man himself came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel narrates the third announcement of the Passion and, once again, like in the previous times, it shows us the incoherence of the disciples (cfr. Mk 8, 31-33 and Mk 9, 30-37). Jesus insists on the service and on the gift of one’s own life, and they continue to discuss about the first places in the Kingdom, one at the right and the other on the left of the throne. Therefore, everything indicates, that the disciples continue to be blind. This is a sign that the dominating ideology of the time had profoundly penetrated their mentality. In spite of the fact of having lived several years with Jesus, they had not changed their way of seeing things. They saw Jesus now, as they had seen him at the beginning. They wanted to be rewarded for following Jesus.
• Mark 10, 32-34: The third announcement of the Passion. They were on the way to Jerusalem. Jesus walked in front of them. He was in a hurry. He knew that they would kill him. The Prophet Isaiah had announced it (Is 50, 4-6; 53, 1-10). His death was not the result of a blind destiny or of a pre-established plan, but the consequence of the commitment assumed of the mission which he received from the Father together with those excluded of his time. This is why Jesus warns his disciples concerning the torture and the death which he will suffer in Jerusalem. The disciple has to follow the Master, even if it is a question of suffering with him. The disciples were terrified, and those who were behind were afraid. They did not understand what was happening. Suffering was not in agreement with the idea that they had of the Messiah.
• Mark 10, 35-37: The petition for the first place. The disciples not only do not understand, but they continue with their own personal ambitions. James and John ask for a place in the glory of the Kingdom, one at the right and the other on the left of Jesus. They want to be even before Peter! They do not understand the proposal of Jesus. They are only concerned about their own personal interests. This shows clearly the tensions and the little understanding existing in the communities, at the time of Mark, and these exist even today in our communities. In the Gospel of Matthew it is the mother of James and John who addressed this request for her sons (Mt 20, 20). Probably, before the difficult situation of poverty and growing lack of work at that time, the mother intercedes for her sons and tries to guarantee an employment for them in the coming of the Kingdom of which Jesus spoke about so much.
• Mark 10, 38-40: The response of Jesus. Jesus reacts firmly: “You do not know what you are asking!” And he asks if they are able to drink the cup that he, Jesus, will drink and if they are ready to receive the baptism which he will receive. It is the cup of suffering, the baptism of blood! Jesus wants to know if they, instead of a place of honour, accept to give their life up to the point of death. Both answer: “We can!” It seems to be a spontaneous answer, not having thought about it, because a few days later, they abandoned Jesus and left him alone at the hour of suffering (Mk 14, 50). They do not have a critical conscience; they do not perceive their personal reality. As regards the place of honour in the Kingdom at the side of Jesus, this is granted by the Father. What he, Jesus, can offer, is the chalice and the baptism, suffering and the cross.
• Mark 10, 41-44: “Among you this is not to happen”. At the end of his instruction about the Cross, Jesus once again speaks about the exercise of power (Mk 9, 33-35). At that time, those who held power in the Roman Empire did not bother about the people. They acted only according to their own interests (Mk 6, 17-29). The Roman Empire controlled the world and maintained it submitted by the force of arms and, thus, through the tributes, the taxes, duties, succeeded in concentrating the wealth of the people in the hands of a few in Rome. The society was characterized by the repressive and abusive exercise of power. Jesus had another proposal. He said: “Among you this is not to happen! With you it is not like that; but anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all”. He teaches against privileges and against rivalry. He overturns the system and insists on service, as a remedy against personal ambition. The community has to present an alternative for human living together.
• Mark 10, 45: The summary of the life of Jesus: Jesus defines his mission and his life: “For the Son of man himself came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus is the Messiah Servant, announced by the Prophet Isaiah (cfr. Is 42, 1-9; 49, 1-6; 50, 4-9; 52, 13-53, 12). He learnt from his mother who said to the Angel: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord!” (Lk 1, 38). A totally new proposal for the society of that time. In this phrase in which he defines his life, three more ancient titles appear, used by the first Christians to express and to communicate to others what the following meant for them: Son of Man, Servant of Yahweh, He who redeems the excluded (the one who liberates, who saves). To humanize life, to serve the brothers and sisters, to welcome the excluded.
4) Personal questions
• James and John ask for the first places in the Kingdom. Today, many persons pray to ask for some money, promotion, healing, and success. What do I seek in my relationship with God and what do I ask God for in my prayer?
• To humanize life, to serve the brothers and sisters. To welcome and accept the excluded. This is the program of Jesus, it is our program. How do I put it into practice?
