A Homily – Feast of the Ascension, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)

First Reading – Acts 1:1-11 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 46(47):2-3,6-9

Second Reading - Ephesians 1:17-23©

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 28:19,20

The Gospel According to Luke – 24:46-53 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 Place yourself into the mindset of the disciples, and following them the authors of the Book of Acts, men and women who cling to the notion of Jesus came to establish a messianic kingdom in Israel. Jesus directs their attention away from Jerusalem to the broader world, a world beyond Palestine and the power of empires…then he left. The disciples taught that they and all of his other followers, that everyone who witnessed the event were filled with a pro-found hope in the expectation of his return…they possessed the vanity of a psalmist.

 Know this.

 It is right to praise God, the creator of the Universe, but it is not right to assume that God favors one people over another, and that God makes one nation the subject of another, that God puts any people under God’s feet, or under the feet of another…the disciples were not given the authority to rule the world, and because they never had it they did not pass it on to those who inherited their work….the church today does not possess it either.

 God, the true God, the God of love and mercy, the God of Jesus shuns war and abhors violence. The Christian God is not king; Jesus imagined God as a understanding parent and a caring friend who mourns for Jacob, is saddened by Israel and grieves for the church.

 Nevertheless, do as the psalmist asks and sing praises to the divine and give thanks for the grace we receive. Praise God, but do not look for God to be seated on a throne in the palace of a walled city; look for God in the garden, find God’s spirit in the face of your neighbor.

 Be mindful.

 If the armies of the world truly belonged to God, God would disband them in an instant, and send all of the soldiers home to their families.

 Remember the life of Jesus, and God; whom he called abba…meaning papa.

 Is God glorious?

 Indeed, God is the creator of the universe, and yet in God’s view the most exalted place to be is in relationship to us, each one of us as children of the divine.

 Therefore, we pray that each and every one of us comes to the full knowledge of God, to love the wayward among us as a parent loves their child.

 There is hope in the knowledge of God, and the hopes we have for ourselves, the hopes we have for those we love are to be extended to everyone, even those we do not love…this is the way.

 If you think that God has promised riches and glories, as the inheritance of the saints, bear in mind that the first will be last and the last will be first, and that spiritual riches are not counted in gold and silver and precious things.

 Understand this.

 There are good intentions in these words from the apostle, but poor execution; God and Jesus are not merely above all other powers in the world. The divine is beyond all such conventions.

 Know this:

 Matthew says that the “Great Commission” grants authority to the group of disciples that survived Jesus’ arrest and execution…this is a piece of propaganda.

 It is likely that the event itself never happened, but the authors of Matthew’s Gospel, writing over one hundred years after Jesus was killed, thought it necessary to establish their authority to speak and act in Jesus’ name (exclusively) into the sacred text.

 This is a con…predicated on a fabricated narrative, which is a problem

 Besides this little detail of foolishness, the message itself is reasonable; it articulates the basic mission of the church, to turn all-people of all-nations into followers of the way, into seekers of justice and servants of truth, people who care for the stranger, the widow and the orphan.

 Consider the Gospel reading for the day:

 It is mythology and metaphor…the message here is not “see, how it is written,” as if these events had been foretold, but see here what I am writing in his name, that Jesus, the anointed one of God (the Christ), has begun the ministry of repentance, which began with his cousin John and is now to spread from Jerusalem to every nation. It is a command: to preach the good news, the forgiveness of sins, the liberation of the captive and the salvation of all people.

 Jesus then encourages his followers to stay in Jerusalem until the time is right, to increase in number and grow in strength…then he was gone. 

First Reading – Acts 1:1-11 ©

Jesus Was Lifted Up While They Looked On

In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God. When he had been at table with them, he had told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. ‘It is’ he had said ‘what you have heard me speak about: John baptised with water but you, not many days from now, will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’

  Now having met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.’

  As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky when suddenly two men in white were standing near them and they said, ‘Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 46(47):2-3,6-9

The Lord is King

Cry to God with shouts of joy.

All nations, clap your hands;

  cry out to God in exultation,

for the Lord, the Most High, is greatly to be feared,

  and King over all the earth.

He has made whole peoples our subjects,

  put nations beneath our feet.

He has chosen our inheritance for us,

  the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

God ascends amid rejoicing,

  the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.

Sing to God, sing praise.

  Sing to our king, sing praise.

God is king over the whole earth:

  sing to him with all your skill.

God reigns over the nations;

  God sits on his holy throne.

The nobles of the peoples join together

  with the people of the God of Abraham,

for to God belong the armies of the earth;

  he is high above all things.

