May 15, 2022
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

When we speak about liking someone, we mean that we find someone appealing; we are drawn to them in some way. They generate emotional energy in us that moves us towards them. We enjoy their company. We find it easy to love those we like and are drawn to. This morning’s gospel reading is taken from the last words of Jesus as given to us by John’s gospel, set within the context of the last on the night before he died. Jesus calls upon us to love one another as he has loved us. He is calling there for a love that goes beyond those we like. Just as Solomon, in the story of the disputed child, was able to discern the identity   of the true mother by her love, so will the world be able to identify the true disciples of Jesus by their love for one another.

Jesus spoke those words just after he had washed the feet of his disciples on the night before he was crucified. Included among those whose feet Jesus washed was Judas. Jesus was aware at this point that Judas had it in mind to betray him. Yet, he did not hesitate to get down on his knees and wash Judas’ feet along with the feet of the others. He was calling on them, on us, to relate to one another as he had related to them, On the cross, Jesus was expressing God’s love for everyone, including Judas, the Jewish leadership, Pilate, the Roman soldiers and all who were responsible for his violent death as a criminal on a Roman cross.

Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading, which is his new commandment. His commandment was new as to the quality and nature of love. He was talking about a new kind of love. The love he was commanding had a new measure it was to be like his love for them. The love he was commanding sprang from a new power. The power of the Holy Spirit. The love he was commanding was compelled by a new motivation  the self-sacrificing death of Christ on the cross. It was love new and improved. His calling on us to love one another in the same divine way as he has loved us is a new commandment. Jesus also defined neighbor in a new way. For Jesus, the neighbor was any and every member of the human race. We only have to think of the parable of the good Samaritan. The broken man on the side of the road was a Jew. Yet, the Samaritan emptied himself in the service of this wounded and dying Jew, even though Jews were traditional enemies of the Samaritans. He revealed a love in action that did not discriminate. He demonstrated the kind of love that characterized the life of Jesus, a love that does not count the cost in the service of others, regardless of who they are. Jesus' view of love not primarily a feeling, but a choice. It's a decision to treat someone in a gracious and generous manner. The love Jesus commands is not how I feel about you, but how I treat you. We need the Lord’s help to love in this way, the help of the Holy Spirit.

What drew people to Jesus was not the signs or miracles he performed but his love. His love shattered barriers of hate and prejudice. His love picked up the pieces of broken hearts and put them back together. His love gave aimless lives meaning and purpose. His love found forgiveness where there had only been condemnation. His love brought triumph out of failure. People saw it in his face, felt it in his touch, and heard it in his voice. His friendship was unlike any friendship they had ever seen before or even dreamed of. It was this that drew them to him and made them love him so deeply, so tenderly. We have gathered to celebrate and enjoy that loveat this Eucharistic celebration. But the same love that Jesus had, is the same love that's been given to us. It's the same love that's been put into our hearts. It's the same love that we've been called to show the world, and to each other. Sprinkled generously throughout the New Testament are fifty-nine one another passages. Let me give you some examples.

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Rom 12:10).” “Live in harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16).” “Accept one another (Rom 15:7).” “Teach and admonish one another (Col. 3:16).” “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love (Eph 4:2).” “Encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thess 5:11).” A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. We Christians could be defined by our mission- to seek and save the lost. We could be defined by our worship. We could be defined by our church organization and structure, but the one thing that should define us more than anything else, that can really set us apart is love.

Dear Brothers and sisters, we all agree with the command to love in principle. We sing about it. We read about it. We talk about it. We teach and preach about it. But let’s be honest. We have a hard time loving one another in practice. we struggle with it in concrete. There's an old saying that says, “to live with the saints in heaven above, O that will be glory, but to live with the saints on earth below, that's quite another story.  Jesus doesn't want us to wait until heaven before we start. Loving one another begins here and now, it means “KEEP On loving one another.” It is to be a continuous, ongoing love. Our love for each other isn't a one-time act, or just an occasional thing. It's not a momentary gesture, but a constant and continuous endeavor.
 

