The Holy Spirit will help us
understand Jesus’ words
John 14:23-29
1. Opening prayer
Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of Your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavor of the holy memory.
2. LECTIO
a) The text:
Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. "I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe."
b) A moment of silence:
Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.
3. MEDITATIO
a) Some questions:
- “And we will come to Him and make our home with Him”: looking in our interior camp, will we find there the tent of the shekinah (presence) of God?
- “He who does not love Me does not keep My words: Are the words of Christ empty words for us because of our lack of love? Or could we say that we observe them as a guide on our journey?
- “The Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” Jesus returns to the Father, but everything which He has said and done remains with us. When will we be able to remember the marvels which divine grace has accomplished in us? Do we receive or accept the voice of the Spirit who suggests in our interior the meaning of all that has taken place, all that has happened?
- “My peace I give to you” The peace of Christ is His resurrection: When will we be able in our life to abandon the anxiety and the mania of doing, which draws us away from the sources of being? God of peace, when will we live solely from you, peace of our waiting?
- “I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe”: Before it takes place... Jesus likes to explain to us beforehand what is going to happen, so that the events do not take us by surprise, unprepared. But, are we ready to read the signs of our events with the words heard from Him?
b) Key for the reading:
To make our home, Heaven does not have a better place than a human heart which is in love. Because a dilated heart extends the boundaries and all barriers of time and space disappear. To live in love is equal to live in Heaven, to live in Him who is love, and eternal love.
v. 23. Jesus answered him: If a man loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him. In the origin of every spiritual experience there is always a movement forward. Take a small step, then everything moves harmoniously. The step to be taken is only one: If a man loves Me. Is it really possible to love God? How is it seen that His face is no longer among the people? To love: What does it really mean? In general, to love for us means to wish well to one another, to be together, to make choices to construct a future, to give oneself... to love Jesus is not the same thing. To love Him means to do as He did, not to draw back in the face of pain, of death; to consciously walk into pain and suffering if need be for the sake of another; and love as He did takes us very far... and it is in this love that the word becomes daily bread to eat and life becomes Heaven because of the Father’s presence.
vv. 24-25. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. If there is no love, the consequences are disastrous. The words of Jesus can be observed only if there is love in the heart; otherwise they remain absurd proposals. Those words are not the words of a man. They come from the Father’s heart who proposes to each one of us to be like Him. In life it is not so much a question of doing things, even if they are very good. It is necessary to be human, to be sons and daughters, to be images similar to the One who never ceases to give Himself completely.
vv. 25-26. These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. To remember is an action of the Spirit; when in our days the past is seen as something lost forever and the future is there as something threatening to take away our joy today, only the divine Breath in you can lead you to remember it. To remember what has been said, every word coming from God’s mouth for you, and forgotten because time has gone by.
v. 27. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. The peace of Christ for us is not absence of conflicts, serenity of life, health... but the plenitude of every good, absence of anxiety in the face of what is going to happen. The Lord does not assure us well-being, but the fullness of son-ship in a loving adherence to His plans which are good for us. We will possess peace, when we will have learned to trust in that which the Father chooses for us.
v. 28. You heard Me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you’. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. We come back to the question of love. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced. But what is the meaning of this statement pronounced by the Master? We could complete the phrase and say: If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father... but since you think of yourselves, you are sad because I am leaving, going away. The love of the disciples is an egoistic love. They do not love Jesus because they do not think of Him, they think of themselves. Then, the love which Jesus asks is this love: a love capable of rejoicing because the other will be happy! It is a love capable of not thinking of self as the center of the universe, but as a place in which one feels open to give and to be able to receive: not in exchange, but as the “effect” of the gift received.
v. 29. I have told you before it takes place, so when it does take place, you may believe. Jesus instructs His own because He knows that they will remain confused and will be slow in understanding. His words do not vanish. They remain as a presence in the world, treasures of understanding in faith: an encounter with the Absolute who is always and for always in favor of man.
c) Reflection:
Love: a magic and ancient word as old as the world, a familiar word which is born in the horizon of every human being in the moment in which he or she is called into existence. A word written in his human fibers as origin and end, as an instrument of peace, as bread and gift, as himself, as others, as God. A word entrusted to history through our history of every day. Love, a pact which has always had one name alone: humanity. Yes, because love coincides with humanity: love is the air that we breathe, love is the food which is given to us, love is the rest to which we entrusts ourselves, love is the bond of union which makes of us a land of encounter. That love with which God has seen in His creation and has given: “It is something very good”. God has not taken back the commitment taken when man made of himself a rejection more than a gift, a slap more than a caress, a stone thrown more than a silent tear. He has loved even more with the eyes and the heart of the Son, up to the end. This man who became a burning torch of sin, the Father has redeemed Him, again and solely out of love, in the Fire of the Spirit.
4. ORATIO
Psalm 37:23-31
The steps of a man are from the Lord,
and He establishes him in whose way He delights;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord is the stay of his hand.
I have been young, and now am old;
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging bread.
He is ever giving liberally and lending,
and His children become a blessing.
Depart from evil, and do good;
so shall you abide for ever.
For the Lord loves justice;
He will not forsake His saints.
The righteous shall be preserved for ever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall possess the land,
and dwell upon it for ever.
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.