5) Concluding Prayer
Yahweh has made known his saving power,
revealed his saving justice for the nations to see,
mindful of his faithful love
and his constancy to the House of Israel. (Ps 98,2-3)
1) Opening prayer
Lord,
guide the course of world events
and give your Church the joy and peace
of serving you in freedom.
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Mark 10,28-31
Peter took this up. 'Look,' he said to Jesus, 'we have left everything and followed you.' Jesus said, 'In truth I tell you, there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or land for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times as much, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land -- and persecutions too -- now in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.'
3) Reflection
• In yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus spoke about the conversation among the disciples about material goods: to get away from things, to sell everything, to give it to the poor and to follow Jesus. Or rather, like Jesus, they should live in total gratuity, placing their own life in the hands of God, serving the brothers and sisters (Mk 10, 17-27). In today’s Gospel Jesus explains better how this life of gratuity and service of those who abandon everything for him, for Jesus and for the Gospel, should be (Mk 10, 28-31).
• Mark 10, 28-31: A hundred times as much, and persecutions too, now. Peter observes: “We have left everything and followed you”. It is like saying: “We have done what the Lord asked of the young rich man. We have abandoned everything and we have followed you. Explain to us how should our life be?” Peter wants Jesus to explain more the new way of living in the service and in gratuity. The response of Jesus is beautiful, profound and symbolical: “In truth there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or land for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times as much, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land and, persecutions too, now in the present time and in the world to come, eternal life. Many who are first will be last and the last first”. The type of life which springs from the gift of everything is the example of the Kingdom which Jesus wants to establish (a) to extend the family and to create community; it increases a hundred times the number of brothers and sisters. (b) It produces the sharing of goods, because all will have a hundred times more houses and land. Divine Providence incarnates itself and passes through the fraternal organization, where everything belongs to everyone and there are no longer persons who are in need. They put into practice the Law of God which asks “that there be no poor among you” (Dt 15, 4-11). This was what the first Christians did (Ac 2, 42-45). It is the perfect living out of service and gratuity. (c) They should not expect any privilege in return, no security, no type of promotion. Rather, in this life they will have all this, but with persecutions. Because, in this world, organized on egoism and the interests of groups and persons, those who want to live a gratuitous love and the gift of self, they will be crucified as Jesus was. (d) They will be persecuted in this world, but in the future world they will have eternal life of which the rich young man spoke about.
• Jesus is the choice of the poor. A two-fold slavery characterized the situation of the people of the time of Jesus: the slavery of the politics of Herod supported by the Roman Empire and maintained by a whole well organized system of exploitation and repression, and the slavery of the official religion, maintained by the religious authority of the time. This is why the clan, the family, the community, were being disintegrated and a great number of the people were excluded, marginalized, homeless, having no place neither in religion nor in society. This is why several movements arose which were seeking for a new way of living in community: the Esenes, the Pharisees and, later on, the Zelots. In the community of Jesus there was something new which made it different from other groups. It was the attitude toward the poor and the excluded. The communities of the Pharisees lived separated. The word “Pharisee” means “separated”. They lived separated from impure people. Many Pharisees considered people ignorant and cursed (Jn 7, 49), in sin (Jo 9, 34). Jesus and his community, on the contrary, lived together with excluded persons, considered impure: publicans, sinners, prostitutes, lepers (Mk 2, 16; 1, 41; Lk 7, 37). Jesus recognizes the richness and the values which the poor possess (Mt 11, 25-26; Lk 21, 1-4). He proclaims them blessed, because the Kingdom is theirs, it belongs to the poor (Lk 6, 20; Mt 5, 3). He defines his mission: “to proclaim the Good News to the poor” (Lk 4, 18). He himself lives as a poor person. He possesses nothing for himself, not even a rock where to lay his head (Lk 9, 58). And to those who want to follow him to share his life, he tells them to choose: God or money! (Mt 6, 24). He orders that they choose in favour of the poor! (Mk 10, 21). The poverty which characterized the life of Jesus and of the disciples, also characterized the mission. On the contrary of other missionaries (Mt 23,15), the disciples of Jesus could take nothing with them, neither gold, nor money, nor two tunics, nor purse, nor sandals (Mt 10, 9-10). They had to trust in the hospitality offered to them (Lk 9, 4; 10, 5-6). And if they would be accepted by the people, they should work like everybody else and live from what they would receive as wages for their work (Lk 10, 7-8). Besides they should take care of the sick and of those in need (Lk 10, 9; Mt 10, 8). Now they could tell the people: “The Kingdom of God is very near to you!” (Lk 10, 9).