May 8, 2022
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

One of the places that people often visit when they go to Rome is the catacombs, where the early Christians were buried. There are long passageways with empty openings where the bodies would have been placed. Every so often, the passageways open up into larger spaces where the early Christians would have gathered to worship. It is in these larger spaces that some of the earliest Christian art is to be found. The art reveals that the favorite image of Jesus those early Christians was of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. There is a memorial stone for a young girl in one of the Catacombs in Rome, which probably dates back to the third century; it has an image of the Good Shepherd with the inscription which says that she ‘lived for seven years and two months; her parents made this for their dearest daughter’. It is easy to imagine that the image of the shepherd lovingly carrying the young sheep gave comfort to the young girl’s parents in their great loss. we live by faith, knowing exactly where the Good Shepherd is leading us, even if we do not know the path. We know the “outcome of our faith – the salvation of our souls.” (1 Peter 1:9) and that He has already accomplished it by “laying down His life” for His sheep.

In chapter 10 of John’s gospel, from which today’s gospel reading is taken, Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep so that we all may have life to the full, eternal life. The shepherds of Israel used to carry the lost and vulnerable sheep on their shoulders to the safety of the sheepfold. Jesus saw in the work of these shepherds an image of his own ministry of leading others to life in abundance. It is understandable why this image of Jesus the good shepherd appealed to the members of the early church who in those early centuries must often have felt like lost and vulnerable sheep in their persecution, surrounded by threatening wolves who stood ready to devour them. Just as the image of Jesus as the good shepherd spoke to the members of the early church in the first centuries, so it can continue to speak to us today. Like those early Christians, we too can sometimes sense that our identity as followers of Jesus is under threat. Our faith can feel undermined by forces of various sorts that are hostile to faith, or, at least, not supportive of our faith and biblical values for example there are high school and universities promotes to change and choose the gender they want to be identified. We may not be going through a period of persecution, at least in this part of the world, but we can feel that our faith is being undermined. In such times, we need the community of faith, the church.

There is a very striking image of the gathering of the church in heaven in today’s second reading. It speaks of a ‘huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language… standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb’. The gathering of the earthly church, also embraces people of every nation, race, tribe and language’, the flock of the Lord; it looks forward to that even greater heavenly gathering. Good Shepherd Sunday invites us to renew our choice of the Lord as the dominant value of our lives. In the words of the Psalm, we say: ‘We are his people, the sheep of his flock’. If we value the Lord and all he stands for, we will hear the Lord’s call. As we grow in our relationship with the Lord, as we come to value him more deeply, we will hear his call more clearly. The call of the Lord will always be a call to value all that he values, such as the pursuit of truth, the work of justice, the task of reconciliation, the promotion of life in all its forms. The more we value the Lord and his gospel, the more sensitive we will be to the absence of truth, justice, reconciliation, and dignified living all around us, and the more we will feel called to address that absence. All who pursue truth, justice, reconciliation and a fuller life for others are, ultimately, responding to the Lord’s call, even though they may not be conscious of the Lord while doing that.

Dear Brothers and sisters, through our baptism, we have chosen the Lord and all he stands for as the dominant value of our lives. We pray on this Good Shepherd Sunday that we would grow in our attentiveness to the voice of the Lord’s call. The Lord’s call is not just a general call that goes out to all; it is also a very personal call to each one of us. He calls us by name. Within the general call of our baptism that we all share, the Lord has some particular tasks that he wants each of us to do, in order to further the coming of God’s kingdom. The Lord’s particular call to each of us will relate in some way to the circumstances of our day-to-day life. It will be respectful of our present responsibilities and commitments. Let me conclude with a small story, a young boy at a parish school was given a month to memorize Psalm 23. He was to recite it at a school assembly, with the pastor and all the parents attending he stood up and began, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and then his mind went blank. The people waited while he struggled to remember the next line. Finally, he started again, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” He paused, and then said, “And that is all I need to know.” First, there was silence, and then applause because the child was right. The Lord is our shepherd, and that is all we need to know.
 

