​Today’s Thoughts: In some ways the image created by John in his Gospel today can be a bit confusing. In today’s Gospel Jesus talks about “the world.” He says. “If the world hates you, realize that it hates me first.” We might be led to believe by this statement that “the world” is bad, that there is nothing good about “the world.”
 
If we look at Jesus’ statements about “the world” in this section of John’s Gospel in this way then how do we reconcile this image of “the world” with Genesis 1:31, which tells us that God created our world good or John 3:16, which tells us that God so loved the world.
 
“The world” that Jesus speaks about in the Gospel today are those people who have rejected Jesus. In Jesus’ time and in our time, there is good and bad in “the world,” there is life and death, there is blessing and curse, there is good and evil. There are some in “the world” who will and do hate us. Rejection of Jesus and his message is alive and well today. There are people who reject the Gospel, who reject Jesus, who reject faith.  They are “the world” that Jesus warned us about.
 
Just because it has been over 2,000 years since Jesus it does not mean that rejection and hate have gone away. It does not mean that we are immune from the hate and persecution that Jesus encountered. We might not have to carry a wooden cross through city streets and die on it, but we will be hated and persecuted because we believe.
 
The question might be how do we deal with this? I think Pope Francis gave us a clue during his time with us, he said that our “weapons” of self-defense are the Gospel, humility and kindness. In other words, we are not to be like those in “the world” who hate, persecute, those who sling mud, criticize and judge. We are to be people of the Gospel, people of compassion, forgiveness and love. We are to be Gospel people in humility and kindness.
 
You might say these “weapons” go against every human instinct. When challenged, when persecuted our instinct is to strike back but that is not Jesus’ way and as people of faith it is not our way.  If we truly know Jesus, if we truly believe then hate and persecution do not matter. What does is bringing life to the presence of God through forgiveness, compassion and love!
 
Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: As I was reflecting on today’s Gospel these two thoughts came to mind.
 
The first was a quote that I have always liked from Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ. – “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, [humankind] will have discovered fire.”
 
And the second is a prayer written by St. Ignatius of Loyola, SJ. – “Take Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given all to me. To you, O Lord, I return it. All is yours, dispose of it wholly according to your will. Give me only your love and your grace, for this is enough for me.”
 
In the Gospel Jesus tells us to love one another and in doing so he uses the example of his own love for us. He tells us that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends and we are his friends. Yes, Jesus is talking to his disciples some 2,000 plus years ago but if we believe the scriptures are alive then Jesus is also talking to us.
 
As we are told in John’s Gospel – God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son and all we have to do is believe. Well Jesus with his words today puts an exclamation point on God’s love for us. Our job, our task, our command is simply to follow the example of Christ and to discover fire, to discover the energies of love in each other!
 
Love is only realized, only understood in terms of action. Jesus so loved us that he gave his life for us. How we love determines the power and presence of God in our life. If we love God then we are called to live that love, we are called share it with one another.
 
Jesus reminds us today to discover the fire of love in our lives and in the world and to turn over everything to God because God’s love for us is always enough. 
 
Have a blessed and holy Friday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: “So that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete,” the closing words of the Gospel today. Have you ever noticed that Jesus always seems to be thinking about others? He always seems to want the best for the people around him. All he asks is that we believe in the value of love; the love of God for us, the love of Jesus for us and our ability to love others in the same way.
 
The communities of faith that we hear about in the Acts of the Apostles are challenged over and over by Jesus’ commandment to love. They value God’s love, they value Jesus’ love thus how they live, grow and change as a community of faith demands that they extend this love to others. The laws, the rules, the regulations change because the community tries to be inclusive and loving. The community tries to look beyond its small world to a larger world. It is not easy. It takes openness, listening, dialog, discussion and sometimes change.
 
I read an article years ago in which a member of our Church leadership used an example from his childhood about having to wash his dirty hands before eating. It was a rule in his family and even if there were guests, they had to wash their dirty hands before eating. A simple story and one that many of us can relate to, I certainly can, hand washing before meals was a rule in my house too.
 
However, using the washing of dirty hands to address the complex issues and struggles of inclusion in the church today seems a bit simplistic, if not even invalid. Imaging people dealing with weighty issues like sexuality, sexual orientation, birth control, marriage, divorce, just to name a few, as people with dirty hands seems a bit one-dimensional. Equating the washing of dirty hands with profound struggles in life seems disrespectful to people created in the image and likeness of God.
 
Yes, we have many challenges to the community of faith today. Yes, there are no easy answers which makes the job of leadership and faith difficult but to say all people must do is wash their hands make no sense to me!
 
God’s love, Jesus’ love is a gift and yes there is a condition, the condition is our love for God, for others and for ourselves. This condition is not easy within our human nature and it is certainly not as simple as washing our hands. The early church knew this, and I think so do we!
 
Have a holy and blessed Thursday!

