May 27, 2011. Tuesday, May 31, 2011

1:39-47

Luke

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said,, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

And Mary said:

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my soul rejoices in God, my savior."

["My soul magnifies the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God, my savior."]

Lk 1:46-56

Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home. The magnificat and nunc dimmitis and the 23rd psalm are to be memorized for the comfort they give. Mary’s Magnificat has been called the most revolutionary document in the world. Notice, however, that she did not say, “Let’s bring down the powerful…” but “God has brought down the powerful….” She is already celebrating the topsy-turvy logic of the Gospel. She is an image of the new community, the Church. That is a community where the logic of the Gospel is intended to hold sway: the first is the last, the weak is the strong, the greatest is the least, the poorest is the richest, the lowest is the highest.... But when we look at the Church – at ourselves – sadly, we see that we live mostly by straightforward logic: power and privilege, palaces, badges and titles of honour.... And if I wear such a badge or carry the title of Christian, it doesn't guarantee that it stands for anything in the reality of my life. Mary, the greatest revolutionary figure, still has many revolutions to accomplish.

PostThe Gospel of the Lord.

"The Lord is with thee" meaning the God of her fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Joseph, of David is with her. She must respond to Gabriel, the able-bodied one, the hero of God, the angel who stands before God. She is alone in her response, And her only support is the narrow will of God, and her readiness to believe, and her readiness to obey.

Mary Immaculate, star of the morning, Chosen before the creation began.

Chosen to bring in the light of thy dawning, Woe to the serpent and rescue to man.

Here, in this world of both shadow and sadness Veiling thy splendor, thy course has thou run:

Now thou art throned in all glory and gladness, Crowned by the hand of thy Savior and Son.

Sinners we worship thy sinless perfection;

Fallen and weak, for thy pity we plead; Grant us the shield of thy sovreign protection, Measure thine aid by the depth of our need.

Bend from thy throne at the voice of our crying, Bend to this earth which thy footsteps have trod:

Stretch out thine arms to us, living and dying. Mary Immaculate, Mother of God.

December 12 is the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Mary appeared to Juan Diego, Cuauhtlatoattzin [quat-la-toe-at-zin], "Speaking Eagle", on Tepacac Hill near Mexico City, this day in 1531.

Her appearance inscribed on Juan Diego's tilma, made of yucca plant leaves and still fresh and bright today, almost 500 years later, is my "My Lord and My God" moment. From John 20:24-29, where Jesus, after the Resurrection, appeared a second time to the apostles and a first time to St. Thomas. "Thomas, put your fingers into the marks of the nails and your hand into my side and do not be disbelieving, but be believing." And Thomas replied, "My Lord and My God".

May 25, 2011. Saturday, May 28, 2011

John 15:18-21

Jesus said to His Disciples: "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is grater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me."

The Gospel of the Lord.

These are the last few gospels of John while Jesus Christ is still with us before His Ascension. And the recurring point of these gospels is love; The thought of Love is what Jesus sought to leave with us. And Jesus was successful for the Roman historian Tertulian described the charity and generosity of the early Christians in or about 300 A.D. "Look at how much they love one another."

There’s nothing in this world so sweet as love,

And next to love the sweetest thing is hate. (Longfellow)

As my colleague Andrew McCarthy wrote, “Civilization is not an evolution of mankind but the imposition of human good on human evil. It is not a historical inevitability. It is a battle that has to be fought every day, because evil doesn’t recede willingly before the wheels of progress.” -- "Our Reprimitivized Future"

John Paul II: I would have liked to stay with you longer, but I find consolation in the words of Jesus. He tells us the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my Name will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you. The Father sends His Spirit of trust and love into the world and the Spirit guides us in the way of peace. Therefore, Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid, dear brothers.

May 21, 2011. Tuesday, May 24, 2011.

John 14:27-31a.

Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and do just as the Father has commanded me."
The Gospel of the Lord.

Today honors three martyrs - Saints Nereus and Achilleus, and Saint Pancras. But we do not wear red at Mass; instead we wear white. Why, because this is Easter season, the season of the resurrection, the season not of the death of martyrs but of life, the life of Jesus in the resurrection. Thus, we emphasize life. Jesus by His resurrection showed His victory over death. "Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?" The first reading is from Acts 14:19-20 which tells of the Jews turning the crowd against Paul; the crowd "stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city." In 2 Cor. 11, Paul tells of his encounters with death: five times Paul received 40 lashes less one; three times he was beaten with rods; once he was stoned. This is that stoning, and the end result of a stoning was death. Paul was shipwrecked three times; he spent a day and a night adrift at sea.

