Today’s Thoughts: Today we encounter the final verses of John’s Gospel. As we have traveled through the Easter season, we have retold the stories of Jesus’ meetings with the disciples after the Resurrection. Drawing on yesterday’s Gospel Jesus helps the disciples catch many fish and in doing so he gets their attention after which they gather to have a little breakfast. Having nourished themselves Jesus then challenges Peter three times with the question “Do you love me?” What we read today is the final call of Peter.
In the early part of John’s Gospel, Jesus, is followed by two of John the Baptist’s disciples. In the story Jesus turns and asks the two men perhaps a most important question, “What are you seeking?” The two men reply by asking Jesus where he is staying. Jesus extends the invitation to, “Come and see.” Jesus does not say, “Come and find out.” Jesus simply invites them as he will invite others and all of us for that matter, to come, to see and so believe. This is Jesus’ ongoing invitation, the challenge of being people of faith throughout our journey of life. In John’s Gospel, believing is seeing the “signs” so that believing beyond “signs” will be what it means “to follow”. So, John ends his Gospel with Peter’s having seen enough “signs” including the large catch of fish after catching nothing, during the night. Perhaps when looking back at the disciple whom Jesus loved, Peter is asking for another “sign”, a companion whom Peter could trust for support. Jesus indicates that this disciple has his own calling as does Peter, as do all of us. Peter’s calling is to trust in his friendship with Jesus throughout the rest of the story, the end of which Peter does not know. These final verses are a summary reflection of all that Jesus has done throughout his ministry. It is a summary of all the “signs” that are there to be seen and all who can see the “signs” are no longer blind, they believe, they have faith, because of having seen, because they have encountered Christ. As John says there were many events in the life of Jesus, but those that have been written down are just the right amount for Peter and any reader of the Gospel. With the coming of the Spirit, we are given the gift of faith which is a variety of vision by which we look for and receive “signs” of the presence of Jesus and of his calling us to follow into the unknown of our tomorrows. We, like Peter, will always want assurances, companions, and more “signs” to make believing a little bit easier. God gives us just the right amount of what’s good for our own response. Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone!
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Today’s Thoughts: We return today to one of the Easter stories where the disciples encounter the risen Jesus. Two of my favorite quotes from rather famous Jesuits came to mind this morning as I reflected on our Gospel.
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, man 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 reading the Gospel this morning these words from two great Jesuits came to mind. In the Gospel Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” and three times Peter says, “Yes!” Our relationship, our friendship with God centers on love, God’s love for us and our love for God. This exchange between Jesus and Peter along the shore of the Sea of Galilee after the Resurrection puts an exclamation point of their relationship and sends Peter out into the world to discover the energies of love, to discover fire once again all in the service of God! Love is only realized, only understood in terms of action. How we live it out determines its power and presence. If Peter loves Jesus, then he must live that love out, he must share it with the people of God and so must we! Have a blessed and holy Friday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: ‘I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their words….’” There is comfort for us in today’s Gospel (John 17:20-26). While we still find ourselves listening to Jesus talk about his and our relationship with the Father as we have been for most of the Easter Season, today Jesus lets us know that his prayer is not only for his disciples but for us, those who believe because we have heard.
Jesus looks ahead with his prayer today, ahead to all those who will come after him and somehow, in some way, come to believe. Jesus prays for people like you and me who have listened to the words of parents, relatives, teachers, preachers and come to know and believe in Jesus. St. Paul in the first reading (Acts 22:30; 23:6-11) is an example of the power of Jesus’ prayer. Paul knows human nature and he used it to his advantage today so that he can continue to proclaim the Good News. St. Paul is a witness to the presence of God in the world and because of his witness we to have a chance to believe. As we journey through this day let us be thankful for Jesus’ prayer that we too might be included in God’s love if we have the courage to believe in the Good News that we hear! Have a blessed and holy Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: I have to say that I will be glad when Sunday comes and goes, and we are no longer in the Easter Season. I say this not out of disrespect or because I don’t like the Easter Season, I love it but by this point we have heard the Gospel of John especially chapters 14-17 so much that it is a little hard to focus. Throughout these chapters John goes around and around about Jesus’ relationship with the Father and our relationship with him and the Father. Sometimes I just want to say, “Ok, I get it!” I also think John may have been reincarnated in the people who wrote and translated the Roman Missal. If it is not John, then it must be somebody who studied under him or a distant relative of him.