​Today’s Thoughts: There are two things that strike me in today’s readings. First in the Acts of the Apostles we encounter a moment of struggle within the early Church. Some want to keep things as they are. They don’t want to break with tradition, while others see no need for past tradition. The struggle focuses on past Jewish traditions and the emerging new Church into which gentles are entering. Paul and Barnabas decide to go to Jerusalem and talk about the problem. What a novel idea, sitting down and talking about issues, problems, struggles and differing views of Church. Perhaps Pope Francis in his approach to being Church took a page from the Acts of the Apostles!
 
My second thought comes from the Gospel. Not too long-ago Jesus offered us the image of the Good Shepherd – God as the shepherd always watching out for us, always taking care of us, always walking with us. It is a comforting image of God’s presence in our life. Today the image is of God as the life-giving vine extending out into the world through us the branches. God becomes the vine running through our life offering us grace by which we grow into the person we have been created be so that we can produce the fruit of God’s presence and love in the world.
 
As a branch of God’s presence and love in the world we don’t have to know everything. We are a branch running from the Vine. It is the Vine that offers us everything that we need as long as we stay attached. We cannot do it on our own we must depend on the Vine – God’s presence, grace, love, mercy, forgiveness and joy to produce good fruit.
 
Jesus through the image of the vine and the branches reminds us today that the more we are connected to God, the more we lean on God, and the more we learn from God and experience God’s presence in the world around us, the better we will be at living life – the more fruit we will produce!
 
Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: Peace is one of the most elusive gifts whether we are searching for it personally or as a family or a culture and society. There are so many things that can get in the way of peace in life. It can be the minor irritations of life like traffic, construction, a person on a cell phone sitting next to us or spring allergies. It can also be the major realities of life, civil war, civil unrest, injustice, warring nations, terrorism, natural disasters, viruses and pandemics. There are many things that can get in the way of a peaceful moment and a peaceful life.
 
Jesus in the Gospel today offers us peace. Yet he reminds us that the peace he offers is not of this world. In fact, the peace that Jesus offers cannot be found in this world. We cannot create the peace that Jesus speaks about. It is God’s peace, God’s creation. The peace that Jesus speaks about and offers us lies beyond this life and flows from his relationship with the Father, the Creator of peace.
 
Jesus reminds us that we need not be troubled or afraid that even though we cannot create, make, control or encounter his peace in this world, he will not forget us. In other words, to encounter the peace that Jesus offers we need to somehow let go and let God!
 
Peace is what we all want in our personal lives and in our world. We encounter it occasionally, for a moment, however it doesn’t last. Something always comes along to disturb the peace. Thus, we need to be people of faith; we need to be people of hope.
 
Amid life’s struggles the early Church continued to move forward. They did not get down they did not give up. It was through God’s grace that the Good News was preached. It was because the early Church had faith and hope in God that their hearts were not always afraid or troubled. They were on the journey towards the peace that Jesus offers. Let us be people of faith and hope today. May we not be troubled or afraid because we are willing to let go and let God!
 
To end my reflection today I offer you a reflection I read a number of years ago about this time. It was a reflection on peace by Sr. Bridget Haase, OSU that I found in Living With Christ –
 
“We may discover that PEACE is a collection of special graces permeating our lives:
Practicing non-violence through encouraging words and compassionate actions.
Evoking calm while others around us are agitated and irritable.
Accepting difficult situations with grace and serenity as we work toward conflict solutions.
Challenging ourselves and others to seek local and global justice and
Entrusting our lives to God in faith-filled surrender and exuberant hope.
 
Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone.

​Today’s Thoughts: “Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.” The refrain from the responsorial psalm seems to be the focus of our readings today. This journey of faith is not about us, it is about the glory of God.
 
We certainly see this in the drama of our first reading (Acts 14:5-18). Paul and Barnabas go from nearly being stoned to being honored as gods. Yet as they both point out it is not their work it is the work of God. The man who hasn’t walked from birth is healed not because of Paul and Barnabas but because he has faith. His faith in God enables Paul and Barnabas to lead him to healing. They bring God to the moment so that healing can take place. It is not about Paul, Barnabas or the man who is healed it is about the glory of God.
 
The same focus can be found in our Gospel today, (John 14: 21-26), Jesus speaks about his relationship with the Father and how it can be life-giving in our lives, for this to happen our focus has to be on God. We are asked to buy into the relationship with the Father that Jesus is offering us. We asked to have faith in God and faith also in Jesus. If our life is about the glory of God and not stuck in selfishness then the grace, blessing and presence of God will abound in us.
 
In a world were so much focus can be placed upon self, our scriptures today ask us to place our trust, our faith and our hope in God. We are challenged to not make life about us, but about the glory of God!
 
Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: On Holy Thursday during the Eucharist of the Lord’s Supper we heard the verses of John’s Gospel that lead into to those we hear today. Jesus has washed the feet of his followers, and we learn that Judas has dirtied his hands by betrayal. Jesus is back at the table and Jesus begins the Good-News, Bad-News of his last hours with his friends. The bad news is that he is going to be with them for only a little while longer. The good news is that he will be revealed in all his glory, upon the Cross. Jesus over the next four chapters of John’s Gospel will make sure that his message is clear enough for his friends to understand.
 
What Jesus make most clear and which he will repeat in chapter fifteen, is that he wishes them to love one another and by this love stay together as well as increase in fruitfulness. It is by this love for one another that they will be recognized and draw others to friendship with God.
 
