I ran across a song this past week called the “Hand Song”
by a group called Nickel Creek and a reflection that a Jesuit priest connected to it.

Fr. John Foley wrote the following:

A young boy picks roses for his mother. Trouble is, she has been raising these roses with great care, and he has now broken off the beautiful flowers. As he brings them to her, thorns dig into his hands. She lovingly extracts these, reminders of her roses, …

“and she knew it was love.
It was one she could understand.
He was showing his love
and that’s how he hurt his hands”.

This is the love that Jesus calls us too…..a love that sacrifices for the need of another, a love that puts another first, a love that serves the rest.  The word in Greek, is “Agape” a  love is selfless and unconditional. Strong’s defines it as “brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence.” Why else would Jesus have gone to the Cross?  He went there to show us what true love entails.

True love means getting our hands dirty, risk getting hurt, rejected, and thinking more about another no matter who that person is.  True love means even embracing those we may not like.  The love of a Christian accepts the fact that we can get wounded as Jesus, but the fear of getting wounded or even being hurt by the people we help cannot deter us from loving as Jesus did.  This can seem impossible and it probably is without the grace that flowed from the side of Cross and continues to flow into our hearts through the mystery of the Eucharist.

We read in the First Letter of St John, what that the outward sign of love and it is not found in a Hallmark card.  John writes

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother or sister, he or she is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother or sister whom he or she has seen, cannot love God whom he or she has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his or her brother or sister.

I think that says it all.

So my brothers and sisters, the way is clear and the path is marked out for us.  May we as God’s people follow the example of Christ on the Cross and love each other and the world with a selfless love.  May we wash the feet of all we meet as Jesus did because he is the greatest example of how to love.

 

 

 

I ran across this story this past week.

 A pop quiz was given to a new class of nursing students in the first year of their training. Most of the students did well on the quiz until they came to the last question, which they all left blank.  That question was, “What is the name of the woman you see every morning who cleans our section of the school?”    The students thought that the question was a joke.  But when they got their papers back, every one of them was marked off for that question.  They protested.  The professor said, “Her name is June. In your careers you will meet many people.  All of them are significant.  They deserve your attention and care, even if all you can do is smile and say “hello.” The students never forgot the lesson, or June’s name.

Jesus knows each of us by name no matter who we are or what we have done.  He died for each of us; not just for a select few.  His death and rising gives hope to all humanity.   Because he loved us so much, Jesus calls us to love all our brothers and sisters in the sheep fold.  I know I am not good at remembering names, but I strive to remember a face and who the person is. 

 I grew up in a house where I was often called by my brother’s name, thankfully not the cats, but I still knew that my mother and father knew me for me.  Jesus is the same way and He does know our names.  He calls us by name to follow him. In the sheepfold, no two sheep look alike or act alike.  They are all diverse and even when two or three herds are mixed together, each sheep will respond to only to his or her shepherd’s voice.  We must strive to hear Jesus’ voice today.

 We may not remember the name of the person who gets our coffee at Dunkin Donots, but we can strive to say good morning. The same with the person who checks us out at Price Chopper or Hannaford.  If we work in an office, do we know who cleans it everyday?  Do the youth know the name of the custodians at their schools?  How about asking the postal person who delivers the mail how his or her day is going?  The opportunities are endless.  We all see the same people everyday because of our routines; but do we really see them?  They are sheep of the same shepherd as we are. The people we walk by everyday are the voice of the Shepherd to us and we are the voice of the Shepherd to them

As we celebrate the Good Shepherd who gave his life for us, may we strive to get to know the other sheep of the herd, especially those we walk by everyday. Even here is church, we need to get to know each other because no shepherd ever has just one sheep; he or she has many.  May the Good Shepherd open our ears and our eyes to hear his voice in all we meet.  May he use us to speak to His love to the world.

 

No one wants to fail.  In fact, there are many people who do not want to even make a mistake. This is often the reason we don’t want to change.  It isn’t because we cant; but we are  afraid if we try, we may not do it “right”.