Informed by Knowledge, Communicated with Respect
May 1, 2022
Dcn. Dennis Walters

It sometimes puzzles people why Jesus seems to say the same thing several times
without much apparent change in meaning. In today’s Gospel (Jn 21:1-19), for example,
he says three times to Peter, “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.” What is the
difference, if any, in these repetitive commands?

Actually, these three commands spell out a challenging program of responsibility that Peter and his successors have always had. The difference lies in what we understand as the three-fold ministry of the Pope. 

When Jesus says the first time,
“Feed my lambs,” he’s referring  to the papal ministry of teaching. (Interestingly for this parish, the Greek verb for “to feed” is boskō.) The primary ministry of the successor of Peter is not only for himself to teach but to ensure the integrity of all the Church’s teaching; that is, to ensure that, regardless of how it is expressed, the same teaching is being handed down intact from the apostles. A prime instance of that ministry is the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the early ‘90s. And in fact, the pope is constantly teaching, both formally in papal documents like encyclicals and informally in speeches and interviews.

When Jesus next says, “Tend my sheep,” He is pointing to the role of a shepherd to govern his flock, to make sure that it is following the path He wants his disciples to take. One way the pope governs is by passing laws that guide the Church; that was what Pope St. John Paul II did when he updated the Code of Canon Law in 1983, and what Pope Francis does whenever he modifies or updates this Code. He also governs by regulating the work of the Papal Curia, appointing bishops, and even by engaging in diplomatic relations with secular governments. For example, the pope not only has an ambassador from the United States, he has also provided a delegate to represent the Holy See (that is, the Church as an organization) to the American government and to the American Church at large.

And when Jesus finally commands Peter to “Feed my sheep,” he means to tell Peter to provide whatever is necessary for the faithful to grow and thrive spiritually. In other words, the pope is responsible for the sanctification of the Body of Christ. That means he must make sure that the entire Church has access to the sacraments, especially the Mass and the Eucharist. The pope must also see to it that persons venerated by the faithful are worthy of that honor (in other words, canonizing the right people), certify any reported apparitions of Jesus, Mary, or the saints as being worthy of belief (such as the Fatima apparitions), and make sure that certain devotions that the faithful are encouraged to practice, such as the Divine Mercy chaplet, are consistent with the orthodox faith and don’t encourage sentimentalism.  

Feeding the lambs, tending the sheep, and feeding the sheep is an enormous responsibility, and no one does it perfectly. All popes, even the holiest and wisest, have failed at some point. Which raises the question that many Catholics today ask,” Is it all right to criticize the pope for how he’s doing his job?”

Well, faithful Catholics have been doing it for centuries. Saint Paul criticized Saint Peter for acting according to what he saw as a double standard (Gal 2:14). Saint Catherine of Siena criticized Pope Gregory XI for living at Avignon instead of in his actual diocese at Rome. Pope St. Paul VI received enormous criticism over his publication of Humanae Vitae. When Pope Benedict XVI published his three-volume Jesus of Nazareth in 2007, he said in its introduction that people were free to criticize his work, since it was “in no way an exercise of the Magisterium” (in other words, he was not claiming to teach as pope, but only as a private theologian). It should be no surprise that several cardinals, other bishops, and even members of the faithful have written to Pope Francis asking him to clarify some of his teachings.
Saint Thomas Aquinas explains why criticism of the pope may even be necessary.

If the faith were endangered, a subject ought to rebuke his prelate even publicly. Hence Paul, who was Peter’s subject, rebuked him in public, on account of the imminent danger of scandal concerning faith, and, as the gloss [explanatory comment] of Augustine says on Galatians 2:11, “Peter gave an example to superiors, that if at any time they should happen to stray from the straight path, they should not disdain to be reproved by their subjects.”

Of course, criticism of the pope should never arise out of a mere reaction to something he says or does, much less become an occasion of gossip or even slander among the faithful who dislike him. Responsible criticism, especially constructive, can be an act of charity toward the Holy Father – indeed toward the whole Church. If possible, criticism should be informed by knowledge of the facts and rendered from a position of respect – communicated through proper ecclesiastical channels.  