Jesus commands a “new” kind of love which is meant to bring back light, reverence, respect for what is, restoring what God did with the first command at creation. The disciples are commanded to love each other into life as Jesus has done with them. Jesus has given them as much as they can handle. Now he is urging them to love outside the circle, beyond the eleven. They are to encourage others to reverence themselves as gifts prepared to be given in gratitude to others.
 
In our world not all of us enter the process of bringing new sacred life into this circle of love. Yet, we are all commanded to co-create and co-recover the lives within our life’s circle. When understood, this “new commandment” urges us beyond the emotional experience of love. We are missioned to continue God’s love. We might say that through us God continues to say, “Let there be light” because of us. “Let there be love” because of how we live. Imagine all that! That is a mighty “new commandment” and a commandment which surpasses all others.
 
Yet if we look around our world, we have the opposite power as well.  There is our ability to also not love, to de-create. It is the “old commandment” which Satan gave to Adam and Eve. However, Jesus is inviting his disciples and us to accept our being loved by God and having accepted that, we are challenged to gracefully be instruments of attracting others into the circle of life. If we love others, we want them to be, not more than they can be, but more of the God-loved persons that they are. The more we love others, the more they have the chance to love themselves, the more the circle of life, the community of life, called Church, will be able to grow larger, deeper. The more we come to know our true selves, the more we will want to share with others the love of God.
 
Jesus handed his life over to us before he handed his life over to the Cross. We are now commanded to be the instruments - sacraments - making his creative love a real presence in the world.
 
Have a great Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little time today!

​Today’s Thoughts: “If you know me, then you also know my Father.”  These are familiar words of Jesus spoken to Thomas and Philip and found in today Gospel (John 14: 7-14). They are words that remind us that our Christian faith is a very profound experience; only those who have faith come to know that God, the creator of the universe, chose to enter our life, to be part of human history and in doing so reveals a profound love to all creation.
 
Jesus seems to be responding to the age-old question, is there a God, and if so what is this God like? Jesus’ answer is, look at me, know me, because if you see and know me then you see and know my Father. As we find earlier in John’ Gospel, “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might bot perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) So if we take a good look at Jesus, if we get to know Jesus then we will know God, we will know the Father, the God who so loves the world!
 
In coming to know God it always comes down to a relationship, a relationship with Jesus, a relationship with the Father, a relationship with the Spirit. Relationships take work, relationships can be difficult and demanding, relationships demand time and investment. Yet in the end a relationship is the only way we can come to know the love, mercy, joy and faithfulness of God!
 
Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: It must have been difficult being one of the 12 apostles. Today Gospel reminds us of two realities in the life of Jesus’ friends. First that to be a friend of Jesus you had to make a leap of faith repeatedly and second how Jesus is almost always patient with them. I say almost because at times you can hear little frustration in Jesus’ voice in dealing with his friends.
 
Imagine how new this all was to his disciples, his friends, even after the years of teaching and following. Jesus says there’s a place for you; you know the way. And yet Thomas says: “We don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 
 
Jesus is the way. This is the message his friends hear repeatedly. It’s a message we are to hear and live by. We, like Jesus’ disciples, are challenged to make a leap of faith as we live each day of our lives. We, know the way, but we sometimes struggle to follow it. We make easy choices and we let ourselves be led astray. But like Jesus’ disciples, we learn the way. We learn to go in the right direction. When we make a mistake and make the wrong turn, we are graced with God’s patience and we hear the words that open our Gospel today, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith in me.”
 
Have a blessed, and holy Friday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: “Characters welcome,” used to be the calling card of the USA Network. But as I reflect on the stories of the early Church as they come to us through the Acts of the Apostles, I am reminded that our Church, our community of faith is made up of characters, faith characters. Some very familiar to us, like Peter and Paul others not so familiar, just names or people who appear for a moment, yet they played a role in the development of the early Church.
 
What is it that makes a “character of faith?” Well, I think our answer is in today’s Gospel. Jesus has just washed the feet of the disciples, and he reminds them that “no slave is greater than his master and no messenger is greater than the one who sent him.” Thus, a “character of faith” is someone who follows the words and actions of Jesus. A “character of faith” has faith in God, faith in Jesus and faith in the Holy Spirit. A “character of faith” follows Jesus and believes that in following Jesus he or she will make his or her way to the gift of eternal life. One of the great “characters of faith” in our time was Pope Francis and perhaps now our new pope, Pope Leo!
 
One thing is for sure because we are “characters of faith” we will not live life the same way and occasionally, we will need to stop and listen for the voice of God in our life. We will need to receive those whom God sends into our life. But as a faith character we take comfort and have hope that Jesus will always take the time to point us in the right direction.
 
The sad thing is that just as in the early Church, and during the time of Jesus, characters are not always welcome. We have all been gifted by being created in the image and likeness of God. Each of us is different, each of us is unique and special. And as we will learn in John’s Gospel Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. There are many dwelling places in the eternal home thus there is room for every character!
 
Have a holy and blessed Thursday everyone!