The disciples in today’s Gospel were like this.  Imagine: they are experienced fisherman, they knew the places where the fish were, they could read the lake, the weather….and after doing all this: they fail.  This was on top of all the disappointment of the last day few days in Jerusalem.  Jesus had been crucified and died. Sure, they had seen him, but remember, they all had run away, Peter had denied him, Thomas doubted.  I cant imagine they were feeling really great.

But, notice, it was into this failure, self doubt, and mistakes, that Jesus enters.  He challenges them to take a risk, to try one more time and see what happens.  By being willing to come up empty handed, they try one more time, this time on the other side of the boat and looks what happened; a full net of fish.  In fact, the number 156 was all the known species of fish at the point in history. The net was a symbol that the whole world was captured in the net of God, even those who didn’t yet know Jesus.  It would be through the imperfect apostles that the Jesus would be preached.  They realized, I think, that if they stayed close to Jesus even their mistakes would be used to spread the message.  In the bread and fish, we as Catholics, see how to stay close to Jesus: the mystery of the Eucharist.  As Catholics, the bread and wine are not just a symbol of Jesus nor are they just bread and wine.  This bread and wine become His very presence and the food we need to do the work entrusted to us:  to spread the Gospel message that Jesus suffered, died and rose again.  Every Sunday, he invites us to this meal.

We are at a point in history when we, the church, have to stop throwing out the net on the same side of the boat, the symbol of the church.  Jesus is standing on the shore telling us: try to do it differently and the world will be caught up in my love.  Be willing to try again in a new way.

How?  By first committing our life’s to Jesus.  To look up and and see Jesus in a new way, maybe for the first time even if we are cradle Catholics.  Then and only then, will we  be a transformed church.    Jesus must be the center of our lives and the center of the church and the center of this parish community.

We don’t need to do it perfectly.  If we remain focused on Jesus, we cannot fail.  He will transform all our mistakes and failings into ways to transform the world into the Kingdom of God.  But, everyone who calls themself Catholic needs to be in it together and let Jesus show us the way.  We must be like Peter and jump into the water and run to Jesus.  We must be like the beloved disciple and recognize him in the breaking of the bread, the Eucharist.  Only when we are in it together, we will truly be Church.

My brothers and sisters, let us look up and out of the boat of our complacency and apathy, see Jesus anew.  Let us listen to Jesus and throw our net on the other side of the boat and try new ways to be “Church”.  This meal he has sets before us every Sunday must the highest priority in  our lives as  Catholic Christians. Without it, we are nothing and we can never be the new Church Jesus calls us to be.

He is standing on the shore of our lives right now; will you, will I, jump into the water, with all sins and failings, and run to him, our Resurrected Lord?

Our birth would have been no gain,
had we not been redeemed.
O wonder of your humble care for us!
O love, O charity beyond all telling,
to ransom a slave, you gave away your Son!

These words from the Easter Proclamation that was sung tonight (or last
night) puts this most sacred and central mystery of the Christian faith into
perspective. Without Jesus’s life-giving death and resurrection, our lives would be
empty. Too many people today try to put meaning in their lives in all sorts of
different ways: in money, in power, in relationships, in things, and the list goes on.
The Christian faith teaches us that without Jesus in our lives, we will dry up
and wither away.

We live in a time when God is taking second place in many people’s lives.
There is a growing numb er of people who refer to themselves as “Nones” when
asked what religion they are. We, the community of believers, are challenged,
like the first apostles, to be on fire with spreading the Good New of Jesus; the
news that God loved us so much he gave us everything. The very Son of God
went to the Cross for you and me to take away our sins and give us life. Like Mary
of Magdala who ran from the tomb to tell the others, like Peter and John who ran
to the tomb and saw and believed, we need to run from this church and tell the
world about the Jesus we meet here. People need to hear the message of faith.
However, what needs to happen first is that we need to experience the Risen Lord
ourselves. Jesus wants to be part of our lives. He only asks that we be committed
to him and to His Church before everything else.

