7th Week of Easter 2021 - Tuesday - Self-Donation and Heavenly Glory

 At this point in the Easter season, you’ve heard me say a time or two that Chapters 14-17 of the Gospel of John comprise the Lord’s Farewell Discourse—his instruction to the apostles on the night before he was to be crucified, given at the Last Supper. 

Today we begin the final chapter of the Farewell Discourse, where Jesus turns from addressing his disciples to addressing his Father. Chapter 17 consists of a prayer.

And within this prayer you will find five specific petitions. Today’s Gospel contains the first two: First there is a petition for glory—that as the Father has been glorified through the Lord’s earthly ministry, that glory may reach a culmination as the mission of Jesus is completed upon the cross. The Second petition is a prayer for his disciples—the Lord lifts up his disciples to the Father as a way of uniting them to himself.

In this prayer, Jesus opens a window into his relationship with the Father, and we see that it is marked by complete selflessness. His only desire is to glorify his Father and do his Father’s will. Everything that the Father has given to the Son, the Son, in turn gives back to the Father. It is in this total giving of self that we come to some understanding of that mysterious statement that “God is love”.

And that the Lord prays for his disciples in the very next breath after praying to do his Father’s will is also profound. He prays that God may be glorified through Jesus’ loving self-donation, and then he prays for us, that we may come to share in that very same glory by remaining united with the Son by imitating his self-donation, his self-sacrifice.

The Christian life consists of imitating the Love Jesus has for his Father, love that is manifested in self-sacrifice.

This section of John’s Gospel is perhaps the most theologically dense, but that is because it is so theologically rich. We begin to pear into the very mysterious heart of God, and begin to see how Jesus’ own love for his Father is intertwined with his love for us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that we may believe in Him and have eternal life” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

Let us pray to our Heavenly Father, confident that He is generous to those who call upon Him with faith.

For our young people preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation this weekend—that they may open their hearts to the gifts God has in store for them. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our President and all elected government representatives, may the Holy Spirit grant them wisdom and guide them to promote domestic tranquility, national unity, respect for religious freedom, and a greater reverence for the sanctity of Human Life. Let us pray to the Lord.

Like the apostles gathered with Our Lady in the Cenacle, may the Church grow in Marian devotion this month, especially in devotion to the Holy Rosary. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or disease: that they may know the peace and consolation of the Good Shepherd. Let us pray to the Lord.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for those who have fought and died for our freedom, and for …for whom this mass is offered. Let us pray to the Lord.

Gracious Father, hear the prayers of your pilgrim Church, grant us your grace and lead us to the glory of your kingdom, through Christ Our Lord.

5th Week of Easter 2021 - Friday - "All you need is love"

 When I am preparing couples for marriage, I ask them a series of questions about themselves and their relationship.  ‘Where are you from?’ ‘How did you meet?’ ‘When long have you dated?’ ‘What kind of activities do you share?’ ‘Do you think your parents set a good example of how to have a happy marriage?’ ‘What will you do differently?

The toughest question perhaps is a true or false question.  ‘True or false,’ I ask. ‘Love is all you need for a happy marriage.’  Is love all you need for a happy marriage?  Some of them think it is a trick question, and they try looking at my face to see what answer I want.  In a sense, it is a trick wuestion because it depends on the definition of the word “love”

What is love.  Sometimes we use the word love to mean a lot of things.  We say, I love ice cream, I love classical music, I love summer, I love bacon, I love the Cleveland browns.  

But when Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbor, he spoke of love in the truest sense.  True love is not just a feeling or emotion that changes.  For my love for ice cream can change if I eat an entire gallon of it.  In fact, Love of money, love of pleasure, love of fame, love of power, can become something very dangerous even deadly to the human soul.  

When Jesus tells us today, ‘love one another’.  He explains what love means: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Love isn’t a feeling, or a craving, it’s an action, it requires effort. Love requires being patient when we want to be impatient, being kind when we want to be selfish, enduring and persevering when we want to give up, being humble when we want to be pompous, forgiving when we want to brood over injury.  

St. Paul goes so far to say that if you go throughout life without this type of Christ-like love, then you are like a clashing cymbal, in other words, you are just going through life making a bunch of noise.  I hope that none of you here are just going through life making a bunch of noise. 

We will grow in holiness and joy and find authentic fulfillment to the extent that we practice true Christ-like love.  And the rest is just a bunch of noise.  

When it is the love of Christ—love IS all you need for a happy marriage, for a happy and holy life, for it is the way that leads to eternal life. Imitating the master, may we practice true love toward all today in patience, gentleness, forbearance, and generous self-giving for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For lasting peace throughout the world: Christ, the Prince of Peace will put an end to all enmity and division, and unify the peoples of the world.

For Pope Francis and Bishop Malesic, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd and for an increase in vocations to the ordained priesthood, and that our priests may serve the Church with the love and devotion of the Good Shepherd.

That during this month of May, Christians may turn to Mary, Mother of the Church, seeking her aid and imploring her intercession with increased and fervent devotion, especially by praying the Holy Rosary. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness, and that the Lord may grant his gift of peace to those most in need of it.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

Tuesday after Epiphany 2020 - The bread of self-donation

Throughout the Christmas season, our daily Gospel readings expound upon the identity and mission of the Christ-Child born at Bethlehem. Yesterday’s Gospel told of the beginning of the Lord’s Galilean ministry. Jesus is revealed as the one who calls us to repentance, who is able to bring healing for all our physical diseases, but also our deepest spiritual disease. Jesus reveals to us the face of God who loves us, who desires our healing, our reconciliation with him.

What does today’s Gospel reveal to us about Jesus, about God? In the story of the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus is attentive to the physical hunger of the people who have come to listen to him preach. They have come to listen to Him preach because of their deep spiritual hunger. So he attends to both physical and spiritual hunger. Here Jesus reveals the face of God who desires to give us what truly nourishes—both materially and spiritually—our “daily bread” for which he teaches us to pray.

And yet, what is the nature of the spiritual nourishment Jesus provides? Well, the Gospel passage hints at what is later fulfilled at the Last Supper. Notice, when his disciples speak to him about the hunger of the people, the Lord tells them to feed the crowd. You, do something, you work to satisfy their hunger. You give them some food yourselves. There is something spiritually nourishing when we feed others. When we engage in the works of mercy we receive something greater than the physical, material thing that is given away. The great paradox at the heart of this reading is that giving bread to others is bread to us. The babe born in Bethlehem, Hebrew for “house of bread” has become the the bread of self-donation, and teaches us to become like Him.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus explains, “my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work.”

In the first reading this morning, when St. John says, “let us love one another because God is love” he is not talking about love as emotion. Love—Agape—in the Greek—means giving yourself to others, giving of yourself for the good of others. So we are to “give of our selves because God is self-giving love”. 

Especially in the Eucharist we see that God is the spiritual food for our spiritual hunger. When Jesus says, “do this in memory of me”, yes he is speaking of the need for us to celebrate ritually the Eucharist, but also the need for us to give of our body and blood, to give our lives away as a sacrifice to God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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We bring forth now our prayers of petitions.

That the Church may be attentive to the physical and spiritual needs of all.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of January: that Christians, followers of other religions, and all people of goodwill may promote peace and justice in the world.

For those oppressed by hunger, sickness or loneliness, that through the mystery of the Nativity of Christ, they may find relief in both mind and body.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord