The Three-Step

The Three-Step

WEDNESDAY, Easter, week one

The Responsorial Psalm tells us the path to joy: “Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord” (Psalm 105). Those who seek will find; and what they find will give them the fullness of joy.

In Acts 3: 1-10 the lame man found something he did not seek. Instead of money he received healing. And his cure brought others to find something they were not seeking.

There is a three-step pattern in the Apostles’ preaching of the Good News. First, there is an event that shocks— like the cure of the lame man or the enthusiasm of Pentecost. The event is something that raises a question (Acts 2: 1-13; 3: 9-11; 4:7). This is called pre-evangelization. It prepares people to listen. It makes those who were not seeking want to hear an answer.

This is the work of the prophets. It doesn’t take miracles; the lifestyle of Christians should be different enough, shocking enough, to raise questions that cannot be answered without the preaching of the Gospel. This is what prepares people to listen to the Good News.

In Luke 24: 13-35 the event that shocked the disillusioned disciples on the road to Emmaus was the apparent defeat of Jesus. In answer to their confused discouragement Jesus passes to the second step — evangelization — which is the proclamation and explanation of the Good News in answer to the question raised. “He interpreted to them the things about himself in all the Scriptures.” As he did so, their “hearts were burning within them” (and see Acts 2: 14-40; 3: 12-26; 4:8-12).

But the process is not complete until it is celebrated, which is normally in Eucharist. “He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread” (and Acts 2: 41-42; 4: 21 to 5:32) It is not enough just to hear and receive the message of the Gospel; we have to respond to it. We have to express our faith and our joy in celebration. “Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.” When we find what we seek we have to celebrate it. Otherwise we will not really assimilate and appreciate it. In this we pass from prophets to priests.

But the starting point is seeking. And what makes people seek is pre-evangelization: something that raises a question that can only be answered by the news of Jesus Christ. The function of the prophets is to raise that question by the way they live and act. The prophets challenge, but their challenge leads to joy. “Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord.”

Initiative: Be a prophet. Live in a way that cannot be explained except through the principles and values taught (and lived out) by Jesus Christ. 

“Up and Out”

May 17, 2015

THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION

(Thursday after Sixth Sunday — or it replaces Seventh Sunday)

“Up and Out”

Inventory (Feast of the Ascension, Year B)

Am I on fire to “proclaim the Good News to all creation”? What effect has the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus into heaven had on me?

Input

The angel of the Entrance Antiphon asks those who saw and heard and dealt with Jesus why they were standing around “looking up at the skies.” Didn’t they understand that their crucial place in history  (“men of Galilee”) gave them work to do? The Jesus who ascended is going to return. The interim period is working time. Didn’t they remember the job Jesus gave them: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth!”

What about our crucial place in history” Men and women of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Pacific islands. Men and women of the Third Millennium. Do we have a job to do? Is it just as important in our time and place as it was then? Are we doing it? Or are we just “standing around” — looking at what?

In the (alternative) Opening Prayer we say to the Father, “Our minds were prepared for the coming of your kingdom when you took Jesus beyond our sight.” How did Christ’s ascension prepare us for the coming of his kingdom?

The answer is that it focused us on the glory into which Jesus entered “so that we might seek him in his glory” — that is, “follow where he has led,” keep in view his victory, foresee his kingdom established throughout the world, and “find our hope in his glory.” In other words, work for it.

The Ascension moves us to get moving!

The Responsorial Psalm calls us to celebrate: “God mounts his throne to shouts of joy; a blare of trumpets for the Lord” (Psalm 47).

Acts 1: 1-11 tells us what we are celebrating: a victory that will be our accomplishment as well as Christ’s. When the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” he told them not to focus on “times or dates” but on their own role in bringing it about: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth!”