5. CONTEMPLATIO
I see you, Lord, dwelling in my days through Your word which accompanies me in my more intense moments, when my love for You becomes courageous, audacious and I do not give up in the face of what I feel that does not belong to me. That Spirit which is like the wind: blows where it wants and His voice is not heard, that Spirit has become space in me, and now I can tell You that He is like a dear fried with whom to remember. To go back to remember the words said, to the lived events, to the presence perceived while on the way, does good to the heart. I feel profoundly this indwelling every time that, in silence, one of Your phrases comes to mind, one of Your invitations, one of Your words of compassion, Your silence. The nights of Your prayer allow me to pray to the Father and to find peace. Lord, tenderness concealed in the folds of my gestures, grant me to treasure all that You are a scroll which is explained, in which it is easy to understand the meaning of my existence. May my words be the dwelling place of Your words, may my hunger be Your dwelling, bread of life, may my pain be the empty tomb and the folded shroud so that everything that You want may be accomplished, up to the last breath. I love You, Lord, my rock.
The new commandment:
to love our neighbor as Jesus loved us
John 13:31-35
1. LECTIO
a) Opening prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us understand the mystery of the Church as community of love. When You gave us the new commandment of love as the charter of the Church, You told us that it is the highest value. When You were about to leave Your disciples, You wished to give them a memorial of the new commandment, the new statute of the Christian community. You did not give them a pious exhortation, but rather a new commandment of love. In this “relative absence”, we are asked to recognize You present in our brothers and sisters. In this Easter season, Lord Jesus, You remind us that the time of the Church is the time of charity, the time of encounter with You through our brothers and sisters. We know that at the end of our lives we shall be judged on love. Help us to encounter You in each brother and sister, seizing every little occasion of every day.
b) Reading:
When Judas had left them, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and God will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
c) A moment of prayerful silence:
The passage of the Gospel we are about to reflect on recalls Jesus’ farewell words to His disciples. Such a passage should be considered a kind of sacrament of an encounter with the person of Jesus.
2. MEDITATIO
a) Preamble to Jesus’ discourse:
Our passage is the conclusion to chapter 13 where two themes crisscross and are taken up again and developed in chapter 14: the place where the Lord is going; and the theme of the commandment of love. Some observations on the context within which Jesus’ words on the new commandment occur may be helpful for a fruitful reflection on their content.
First, v.31 says, “when he had gone”, who is gone? To understand this we need to go to v.30 where we read that “as soon as Judas had taken the piece of bread he went out. It was night”. Thus the one who went out was Judas. Then, the expression, “it was night”, is characteristic of all the “farewell discourses”, which take place at night. Jesus’ words in Jn 13:31-35 are preceded by this immersion into the darkness of the night. What is the symbolic meaning of this? In John, night represents the peak of nuptial intimacy (for instance the wedding night), but also one of extreme anguish. Other meanings of the dark night are that it represents the moment of danger par excellence, it is the moment when the enemy weaves plans of vengeance against us. It expresses the moment of desperation, confusion, moral and intellectual disorder. The darkness of night is like a dead end.
In John 6, when the night storm takes place, the darkness of the night expresses an experience of desperation and solitude as they struggle against the dark forces that stir the sea. Again, the time marker "while it was still dark" in John 20:1 points to the darkness which is the absence of Jesus. Indeed, in John’s Gospel, the light of Christ cannot be found in the sepulcher, that is why darkness reigns (20:1).
Therefore, “farewell discourses” are rightly placed within this time framework. It is almost as if the background color of these discourses is separation, death or the departure of Jesus and this creates a sense of emptiness or bitter solitude. In the Church of today and for today’s humanity, this could mean that when we desert Jesus in our lives we then experience anguish and suffering.
When reporting Jesus’ words in 3:31-34 concerning His departure and imminent death, John recalls his own past life with Jesus, woven with memories that opened his eyes to the mysterious richness of the Master. Such memories of the past are part of our own faith journey.
It is characteristic of “farewell discourses” that whatever is transmitted in them, especially at the tragic and solemn moment of death becomes an inalienable patrimony, a covenant to be kept faithfully. Jesus’ “farewell discourses” too synthesize whatever He had taught and done so as to draw His disciples to follow in the direction He pointed out to them.
b) A deepening:
As we read the passage of this Sunday of Easter, we focus, first of all, on the first word used by Jesus in His farewell discourse: “Now”. “Now has the Son of man been glorified”. Which “now” is this? It is the moment of the cross that coincides with His glorification. This final part of John’s Gospel is a manifestation or revelation. Thus, Jesus’ cross is the “now” of the greatest epiphany or manifestation of truth. In this glorification, there is no question of any meaning that has anything to do with “honor” or “triumphalism”, etc.
On the one hand there is Judas who goes into the night, Jesus prepares for His glory: When he had gone, Jesus said: “Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and in Him God has been glorified. If God has been glorified in Him, God will in turn glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him very soon” (v.31-32). Judas’ betrayal brings to maturity in Jesus the conviction that His death is “glory”. The hour of death on the cross is included in God’s plan; it is the “hour” when the glory of the Father will shine on the world through the glory of the “Son of Man”. In Jesus, who gives His life to the Father at the “hour” of the cross, God is glorified by revealing His divine essence and welcoming humankind into communion with Him.
Jesus’ (the Son’s) glory consists of his extreme love for all men and women, even to giving Himself for those who betray Him. The Son’s love is such that He takes on Himself all those destructive and dramatic situations that burden the life and history of humankind. Judas’ betrayal symbolizes, not so much the action of an individual, as that of the whole of evil humanity, unfaithful to the will of God.