 

Second Reading - Ephesians 1:17-23 ©

Brothers and sisters:

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might:

which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,

which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 28:19,20

Alleluia, alleluia!

Go, make disciples of all the nations.

I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke – 24:46-53

He Withdrew From Them and Was Carried Up Into Heaven

Jesus said to his disciples:

  ‘You see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.

  ‘And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.’

  Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God.

 

A Homily – Feast of the Ascension, A Holy Day of Obligation (Year C)

A Homily – The Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

First Reading - Acts 15:1-2,22-29 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 66(67):2-3,5-6,8 ©

Second Reading – Apocalypse 21:10-14,22-23 ©

Alternative Second Reading – Apocalypse 22:12-14,16-17,20 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

The Gospel According to John 14:23-29 ©

 

 (NJB)

 

Listen!

Salvation is not earned, it is a gift. It is the fulfillment of God’s intention for you and the whole of creation. Salvation is not linked to our rites and rituals, to the way we mark ourselves as belonging to a group, or not, to whether we are in or outside of the Church. Our ultimate salvation has nothing to do with the things we eat, or with our deeds whether they are good or bad ones.

 Our Salvation comes from God and we are all saved together; until we have arrived at its fullness we are not saved at all.

 Be mindful.

 The psalmist is right to ask God to bless all peoples and all nations; to have pity and to be merciful in the fulfillment of God’s promise.

 Know this:

 God’s work is not confined to a single place and time, neither does God belong to one people.

 God, who created the universe, is the God of everyone; whether they know of God or not. God is still God.

 Ask for God’s blessing, not just four yourself, but ask for the divine spirit to bless everyone, even the exile…even your enemy.

 When we visualize the fulfilment of God’s promise, when we reflect on the heavenly worlds and the paradise to come, let all the talk of heavenly rewards, of precious metals and precious stones, let that fall away; forget the talk of gold and gems.

 Ignore the jingoism, the fetish with Israel and Jerusalem, they are not relevant to these reflections. Every reference we find in scripture to such material things, or the work of human beings, is a distraction from the central message the gospels are meant to convey.

 Know this!

 Where God is there is God who sustains all things within the divine self.

 Within God, who is the parent of all that live, there is no temple, there is no altar, there is no edifice or anything we would recognize as the structure of a Church; there is no cathedral, there is no basilica…where God is there is light, and love and peace.

 The light has no limit, the light shines forever and there is no darkness in it; in God’s embrace all people are welcome, and no one will come to it who has not been prepared for it.

 Remember.

 God prepares us all and makes us ready for the way; where God dwells there are no gates. People will come having passed through every plane of existence, they will come from all directions. 

 Every person will receive what they deserve; as the children of God they will receive God’s love, they will be forgiven just as Jesus prayed when he was dying on the cross. We will all receive mercy through the auspices of the heavenly will we will be cleansed and made well, healed and made happy; we will be whole. The hungry will be fed and the thirsty will drink, the gift is free; it is the promise of God.

 Understand this:

 God is present in all of God’s children and where God is present God is present fully. There is no division in the divine, and with the divine is every is every person who has ever been, who is and who yet shall be; the divine is inclusive of all reality…no-one is excluded. Everyone is present within the divine, as such they are present within each of us, for each of us carries the divine within ourselves.

 Jesus is the son of God, in the same way that each of us is a child of God; a son or daughter, therefore love one another, as God loves you…this is the great commandment, and do not be afraid, for life on Earth is merely a passage to another world; our experience represents the unfolding of a mystery.

 God abandons no-one; God will leave no orphans, no-one will be left stranded in the throws of sin; not one of us shall be lost. Everything, and everyone, returns to the creator, in so doing we come to the understanding that we never apart.

 Consider the Gospel reading for today.

 There are passages, and there are many of them, in which the Gospels provide the reader with only a tangled and confused set of words and concepts that do little to shed light on anything good or meaningful.

 The Gospel for today is one of those passages.

 Of the four Gospel’s, John’s has the least concern for historical accuracy. It was written more than one hundred years after Jesus’ death and it is likely that the event portrayed here never happened, that Jesus never spoke these words in this way.

 What this meandering passage represents is the thoughts and feelings of John’s community at the end of the first century CE. It fully represents the mystical and mysterious way in which Christians had come to see the life of Jesus in relationship to God. It does this in terms that have a connection to some of the prevailing philosophical beliefs regarding the metaphysical structure of reality, but does nothing to explicate the system of beliefs it is specifically engaging…it is poor theology.