Most bishops feel challenged enough by their burden of teaching, governing, and sanctifying their own dioceses. The whole Catholic Church, comprising within itself two dozen ritual churches, is an enormous spiritual organism; to teach, govern, and sanctify such a vast body is beyond the capability of any one man. The Second Vatican Council taught that the Church’s bishops act together as a college to advise and help Peter’s successor. And always, the Church has the Holy Spirit to teach, guide, and sanctify him. But we are involved, too. As members of Christ’s body, we have the duty to pray for the pope, both in the liturgy and privately. Love for him in the office he holds demands it. 

Experience the Presence of Jesus
April 24, 2022
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

In the Church, when we think of the Apostle Thomas, we tend to think of
“Doubting Thomas.” (Although he is not the only one who doubted; when the women
came from the tomb to tell the apostles that the Lord is risen, the apostles did not believe
them.) Such skepticism from Thomas the Apostle may come as a surprise to us, but this doubt
proved to be an act of dispensation by God, because it answers those who would dispute the
divine nature of Christ.

This initial struggle to believe in the Risen Christ is an example for those in every age up to the present who wrestle with faith. The Apostles declared Christ’s Resurrection after they had seen him, spoken to him, ate with him, and lived with him for 40 days after his Resurrection. Theirs is a confession of faith signed with their own blood! They were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, exiled, and martyred precisely because they proclaimed the Risen Christ as true God.

Thomas is the Apostle who Church tradition credits with bringing the Gospel message to India where he was later martyred for his faith. In John’s Gospel, Thomas is portrayed as loyal, undeniably a dedicated, passionate man, He was not satisfied with vague notions, but wanted direct answers. The first time Thomas makes an appearance in John’s Gospel is in the episode with Lazarus in John 11. When Jesus tells his disciples that he’s ready to go back to Judea, they remind him that everyone there wants to kill him… maybe it’s not such a good idea to go back there. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, but let us go to him.” So, Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, and die with him” (John 11:14-16). Thomas is not “Doubting Thomas” – he is “Devoted Thomas,” “Courageous Thomas.”  

Perhaps we are meant to see Thomas as a courageous, devoted disciple when he’s with Jesus. But when he’s not, it’s a different story. And that’s exactly what we see in our reading for today. It’s been three full days since Thomas has been with Jesus. In fact, the last time he saw him, Thomas was running for his life as Jesus was being arrested. But now it was three days later. Thomas had been away from the other disciples for a while, but when he re-joined them, they started babbling on about how Jesus had appeared to them.

“He’s alive,” they said, “We have seen the Lord.” How could they have seen the Lord? Everyone knows what he went through. There is no way someone could be alive after all of that; after the flogging, the crucifixion, the soldier driving a spear through his side. Jesus was dead. And so, Thomas declared, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the marks of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” (John 20:25). Thomas wasn’t just doubting here…it’s really not even fair to call him “Doubting Thomas.” A more accurate name for Thomas on that   first Easter evening would be “Unbelieving Thomas.”  
But then the following Sunday, everything changed for Thomas. Jesus came to invite Thomas out of unbelief and into life. In the words of the gospel writer: 

Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here, and see my hands, and put your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe" (John 20:26-27).

After those three miserable days where Thomas had to live with the fact that he had abandoned his Lord, after that miserable week where Thomas struggled to make sense of his friend’s insistence  that Jesus was alive, after all of that, in an instant, everything changed for Thomas. He was no longer “Unbelieving Thomas.” He was “Believing Thomas.”

What made the difference? Jesus’ presence. See, when Jesus was with Thomas, he was a different man. He had courage, he had strength. But without Jesus, Thomas was a miserable, emotional wreck. Jesus’ presence with Thomas one week after his resurrection literally changed Thomas’ life. And Jesus’ presence also caused Thomas to utter one of the most profound, faith-filled statements in all of the Scriptures: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Jesus’ presence invited Thomas out of unbelief and into life.

So, how do we experience the presence of Jesus today? Simple: Through God’s Word. How do we know that Jesus is present through this book? Well, the very beginning of John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus is the Word of God. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is present with us through the words of the Holy Scriptures. And it’s through the Scriptures that Jesus invites us out of unbelief and into the fullness of life in his name.  