However, Judas’ betrayal remains an event full of mystery. An exegete writes, “In betraying Jesus, it is revelation that is to blame; it is even at the service of revelation” (Simoens, According to John, 561). In a way, Judas’ betrayal gives us the chance of knowing Jesus better; his betrayal has allowed us to see how far Jesus loves His own. Don Primo Mazzolari writes, “The apostles became Jesus’ friends, whether good friends or not, generous or not, faithful or not, they still remain his friends. We cannot betray Jesus’ friendship: Christ never betrays us, his friends, even when we do not deserve it, even when we rebel against him, even when we deny him. In his sight and in his heart we are always his “friends”. Judas is the Lord’s friend even at the moment when he carries out the betrayal of his Master with a kiss” (Discourses 147).
c) The new commandment:
Let us focus our attention on the new commandment.
In v.33 we note a change in Jesus’ farewell discourse. He no longer uses the third person. The Master now addresses “you”. This “you” is in the plural and he uses a Greek word that is full of tenderness “children” (teknía). In using this word and by His tone of voice and openness of heart, Jesus concretely conveys to His disciples the immensity of the tenderness He holds for them.
What is also interesting is another point that we find in v.34: “that you love one another as I have loved you”. The Greek word Kathòs “as” is not meant for comparison: love one another as I have loved you. Its meaning may be consecutive rather than causal: “Because I have loved you, so also love one another.”
There are those who, like Fr. Lagrange, see in this commandment an eschatological meaning: during His relative absence and while waiting for His second coming, Jesus wants us to love and serve Him in the person of His brothers and sisters. The new commandment is the only commandment. If there is no love, there is nothing. Magrassi writes, “Away with labels and classifications: every brother is the sacrament of Christ. Let us examine our daily life: can we live with our brother from morning till night and not accept and love him? The great work in this case is ecstasy in its etymological sense, that is, to go out of myself so as to be neighbor to the one who needs me, beginning with those nearest to me and with the most humble matters of every day life” (Living the church, 113).
d) For our reflection:
- Is our love for our brothers and sisters directly proportional to our love for Christ?
- Do I see the Lord present in the person of my brother and sister?
- Do I use the daily little occasions to do good to others?
- Let us examine our daily life: can I live with my brothers and sisters from morning till night and yet not accept and love them?
- Does love give meaning to the whole of my life?
- What can I do to show my gratitude to the Lord who became servant for me and consecrated His whole life for my good? Jesus replies, “Serve Me in brothers and sisters: this is the most authentic way of showing your practical love for Me.”
3. ORATIO
a) Psalm 23:1-6:
This psalm presents an image of the church journeying accompanied by the goodness and faithfulness of God, until it finally reaches the house of the Father. In this journey she is guided by love that gives it direction: your goodness and your faithfulness pursue me.
Yahweh is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
In grassy meadows He lets me lie.
By tranquil streams He leads me
to restore my spirit.
He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits His name.
Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death
I should fear no danger,
for You are at my side.
Your staff and Your crook are there to soothe me.
You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup brims over.
Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life.
I make my home in the house of Yahweh
for all time to come.
b) Praying with the Fathers of the Church:
I love You for Yourself, I love You for Your gifts,
I love You for love of You
And I love You in such a way,
That if ever Augustine were God
And God Augustine,
I would want to come back and be who I am, Augustine,
That I may make of You who You are,
Because only You are worthy of being who You are.
Lord, You see,
My tongue raves,
I cannot express myself,
But my heart does not rave.
You know what I experience
And what I cannot express.
I love You, my God,
And my heart is too limited for so much love,
And my strength fails before so much love,
And my being is too small for so much love.
I come out of my smallness
And immerse my whole being in You,
I transform and lose myself.
Source of my being,
Source of my every good:
My love and my God.
(St. Augustine: Confessions)
c) Closing prayer:
Blessed Teresa Scrilli, seized by an ardent desire to respond to the love of Jesus, expressed herself thus:
I love You,
O my God,
In Your gifts;
I love You in my nothingness,
And even in this I understand,
Your infinite wisdom;
I love You in the many varied or extraordinary events,
By which You accompanied my life…
I love You in everything,
Whether painful or peaceful;
Because I do not seek,
Nor have I ever sought,
Your consolations;
Only You, the God of consolations.
That is why I never gloried
Nor delighted in
That which You made me experience entirely gratuitously in Your Divine love,
Nor did I distress and upset myself,
When left arid and small.
(Autobiography, 62)
Fr. George Mangiacina, O.C.D
GOSPEL
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means! But l cell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"
And he told them this parable: "There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil? He said to him in reply, 'Sir, leave it for this year also. and l shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it: it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down:" LUKE 15: 1-9
ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS
When John of the Cross writes about repentance, he is very thorough. 'Those desiring to climb to the summit of the mount in order to become an altar for the offering of a sacrifice of pure love and praise and reverence to God must first accomplish these three tasks perfectly. First, they must cast out strange gods, all alien affections and attachments. Second, by denying these appetites and repenting of them—through the dark night of the senses—they must purify themselves of the residue. Third, in order to reach the top of this high mount, their garments must be changed. By means of the fro two works, God will substitute new garments for the old. The soul will be clothed in a new understanding of God in God (through removal of the old understanding) and in a new love of God in God, once the will is stripped of all the old cravings and satisfactions. And God will vest the soul with new knowledge when the other old ideas and images are cast aside [Col 3:9]. He causes all that is of the old self, the abilities of one's natural being to cease, mud be attires all the faculties with new supernatural abilities. As a result, one activities, once human, now become divine. This is achieved in the state of union when the soul, in while God alone dwells, has no other fiction than that of an altar on whirl, God is adored in praise and love.