 This type of thinking has been a burden on the faith over the centuries and millennia; it should be struck from the cannon because it is impossible for us to know what the Gospel writers meant, what the limits of their thinking was, never mind the fact that the philosophies of the ancient world, their metaphysical systems, were false; because they are errant there is little in those thought systems that can help us understand ourselves, the world we live in, or our relationship to God.

 What truth we can glean from today’s passage is this:

 Jesus prayed to God on behalf of his followers, he prayed that they would understand both his mission and the mission he was passing on to them. He prayed for their unity, heHe prayed that they love one another, and that the message they carried forward in his name was one of love.

 This Gospel passage has the appearance of being directed specifically to Christians, and that is unfortunate because the mission of Jesus crosses all boundaries; sectarian, national, ethnic and gender.

 This Gospel passage is overly concerned with the message regarding the identity of Jesus, as such it is dogmatic, it pushes the message of who John’s community believed Jesus was, over and against the mission to preach the love of God. This is not what Jesus himself taught, and in this way the Gospel deviates from the faith.

 Who Jesus was in the world, and what we believe about that is not germane. Such beliefs have no bearing on the way that is meant to be the core teaching leading into the Christian life.

 As followers of the way, rather than concerning ourselves with who we believe Jesus was, we need to concern ourselves with how Jesus was in the world, and with how we may be able to live a loving life according to the standard Jesus set.

First Reading - Acts 15:1-2,22-29 ©

It Has Been Decided by the Spirit and by Ourselves Not to Burden You with Any Burden Beyond these Essentials

Some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, ‘Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.’ This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles and elders.

Then the apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them:

‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 66(67):2-3,5-6,8 ©

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Alleluia!

O God, be gracious and bless us

  and let your face shed its light upon us.

So will your ways be known upon earth

  and all nations learn your saving help.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and exult

  for you rule the world with justice.

With fairness you rule the peoples,

  you guide the nations on earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;

  let all the peoples praise you.

May God still give us his blessing

  till the ends of the earth revere him.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Apocalypse 21:10-14,22-23 ©

He Showed Me the Holy City Coming Down Out of Heaven

In the spirit, the angel took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus said: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.’

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 14:23-29 ©

A Peace the World Cannot Give is My Gift to You

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.

Those who do not love me do not keep my words.

And my word is not my own: it is the word of the one who sent me.

I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.

Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

You heard me say: I am going away, and shall return.

If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

I have told you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.’

 

A Homily – The Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

A Homily – The Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

First Reading - Acts 14:21-27 ©

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 144(145):8-13a ©

Second Reading - Apocalypse 21:1-5 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 13:34

The Gospel According to John 13:31-35 ©

 

(NJB)

Listen!

Everything the apostles accomplished after the death of Jesus, they did by their own design. We know that this is true because God does not intervene in our lives, our social institutions or in any other way; God has made each of us and the entire creation free.

Praise God for creating the universe in freedom, for filling it with innumerable possibilities, and its countless which ultimately included the reality of our own existence.

Now be mindful of this:

We all experience hardship in life, such is the nature of being and being human is no exception to this rule; with that being said it should also be understood that hardship is not a requirement for living in the way. We are not required to endure hardship before we see the face of God, even though it is virtually certain that we will.

Know this.

God is the creator of the universe, present in all times and places; including the deepest places of the human heart.

God only issues an indirect influence over the created order.

Contemplate the vast power of the divine and its humble manifestation in the person of Jesus as the archetype of love and mercy, and know that the psalmist is mistaken when he calls God a king.

Consider the Gospel reading for today, which tells us that as the end of all things there is God, the creator of the universe. God’s temple is in the heart of every person…enter into the another’s heart and allow them to enter yours; there you will worship God, together as one.

 Remember.

 Everyone of God’s children has their name written in the book of life. God promises to make the whole of creation new; the past will be reconciled to the divine plan. There will be no mourning and no sadness, God’s own hand shall bring relief to everyone.

 Forget the apocryphal imagery and mythological symbolism of the “Son of Man,” forget the cryptic words about the glory of God; in whom and how it appears; forget those things because they are irrelevant. Do as Jesus commanded…love one another; this is the purpose for which we were made.

 To follow Jesus is to lead with love, to love as Jesus loved, to be caring, compassionate and considerate, to be merciful and just.

 Be prepared to risk everything for the sake of love, even your life; in this way you will be true to Jesus, and everyone will see the truth of that.

 This is the way, there is no other.

 Faith (which is the trust we place in God), faith is not about the words read and preach, it is about the things we do, faith is love in action. It is not ideological, it is not partisan, it is not dogmatic, it is not doctrinaire. Faith is not concerned with creeds or secrets, or magic words. The expression of faith is not a legally binding agreement.

