May 31, 2022: Feast of the Visitation

In this Easter Season, marked by the joy of the Risen Christ Jesus, we have readings filled with joy.

In the womb, St. John the Baptist hears Mary's greeting and leaps for joy.  St. Elizabeth acclaims Mary as blessed for being the mother of the Lord and for believing the Lord's Word.

May we join in their spirit of rejoicing, for God has come to be with us, the people in whom He greatly delights.  And He continues to be present with us, working in our world through us as we make Him present to others.

May 29, 2022: Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Having risen triumphantly from the dead, the Risen Jesus Christ, after appearing to the disciples, ascends to Heaven.  He shows Himself our Savior when He offers offer Himself to the Father in Heaven.

Yet He makes it clear before He ascends that He will not leave the disciples alone. He promises to send the Holy Spirit, thereby clothing them with great power to continue His work and testify to His continuing Presence in the world, even as they display it.  The idea of "promise" appears more than once in the readings for today.

We can truly count on Christ, Who rose from the dead, thereby freeing us from sin and bringing us into newness of Life.  We can rely on His promises to remain with us.

So like the disciples, even at His Ascension, we rejoice and praise God for what Christ has done on Earth, and will continue to do, as we wait upon Him.  We marvel that Christ has made a pathway for us as humans to reach Heaven, while also continuing God's divine presence among us, so that we can experience Heaven even now.

May 22, 2022: Sixth Sunday of Easter

As we approach the end of the Easter Season, the Gospel reading offers us a selection from the Last Supper Discourse, in which Jesus offers profound words to His disciples before His departure.

He tells them that the Holy Spirit will continue to teach them and remind them of all He told them.  

Indeed, though He is departing from them, He will not leave them alone, but continue to be present with them.  In the Holy Spirit, they will continue to abide and live by His Word and in His love.  And He imparts deep peace, so that ultimately, they rejoice that He departs and then is present with them again through the Spirit, especially as they live His love.

The power of the Holy Spirit is clearly evident as the early Church addresses a controversy about what Jewish rules the Gentiles should obey to be part of the Church.  Ultimately, the Holy Spirit helps the church expand to include so many, while also helping them feel unity as part of the One Body of Christ, so that, as the Psalmist proclaims, all the nations might praise God.

The vision in Revelation depicts the New Jerusalem with 12 gates, signifying that the Church welcomes all people. The power of God is so great that there is no need for the sun to shine, for His presence fills the city, just as the Holy Spirit is God's presence that fills us now.

I thought about these words in John 14 when I graduated from college 9 years ago, and prepared to enter a new phase of life, while remaining connected with that experience, especially with my divine encounters in the St. Teresa's community. And customarily I share them with my students as we reach the end of the RE year.  Indeed, though Jesus is no longer physically present on Earth, He continues to be present with us in a mystical, yet very real way, as the Holy Spirit works in us.

May 15, 2022: Fifth Sunday of Easter

God is making us new.

He sent His Son Jesus as our redeemer, and so revealed His glory by showing us what Love is.  In that glory, shown at the Last Supper, Jesus handed on to His disciples, and us, a new commandment, to love one another as He loved us, a definitive sign that we are His disciples.

St. Barnabas showed this love to Saul after his conversion, and encouraged him in his faith so that they would go on to travel throughout the Mediterranean world and proclaim the Gospel, strengthening others to do the same, in cooperation with the work of the Holy Spirit.

So even now, we experience a New Earth and a New Heaven, because, as His Church, we are making His glorious love known, and so God is making us new.

May 8, 2022: Fourth Sunday of Easter/Good Shepherd Sunday

God is leading us to Eternal Life, which is depicted so marvelously in the image of Christ the Good Shepherd: He laid down His life for us, like any good shepherd would to protect his sheep.  Then  Christ resurrected, so that He could sustain us in newness of Life through the Holy Spirit:  We cleanse ourselves of sin, depicted in the vision in Revelation when robes dipped in blood are made white.   And He leads us to life-giving waters so that we know His care for us no matter what we face, and live the Abundant Life He desires for us.

Now as redeemed people, named by Him, we go forth to bless the world, living out a mission that is meant to impact all people, like Sts. Paul and Barnabas, who, in the face of opposition from Jews, take the message to the Gentiles, just as God intended it to spread.

Indeed, God desires to bring salvation to all people, so that they may experience Eternal Life through intimate knowledge of Him now.

We give thanks for the leaders in our Church God has called to shepherd us into a deeper relationship with Christ, so that we are empowered to make Him known in the world.

I think about my MLIS graduation 6 years ago this Sunday, and how I studied about accessing and organizing information for the purpose of helping others encounter it.

And I think about our celebration of mothers this day, biologically and otherwise, whose love for us brings meaning to life, especially in how it reveals God's presence in our world.

In the spirit of this day, I think about how much meaning Religious Education has brought to me, as I spend time growing in relationship with my students as we encounter God together so that we may enter more deeply into the Abundant Life.

Ultimately, knowing more about God is meant to bring us closer to the God Who loves us so intimately, so that we may have Life, and share it with all the world.

May 1, 2022: Third Sunday of Easter

In the midst of despair lingering after the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the disciples go out fishing, and it only goes downhill when they work all night without catching anything.

Then Jesus appears, and, before they recognize Him, He directs them to try something different.  Their sudden, abundant catch is a powerful sign that demonstrates the Risen Christ is there.  He furthermore fills them with new purpose, especially when Christ asks St. Peter three times, "Do you love Me?"  We see how they live that out later:  When told to stop preaching Jesus Christ, they submit in obedience to the Holy Spirit, Who compels them.

Indeed, this is the power of the Risen Christ, the Lamb Who rose victoriously and conquered death, and Who is worshipped in the vision in Revelation as the Almighty, above all.  He rose from the dead and lives forever, rescuing us from sin, and keeping us firm in dangers so that we can demonstrate His Resurrected Power in us.  He furthermore feeds us with Himself, calling us to become what we eat, realizing fully His living Presence within us so that we can make Him known as real in all the world.