However, with my frustrations stated I was thinking as I spent time reflecting last night and earlier this morning that perhaps these chapters in John are really the words of a person in love. There have been several times in my life when I thought that I was in love or when I was in love. Obviously, they did not work out, but I can still remember the women and how I felt. I can also remember that it was hard to explain my feelings to myself and others. It was hard to talk about my feelings; the words would get all jumbled up. I would repeat them over and over again until I am sure my friends were tired of listening to me. When I would speak about my feelings to the one, I loved or tried to explain them to my friends often I did not seem to be making much sense. Perhaps that is my struggle with the words of Jesus in John’s Gospel that we have been listening to throughout the Easter Season. Yes, they are Jesus’ words, but it is John who is trying to communicate them to us. It is John in the writing of the Gospel who is now the person in love. He is a man in love with the Father, a man in love with Jesus, a man in love with us. Both Jesus and John are trying to explain this love. Jesus to his disciples and John is trying to explain this love to us but in both cases, words do not always come out that clear. They explain this love repeatedly, hoping we will understand and hoping that we too will fall in love! Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: It is the feast of St. Matthias today. Matthias was the person chosen after the Resurrection to take Judas’ place among the twelve. So, we first call upon Matthias’ spirit of faith in the Risen Lord to guide and direct us today.
“You are my friends…It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” Two reflections by Jesus in John’s Gospel (John 15:9-17) this morning that I have always given me pause for thought. On the one hand there is something comforting about being a friend of Jesus. Yes, this friendship demands a lot and is not always easy but being identified as a friend of Jesus often helps me to know that I am never alone. When you think about it someone who is willing to and did lay down his life for me is not going to walk away from me. The only person who can walk away from this relationship is me! The second reflection by Jesus is a little more of a struggle. I guess I would prefer to think that I am in control, that I am the one doing the choosing and to a certain extent I have chosen God. However, when I look back over my life, I can see the signs of God’s hand, of Jesus’ invitation. I can see God’s plan at work in the story of my life. I am who I am today not because I chose God but because God chose me! I have come to believe that it is God who does the choosing, extending the invitation to be friends. After all we can put Jesus’ words together with Psalm 139. “O God you probe me and you know…You formed my inmost being: you knit me in my mother’s womb.” Yes, God did the choosing long ago. God chose to create me, and Jesus chose me as a friend. God so loves the world that each of us are fearfully, wonderfully made so as we live this day let us trust in our friendship with God and live the gift that God has created us to be! Happy feast of St. Matthias everyone and have a blessed and holy Tuesday! Today’s Thoughts: “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” The last sentence of today’s Gospel from John (John 16:29-33). reminds us that being a person of faith is not easy, that we will find ourselves struggling with many things about the world, culture and society. In fact, we will struggle with many things within our own faith community because as an institution it is part of the world and run by human beings who are imperfect. Living this life will give us trouble from all sides and we know this all too well these days.
However, we are not to fear because Jesus has conquered the world. He has made this life only part of the journey. There is more to life than this world; there is more to life than what we face each day. There is an eternal life where there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more viruses, no more death just the eternal presence of God. As people of faith that is where we are headed but there is still this life, this world to navigate through. Each day we need to look for the Spirit. We need to look for those people like St. Paul who can help us connect with the Spirit, because it is the Holy Spirit who will guide us through the troubles of this world. It is the Holy Spirit who will bring to life the gift of God within us. So be on the lookout today for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can come to us in many different ways, through creation, through the people we meet, through the people we love and yes, the Holy Spirit can even come to us through ourselves. Let us be the breath, the life, the Spirit of God today! Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: For those of you celebrating the Feast of the Ascension today you can see my reflections from Thursday May 9, 2024. However, for those celebrating the Seventh Sunday of Easter today my reflections follow…
In the first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles we get a glimpse of how the early Church put profound trust in the Spirit. They decide to fill the vacancy left by Judas. There is only two qualifications for the job - “It is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection.” These are the only two qualifications and from here they let the Holy Spirit do his work. They simply, cast lots between these two men. There was no campaigning, no party affiliations to consider, no lengthy lists of qualifications to consider. They leave it up to casting lots. Total trust in the presence of the Spirit. The Gospel passage today is taken from the Last Supper discourse in John’s Gospel. You might say that this is the last meal, the last class, the last prayer-service and the last conversation that the disciples had with Jesus before his death. We could say that it is Jesus’ good-bye speech to them. Within today’s passage Jesus prays. Often when we think of Jesus and prayer, we think of the Our Father. However, today Jesus offers his own prayer. He prays for unity, not uniformity, but unity. Uniformity means the state or quality of being uniform, overall sameness, homogeneity, or regularity. In other words, everyone is the same. We wear the same thing, we eat the same food, we do everything the same. It is hard to tell one person from the other. Whereas unity means the state of being united or joined as a whole. These two words are different. Jesus wants us to be united like he and the Father. He wants us to share in their relationship to have our focus on the ultimate goal of eternal life. We may have a different understanding of how to get there. We may use our own unique gifts and talents to make the journey, but we are united with Jesus, the Father and the Spirit. Jesus and the Father did not always see eye to eye. Jesus like us had to deal with his humanness. In the garden after the Last Supper, Jesus prays that the cup might pass him by, but in the end, he is one with the Father. On the Cross Jesus cries out “My God, my God why have you forsaken me.” But in the end Jesus is one with the Father. This is the relationship that Jesus invites us into now that we too must deal with our humanness. We are invited to trust and to come to know God’s vision. The world will present us with many visions but if we trust in our relationship with Jesus, the Father and the Spirit we will be able to see beyond what the world presents to the presence of God in our life trusting always in the Spirit. Have a blessed and holy Mother’s Day and Sunday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Dorothy Day once said, “One must constantly recall the necessity to grow in confidence in God.…Trust that prayers will be answered. Maybe not as we want but as others need it to be.” Perhaps in other words our faith is not always about ourselves and God, but about others and God.