 Faith is trust in a loving Gode, which we express most clearly through loving service to one another.

 

First Reading - Acts 14:21-27 ©

They Gave an Account to the Church of all that God Had Done with Them

Paul and Barnabas went back through Lystra and Iconium to Antioch. They put fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith. ‘We all have to experience many hardships’ they said ‘before we enter the kingdom of God.’ In each of these churches they appointed elders, and with prayer and fasting they commended them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.

They passed through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. Then after proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia and from there sailed for Antioch, where they had originally been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.

On their arrival they assembled the church and gave an account of all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the pagans.

 

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 144(145):8-13a ©

Alleluia!

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,

  slow to anger, abounding in love.

How good is the Lord to all,

  compassionate to all his creatures.

Alleluia!

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,

  and your friends shall repeat their blessing.

They shall speak of the glory of your reign

  and declare your might, O God,

to make known to men your mighty deeds

  and the glorious splendour of your reign.

Alleluia!

Yours is an everlasting kingdom;

  your rule lasts from age to age.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading - Apocalypse 21:1-5 ©

A Vision of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb

I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, ‘You see this city? Here God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God; his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.’

Then the One sitting on the throne spoke: ‘Now I am making the whole of creation new.’

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 13:34

Alleluia, alleluia!

I give you a new commandment:

Love one another just as I have loved you, says the Lord.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 13:31-35 ©

In the Son of Man, God Has Been Glorified

When Judas 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.

‘My little children, I shall not be with you much longer.

I give you a new commandment:

Love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another.

By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.’

 

A Homily – The Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

A Homily - The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

First Reading – Acts 13:14,43-52 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 99(100):1-3,5 ©

Second Reading – Apocalypse 7:9,14-17 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 10:14

The Gospel According to John 10:27-30 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 We do not preach the good news to save people, we preach the good news: that they are already saved.

 Know this.

 We are not the principal actors in the drama of salvation, God is, and we are each of us the subjects of God’s love.

 Remember.

 Grace is not a thing we are given, grace is not a commodity like a talent of silver or a measure of grain. The grace God has poured out on you is not subject to the laws of scarcity, God has a super abundance of grace to give, and God pours it out for everyone.

 As Christians we are called to have faith in God’s grace, to trust in it, to trust in God’s plan for the salvation of everyone…leave no one outside of your prayers.

 Let us consider the words and deeds of the apostles in the day’s after Jesus was executed. The apostles were motivated to adhere to the norms of their society, taking their commission from the risen Christ and going first to the Jews because they themselves were Jewish and through them they reached out to others in the community, people who knew the laws of Moses and the tradition of the prophets but had not converted to Judaism; the apostles made converts among them.

 They presented themselves as instruments of God’s will, having been charged with spreading the good news to all nations, and so because God’s proclamation of love is so great that it cannot be confined to a single group, they slipped the bounds of their society to preach to the world WRIT LARGE.

 Their message of hope and love was welcome among the people who wanted to hear that no matter what class or station they belonged to, God knew them, they wanted to hear that God loves them and has selected each of them for eternal life.

 Nevertheles,s there was resistance among the leading Pharisees and their allies in the upper classes. There is always resistance to the gospel from those who feel like the path to salvation is something for them to protect and control.

 In the face of that resistance, the apostles recognized that they had reached the end of what they could accomplish among their own people and so they moved on, and they carryied the good news with them.

 Be mindful!

 God is with us wherever we are and wherever God is, the temple of God is also there. Enter the temple with hope and joy, there are no prerequisites; it is free to enter, you are standing at the threshold and the door is open…go in and commit your self to a life of service. Serve God, by serving your sisters and brothers, look into the face of your neighbor and see the face of God shining back at you.

 When the scriptures tell us we are God’s people; those words are not directed to the audience who first heard and read them, nor to us as we are reading them now. The scope of those words is not so narrow; the scope of his words delineate the magnitude of God’s work, which is infinite and eternal

 God’s will is directed toward the well-being of every living being that ever was, ever has been and ever will be.

 The good news applies to the whole of creation, in a world without end; it informs us that we belong to God and God’s mercy lasts forever,

 Remember this!

 God is not a king; neither does God sit on a throne.

 The multitude that John witnessed in his vision is numberless, their number is without measure…it is a number without end. It is the full number of those who have experienced the persecution of the living, in the long sojourn of time and space. It includes every being who has hungered and thirsted and suffered pain.