The Psalm continues, “God is king of all the earth… God is king over the nations.” Until the reign of his peace, his love, is established over every area and activity of human life on earth, our work is not done. We cannot fulfill our task without “power from on high,” but that power is the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through the members of Christ’s body on earth. There is no point in “looking up to heaven” unless we intend to take what is given to us from heaven and put it to work

All under his feet

We are acutely conscious that to be effective witnesses to the mystery of Jesus Christ we need a “spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed,” so that we can come to “full knowledge of him.” Ephesians 1: 17-23 tells us that to make known how good the Good News is we need to “see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised,” and on the practical level “how infinitely great is the power he has exercised for us believers.”

We are only too aware of the prevalence of sin, the power of entrenched attitudes, values and priorities in every human society. But by raising Jesus from the dead to “make him sit at his right hand in heaven” the “God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,” has made clear “the strength of his power at work in Christ.” Jesus is “far above” every power and authority on earth. God has “put all things under his feet.” Paul specifies that Jesus rules, not just from the distance of heaven, but as “head of the Church, which is his body” on earth. The power that is his at the “right hand of God” is at hand for us, working in and through the Spirit active within us. We need to “own” this and act in the power poured out on us, present in our hearts.

“Go… proclaim”

Mark 16: 15-20 is a starting gun. Its message is “Go, go, go! Proclaim the Good News to all creation!” God will work with you. You will walk unharmed through all the striking snakes of a society dominated by the power and riches of this world. You will be offered immunity to the “deadly poison” of a culture immersed in deception, seductive allurements and  “spin.” Move out! You have the power to heal anything you lay your hands on. Go! Believe in the promise the Church taught you to pray for since you were a child: “Send forth your Spirit and our hearts will be regenerated — and you shall renew the face of the earth!” Go! Proclaim the Good News to all creation! How? By taking action where you live and work and recreate: in your home, your social life, business and politics; action based on faith and hope in the power of Jesus seated at the right hand of God.

Insight

Does the Ascension of Jesus inspire you to be his presence on earth?

Initiative:

Keep asking Jesus, “Act with me, act in me, act through me” in everything you do. 

The Light of Christ

September 2: Tuesday of Week 22 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Psalm 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 13-14; Luke 4:31-37

What is Jesus saying to us as stewards of his kingship?

The Light of Christ

“The Spirit scrutinizes everything.” 1 Corinthians 2:10

Things aren’t the way they seem. Where we see law, order, and a desirable way of life, God frequently sees the fruit of justice perverted for personal gain; the disorder of an unequal society; and comfortable lifestyles dependent on neglecting the needs of the poor.

Paul says those who are formed by the culture “do not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God. To them it is foolishness. They cannot understand it, because it is judged spiritually.” Christians, however, “have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.” Those gifts let us see what is not right in the world. We need to use them as “faithful stewards” by taking responsibility for bringing about change.

Let’s be clear about it: poverty is the work of the devil. Wherever there are poor, the devil is triumphing in the hearts of all those who are not trying to do anything about it. The “rich man” who went to Hell in Luke 16:19 was guilty only of ignoring the poor man outside his gate.

To bring about inertia the devil uses two tools: selfishness and hopelessness. But Jesus “commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out.” If we are not selfish, we need to have confidence and act.

PRAY: “The Lord is just!”

PRACTICE: Look around with love. Notice.

Identification

August 11: Monday of Week 19 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28; Psalm 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14; Matthew 17:22-27

Thoughts to help us surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

“Give it to them for you and me.” Matthew 17:27

Peter, afraid to stand up against the collectors, said that of course Jesus paid the temple tax. Jesus challenged him: “Do kings take payment from their children or from others?” When Peter said, “From others,” Jesus said, “Then the children are free.”

Then he told Peter to give them double: “for me and for you.” He was making two points:

First, Jesus didn’t need to pay the temple tax; it was his Father’s house.

Second, Peter (and every Christian) is identified with Jesus, with all the rights and privileges that belong to “sons and daughters of the Father.”

And all the obligations.