"God commanded that the altar oft& Ark of the Covenant be empty and hollow [Ex 27:8] to remind the soul bow void of all things God wishes it to be i f it is to serve as a worthy dwelling for His Majesty. It was forbidden that the altar have any strange fire, or that its own go out; so much so that when Nadab and Abilm, the sons of the high priest Aaron, offered strange fire on our Lord's altar God became angry and slew them there in front lithe altar [Lv 10:1-2]. The lesson we derive bore is that one love for God must never fail or be mixed with alien love( (tone wants to be a worthy altar of sacrifice. (my emphasis!" (A 1.5.7).
REFLECTION
From time to time we hear the lament that Catholics are not going to confession as much as they used to. Maybe in some way this is good as it shows that Catholics have moved away from confessing minor faults and venial sins. On the other hand, it may be something serious. It may be a sign that we as Catholics have lost our way in knowing how we stand before God. Maybe we have lost knowing how to examine our conscience and our knowledge of who we are.
The selection from John of the Cross challenges us to grow in self-knowledge. While it is true that we do nor worship false gods of the past, we may havc some new ones. For example. how much time and money do we spend for things other than God? or. how much time and energy do we spend for products or services that we cannot afford? Asking ourselves these types of questions can further us along the path of conversion that our Lord calls us to travel today.
PRAYER
Lord, God, through the Season of Lent, you call us to conduct a spiritual spring-cleaning of all that we find within us that is not of you, through prayer, fasting, and self-denial. Grant, we ask, that we may continue to persevere in this work so that when Holy Week arrives, we may be able join in spirit with your Son who will climb the mountain of his gift of self to you through his crucifixion. We ask this through Christ. our Lord. Amen.
Fr. John Russell, O.Carm.
GOSPEL
JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES:
The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."
Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save ir. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?' LUKE 9: 22-25
ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX
On New Year's day, 1888, Jesus again gave me a present of his cross, but this time I was alone in carrying it. It was all the more painful as I did not understand it. A letter from Mother Marie de Gonzague informed me that the Bishop's answer had arrived December 28, feast of the Holy Innocents, but that she bad not told me as it was decided that my entrance would be delayed until after Lent. I was unable to hold back my tears at the thought of such a long wait I really want to believe I must have appeared unreasonable in not accepting my three months exile joyfielly, but I also believe that, without its appearing so, this trial was very great and made me grow very much in abandonment and in the other virtue? (Story of a Soul, 143).
REFLECTION
The cross enters everyone's life and we notice in today's Gospel reading that the cross is a daily event. For St. Therese the cross was experienced in the delay she had to endure before her entrance into the Carmel of Lisieux. She would encounter more crosses in her brief life, e.g., physical illness and temptations regarding the existence of heaven.
People meet the cross in disappointments with children, in job loss and financial crises. Also the cross comes in the form of a migraine headache, in risky surgery, in stress, in long waiting lines, in dryness in prayer, in rejection in relationships. The cross may be brief and transitory or permanent. It may be simply an annoy¬ance or a dark period in one's life which threatens ones overall mental health. In the Christian tradition we walk in the footsteps of Christ, who can take our suffering and turn it into a saving grace for others. We may find that our desire to unite with Christ and his suffering provides us with the ballast of peace and hope. For St. Therese suffering provided the joy of knowing Christ Jesus in profound love.
PRAYER.
Gracious and loving God, your presence among us invites courage and fidelity in adversity. Suffering can cause feelings of anger and pain as well as a heart that may question your goodness. Take our lives and transform our hearts to cruse in your love and your presence within us. Like St. Therese may we obtain the grace of abandonment to your providential love. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
by Fr. Leopold
Camtelites take their primary inspiration from the fiery prophet of Mount Carmel, Elijah the Tishbite. The Books of Kings relate the exploits of this committed man of God, a hero to Jews, Christians and Moslems alike. His name means "My God is Yahweh," and Elijah is uncompromising on that fact.
The story is set in the 9th century BC, during the violent reign of King Ahab, velto probably ruled from about 869 to 850 BC. He represents a new low in corruption and infidelity to Israel's faithful God. Ahab complicated his own shortcomings by marrying Jezebel of lyre, a queen whose name has become a symbol of evil and debauchery: Jezebel worked actively to stamp out the worship of the true God, and kill those vitro tried to remain faithful.
She promoted the worship of Baal, the lyro-Canaanite god of storms and fertility. Baal ("the Lord") was identified with the forces of nature which sustain crops and domestic animals. Worship was simple and uncomplicated by any moral standards. Symbolic offerings of grain and animals were seen as "bribes" for favorable weather conditions. Male and female prostitution through temples of Baal invited worshippers to "greater union" with the god. Jewish prophets preached vigorously against contact with idolaters, because of the dangers of following these rites in a moment of weakness.
So Elijah's confrontation of Ahab and Jezebel is presented as a showdown between Yahweh and Baal. It is not a question of which god is stronger, but of which is truly God. Elijah asserts that No rain or dew will fall on Israel until the word comes from my mouth." Since rain and weather were the realm of Baal, Elijah effectively slaps Ahab's god in the Lace.
Israel begins to dry up. Elijah went to his town of Tishbe beyond the Jordan. Beside the Wadi Cherith, ravens brought him food, just as God had fed the Israelites in the desert. When even this water source went dry, God directed him to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon. Deep in the heartland of Baal's cult, Elijah stays with a poor widow, who is also feeling the scarcity of the drought. The widow is not Jewish, but she recognizes the holiness of her guest. Her supply of food never fails, and God even raises her son to life. This simple woman accepts Elijah as a man of God.