4) Personal questions
• In your life, how do you practice Peter’s proposal: “We have left everything and have followed you”?
• Gratuitous sharing, service, acceptance to the excluded are signs of the Kingdom. How do I live this today?
5) Concluding Prayer
The whole wide world has seen
the saving power of our God.
Acclaim Yahweh, all the earth,
burst into shouts of joy! (Ps 98,3-4)
1) Opening prayer
Lord,
guide the course of world events
and give your Church the joy and peace
of serving you in freedom.
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Mark 10,17-27
Jesus was setting out on a journey when a man ran up, knelt before him and put this question to him, 'Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.'
And he said to him, 'Master, I have kept all these since my earliest days.' Jesus looked steadily at him and he was filled with love for him, and he said, 'You need to do one thing more. Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' But his face fell at these words and he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.
Jesus looked round and said to his disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!' The disciples were astounded by these words, but Jesus insisted, 'My children,' he said to them, 'how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of God.'
They were more astonished than ever, saying to one another, 'In that case, who can be saved?' Jesus gazed at them and said, 'By human resources it is impossible, but not for God: because for God everything is possible.'
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today narrates two events: (a) it tells the story of a rich man who asks how to obtain eternal life (Mk 10, 17-22), and (b) Jesus warns on the danger of riches (Mk 10, 23-27). The rich man does not accept the proposal of Jesus, because he was very rich. A rich person is protected by the security which is given to him by his riches. He has difficulty to open his hand and detach himself from this security. He seizes strongly the advantage of his goods, lives concerned defending his own interests. A poor person is not accustomed to have this concern. But there may also be some poor people who have the mentality of the rich. And then, the desire for riches creates in them dependence and also makes them become slaves of consumerism. They have no time to dedicate themselves to the service of neighbour. Keeping these problems in mind, problems of persons, of countries, let us read and meditate on the text of the rich man.
• Mark 10, 17-19: The observance of the commandments and eternal life. A person came up to Jesus and asked: “Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The Gospel of Matthew tells us that it was the case of a young man (Mt 19, 20.22). Jesus responds abruptly: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone!” Jesus takes away the attention from himself to direct it toward God, because what is important is to do God’s Will, to reveal the Father’s project. Then Jesus affirms: “You know the commandments: You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness. You shall not defraud. Honour your father and mother”. It is important to observe always the response of Jesus. The young man had asked something concerning eternal life. He wanted to live together with God. But Jesus does not mention the first three commandments which define our relationship with God! He mentioned only those which indicate respect for the life lived together with others. According to Jesus, we can only be well with God if we know how to be well with our neighbour. It serves nothing to deceive ourselves. The door to reach God is our neighbour.
• Mark 10, 20: What good is it to observe the commandments? The young man answered that he observed the commandments since his earliest days. What is strange is what follows. He wanted to know which was the way to eternal life. Now, the way of life was and continues to be: to do God’s will expressed in the commandments. It means that he observed the commandments without knowing for what purpose. Otherwise, he would not have asked any questions. This is what happens today to many Catholics: they do not know what it means to be a Catholic. “I was born in a Catholic country; this is why I am Catholic!” It is a habit!
• Mark 10, 21-22: To share the goods with the poor and to follow Jesus. Hearing the response of the young man, “Jesus looked at him and was full of love for him and said: You need to do one more thing: go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor and you will have a treasure in heaven, then come, follow me!” The observance of the commandments is only the first step of a stairway that goes higher. Jesus asks more! The observance of the commandments prepares the person for the total gift of self in behalf of neighbour. Jesus asks for very much but he asks it with much love. The rich young man does not accept the proposal of Jesus and goes away, because he was a man of great wealth”.
• Mark 10, 23-27: The camel and the eye of the needle. After the young man left, Jesus commented on his decision: “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were astounded. Jesus repeats the same phrase and adds: “It is easier that a camel passes through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
The expression “enter the kingdom” not only indicates and in first place entrance into heaven after death, but also and above all, the entrance into the community around Jesus. The community is and should be a model of the Kingdom. The reference to the impossibility for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle comes from a popular proverb of the time used by the people to say that a thing was humanly speaking, impossible and unfeasible. The disciples were astounded hearing the affirmation of Jesus and they ask themselves: “Then who can be saved?” This is a sign that they had not understood the response of Jesus to the young rich man: “Go, sell all you all you own and give the money to the poor and then come follow me”. The young man had observed the commandments since his earliest days, but without understanding the reason for this observance. Something similar was happening to the disciples. They had already abandoned all their goods as Jesus had asked the young rich man, but without understanding the reason, the why of this abandonment. If they had understood they would not have been astounded before the demands of Jesus. When riches or the desire for riches occupies the heart and the gaze, the person cannot perceive the sense of the Gospel. Only God can help! Jesus looks at the disciples and says: “Impossible for man but not for God. For God everything is possible.”