For example, Christians do not engage in ministry as employees or “volunteers.” As family members, we are just as obliged as Jesus was to be “about our Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). By Baptism we “became Christ.” We “presented our bodies as a living sacrifice to God” (Romans 12:1) to become Christ’s body, so that he might act with us, in us and through us in everything we do. Through anointing with chrism we are consecrated and committed to let Jesus continue his “messianic mission” in us as Prophet, Priest and King.

This means we minister in union with Jesus. Ministry is surrender to Jesus wanting to express himself through our words and actions. It is a mystical experience—of union with Jesus in action.

PRAY: “Lord, do this in me.”

PRACTICE: All day, be conscious of surrendering.

The Heart of the Matter

July 21: Monday of Week 16 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Micah 6:1-4, 6-8; Psalm 50:5-6, 8-9, 16-17, 21, 23; Matthew 12:38-42

Thoughts to help us surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

“You have been told what is good.” Micah 6:8

God likes to simplify things. Ten Commandments, that Jesus condensed into two: loving God and neighbor (Matthew 37-39). One desire: “Strive first for the kingdom of God... and all these things will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33). One essential preoccupation: “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part” (Luke 10:42). And now a simple formula for pleasing God: “Only to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

John brought it down to love: “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them” (1John 4:16).

Ministry combines all of these. It is the supreme love of neighbor, and it is the expression of God’s love experienced, absorbed in prayer, and given.

It must be characterized by mercy and humility to be authentic.

It seeks to make every encounter with others a lifegiving experience of the love, joy and peace (“fruit of the Spirit,” Galatians 5:22) that will be made perfect in the Kingdom, when all sit down together at the “wedding banquet of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).

Ministry is simply giving expression to the heart of Christ, inspired by awareness of the expression Jesus gave when he offered his body on the cross.

PRAY: “Lord, give yourself with me, give yourself in me, give yourself through me.”

PRACTICE: Speak and act from the heart.

Strategic Retreat

July 19: Saturday of Week 15 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Micah 2:1-5; Psalm 10:1-2, 3-4, 7-8, 14; Matthew 12:14-21

Thoughts to help us surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

Strategic Retreat

Why, O Lord, do you stand aloof? Psalm 10:1

When people mess up the world, God seems to stand back. But the Psalm continues: “You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow, taking them in your hands.” The essential is that God is present to our pain; reaches out; touches us. This is the essential for ministry as well.

We can’t always stop evildoers. Even God doesn’t. He leaves them free. But we can be present to victims. The only real remedy to evil is love. We can give that.

When the Pharisees plotted against Jesus, he “withdrew.” In Matthew's Gospel Jesus never "flees." He "withdraws"—usually into greater solitude. The purpose is to hear God's voice. Our strength comes from union with God, fostered by prayer. We cannot be present helpfully to victims or oppressors unless God is present to us and we to him.

To pray, read God’s word, reflect, is to acknowledge we can do nothing to make the Father known and establish his Kingdom unless the Spirit makes us responsive to Jesus working with us, in us, through us.

If we simply lose ourselves fighting the evil around us, we will make it worse. If we keep our hearts withdrawn into union with Father, Son and Spirit, we can be present lovingly to hate. Only love changes victims into victors.  

“I shall place my Spirit upon him... In his name the Gentiles will hope.”

PRAY: “Lord, hold me.”

PRACTICE: Be present and love.