Every Sunday is Easter. Every Sunday the Church gathers to proclaim to the
world our belief in new life and new promise. Every Sunday, we partake of the
Risen Lord in the mystery of the Eucharist. It is in this encounter that our lives
find their true meaning. In fact, as we sang, without the Resurrection of Jesus and
our belief in it, nothing has any value. Without a regular partaking of the Mystery
of the Risen Lord in the Eucharist, we cannot be the people who God will use to
transform the world: in our school, on the Little League fields, in our places of
work, wherever. The mandate of those who believe in Jesus is to spread the
message that the Resurrection promises.

So here is my suggestion. Take some of your Easter candy and jelly beans and
Peeps and put them in the freezer. Every Sunday after Mass have a piece of a
bunny or a some jelly beans. Have an Easter meal or an Easter BBQ if the weather
is nice. Celebrate every Sunday like you celebrate today because every Sunday is
today: Easter morning.

Christ is Risen! Yes, He is truly Risen!

He had been in the army for what seemed a life time.  He had risen up the ranks to centurion and took this post in Jerusalem because it looked like an easy job.  Keep the peace.  No battles which he had seen too many of.  He even thought that he would find a wife here and settle down.  When he woke up that morning and walked into the praetorium to see what was on the agenda, he saw that there was 2 crucifixions to be held.  These things were not his favorite things; but necessary to keep the peace.  One of the soldiers who reported to him informed him of the events of the past evening, the arrest of a local prophet and how the crowd was bringing him to have Pilate judge him.  He sighed thinking that his easy day may be ruined.    When he saw Pilate and the leaders brought in this man he did not look like anything out of the ordinary.  In fact, he looked very small and tired and bruised.   One thing led to another and Pilate gave him and handed over this man to be crucified.  The soldiers let him away to have the usually “fun” before they led him to hill  outside the city gates.  When they were down, the centurion had the soldiers led him back to Pilate who literally washed his hands of the whole deal.

“Ecce Homo” rang in the ears of the centurion and the cries “Crucify him” haunted him for some reason.  He really didn’t care if the man was guilty or not.  He just had a job to do.  But, looking into the eyes of this man, something was different.  The centurion heard the word   “messiah” and “king”. but there was no army.  In fact, the man’s eyes just radiated love.  On the way up to Golgotha, he saw the man’s mother, a woman wiped his face, women lamenting, and others.  He had to grab this man out of the crowd to help him because he was weakening by the moment.  When they finally reached the top of the hill, the went about the work of crucifixion like a finely honed machine.  Everyone knew their part.

When the man was finally up on the cross, he had the appearance of a king who was ruling the world.  In the midst of his pain and suffering, the man looked like he was conquering. He heard the talk of the men and women who knew him.  He had healed people, talked about a Kingdom where there was peace and joy, he had talked about forgiveness and this man had even reached out to the poor.  He even heard one story where he healed the son of centurion that he knew.  None of this seemed like a crime .  Even as they went about the mechanics of crucifixion, he heard the man cry out: Father, forgive them for they know what they do”.    There was something happened here that this old soldier couldn’t quite grasp.  As he looked up at this man, his heart felt different.  It was melting as the suffering man looked at him with love.

Eventually, the centurion could see that the man was almost dead.  He had one of the soldiers offer him so wine mixed with myrrh to dull the pain and maybe hurry this along.  But the man refused.  FInally, he heard the man cry out with his eyes toward heaven;  IT IS FINISHED.  As the heaven opened up with rain, the ground shook and the thunder boomed, from the bottom of his heart, this old battle worn centurion realized who this man was and said: Clearly this was the Son of God!  As he looked up, his heart cracked wide opened, and this old soldier of Rome felt his heart filled with the presence of this man called: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.  Now, this man was the King of this centurion’s life.