4) Personal questions
• A person who lives constantly concerned about her wealth or who lives always wanting to buy all the things about which the television makes propaganda, can she free herself from everything to follow Jesus and live in peace in a Christian community? Is it possible? What do you think? How do you do it and what do you do?
• Do you know somebody who has succeeded to abandon everything for the sake of the Kingdom? What does it mean for us today: “Go, sell all you own, and give the money to the poor”? How can we understand and practice today the counsels that Jesus gives to the young rich man?
5) Concluding Prayer
I give thanks to Yahweh with all my heart,
in the meeting-place of honest people, in the assembly.
Great are the deeds of Yahweh,
to be pondered by all who delight in them. (Ps 111,1-2)
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 centre 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 baptises and renews; who is the strong and at the same time soft wind, the breath of your voice and breath; who is 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, baptised 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 essential and 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 consoling reasons 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:
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor, to be with you for ever.
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. 24 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.
25 "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. 26 But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to 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 realise 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 not searched for someone to console me, to look after me, to show me affection and care for me! But, 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 scrutinised 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 (cfr. Es 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, inviolable, uncancellable. Thus do Isaiah, Jeremiah and all the Prophets say (cfr. Jer 31:3; Is 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 (cfr. 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 my 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” (Jm 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 beside 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; cfr. also Rm 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 (cfr. 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. Rit.
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 favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning. Rit.
As for me, I said in my prosperity,
"I shall never be moved."
By thy favour, O Lord,
thou hadst 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. Rit.
Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be thou my helper!"
Thou hast turned for me 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. Rit.
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!
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
like Mary, the women and the apostles
on the day before the first Pentecost,
we are gathered in prayer.
Let the Holy Spirit descend also upon us,
that we may become enthusiastic believers
and faithful witnesses to the Person
and the good news of Jesus.
May our way of living bear witness
that Jesus is our light and life,
now and forever.
2) Gospel Reading - John 21:20-25
Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, "Master, who is the one who will betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me." So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours?" It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.
3) Reflection
Today’s Gospel begins with Peter’s question: “Lord, what about him?” Jesus begins to speak with Peter.
• John 21:20-21: Peter’s question concerning John’s destiny. At this moment, Peter turned back and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved and asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus had just indicated Peter’s destiny, and now Peter wants to know from Jesus what is this other disciple’s destiny. It is a matter of curiosity which does not deserve a proper response from Jesus.
• John 21:22: The mysterious response of Jesus. Jesus says, “If I want him to stay behind until I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow Me.” A mysterious utterance which ends again with the same affirmation as before: Follow me! Jesus seems to want to bridle Peter’s curiosity. Just as each one of us has his/her own history, in the same way each one of us has his/her own way of following Jesus. Nobody is the exact copy of another person. Each one of us should be creative in following Jesus. This also recalls the laborers in the vineyard (Mt 20:1-15). Each of us also has our own history and relationship with Jesus which is personal and directed by Him if we accept it.
• John 21:23: The Evangelist clarifies the meaning of Jesus’ response. Ancient tradition identifies the Beloved Disciple with the Apostle John and says that he died when he was almost one hundred years old. Putting together John’s old age with Jesus’ mysterious response, the Evangelist clarifies things saying, “The rumor then went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet, Jesus had not said to Peter, ‘He will not die,’ but, ‘ If I want him to stay behind until I come; what does that matter to you?’” Perhaps, it is a warning to be attentive to the interpretation of the words of Jesus and not base one’s beliefs on any rumor.
Peter’s questions, and the assumptions of the other disciples, could be an example of the sins of pride (hyperēphania), sadness or envy (lypē), and dejection or acedia (akēdia) in terms of the concepts of the fourth century monk Evagrius Ponticus, among others. Rather than rejoicing at the favorable treatment they thought John had, Peter wanted to know the details. Then the rumors and the gossip went out.
• John 21:24: Witness of the value of the Gospel. Chapter 21 is an added appendix when the final redaction of the Gospel was made. Chapter 20 ends with this statement: “There were many other signs that Jesus worked in the sight of His disciples, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through His name.” (Jn 20:30-31). The Book was ready but there were many other facts about Jesus. This is why, on the occasion of the definitive edition of the Gospel, some of these “many facts” about Jesus were chosen and added, very probably to clarify better the new problems at the end of the first century. We do not know who wrote the definitive redaction with the appendix, but we know it was someone in the community who could be trusted, because he writes, “This is the disciple who vouches for these things and has written them down and we know that his testimony is true.”