God is Lord

July 18: Friday of Week 15 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8; Canticle: Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12, 16; Matthew 12:1-8

Thoughts to help us surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

God is Lord

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Matthew 12:7

God is Lord:

• over the laws of biology: he cured Hezekiah’s sickness to preserve life;

• over the laws of nature: he reversed the shadow of the sun as a sign;

• over his own laws: in today’s Gospel Jesus does not say his disciples are not violating the Sabbath. He says God permits it because they are hungry and God is merciful. And “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Eastern Catholic tradition (the Greek Church Fathers, St. Basil) uses the word oikonomia for “a moral concession in contrast to the rule of order.” It means that, in “imitation of the divine mercy” and in “fidelity to the Redeemer who did not come for the just and strong, but to heal the sick and the weak,” we allow people to break laws impossible for them to observe—as long as nothing done is intrinsically evil. Its purpose is “to remove the hindrances to salvation” created by laws so impossible for particular persons that enforcing them would cause spiritual harm. The model of oikonomia is Jesus who broke the law by eating with tax collectors and letting sinners touch him (Luke 7:34-39. Google John Sabu, oikonomia; see Catechism of the Catholic Church 236).

Pope Francis referred to oikonomia when calling for more “merciful” treatment of the divorced and remarried. It gives us something to think about.

PRAY: “Lord, have mercy. Kyrie eleison.”

PRACTICE: Show God’s mercy when dealing with the weak.

War For Peace

July 14: Monday of Week 15 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Isaiah 1:10-17; Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23; Matthew 10:34 to 11:1

Thoughts to help us surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

War For Peace

I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” Matthew 10:34

Jesus did come to bring peace. The word occurs 92 times in the New Testament. As “priests in the Priest” we have received “the ministry of reconciliation” from God who “reconciled us to Himself through Christ” (2Corinthians 5:18).

Jesus told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” But he added: “Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27). Christ’s peace is inseparable from unity, goodness (love), and truth.

These are the “transcendentals”—characteristics that “transcend” all differences in being. Anything that exists as a being must be one (identifiable as a cohesive whole), good (have value or purpose), and true (intelligible). In the Church we attribute our goodness to the Father, truth to the Son/Word, and unity to the Holy Spirit. Peace requires all three.

For peace we must accept with hope the goodness of “dying to self” as a goal. This can cause conflict.

We must agree on truth with faith. That is not easy.

And we must “walk by the Spirit” in love (Galatians 5:25), which puts us in opposition to “the flesh.” James wrote (4:1): “Don’t the quarrels and conflicts among you come from your desires that battle within you?” For peace we must conquer ourselves.

Our priesthood is to lead people gently to peace through war.

PRAY: “Lord, give us your peace.”

PRACTICE: Try to live in unity, truth and love.

God is Spouse

July 7: Monday of Week 14 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Hosea 2:16, 17-18, 21-22; Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9; Matthew 9:18-28

Thoughts to help us surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

God is Spouse

You shall call me “My husband,” and never again “My baal.” Hosea 2:18

Women commonly called their husbands “Baal,” which means “lord, master.” It was also used for the fertility gods, the baals. Hosea calls us into spousal love with God, which is a mutual commitment to strive for unity of mind, will and heart.

All religions require submission to God. For Muslims the word “Islam” (from the Arabic root salema) means “submission to the will of God.” Many Christians, in practice, go no farther than this. But when Jesus quotes the “Great Commandment”— “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,” he adds, “and with all your mind,” which includes seeking to know God as spouses pledge to keep striving for perfect knowledge of each another (Mark 12:30).

We forget this. Even at Mass we keep calling God “Lord” when clearly addressing the Father (e.g. “You are indeed Holy, O Lord… for through your Son…”). We repeatedly emphasize adoration over intimacy.

Both are necessary, of course. But Hosea gives a radical image that can transform our whole relationship with God. He invites us to deal with God as spouse.

PRAY: “Lord, teach me your heart.”

PRACTICE: Think of what spouses pledge to each other. Do that with God.

Loving Is Knowing

July 6: Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time:

Zechariah 9:9-10; Psalm 145:1-2, 8-11, 13-14; Romans 8:9,11-13; Matthew 11:25-30

Thoughts to help us surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

Loving Is Knowing

“Learn from me… and you will find rest.” Matthew 11:29

Before all else, Jesus lived and died to make the Father known and loved: “Hallowed be thy name!”

I came that they may have life… And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God… (John 10:10; 17:3).