So these readings are about the triumph of life, the life of the Lord (I am the way, the truth, and the life) over death. The death is that brought by "the ruler of the world." Jesus, says, the ruler of the world "has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do as the Father has commanded me." We have the details of the Passion to show what pain the world may apply but we have the death and then resurrection of the Lord to show the power of Jesus over death. over the world and the "ruler of the world".

We are reassured by tenderness of the Lord, by His concern: "Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You have heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.'" He has given us the path to eternal life; he assures us of eternal life. We have hope; we hope in the Lord; our hope gives us the way to eternal life.

May 16, 2011. Tuesday, May 17, 2011.

John 10:22-30.

The Feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given the to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The father and I are one."

The Gospel of the Lord.

The Feast of the Dedication was the feast of lights; it took place in what is our month of December, on the 25th day of that month, our Christmas. Jesus says, "It was winter", meaning that it was dark. The beginning of John's Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Everything came into being through Him, and nothing came into being except through Him. What came to be through him was life, and this was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." The Jews ask, "If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." And Jesus answers, "The works I do in my Father's name testify to me." Those works, those signs of John's Book of Signs, are the water into wine at the Cana, the healing of the man paralyzed 38 years, the curing of the royal official's son from a distance, Jesus walks on the water, the feeding of the multitude, the giving of sight to the man born blind, the raising of Lazarus.

Those works testified to Jesus as the Messiah. The Jews did not believe. Then, the Passion , Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus conquered death. Thus, after the resurrection, we can say with Paul, O Death, where is your victory. O Death, where is your sting.

Jesus speaks of his followers as sheep. Do we want to be called a sheep? Ask this, do we want eternal life. Jesus promised eternal life to his sheep and that his followers will never perish. He has promised eternal; life to us. And Jesus answers the question as to His provenance, "The Father and I are one."

May 10, 2011; Saturday, May 14, 2011

John 15:9-17

Jesus said to His disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in His love.

"I have told you this so that your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give to you. This I command you: love one another."

The Gospel of the Lord.

The Book of Signs deals with the three years of the public life of Jesus and the Book of Signs with the last week of the life of Jesus. A major part of the Book of Glory is the Final Discourse of Jesus at the Last Supper. As Moses passed on the Ten Commandments so Jesus passes on God's commandment of perfect love. of all-encompassing love. What Jesus has done is take all the commandments and boil them down to one. If we love one another as Jesus has loved us, then we will indeed keep all the commandments. It should be a love which shows itself in action and sacrifice, deeds and self-sacrifice. "friends" from "philoi" meaning "loved ones", or those we share our thoughts with. "friends" is never a title used for the divinity. "friendship" in the Near East meant reciprocity with each required to meet the needs and expectations of the other.

May 9, 2011; Sunday, May 15, 2011

John 10: 1-10

Jesus said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not recognize what he was trying to tell them.

So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that hey might have life and have it more abundantly."

The Gospel of the Lord.

This is Good Shepherd Sunday.

"Gospel" means "good news".

Father Dowling refers as authority to H.V.Morton, an early traveler in the Holy Land: Morton that at night the shepherds of Palestine put heir sheep together into a a communal pen. In the morning the shepherd would call and his sheep would come forward but shy at the gate. Only when the shepherd called each by name would each them be led out, leave the pen through the gate. So Jesus knows each of us by name.

In Palestine, the shepherd walks ahead of his sheep and leads them by his presence and his voice for his sheep recognize him. In Australia, the shepherd walks behind and drives the sheep by his staff and his sheep dog. God leads us; God does not drive us; God goes before and we follow him.

In the field, the shepherd puts his sheep into an enclosure a cul d'sack or a cave, then the shepherd lies across the entrance so that he prevents the sheep from wandering out and protects the sheep from predators.

Those who try o enter by any other way are ill-intentioned. They seek to distract from God's plan. God's plan is Jesus Christ.

May 9, 2011; May 10, 2011

John 6: 30-35.

The crowd said to Jesus: "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat."
So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Fathergives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
So they said to Jesus, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."
The Gospel of the Lord.

This Gospel describes the next day after Jesus had fed the 5000 in the wilderness with five barley loaves and two fish. The crowd is asking "What sign can you do?" Sign. The first part of John's Gospel is the Book of Signs; the second is the Book of Glory." In the Book 0f Signs, John describes seven miracles of Jesus, water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana, the healing from a distance of the son of the royal official, the curing of the paralytic who had been paralyzed 38 years, the feeding of the multitude, the curing of the man blind from birth, the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus walks on water.

The real sign of Jesus is His words, for John's Gospel starts: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him, nothing came into being. What has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it." John 1: 1-5.

We can trace it back. Jesus says, "For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." And Jesus came down from Heaven, and Jesus "gives life to the world." So the crowd said to Jesus, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." What is this bread? It is the Word. And Jesus is the Word.