• John 21:25: The mystery of Jesus is inexhaustible. A beautiful thought to conclude the Gospel of John: “There was much more that Jesus did; if it were written down in detail, I do not suppose the world itself would hold all the books that would be written.” It seems an exaggeration, but it is the truth. Never will anyone be capable of writing all the things that Jesus has done and continues to do in the life of people who follow Jesus!
4) For Personal Consideration
• Is there something in your life which Jesus has done and which could be added to this book which will never be written?
• Peter is very concerned about the other disciple rather than live his own “Follow Me” at that moment. Does this also happen to you?
• Several Church Doctors and Fathers talk about overcoming vices such as envy and pride with virtues. Many of their ways of life are an answer to “Follow Me”. How well informed are you about these and how might they be put to use personally in answering His call?
• One’s whole life is a relationship with Jesus. This is true for others as well. When there is gossip about another person, do you think Jesus says “What concern is it of yours?” at those moments too?
5) Concluding Prayer
Yahweh in His holy temple!
Yahweh, His throne is in heaven;
His eyes watch over the world,
His gaze scrutinizes the children of Adam. (Ps 11:4)
More...
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
You have appointed shepherds in Your Church
to speak Your word to us
and to build community in Your name.
We pray You today:
May they be shepherds like Your Son
who look for those who have lost the way,
bring back the stray, bandage the wounded
and make the weak strong.
May they all be ministers
of Your tender love and service,
as Jesus was, Your Son and our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 21:15-19
After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then said to Simon Peter a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."
3) Reflection
• We are in the last days before Pentecost. During the time of Lent, the selection of the Gospels of the day continues the ancient tradition of the Church. Between Easter and Pentecost, the Gospel of John is preferred. And thus, during these last days before Pentecost, the Gospels of the day narrate the last verses of the Gospel of John. When we return to Ordinary Time, we will go back to the Gospel of Mark. In the weeks of Ordinary Time, the Liturgy proceeds to a continuous reading of the Gospel of Mark (from the 1st to the 9th week of Ordinary Time), of Matthew (from the 10th to 21st week of Ordinary Time) and of Luke (from the 22nd to the 34th week of Ordinary Time).
• The Gospel readings for today and tomorrow speak about Jesus’ last encounter with His disciples. It was an encounter of celebration, marked by tenderness and affection. At the end Jesus calls Peter and asks him three times, “Do you love Me?” Only after having received three times the same affirmative response, Jesus entrusts to Peter the mission of taking care of the sheep. In order to be able to work in the community, Jesus does not ask many things of us. What He asks of us is to have much love!
• John 21:15-17: Love at the center of the mission. After a whole night of fishing in the lake catching not even one fish, they go to the shore. The disciples discover that Jesus has prepared bread and roasted fish for them. When they finish eating, Jesus calls Peter and asks him three times, “Do you love Me?” Three times, because Peter denied Jesus three times (Jn 18:17,25-27). After the three affirmative responses, Peter also becomes a “Beloved Disciple” and receives the order to take care of the sheep. Jesus does not ask Peter if he has studied exegesis, theology, morals, or canon law. He only asks, “Do you love Me?” Love in the first place. For the communities of the Beloved Disciple the force which supports and maintains unity is love.
• John 21:18-19: The foreshadowing of death. Jesus tells Peter, “Truly I tell you: when you were young, you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt around you and take you where you do not want to go!” Throughout life, Peter, and we too, gain maturity. The practice of love will take root in life and people will no longer be the bosses of their own life. Service to the brothers and sisters out of love will prevail and will lead us. How we dress is often a reflection or necessity of the work we do. If we choose to accept it, God can “dress” us in new clothing for a new destination according to His wants, and send us where we may not want to go. Somebody else will put a belt around you and take you where you would rather not go. Fro Peter there is a the meaning, as the Evangelist comments: “He tells him this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to God.” Then Jesus adds: “Follow Me.”