God is misunderstood. Many don’t believe he is “merciful… good and compassionate toward all...” And in his deepest being, God is a mystery only God can fully understand: “No one knows the Father except the Son.” By the gift of divine light, however, the Father can be known by “anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” This is the mystery of “faith,” the gift of sharing in the Son’s own divine act of knowing.

In Jesus the mystery of God is “translated” into human words and actions. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). And we “know God’s love for us by this, that Jesus laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.”

We don’t really know God until we experience his life in us by loving one another: “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love (see 1John 3:16; 4:8).

As “priests in the Priest” and “victims in the Victim,” we “lay down our lives for one another” in ministry.

PRAY: “Lord, teach me to love.”

PRACTICE: Show love to everyone you meet. 

The Face in the Window

July 4: Friday of Week 13 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Amos 8:4-6, 9-12; Psalm 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131; Matthew 9:9-13

To surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

The Face in the Window

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Matthew 9:13

Matthew (called Levi then) was a social outcast. He sat in his booth and collected taxes for the enemy when the fishermen brought their catch up from the lake. No one would talk to him.

He wasn’t a “practicing Jew.” He didn’t keep the rules. His friends were other tax collectors and “those known as sinners,” who like himself, “disregarded the law.”

Matthew had heard about the popular preacher who was announcing the reign of God. But he never went to hear him. Whatever the message was, it wasn’t for him. He had excluded himself from all that.

Then one day he saw a face at the window of his booth. It was Jesus. No annoying blame. No unwelcome sympathy. Just, “Follow me.”

He “got up and followed him.”

That’s all it took: someone who accepted him as he was and offered him friendship; was even willing enlist him in what he was doing. Matthew never turned back.

This is priesthood: offering “our bodies as a living sacrifice,” so Jesus can see through our eyes, speak through our lips, and act through our bodies to heal and enliven with love.

PRAY: “Lord, I give you my body. Use me to show everyone what you feel about them.”

PRACTICE: Be sure that the faith and hope Jesus has in people inspire the attitude you express toward them.

Jesus is There

July 1: Tuesday of Week 13 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Amos 3:1-8,4:11-12; Psalm 5:4-6, 6-7, 8; Matthew 8:23-27

To surrender to Jesus expressing himself through us in ministry.

Jesus is There

“Why are you terrified, you of little faith?” Matthew 8:26

God is many things for us. But when he took flesh in Jesus, he came as Savior. The name “Jesus” (Yeshua in Hebrew) means “God saves.” Jesus’ surname, “Christ,” is really a title. It is the Greek for Mashia, “Messiah,” which means “the Anointed One.” As Messiah, Jesus was anointed for his triple role as Prophet, Priest and King. The “messianic anointing” that is part of the rite of Baptism consecrates all “Christ-ians” to continue the mission of Jesus on earth as prophets, priests, and stewards of his kingship.

Since Easter, we have been reflecting on our role as prophets. Now we focus on being “priests in the Priest.” Our mission takes on the gentle, healing, nurturing attentiveness to persons that claims priority in ministry. Our dedication to accomplishing what Jesus came to do segues into surrender to what Jesus is doing in us right now. To minister as “priest” is to let Jesus express to others his truth, his trust, his love, in and through our human words, our physical actions.

Today, Jesus reveals himself as Savior. He “got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.” When we are in danger of anything—being killed, hurt, or rejected; losing jobs, friends, or opportunities; failing professionally, socially or spiritually—Jesus is in our boat.

“Why are you terrified, you of little faith?”

PRAY: “Lord, save us!”

PRACTICE: Live in “great calm.”

A Matter of Attitude

June 20: Friday of Week 11 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

2Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20; Psalm 132:11, 12, 13-14, 17-18; Matthew 6:19-23

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.” Matthew 6:19

Taken literally, these words of the New Law abolish all bank accounts and investments. But Jesus is teaching an attitude.