After three years of drought, God sends Elijah back for a final test of strength. Jezebel likely ran the religious and domestic affairs of the kingdom, so Elijah takes aim at her hold on power. He challenges her prophets of Baal to a contest. On the slopes of Mount Cannel (a parallel to Sinai) he arranges for his competition, Two bulls are slaughtered and placed on altars to be burnt. Only the fire is missing. He taunts the prophets that their god of lightning and fire should make short work of the sacrifice.
As they pray and shriek loudly, Elijah ridicules the prophets and their god, very effectively making fools of them. Ile suggests that Baal is too stupid or incompetent to hear them, even day-dreaming, napping, or "on a journey' (which is a euphemism for answering the call of nature). After hours of wasted hysteria, the prophets have totally discredited themselves. Elijah calls the people to God. He drenches the bull and altar with water, an extravagant waste after a three-year drought.
Elijah addresses a simple prayer to God, and receives fire without delay. Just as the fire and the blood are the people's proof of God's power, so the rain will be the proof for Ahab. Elijah announces that rain will finally come. The wisp of cloud rising from the sea represents the hand of God, present in human affairs. The cloud grows, the rain begins, and Elijah runs ahead of Ahab's chariot back to Jezreel. There is no doubt who has won the contest between gods.
Ironically, Elijah has a crisis of courage after his greatest triumph; he feels afraid, and runs for his life. This retreat from Israel presents a vibrant image of our prophet as one who truly "stood before God." By describing himself in this manner, Elijah is describing an attitude: he lives in the conscious recognition that God and his power are everywhere.
Elijah's pilgrimage to Horeb takes him into the southern desert, away from Israel. God's question Elijah, why are you here?" is a mild rebuke to one who has left his assigned land. Elijah responds with self-pity that he is the only faithful one left. So God points out that there are still thousands of good people and that Elijah's work is already bearing fruit. God confronts this lack of courage with a demonstration of his presence. we learn that God is not in the wind, earthquake, or fire. Yet Elijah finds God's presence in the gentle silence which follows the more spectacular physical display. God is spirit, not a natural force, and talks to prophets as directly as he wishes.
Elijah returns home to food and companionship, and prepares the final stroke against Ahab andJezebel, who compound their evil activity by the murder of Naboth. Poor Naboth is treacherously killed because he is faithful. Elijah predicts the end of king and queen in grisly detail, and passes out of their lives forever. God is done with them, and so is he!
He selects Elisha as his successor, and then is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. The "double portion- of his spirit which Elisha requests is a special blessing, since the eldest son traditionally got twice the inheritance of other children. Elijah's cloak symbolizes his continuing presence, and the chariot sunds for the protection which God gives to faithful people.
Elijah shows how God is exciting enough to take our breath away. He lives in God's presence, confronts injustice and evil, and stands for a kind of allegiance to God which no one can misunderstand. If Ahab and Jezebel seem to be hapless victims of their own mistakes, their first failure was ignoring the God who is really there.
by Father John Welch, O.Carm.
She has been called a "Vatican II in miniature." Young Therese Martin as a Carmelite nun anticipated many of the contributions of that great pastoral council. The Fathers of the Council frequently invoked her name both in formal and informal sessions. And today her contributions are recognized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Saint Therese of Lisieux, “the Little Flower,” died in 1897 at the age of 24. Her spirituality was rooted in the gospels, long before Catholics were turning to scripture for nourishment. She preferred to think of the Blessed Virgin not as a Queen but as a young peasant woman facing the daily tasks common to all. Therese reinvigorated our belief in the "communion of saints." She trusted that her deceased family members still cared and heard her prayers. She herself promised not to forget those of us who remained on earth after her death.
Best of all, Saint Therese of Lisieux restored our confidence in a God who is loving and merciful. In a time when religion focused on sin and God's punishment, Therese relied on a God whose justice would take into account our poverty, and whose love would never turn away. Her little way is not a lessening of desire nor a retreat from life. It is a way of proceeding with absolute trust in God's merciful love. Therese declared, "Everything is grace!"
When Therese, under instructions from her prioress, wrote her autobiography, Story of A Soul, she said she was "singing of the mercies of the Lord." Our ordinary lives are filled with daily miracles, the mercies of the Lord. And she quoted Saint Paul: "So then there is question not of him who wills nor of him who runs but of God showing mercy' (Rom 9,16). Her emphasis was not on what she had done in her lifetime, but on what God's presence and love had done in and through her.
Thomas Merton attributed his vocation to her inspiration. Dorothy Day wrote a biography of Saint Therese. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said she chose her name, not from the great Saint Teresa of Avila, but from little Therese. In 1997 Pope John Paul II declared her "Doctor of the Universal Church," one of only 33 individuals to receive that recognition, and the third woman, after Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Catherine of Sienna. The Pope referred to Therese as one of the great masters of the spiritual life in our time."
Confidence and love
The Little Flower was convinced that God is not looking for people to punish. God is looking for people to love. Therese said, "How few there are who are willing to open their lives to that love." God's love is a transforming love. God wants to love people into life, into freedom, into a profound friendship.
When her sister Marie complained that she herself had none of the great desires to be holy that Therese had, Therese said it is not our virtues or our great desires God loves it is our "littleness." She wrote to Marie: The more one is weak, without desires and without virtues, the more one is suited for the operation of God's consuming and transforming love." We do not earn God's love; it is freely given. Therese is expressing a true, biblical faith when she said to Marie, It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to love."
Saint Therese's short life had its share of sorrows, including several final months of intense physical suffering, and challenges to her faith. Anticipating her death, Therese wrote to a missionary priest, When I shall have arrived at port, I will teach you how to travel...on the stormy sea of the world; with the surrender and love of a child who knows God loves us and cannot leave us alone in the hour of danger... it is the way of simple love and confidence."