The multitude is all of us, all of God’s children gathered together as one, and none of us are lost…not now and not ever.

 Know this.

 We do not receive God’s grace by the blood of the lamb, not the literal blood, we are not sanctified by animal sacrifice…we never were.

 We enter the way when we have let go of our enmities, when we have forgiven all who have wronged us and accepted the forgiveness of those we have wronged. It is then and only then that we are able to bear witness to the fullness of God.

 To stand in God’s presence before we are prepared, is to face divine spirit as a purifying fire.

 Consider the Gospel reading for today; there is truth and wisdom in it…there is also folly, mis construal, fear and deception…you must untangle them!

 Remember the beginning of John’s Gospel:

 In the beginning was the Word

All things came to be through the Word

Not one thing came to be with the Word

In the Word was life, and light

Know this.

Jesus is the Word of God, and the Word of God is the shepherd who guides us, every sheep belongs to him. There is not one sheep that is not a member of God’s sheepfold, white, black or speckled.

It is sad and unfortunate that the priests and bishops of the Church, those hirelings who put themselves in positions of management forget this. They have done great harm to the people of God because of their fear, their greed and their shortsightedness.

They believed that they and the church at large were only responsible for a few of the sheep, those who had entered the fold, though in reality they were tasked with protecting the whole flock, spread throughout the world.

Many of them, even from the earliest days of the Church, presented themselves as both sheep and shepherd to the community, but in reality they were  more like rustlers, they came to devour the flock in their ravenous hunger.

Remember, God does not love Jesus because he laid down his life, but rather, Jesus laid down his life in recognition of God’s love, which was already present, a love so great that he trusted in it completely…love preceded the sacrifice, the sacrifice did not engender love.

Be mindful.

The sheep do not choose the shepherd, the shepherd chooses the sheep, and Jesus, giving voice to the word of God, informs us that the flock is the whole of the humanity. God has chosen all of us, and God’s pasture is the entire earth.

In the scripture we see Jesus depicted as the shepherd, with the understanding that the shepherd is God; in whom all things exist and have their being.

There is just the one shepherd; whether it make sense to us or not is immaterial, because the shepherd has called us each by name…listen for the voice of the shepherd and do not trouble yourself with how the shepherd speaks, in what language or text. It is not your concern how the shepherd speaks to your sister or brother, to your neighbors or the stranger in your midst.

The shepherd speaks to them in the same way the shepherd speaks to you, and they are listening as they are able (or willing).

Everyone that is, has ever been or ever will be, everyone without exception follows in the way, some flow with the current and others resist; we are all on the path to the divine and there is no other way.

Do not trouble yourself if you do not understand the journey another person is on, God is guiding them, as God is guiding you. Your failures are your own, as theirs belong to them, but God has accounted for them all.

If you resist, God will be patient; God waits for everyone, because God’s ministry, and the church Jesus founded to carry out that work, is a ministry of love…patient and kind.

Do not doubt it.

God will not lose a single one of us. Neither will any one of us lose God; no matter what, God is with us. There is no place where God is not.

First Reading – Acts 13:14,43-52 ©

'We Must Turn to the Pagans'

Paul and Barnabas carried on from Perga till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went to synagogue on the Sabbath and took their seats.

When the meeting broke up many Jews and devout converts joined Paul and Barnabas, and in their talks with them Paul and Barnabas urged them to remain faithful to the grace God had given them.

The next sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said:

I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.’

It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.

But the Jews worked upon some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 99(100):1-3,5 ©

We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.

  Serve the Lord with gladness.

  Come before him, singing for joy.

We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Know that he, the Lord, is God.

  He made us, we belong to him,

  we are his people, the sheep of his flock.

We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Indeed, how good is the Lord,

  eternal his merciful love.

  He is faithful from age to age.

We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Apocalypse 7:9,14-17 ©

The Lamb Will be their Shepherd and Will Lead them to Springs of Living Water

I, John, saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. One of the elders said, ‘These are the people who have been through the great persecution, and because they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb, they now stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his sanctuary; and the One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They will never hunger or thirst again; neither the sun nor scorching wind will ever plague them, because the Lamb who is at the throne will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.’

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 10:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my own sheep and my own know me.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 10:27-30 ©

I Know My Sheep and They Follow Me

Jesus said:

‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.

I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me.

The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone, and no one can steal from the Father.

The Father and I are one.’

 

The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

Observation - May 10th, 2025, Saturday

 the neighbor is gardening outside my window

the oven is cooling, I made chicken for dinner

 

the fans are humming

drawing air from outside

it is cool and pleasant in the house

a glorious spring