If affluence—or even financial security—is a priority for us, we don’t have the mind of God. Jesus says, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Our Father is rich; we don’t have to be.

Being “rich” is not having a lot of possessions; it is thinking we own them. Jesus said, “If you wish to be perfect [live by God’s life], go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” We “sold everything” when we were baptized, by “presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God” (Romans 12:1), to live henceforth only as Christ’s body, his physical presence on earth. By this we dedicated (gave) all we had or ever would have totally to God’s service, which always includes care for the poor.

Our lifestyle should reveal unambiguously that this is our attitude toward money and possessions. If not, we cannot be witnesses to the Good News.

And if we are not, what real value does our life have?

It’s all a matter of attitude.

PRAY: “Lord, let me live by your light.”

PRACTICE: Do a “spiritual audit” on your use of money.

Christ’s Priorities

June 19: Thursday of Week 11 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Sirach 48:1-15; Psalm 97:1-2,3-4, 5-6, 7; Matthew 6:7-15

“This is how you are to pray.” Matthew 6:9

We know Jesus did not teach the Our Father as a set of words to memorize and recite, because in Luke 11:4 the words are different. But the basic content is the same. In this prayer Jesus lists his priorities in life. If we make them our own, we will pray well.

That is why—and how—we should pray the Our Father at the beginning of every day, using it consciously to set our priorities as soon as we awake. The words remind us what we are living for and what we should work for; what we should set our hearts on throughout the day.

First, that the Father be known and loved: “Hallowed be thy Name!” Then that his Kingdom be established and his will done as completely on earth as in heaven. Our “daily bread” is Jesus himself; our all-encompassing desire is for the “wedding banquet of the Lamb,” when all will share the Bread of heaven in a communal meal, perfectly reconciled with God and each other: all forgiven, all forgiving all.

We “have received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry: Abba! Father!” As sons and daughters of the Father “in the Son,” we love the Father as Jesus does, and make his desires our own. The heart of Jesus is the heart of all prayer.

PRAY: “Jesus, teach me to pray.”

PRACTICE: Recite the Our Father thoughtfully as soon as you awake.

Joy Reveals Values

May 30 Friday of the 6th week of Easter:
A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 18:9-18; Psalm 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7; John 16:20-23

“You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices.” Acts 16:20

Christians bear witness to the values of Jesus by what they rejoice in and mourn over.

The “world” of secular culture rejoices over victories in war—which amounts to dancing on the bodies of the dead. The “world” rejoices when criminals are executed—while the Father weeps for his children. The “world” rejoices in prosperity—closing its eyes to the plight of the poor. The “world” rejoices in social acceptance, in exclusive neighborhoods and clubs, oblivious to the rejected and excluded.  The “world” rejoices in winning, forgetting that “winners” are alw

ays matched by “losers.” The list goes on.

Except for the first two, none of the above is evil. But none should be accepted without some visible regret. Christians see with both eyes; the “world” only with one.

The same is true of mourning: “When a woman has given birth, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.” When Jesus rose from the dead, he saw the pain of his crucifixion as joy. When the apostles were flogged for proclaiming Jesus, they “rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts 5:41). There are two sides to both joy and pain. The “prophets” see both.

And express what they see.

PRAY: “Lord, open my mind, and I will proclaim your truth.”

PRACTICE: Open both of your eyes.

Faith is Joy

May 29 Thursday of the 6th week of Easter: A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 18:1-8; Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4; John 16:16-20

“You will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” Acts 16:20.

There are times when we don’t feel close to God—or that God is close to us. But these are just feelings. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.” If we keep believing this when we don’t feel it, we grow into pure faith, hope and love. And into greater joy—if we just persevere.

We also “grieve” when people don’t accept our witness. The Jews in Corinth rejected Paul. He decided, “From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Their overwhelming response led to greater joy.

Christians always rejoice—because of what we see by faith. And because we “abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” And “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us” (Romans 5:5; 15:13). Where there is love there is life. “Love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).