Bishop Patrick Ahern, an ardent devotee of Saint Therese, described her spirituality: "The Little Way finds joy in the present moment. In being pleased to be the person you are, whoever you are. It is a school of self-acceptance, which goes beyond accepting who you are to wanting to be who you are. It is a way of coming to terms with life, not as it might be but as it is."
As she promised, the Little Flower went to God "With empty hands," knowing that would be enough. Her Feast is celebrated October 1.
Lectio Divina March 2013
Respect for Nature. That respect for nature may grow with the awareness that all creation is God's work entrusted to human responsibility.
Clergy. That bishops, priests, and deacons may be tireless messengers of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Lectio Divina March - Marzo - Marzo 2013
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- Friday, March 1, 2013
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- Sunday, March 10, 2013 - 10
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To see in the night and believe for love
John 20, 1-9
1. Let us invoke the Holy Spirit
Lord Jesus Christ, today Your light shines in us, source of life and joy. Send the Spirit of love and truth, so that, like Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John, we too may discover and interpret the light of the Word,
the signs of Your divine presence in our world. May we welcome these signs in faith that we may always live in the joy of Your presence among us, even when all seems to be shrouded in the darkness of sadness and evil.
2. The Gospel
a) A key to the reading:
For John the Evangelist, the resurrection of Jesus is the decisive moment in the process of His glorification, indissolubly linked with the first phase of this glorification, namely His passion and death.
The event of the resurrection is not described in the spectacular and apocalyptic details of the synoptic Gospels. For John, the life of the Risen One is a reality that asserts itself silently, in the discreet and irresistible power of the Spirit.
The faith of the disciples is announced, "While it was still dark" and begins through the vision of the material signs that recall the Word of God. Jesus is the great protagonist of the story, but He does not appear personally.
b) The text:
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
c) A subdivision of the text for a better understanding:
Verse 1: introduction and events prior to the description of the situation;
Verse 2: Mary’s reaction and the first announcement of the newly discovered fact;
Verses 3-5: the immediate reaction of the disciples and the interaction among them.
Verses 6-7: verification of the event announced by Mary;
Verses 8-9: the faith of the other disciple and its relationship with the Sacred Scriptures.
3. A moment of interior and exterior silence
to open our hearts and make room within for the Word of God:
- A slow re-reading the whole passage;
- I am in the garden: the empty sepulcher is before my eyes;
- I allow Mary Magdalene’s words to echo within me;
- I run with her, Peter and the other disciple;
- I allow myself to be immersed in the joyful wonder of the faith in Jesus Christ, even though, like them, I do not see Him with my bodily eyes.
4. The gift of the Word to us
* Chapter 20 in John: this is quite a fragmented text where it is clear that the editor has intervened several times to put the stress on some themes and to unify the various texts received previously from preceding sources, at least three sources.
* The day after the Sabbath: it is "the first day of the week" and, in Christian circles, inherits the sacredness of the Jewish Sabbath. For Christians it is the first day of the new week, the beginning of the new time, the memorial day of the resurrection called "the day of the Lord" (dies Domini).
Here and in verse 19, the Evangelist adopts an expression that is already traditional for Christians (e.g.: Mk 16:2, 9; Acts 20:7) and is older than the expression that later became characteristic of the first evangelization: "the third day" (e.g.: Lk 24:7, 46; Acts 10:40; 1Cor 15:4).
* Mary Magdalene: This is the same woman as the one present at the foot of the cross with other women (19:25). Here she seems to be alone, but the words in verse 2 ("we do not know") show that the original story, worked on by the Evangelist, told of more women, as is true of the other Gospels (cf. Mk 16:1-3; Mt 28:1; Lk 23:55-24,1).
The synoptic gospels (cf. Mk 16:1; Lk 24:1) do not specify the reason for her visit to the sepulcher, seeing that it inferred that the rite of burial had already been carried out (19:40); perhaps, the only thing missing is the funereal lamentation (cf. Mk 5:38). In any case, the fourth Evangelist reduces to a minimum the story of the discovery of the empty sepulcher so as to focus the attention of the reader on what comes after.
* Early, while it was still dark: Mark (16:2) says something different, but from both we understand that it was the very early hours of the morning, when the light is very weak and still pale. Perhaps John stresses the lack of light in order to contrast symbolically the darkness-lack of faith and light-welcoming of the Gospel of the resurrection.
* The stone had been taken away from the tomb: the Greek work is generic: the stone had been "taken away" or "removed" (different from Mk 16:3-4).
The verb to "take away" recalls Jn 1:29: the Baptist points Jesus out as " Lamb who takes away the sin of the world". Perhaps the Evangelist wishes to recall the fact that this stone "taken away", flung away from the sepulcher is the material sign that death and sin have been "taken away" by the resurrection of Jesus? It also describes a larger event, the moving of the stone, which would otherwise be lost on the reader. For anyone who has moved even landscape stones in the garden, it is obvious that stone is heavy and takes more than one person to move a stone of any real size, especially one that would cover a sepulcher. The moved stone signifies something important has happened here, even before entering.
* So she ran and went to Peter and the other disciple: Mary Magdalene runs to those who share her love for Jesus and her suffering for His atrocious death, now made worse by this new discovery. She turns to them, perhaps because they were the only ones who had not run away with the others and had remained in contact with each other (cf. 19:15, 26-27 ). She wants to at least share with them this final pain of the outrage committed against the body.
We see how Peter and the "beloved disciple" and Magdalene are characterized by a special love that unites them with Jesus: it is indeed reciprocal love that makes them capable of sensing the presence of the loved person.