• Love in John – Peter, do you love Me? – The Beloved Disciple. The word love is one of the words which we use most nowadays. Precisely because of this, it is a word that has been greatly worn out. But the communities of the Beloved Disciple manifested their identity and their own intentions by this word. To love, is above all, a profound experience of relationship among people in which similar sentiments and values prevail - a care and concern for the other over oneself, as well as joy, sadness, suffering, growth, renunciation, dedication, fulfillment, gift, commitment, life, death. All these together are summarized in the Bible in one single word in the Hebrew language. This word is hesed. It is hard to translate into our language. Generally, in our Bibles it is translated by charity, mercy, fidelity or loving kindness. The communities of the Beloved Disciple sought to live this practice of love in a very radical way. Jesus revealed this in His encounters with people with sentiments of friendship and tenderness, as for example, in His relationship with the family of Martha and Mary of Bethany: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” He weeps before the tomb of Lazarus (Jn 11:5,33-36). Jesus always embodies His mission in a manifestation of love: “having loved His own, He loved them to the end” (Jn 13:1). In this love, Jesus manifests His profound identity with the Father (Jn 15:9). For His communities there was no other commandment except this one: “to act as Jesus acted” (1 Jn 2:6). This presupposes “love of the brethren” (1 Jn 2:7-11; 3:11-24; 2 Jn 4-6). Being such a central commandment in the life of the community, love is defined by John as follows: “This is the proof of love that He laid down His life for us and we too ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” Our love should not be just words or mere talk but something active and genuine.” (1 Jn 3:16-17). Anyone who lives this love and manifests it in words and attitudes becomes a Beloved Disciple.
4) For Personal Consideration
• Look within yourself and say, “What is the most profound reason that motivates me to work in the community – love, or a concern for ideas?”
• Jesus asks Peter three times. Each time he answers you can feel a rising tension, one that says “what can I do to show you if you don’t believe me?” It isn’t a casual conversation. Do I have this forcefulness in responding to Jesus in my life, or just a casualness?
• Do I allow myself to be dressed by someone else for service to others? Do I go where He leads me? Is my attitude my answer to Jesus’ question: “Follow Me.”?
• What is “my life”? It is not only biological. It is also lifestyle, actions, and identity that come from ego, pride, and self-will. There is something in common though: To “lay down one’s life” has a totality to it. Do I “lay down” my pride, ego, will, wants, and lifestyle for others in my community, or for the “little ones”, the poor or rejected? Is it in totality, or just when it is convenient?
5) Concluding Prayer
Bless Yahweh, my soul,
from the depths of my being, His holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all His acts of kindness. (Ps 103:1-2)
1) Opening prayer
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
and Father of all people,
we believe in You
and we know that You loved Jesus
with a deep and trusting, lasting love.
Let Your Holy Spirit pour out this love
into the hearts of all those
who believe in Jesus, our Savior and shepherd.
Let this love unite us in one common bond
of understanding and respect for one another
and let that love lead us
to live for one another and to serve one another
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 17:20-26
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: "I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel gives us the third and last part of the Priestly Prayer, in which Jesus looks toward the future and manifests His great desire for unity among us, His disciples, and that all may remain in the love which unifies, because without love and without unity we do not deserve credibility.
• John 17:20-23: So that the world may believe it was You who sent Me. Jesus expands the horizon and prays to the Father: “I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in Me. May they all be one, just as, Father, You are in Me and I am in You, so that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe it was You who sent Me.” Behold, here emerges Jesus’ great concern for unity which should exist in the communities. Unity does not mean uniformity, but rather to remain in love, in spite of tensions and conflicts. A love which unifies to the point of creating, among all, a profound unity like the unity which exists between Jesus and the Father. The unity in love revealed in the Trinity is the model for the communities. For this, through love among people, the communities reveal to the world the most profound message of Jesus. People said of the first Christians, “See how they love one another!” The present day division among the three religions which came from Abraham is really tragic: the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims. And even more tragic is the division among us Christians who say that we believe in Jesus. If we are divided we do not deserve credibility. Ecumenism is at the center of the last prayer of Jesus to the Father. It is His testament. To be a Christian and not be ecumenical is a contradiction. It means to contradict the last Will of Jesus.
• John 17:24-26: “So that the love with which You loved Me may be in them.” Jesus does not want to remain alone. He says, “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am so that they may always see My glory, which You have given Me, because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” Jesus is happy when we are all together with Him. He wants His disciples to have the same experience of the Father which He had. He wants us to know the Father and that He knows us. In the Bible, the word to know is not limited to a rational theoretical knowledge, but presupposes the experience of the presence of God living in love with the people of the community.