No matter how we feel from day to day, we always count on Christ’s promise: “A little while and you will see me.”

PRAY: “My soul waits for the Lord; my heart is glad, because I trust in his holy name” (Psalm 33).

PRACTICE: Believe in love, not your feelings.

Laws or Life?

May 21 Wednesday of the 5th week of Easter: 

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 15:1-16; Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5; John 15:1-8

“Every branch that bears fruit he prunes so that it bears more fruit.” John 15:2

The basic division in the Church has always been between the prophets and the Pharisees; between those open to change and those who cling to the “traditions of their ancestors” (see Matthew 15:2; Galatians 1:14); between those who focus on laws and those who follow the Spirit.

 

When Paul and Barnabas told about the conversion of the Gentiles, it “brought great joy to all the brethren”—except for “some from the party o

f the Pharisees.” who stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Mosaic law.”

In every age the “Pharisee party” in the Church ignores the fruit of the Spirit and focuses on rigid conformity to rules. Pope Francis condemns this as the “spiritual worldliness” of those who “feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past.” Their “supposed soundness of doctrine or discipline” leads them to judge others “instead of opening the door to grace.” He says they are “not really concerned about Jesus Christ or others” (The Joy of the Gospel, 94).

Jesus identifies life with growth, fidelity with fruitfulness, and both with living consciously in union with his heart. “Remain in me, as I remain in you.”

PRAY: “Lord, teach me your heart.”

PRACTICE: Try to recognize prophets. “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).

Managing Fear

May 20 Tuesday of the 5th week of Easter: 

A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 14:19-28; Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13, 21; John 14:27-31

“Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27

Proclaiming the Good News is not always safe. “They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.” And that wasn’t all. He lists “imprisonments, countless floggings… danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters…” (2 Corinthians 11:23). Not everyone liked the Good News.

That is still true today. Many people do not like prophets challenging them to make personal decisions about religion. If they just do what the law says, they don’t have to think about it. That gives them a sense of security they think they will lose if they interact personally with God. When that security is threatened, they can turn vicious.

Jesus was killed for calling Jews to go beyond Jewish law. Catholics persecute Catholics who call them beyond Catholic cultural conformity. Jesus said, “Servants are not greater than their master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.” But his bottom line is always, “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

The way we die to fears is simply to act against them. The emotions don't go away. But if we choose to act as if they did not exist, we will free ourselves to live.

PRAY: “Lord, be my strength.”

PRACTICE: When afraid, say, “Lord, do this with me, do this in me, do this through me.”

Wake-up calls

May 19 Monday of the 5th week of Easter: A thought for those who want to reveal the risen Jesus in their lifestyle.

Acts 14:5-18; Psalm 115:1-2, 3-4, 15-16; John 14:21-26

“The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name will remind you of all that I told you.” John 14:26

The Church has kept intact the “deposit of faith”—the teaching of the Apostles—for two thousand years. But she does not actively teach all of it all the time.

There are some teachings she just doesn’t focus on, Catholic beliefs that in practice bishops and preachers ignore. There are doctrines that approved theologians distort by failing to see them in relationship to others. And there are truths the Church has proclaimed and later forgotten about.

What the Church does not say has as much influence on our lives as what she does say. The most dangerous laws are often the unwritten ones which proclaim by their absence that something is permissible when it is not.

At different times official (but non-infallible) Church teaching has justified slavery and racial discrimination, denied freedom of conscience, encouraged torture and execution of heretics, forbidden then allowed soldiers to fight in wars, accepted then condemned the death penalty. To this day some teachers and preachers blaspheme the love of the Father by what they confidently identify as “mortal sin” and dogmatically declare that God will punish for all eternity in Hell.

That is why we need prophets inspired by the Holy Spirit to “remind us.”

PRAY: “

O God, by the light of the Holy Spirit instruct the hearts of your faithful.”

PRACTICE: Distinguish between dogmatic teachers and dogma.