* The other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved: is someone who appears only in this Gospel and only beginning with chapter 13, when he exhibits great intimacy with Jesus and deep understanding with Peter (13:23-25). He appears at every decisive moment of the passion and of the resurrection of Jesus, but remains anonymous and many theories have been advanced on his identity. He is probably the anonymous disciple of the Baptist who follows Jesus together with Andrew (1:35.40). Since the fourth Gospel never speaks of John the apostle, and keeping in mind that this Gospel recounts details clearly known to an eyewitness, the "disciple" has been identified with John the apostle. The fourth Gospel has always been attributed to him even though he may not have materially written it, yet the origin of this particular tradition is that this Gospel and other writings are attributed to John. This also explains why he is someone who is somewhat idealized.
"The one whom Jesus loved": It is clear that this is an addition not from the apostle, who would not have dared boast of having such a close relationship with the Lord, but from his disciples who wrote most of the Gospel and who coined this expression after reflection on the clearly privileged love between Jesus and him (cf. 13:25; 21:4,7). Where we read the simpler expression "the other disciple" or "the disciple", obviously the editors did not make the addition.
* They have taken the Lord out of the tomb: these words, which recur in verses 13 and 15, show that Mary was afraid that body-snatchers had taken the body, a thing common then, so much so that the Roman Emperor had to promulgate severe decrees to check this phenomenon. In Matthew (28:11-15), the chief priests use this possibility to discredit the fact of the resurrection of Jesus and, eventually, to justify the lack of intervention on the part of the soldiers who guarded the tomb.
* The Lord: the title "Lord" implies an acknowledgment of divinity and evokes divine omnipotence. That is why this term was used by Christians for the risen Jesus. Indeed, the fourth Evangelist uses this term only in Paschal stories (see also 20:13).
* We do not know where they have laid Him: these words recall what happened to Moses, whose place of burial was unknown (Deut 34:10). Another implicit reference is to the words of Jesus Himself when He says that it is impossible to know where He was going (7:11, 22; 8:14, 28, 42; 13:33; 14:1-5; 16:5).
* They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter…but he did not go in: This passage shows the anxiety that these disciples were living through.
The fact that the "other disciple" stopped, is more than just a gesture of politeness or respect towards someone older, it is the tacit acknowledgment that Peter, within the apostolic group, held a place of pre-eminence, even though this is not stressed. It is, therefore, a sign of communion. This gesture could also be a literary device to move from the event in terms of faith in the resurrection to the following and peak moment in the story.
* The linen cloths lying and the napkin…rolled up in a place by itself: although the other disciple did not go in, he had already seen something. Peter, crossing the entrance of the sepulcher, discovers the proof that no theft of the body took place: no thief would have wasted time to unfold the body, spread the cloths in an orderly fashion (on the ground would be translated better by "spread out" or "laid carefully on the floor") and then to roll up the napkin in a place by itself. Such an operation would have also been complicated because the oils with which the body had been anointed (especially myrrh) acted like glue, causing the cloths to stick perfectly and solidly to the body, similar to what happened to mummies. Besides, the napkin is folded; the Greek verb can also mean "rolled", or it could indicate that that piece of light cloth had, in large part, preserved the form of the face over which it had been placed, almost like a mortuary mask. The cloths are the same as those cited in Jn 19:40.
Everything is in order in the sepulcher, even though the body of Jesus is not there, and Peter was well able to see inside the sepulcher because the day was breaking. Different from Lazarus (11:44) then, Christ rises, completely abandoning his funerary trappings. Ancient commentators note that, in fact, Lazarus had to use the cloths again for his definitive burial, while Christ had no further use of them because he was not to die again (cf. Rom 6:9).
* Peter…saw…the other disciple…saw and believed: at the beginning of the story, Mary also "saw". Although some translations use the same verb, the original text uses three different verbs (theorein for Peter; blepein for the other disciple and Mary Magdalene; idein, here, for the other disciple), allowing us to understand that there is a growth in the spiritual depth of this "seeing" that, in fact, culminates in the faith of the other disciple.
The anonymous disciple had certainly not seen anything other than what Peter had observed. Perhaps he interprets what he sees differently from others because of the special relationship of love he had with Jesus (Thomas’ experience is emblematic, 29: 24-29). In any case, as indicated by the tense of the Greek verb, his is still an initial faith, so much so that he cannot find ways of sharing this experience with Mary or Peter or any of the other disciples. (There is no further reference to this).
However, for the fourth Evangelist, the double "see and believe" is quite meaningful and refers exclusively to faith in the resurrection (cf. 20:29), because it was impossible to truly believe before the Lord had died and rose (cf. 14:25-26; 16:12-15). The double vision-faith, then, characterizes the whole of this chapter and "the beloved disciple" is presented as a model of faith who succeeds in understanding the truth about God through material (cf. 21:7).
* As yet they did not know the Scripture: this obviously refers to all the other disciples. Even for those who had lived close to Jesus, then, it was difficult to believe in Him, and for them, as for us also, the only gateway that allows us to cross the threshold of authentic faith is knowledge of the Scriptures (cf. Lk 24:26-27; 1Cor 15:34; Acts 2: 27-31) in the light of the events of the resurrection.