• That they may be one as We are one. (Unity and Trinity in the Gospel of John) The Gospel of John helps us to understand the mystery of the Trinity, the communion among the three Divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Of the four Gospels, John is the one which puts more stress on the profound unity among the Father, the Son and the Spirit. From the text of John (Jn 17:6-8) we see that the mission of the Son is the supreme manifestation of the love of the Father. And this unity between the Father and the Son makes Jesus exclaim, “The Father and I are one” (Jn 10:30). Between the Son and the Father there is such an intense unity that one who sees the face of one also sees the face of the other. And fulfilling this mission of unity received from the Father, Jesus reveals the Spirit. The spirit of Truth comes from the Father (Jn 15:26). At the bidding of the Son (Jn 14:16), the Father sends the Spirit to each one of us in such a way that He will remain with us, encouraging us and giving us strength. The Spirit also comes to us from the Son (Jn 16:7-8). Thus, the Spirit of Truth, who journeys with us, is the communication of the profound unity which exists between the Father and the Son (Jn 15:26-27). The Spirit cannot communicate a truth which is different from the truth of the Son. Everything which is in relationship with the mystery of the Son, the Spirit makes known to us (Jn 16:13-14). This experience of unity in God was very strong in the communities of the Beloved Disciple. The love which unites the Divine Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - allows us to experience God through union with the people in a community of love. This was also the experience of the community, where love should be the sign of God’s presence in the midst of the community (Jn 13:34-35). This love builds unity in the community (Jn 17:21). They looked at the unity in God in order to understand the unity among themselves.
4) For Personal Consideration
• Bishop Don Pedro Casaldáliga said, “The Trinity is truly the best community.” In the community of which you are a part, can you see any human sign of the Divine Trinity?
• Ecumenism: Am I interested in ecumenism? How do I approach it with others?
• Do I know the doctrine and beliefs of the Church well enough to enter into ecumenical discussion with others without misleading myself or others?
• What limits do I put on ecumenical activity in my life? Should there be limits?
5) Concluding Prayer
Lord, You will teach me the path of life,
unbounded joy in Your presence,
at Your right hand delight for ever. (Ps 16:11)
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
Your Son Jesus gave himself totally
to those He loved - that is, to all.
Give us a share of His unselfish love
that we too may learn from experience
that there is more joy in giving ourselves
than in receiving honors or favors.
May the Spirit make us also so much one
that we graciously share with one another
our God-given riches and gifts as people.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 17:11b-19
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: "Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth."
3) Reflection
• We are now in the Novena of Pentecost, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given only to those who ask for it in prayer (Lk 11:13). In the Cenacle, for nine days, from the Ascension to Pentecost, the Apostles persevered in prayer together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Acts 1:14), and they obtained the abundance of the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Today’s Gospel continues to place before us the Priestly Prayer of Jesus. It is a very opportune text to prepare ourselves during these days for the coming of the Holy Spirit in our life.
• John 17:11b-12: Keep them in Your name! Jesus channels His concern into prayer: “Keep those You have given Me true to Your name, so that they may be one like Us!” Everything which Jesus does in His life, He does in the Name of God. Jesus is the manifestation of the Name of God. The Name of God is Yahweh, JHWH. In the time of Jesus, this name was pronounced saying, “Adonai,” “Kyrios,” “Lord.” In the discourse of Pentecost, Peter says that Jesus, because of His Resurrection, was constituted Lord: “For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain that the Lord and Christ whom God has made is this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36). And Paul says that this has been done so that “every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God, the Father” (Phil 2:11). It is the Name which is above all other names” (Phil 2:9). JHWH or Yahweh, the Name of God, took on a concrete face in Jesus of Nazareth! Unity has to form around this name: keep those you have given Me true to Your name so that they may be one like We are. Jesus wants the unity of the communities in such a way that they can resist the world which hates them and persecutes them. The people united around the name of Jesus will never be conquered!
• John 17:13-16: That they may share My joy to the full. Jesus is bidding farewell. In a short time He will go away. The disciples continue in the world. They will be persecuted and be afflicted. Because of this, they are sad. Jesus prays that their joy may be full. They want to continue to be in the world without being of, or belonging to, the world. This means to live in the system of the Empire, whether liberal or Roman, without allowing themselves to be contaminated. Like Jesus, and with Jesus, they should live in the opposite direction of the world.
• John 17:17-19: As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world. Jesus asks that they be consecrated in truth. That is, that they may be capable of dedicating their whole life to giving witness of their convictions concerning Jesus and God the Father. Jesus sanctified Himself in the measure in which, during His life, He revealed the Father. He asks that the disciples enter into the same process of sanctification. Their mission is the same as Jesus’ mission. They sanctify themselves in the measure in which, living in love, they reveal Jesus and the Father. To sanctify oneself means to become human like Jesus. Pope Leo the Great said, “Jesus was so human, but so human, as only God can be human.” For this reason we should live in opposition to the world, because the system of the world dehumanizes human life and renders it contrary to the intentions of the Creator.