In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles today (Acts 18:23-28) Apollos is pulled aside and helped by Priscilla, Aquila, and others in his ministry. Yes, he is an eloquent speaker but a stronger relationship with God is necessary so that he can help others with his gifts. Jesus in the Gospel today (John 16:23b-28) continues to remind us of the need to ask in his name. In other words, pray in his name so that what is needed, what is desire, will be received. But what does it mean to ask in Jesus’ name? It means to pray like Jesus. Jesus prayed always looking beyond himself to others. Jesus prayed not for his own will but for the Father’s will. Our prayer, our relationship with God must always look beyond ourselves to others. We need to be about God’s will not our own. Perhaps in the spirit of Dorothy Day, our challenge today is to grow in our relationship with God, trust that relationship and realize that our prayers will be answered not always as we want but as we and others need them to be! Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.” – “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” Perhaps these are two of the hardest statements in the scripture to trust. They come to us today from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 18: 9-18) and John’s Gospel (John 16: 20-23). The first the Lord speaks to St. Paul one night in Corinth and the other Jesus speaks to his disciples.
How often have we asked God for something and yet it doesn’t happen, we don’t get it, we must settle for life as it is, not as we want it to be? How often are we called to speak, or feel compelled to speak because of our faith but the words just will not come out because we are afraid of the consequences? Living by faith is no easy task, it wasn’t in Paul’s time, and it wasn’t in Jesus’ time. The world is often a cruel place, a place where words and actions can cause us pain, sorrow and problems even if they are true or right. The feelings and emotions of the mob are usually what rules. The Gospel message is not for the weak or the fearful. Our faith tells us that God is with us. That whatever we ask in Jesus’ name we will be given, then why is there so much sickness, death, pain and sorrow in the world? Wars and violence happen every day. Did no one ask for the violence to stop in Jesus’ name? It is easy to say that we are Christian and call ourselves Catholic but living out our faith is never easy. In some way God is always there, God always responds to us, God always gives us what we need, God always stands beside us when we speak the truth. However, the world always makes it hard to hear, feel, see and know God’s presence in our life. As we live today, as we wonder through this life trying to believe, trying to speak, trying to trust in God remember love casts out fear. It makes us able to speak even in the most difficult times and it makes present the most profound gifts that God gives to us! Have a good, blessed and holy Friday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: I know for many of you this is just an ordinary Thursday but for those of us in the eastern part of the United States it is the Feast of the Ascension. This is one of those days when I truly wish the US bishops would get their act together! Decide on either Thursday or Sunday for the whole country rather than some of the people celebrating one day and others celebrating another. For those of you who celebrate the Feast of the Ascension on Sunday you can save my reflections for today until Sunday!
“Men Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” I have always liked this little phase at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. For me it sets the stage for everything that Luke is going to tell Theophilus about Jesus and this community call Church. Perhaps this question directed at Jesus’ followers just after he ascended into heaven sits at the center of our life as Church. Sometimes as a Church I think we are standing there look up at the sky. We are looking at the past. We are looking at what use to be and not what is. We are looking back hoping the past will be the present and the future. The angel’s question to the disciples perhaps was not just a question but a challenge. Are you going to continue to stand here and just look up at the sky? Are you going to live in the past, put your hope in the past? Or are you going to get busy and be about the ministry Jesus has entrusted you with, are you going to get busy about living of life. In the movie the Shawshank Redemption Andy at one point tells Red, “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.” Perhaps that is what the angel is asking Jesus’ disciples the day of the Ascension. What are they now going to do with the mission, the ministry that Jesus has entrusted them with? Their choices are to stand here and keep looking up at the sky, waiting for Jesus to return, thinking of the past or they can get busy living the life, the faith, the hope, the love that Jesus has entrusted to them. We might say that this celebration of the Feast of the Ascension challenges us in the same way. Are we as a Church just going to stand around looking, waiting for Jesus, are we going to stand in the midst of the past and wait or are we as a people of faith going to get busy living out our faith through the gifts of the Spirit? Have a blessed and holy Feast of the Ascension and Thursday everyone! |
Fr. Paul R. Fagan, C.P. "Preacher on the Run"Just a few thoughts to help you on your journey through life...let me know from time to time what you think... Archives
April 2024
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