5. A few questions to direct our reflection and its practice
a) What, in the concrete, does it mean for us "to believe in Jesus the Risen One"? What difficulties do we encounter? Does the resurrection solely concern Jesus or is it really the foundation of our faith?
b) The relationship that we see among Peter, the other disciple and Mary Magdalene is clearly one of great communion in Jesus. In what persons, realities, institutions do we find this same understanding of love and the same "common union" founded on Jesus today? Where can we read the concrete signs of the great love for the Lord and "His own" that inspired all the disciples?
c) When we look at our lives and the reality that surrounds them, both near and far, do we see as Peter saw (he saw reality, but holds on to them to the death and burial of Jesus) or do we see as the other disciple saw (he saw facts and discovers in them signs of new life)?
6. Let us pray asking for grace and praising God
With a hymn taken from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians (paraphrase of 1:17-23).
The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation
in the knowledge of Him,
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you,
what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power
in us who believe, according to the working of His great might
which He accomplished in Christ when He raised Him from the dead
and made Him sit at His right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in that which is to come;
and He has put all things under His feet
and has made Him the head over all things for the church,
which is His body,
the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
7. Closing prayer
The liturgical context is of great importance in praying this Gospel and the event of the resurrection of Jesus, which is the hub of our faith and of our Christian life. The sequence that characterizes the Eucharistic liturgy of today and of the whole week leads us to praise the Father and the Lord Jesus.
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the undefiled
has sinners to His Father reconciled.
Death with life contended:
Combat strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
Yet lives to reign.
Tell us Mary;
say what you see upon the way.
The tomb the living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as He rose!
The angels there attesting;
Shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
He goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen from the dead
we know.
Victorious King,
Your mercy show.
We may conclude our prayer also with this lively invocation by a contemporary poet, Marco Guzzi:
Love, Love, Love!
I wish to feel, live and express all this Love,
Which is a joyful commitment in the world
and a happy contact with others.
Only You free me, only You release me.
And the snows fall to water
the greenest of valleys in creation.
More...
By Michelle Laviola, Joliet Catholic Academy
Evangelization is the process which seeks to spread the Gospel and the teachings of the gospel throughout the world. Jesus instructed his followers to go out and spread the Good News. As Catholics, this duty is required for us to develop an intimate and meaningful relationship with Christ. Though this task may seem somewhat impossible, many religious orders, such as the Carmelites, help educate us on how to promote the gospel to others. Unlike most religious orders, the Carmelites do not have a founder. The original order consisted of hermits who dedicated their life to God while residing on top of Mount Carmel. Without a founder, the Carmelites look to great figures in the Catholic Church such as Elijah and Mary for inspiration. This also means that God's founding gift, or charism, to the order is not found in a particular person, but within the community. The Carmelite charism consists of several different elements; the main one being contemplation, or a quiet meditative form of prayer. Contemplation helps the Carmelites develop a very• close relationship with the Father. They can now minimize the distractions from the outside world while in turn asking God to support the needs of the world through their prayer. Some Carmelites follow their vocations and become teachers of prayer or spiritual directors. Through these positions, Carmelite priests and nuns can expand their knowledge of the gospel and help promote evangelization amongst parishioners, and even the students that they teach.
Carmelite do more than solely dedicate their lives to God; they dedicate their lives to spreading God's moral teachings to those in need of His grace. The Carmelite as a whole are very involved with communities through-out the world. Members of the Order educate their followers on a firsthand basis. Many provinces of the Carmelite Order have opened up schools or parishes in which they can further expand their instruction of the faith. To have a strong bond with Christ, we must not only know his teachings, but also make known his teachings. This means that to prove our discipleship to God, we must send forth his good news to the world. Again, to many this may seem like a daunting task. However, God does not expect his followers to go to extraordinary means to proclaim his word. Oftentimes, it is the everyday deeds that reveal God in us all. Anytime God's love is present becomes an astonishing moment. The Carmelites are a perfect example of how ordinary people can perform extraordinary deeds wilt God's guidance. The simple act of providing a Carmelite education can change the world forever. Their students not only are educated on typical school subjects, but also on morals and God's teachings. Carmelite religion classes allow students to think at a more aesthetic perspective. Unlike math, English, or science classes, a religion class teaches students lifelong lessons that can be applied immediately to almost any situation. Carmelite teachings open up students' eyes to God's grace in the world. The lessons that the Carmelites offer are considered very valuable by most of their students. Though it may not seem like it at the time, a Carmelite education changes one's life for good. For some, it may take only a few days to realize that they should continue to pass on the values that they were taught. For others, it may take years. No matter how long it takes for someone to come to terms with their faith, the Carmelites have indeed touched another life and promoted evangelization throughout the world.
I personally have had the privilege of receiving a Carmelite education. Like with many others, it truly has changed my life. I have enjoyed exploring my faith and learning about all that God has to offer. My Carmelite education has inspired me to promote evangelization throughout my community Since starting my education at Joliet Catholic, I have decided to volunteer to try to teach others about the gospel. One of my most enjoyable opportunities was working a retreat for First Communicants to prepare them for the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It was such an amazing experience to educate the children about how sacred receiving Christ's Body and Blood really is. I loved seeing them start to comprehend how great God's love for us is, and helping them understand all that He has sacrificed for us. Even at school I help promote evangelization to my fellow students. I love discussing my faith with my religion teachers and often volunteer to lead prayer and retreats so I can help inform my peers about God's teachings.
The Carmelite Order truly has made a difference in our world today. Even amongst the modernization of our lives, the Order helps remind Jesus' disciples about the importance of our faith and our relationship with our Father. Carmelites not only teach us about our Catholic beliefs, but also how to spread them to others. I am very proud to have been brought up on Carmelite teachings and I plan to hold them and promote them both now and later on in my life.
* from Carmelite Review: Volume 51, Number 2 - Spring / Summer 2012
* Photo: Joliet Catholic Academy’s March For Life
