Sunday Gospel Reflection, May 1, 2016: We will make our dwelling with him...

  We will make our dwelling with him…  

  How can we best live in Christ’s love?  

   The profound love of Jesus Christ, revealed most perfectly at his death on the cross, touches us at the depth of who we are; it is a love revealed in sacrifice, the giving of Jesus’ self entirely for the salvation of humankind.  God wants this love to possess us and for us to possess the Lord in that love, creating a mutual indwelling meant to give us peace.  To reassure the apostles and calm their fears for the future, Jesus promises in John’s Gospel that the Father will send an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to guide and direct us, to help us discern in our time of need, dwelling within us:  my peace I give to you.  Revelation describes this presence of the third Person of the Trinity as an outpouring of the light of the temple that is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb:  the Holy Spirit is the very love that binds the Father and Son, and invites us into ongoing relationship with God.

   Throughout all of the difficulties of the early Church, the apostles – Paul and Barnabas among them – had to keep sight of the fact that God’s intent is always to live among us.  The apostles’ work is inspired:  It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and us, Paul and Barnabas write to the Christians of Antioch in Acts, to help them better to understand the teachings of the Church.  The apostles know the power of the God dwelling within them, and are fully aware of the role the Holy Spirit plays in their ministry.  In a sense, they are fulfilling the dictum of Psalm 67:  may your way be known upon the earth; among all nations, your salvation. 

   Jesus offered his apostles a revelation of something they have yet to understand, exhorting them not only to keep his word, but also to live in the context of the profound love he is about to reveal in all its glory.  The Advocate is his gift to us, an embodiment of the love in which we are to live, allowing it to possess us, striving to possess it, that we might also be an outpouring of that love to all the world.

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.

Image source:  Wordle

Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 24, 2016: As I have loved you...

  As I have loved you…  

  Does your life proclaim God’s love for the world?  

   From ancient biblical times, we know that God has always been true to the covenant God has made with humankind.  We hear covenant language in Psalm 145:  The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.  The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.  The psalmist appreciates God’s fidelity, and thus shows his gratitude through this psalm of praise and thanksgiving.  How much more, then, might we give thanks and praise – and proclaim the Good News – now that we have been saved by the ultimate fulfillment of God’s covenant, Jesus Christ himself? 

   In John’s Gospel, Jesus offers the disciples a new way to live this new covenant once Jesus himself has been glorified:  I give you a new commandment:  love one another… This is how all will know that you are my disciples.  Jesus calls upon all of his disciples not only to proclaim the Good News, but to love those to whom they are proclaiming it, proclaiming, therefore, both in words and in actions.  You have witnessed my love for you and for all, he seems to be saying, now emulate it, live it, daily.  Paul and Barnabbas are doing as much in Acts:  they are sharing the Good News with their lives, persevering in the faith and undergoing many hardships, praying and fasting, and proclaiming the Word on every step of their journey.  The Book of Revelation reminds us that God’s dwelling is with the human race; the Christian community thus lives in the new order of God’s kingdom, where God himself will always be with them as their God. 

   Jesus came to save, not to condemn; this is only possible because God, in the form of Jesus, has come to dwell among his people.  Our post-Paschal challenge is to love enough to allow the Word that is Jesus to dwell in us and then flow from us, as we proclaim with our very lives God’s love for all the world.

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.

Image source:  Wordle