4) For Personal consideration:
• Jesus lived in the world, but was not of the world. He lived contrary to the system, and because of this, He was persecuted and was condemned to death. Do I live contrary to today’s system, or do I adapt my faith to the system?
What words and actions do I show that I belong to the world or don’t belong to the world? Am I showing a little of both?
• Preparation for Pentecost. To invoke the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who gave courage to Jesus. In this Novena of preparation for Pentecost, it is good to dedicate some time to asking for the gift of the Spirit of Jesus.
5) Concluding Prayer
I bless Yahweh who is my counselor,
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep Yahweh before me always,
for with Him at my right hand, nothing can shake me.
(Ps 16:7-8)
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
Your Son Jesus Christ
carried out the mission You had given Him,
without fear and in all faithfulness to You.
God, give us a taste
of His sense of mission.
Give us the strength of the Spirit
to speak Your word as it is,
bold and demanding,
without compromising or giving in
to the changing moods and fashions of the day.
And may our lives be like an open book
in which people can read Your word.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 17:1-11a
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you."
3) Reflection
• In today’s Gospel, in tomorrow’s, and the day after tomorrow’s, we will meditate on the words that Jesus addressed to the Father at the moment of His farewell. John keeps these words and puts them in Jesus’ mouth during His last encounter with the disciples. It is the Testament of Jesus in the form of a prayer, also called the Priestly Prayer (Jn 17:1-26).
• Chapter 17 of the Gospel of John is the end of a long reflection by Jesus, begun in chapter 15, on the mission in the world. The communities preserved these reflections in order to be able to better understand the difficult moment that they were going through: tribulations, abandonment, doubts, and persecution. The long reflection ends with the prayer of Jesus for the communities. In it are expressed the sentiments and concerns, according to the Evangelist, Jesus had at that moment in which He was going out, leaving this world, and going toward the Father. With these sentiments and with this concern, Jesus now finds Himself before His Father, interceding for us. Because of this the Priestly Prayer is also the Testament of Jesus. Many people, in the moment when they leave forever, leave some message. Everyone keeps the important words of a father and mother, especially when they are the last moments of life. Keeping these words is like keeping the person. It is a form of respect and of affection.
• Chapter 17 is a diverse text. It is a friendlier one rather than one of reasoning. In order to grasp the whole meaning, it is not sufficient to reflect with the head, with reason. This text has to be meditated upon and accepted in the heart as well. It is a text not so much to be discussed, but to meditate reflect upon. Therefore, do not be worried if you do not understand it immediately. This text demands a whole life of pondering and deepening. Such a text should be read, meditated on, thought, read again, repeated, savored, as one does with a good sweet in the mouth. One turns it over and over in the mouth until it is finished. For this, close your eyes, keep silence within you and listen to Jesus who speaks to you, transmitting in His Testament His greatest concern, His last will. Try to discover which point Jesus insists on the most and which points He considers the most important.
• John 17:1-3: “Father, the hour has come!” It is the long awaited hour (Jn 2:4; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23,27; 13:1; 16:32). It is the moment of the glorification which will take place through the Passion, death and Resurrection. In reaching the end of His mission, Jesus looks back and proceeds to a review. In this prayer, He expresses the most intimate sentiment of His heart and the profound discovery of His soul: the presence of the Father in His life.
• John 17:4-8: Father, they will recognize that I come from You! In reviewing His own life Jesus sees Himself as a manifestation of the Father for the friends whom the Father has given Him. Jesus does not live for Himself. He lives in order that all may have a flash of goodness and love which are enclosed in the name of God which is Abba, Father.
• John 17:9-11a: All I have is Yours and all You have is Mine! At the moment of leaving the world, Jesus expresses His concern to the Father and prays for the friends whom He leaves behind; that they will continue in the world, but they are not of the world. They are of Jesus, they are God’s, and they are signs of God and of Jesus in this world. Jesus is concerned about the people who remain, and He prays for them.
4) For Personal Confrontation
• If you were about to die, what would be the message that you would like to leave to your family and to your community?
• Notice that He is addressing the One He is going to, not those He is leaving. Would this be your way too? Why or why not?
• Many fear death, even though it is just a passing to new life. A large part of the “message” we leave is in how we leave – accepting and at peace or clinging on to this life. Imagine yourself at those moments. What message do you present in those last days or hours? How do you feel while putting yourself in these last moments?
5) Concluding Prayer
Blessed be the Lord day after day,
He carries us along, God our Savior.
This God of ours is a God who saves;
from Lord Yahweh comes escape from death. (Ps 68:19-20)