It’s by staying connected to Jesus through the Holy Scriptures that we experience peace in the midst of a chaotic and crazy world. It’s by staying connected to Jesus through the Holy Scriptures that we experience the fullness of life that Jesus desires for us. When we’re with Jesus, life is good.  

But this story of Thomas also gives us a warning. When we’re not with Jesus, life is not good. The devil, the world, and our sinful nature are constantly on the prowl against us. When we’re not regularly connected to Jesus and his word, they are there, ready to tempt us. It is also incredibly important for us to be connected to and regularly gathering with other Christians. This connection allows us to be encouraged by each other’s stories and our shared experiences. 

A Present Reality
April 17, 2022
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

T oday, the Christian Church throughout the world celebrates the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over the power of death and the devil. Believers count this day as the most important day in our life, and in fact, the most important day in all of human history. Today, the Church on earth declares with the Psalmist, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps.118:24). The victim has become the victor. “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Acts 4:11).

By His resurrection, Christ has made a mockery of death and its finality. His victory over the grave sets us free to relax and live in peace, even when death is staring us right in the face, because we know that death has lost its sting. Not because our death is already behind us, but because it is already behind Him. And our lives are hidden in Christ.

Today is the day for you to repent and stop wasting whatever time you have left in this world. Put that which is of first importance first again. When you do, I think you’ll be surprised at how much more you will enjoy and appreciate all those things that are of second importance, if only because they are in their proper place. The economy is important, health care is important, your family, your job, your finances are all important, but compared to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and our new life in him, they are all secondary.

When the world awoke on that first Easter Sunday, everything was the same and nothing was the same. The Roman government was still in power. The Chief Priests were still trying to hold onto their religion. The disciples of Jesus were still huddled in fear behind locked doors. The women were filled with sorrow and grief.

But one by one, as men and women were confronted with the living Lord – either as eyewitness or by the hearing of the gospel – nothing was ever the same again. In a world that doesn’t change, they were changed. The past, with all of its doubts and defiance, its mistakes and failures, its sins and transgressions, that had held them as prisoners to their anger or their regret or guilt or shame or fear, was swallowed up by Jesus.

On this Easter Day, so much remains the same for us too. Still there is cancer and tumors and diabetes and sickness. Still there is divorce and loneliness and sorrow and weeping at the grave of a loved one. But even in this, everything has changed. For we know what is of first importance. Even as we travel through this valley of death, we fear no evil. We walk in newness of life. For “everyone who is in Christ, is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). And Easter celebration awaits our response.

We are being called to appreciate the opportunities of every moment given us and to neither waste nor take for granted a single one. We are being called to live more fully alive. It is God’s yes to us and it asks us to answer, to act, to respond.

What happened on that first Easter Sunday had enormous implications, not only for those first disciples but for all of us who are trying to be the Lord’s disciples today. On the cross Jesus absorbed all human sin. In his resurrection from the dead, he defeated sin with life-giving love; he showed that God’s love cannot be shut up in a tomb.

Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we can be sure that God’s love present in Jesus is stronger than sin and death. Jesus’ resurrection assures us that beyond death there is new life, beyond darkness there is light, and beyond sin there is forgiveness. Jesus died and rose from the dead out of love for us all, so that we might have life and have it to the full. His resurrection shows us that our own death, like his death, can be a gateway to a new form of life.

Not only can we look forward to this new life as our ultimate destiny, but we can begin to experience this new life in the course of our earthly lives. The risen Lord who met with those first disciples wants to meet with each one of us here and now. His coming to us will be very personal to each of us, taking different forms for different people, just as his coming to those first disciples was very personal to each of them. How he came to Mary Magdalene was different than how he came to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The feast of Easter invites us to be alert to the unique way that the risen Lord wants to touch our lives. We are invited to open ourselves to the Easter life that the risen Lord offers us, with all its hopes and possibilities.

As an Easter people, we are full of hope, because each of us can say with Saint Paul, “I can do all things through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13). We can live already, here and now, in the strength of the Lord’s risen life while looking forward to its fullness beyond death.

Dear brothers and sisters, one of the questions the disciples had on that first Easter morning was, “If Jesus is not in the tomb, where is he now?” In the light of his appearances to them, they came to understand that he was to be found among the community of believers. The risen Lord wants to take flesh in our lives so that we become living signs of his Easter presence.

We can be grateful this Easter for the ways that the Lord’s love has taken flesh in the lives of so many people in these days. The generosity of spirit that is so evident at this time shows that Easter isn’t just a moment we look back on but is a present reality.

Ourselves in the Story
April 10, 2022
Fr. Bosco Padamattummal

S ome of us may have accompanied loved ones on their last journey as they passed from this life to the next. The final journey of Jesus was written from the memory of his disciples. They came to understand the full significance of that final journey only afterwards, in the light of Easter and with the coming of the Spirit. What they initially regarded as a great tragedy came to be seen as good news. A story of brokenness and failure came to be recognized as a story full of promise and hope. That is how we read and listen to Luke’s story of Jesus’ last journey this Palm Sunday. We hear this story, not as a depressing word, but as a word that nourishes us and strengthens our faith and hope.

We have just been listening to Luke’s account of Jesus’ final journey. It is only Luke who tells us that on the Mount of Olives, while praying intensely, his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. Jesus did not choose to be crucified. He chooses to be faithful even if that meant being crucified. He chooses to be faithful to God’s love for all of humanity. Although we have just heard a very tragic story, we consider it good news, gospel, because it is a story that proclaims the triumph of a truly life-giving love.

Luke emphasizes that Jesus died as he lived. He lived prayerfully and he died prayerfully, praying to God that Simon’s faith would not fail, praying for forgiveness for his executioners, praying that his Father’s Will would be done in his life, and with his final breath, praying himself into the welcoming hands of his Father.

Jesus lived compassionately and he died compassionately, healing the wounded ear of one of his enemies, granting Peter a look of acceptance at the very moment that Peter denied him, promising Paradise to the condemned man who turned to him in his hour of need.
The experience of his passion and death did not change Jesus. He remained in death all he was in life: a person in prayerful communion with God and in compassionate communion with all men and women, including those who rejected him and failed him
.
Calvary was a place, an expression of human brutality at its worst. Yet, in the light of the resurrection of Jesus, the early Church came to recognize that what happened on Calvary was more than just a monument to human brutality. There was already a light shining in that darkness, the light of God’s unconditional love for all humanity, including those who crucified Jesus.

This was a recognition ever after that God could be present in a loving way in the darkest of human situations. When faced with the cross, we can either renounce our faith in God, or open our hearts to God present in our suffering. Just as God was present to Jesus and to all of humanity on Calvary, God is present in every experience of the cross.

The story we have just heard reveals both the worst and the best of the human spirit.
• The worst of the human spirit: the brutality of the absolute power of the Roman Empire.
• It is above all Jesus who reveals the best of the human spirit in this hour: He dies as he lived, standing in loving solidarity with sinners, praying for those responsible for his death, promising paradise to a condemned criminal who turned to him for support.

Those best instincts of human nature in the story we have heard can inspire us. The Jesus who lived and died is also the Jesus who is risen. As risen Lord, he remains in prayerful communion with God, interceding for us. He joins us on our own life’s journey, as he joined the two sorrowful disciples on the road to Emmaus.

As the Lord journeys with us, he pours out his Spirit into our hearts, so that we can journey in the same prayerful and compassionate way that he journeyed. His Spirit enables us to be prayerful and compassionate people as he was, in good times and in bad, when the path of life is easy and effortless, and when it is painful and difficult.

As we listen to Luke’s Passion Story, we might find it easier to identify with the other characters in the story:

We might recognize something of ourselves in the disciples who, at the last Supper, argued as to which of them was the greatest, in the followers of Jesus who, at the moment of his arrest, resorted to physical force when a different response was called for, in Peter who lacked the courage of his convictions under pressure. We might even recognize something of ourselves in Judas who turned a sign of affection into a signal of betrayal.

I suspect many of us could also recognize something of ourselves in those who responded well: in Simon the Cyrenean who helped to carry Jesus’ burden, in the good thief who confessed his sin and turned to Jesus in trusting prayer, in the centurion who saw more deeply than any other Roman, in Joseph of Arimathea who did not go along with his peers in the Jewish council but stood apart.

Wherever we locate ourselves in the story, the prayerful and compassionate Savior opens his arms to receive us. That is why this story is good news for us all.

All Things New
April 3, 2022
Deacon Dennis Walters

In the movie The Passion of the Christ, there is a scene where Jesus has fallen under the weight of his cross at the moment where his mother meets him. In that scene, Jesus looks up at her and says simply, “See how I make all things new!” The words are taken from Revelation 21:5, where the One on the throne announces the completion of the new heavens and new earth, and even of the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb. This scene from the movie shows how Jesus is bringing that new creation about.

On this fifth Sunday of Lent,
the Church looks forward to that final Easter.
All of the readings for this liturgy,
including our responsorial psalm,
point in that direction.

Of all the themes in the entire Bible, the exodus from Egypt is the most prominent. It occurs everywhere, in the historical narratives, in the psalms, in the prophets, and even in the New Testament. In our first reading, Isaiah alludes to the path that the Lord once made through the sea, which allowed the Israelites to escape from Egypt but drowned their pursuers. But then he shifts focus, as if to say, “That was then, this is now.” “See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?”

True to His word, the Lord is ending Israel’s exile. Her return from Babylon is even now in progress. To the prophet, this new exodus will eclipse even the memory of the flight from Egypt, for God is clearing a path home for his chosen people, “the people whom I formed for myself that they might recount my praise.”

Our responsorial psalm, Ps. 126, celebrates that dream come true. Many of the exiles who have already returned from Babylon exult, recalling how even the gentiles agreed that “the Lord has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.” However, the return is not yet complete. People are still straggling in. Those now in Zion pray for the rest of the captives to be restored. Indeed, they pray for a flood of returnees, like the gullies in the Negeb desert that flood with water after a downpour.

In our second reading, St. Paul explains to his Philippian audience why he, “the compleat Pharisee,” regards his former accomplishments as complete loss. His experience of meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus has turned his life around. He sees everything now in a different light. “For His sake I have accepted the loss of all things, and I consider them as so much rubbish” – the word is considerably stronger in Greek – “that I may gain Christ and the righteousness that comes through faith in Him.”

Paul quickly adds that he’s not perfect. But forgetting past successes and failures, which are behind him, he looks to what’s in front of him. He wants to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection, even if that means sharing in Jesus’ suffering and death. So, “straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling in Christ Jesus.” That prize is not only the divine power that leads to his own resurrection from the dead but Christ Jesus Himself.

In our Gospel, Jesus challenges the Scribes and Pharisees to consider their own lack of innocence before they take up stones against someone else. In ancient Israel, whenever a group action, such as a judgment, was called for, the younger members of the group would defer to the decision of their elders, unless the elders were obviously wrong. Facing Jesus and the woman they’ve brought before Him, the elders at least have the honesty to recognize that they are not without sin, and so they depart first, followed by their juniors. Lastly, the woman herself is released from condemnation, given a new lease on the life Jesus wishes her to have.
All of us are, in a sense, in the middle of our own journey. From our present position, we can look to our past, noting those markers and significant events that shape how we got to where we are. Some of those markers have been times of hardship and sin and tragedy; others were triumphs or virtues or accomplishments. But now those bad or good old days are behind us. We cannot stay still in the present. With dread or anticipation, we move toward the future, to face the consequences of the past, to work toward what we plan or hope for, to realize our life’s goals.

We’re in the middle of our life’s journey. As Christians we are, in a sense, engaged in an exodus, a path out of this earthly exile. The Lord is making a way for us to reach Him if we’re willing to look for it. Just as Spring is a messy season because it means clearing away the dead things of winter, preparing the ground, and planting seeds for new growth, so with the spiritual life.
During this penitential season, we’ve placed our sins and failures behind us. In this last week of Lent, the liturgy urges us to look forward, to the way Jesus makes all things new through His cross. Easter is coming. Let us then strain forward to what lies ahead, to a resurrected life with Jesus.