May 29th 2011: Gospel Reflection I

John 14:15-21

     We live in the Age of the Holy Spirit! In Salvation History (the story of God’s relationship with us and His leading us closer to salvation—life with Him) God revels Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament God communicated with His chosen people as Yahweh, I Am. Later, God sent Jesus into the world to be the intermediary between God and man and to give us a Way to the Father; “God became man so that man might become like God” (St. Athanasius). In today’s Gospel, after Jesus ascends to the Father, he promises that He will send an advocate (this word means both defense attorney and judge) to be with us—the Holy Spirit.

     Jesus explains that we cannot see the Spirit but that we will know the Spirit because the Spirit will be within us like our breathing in and out (the world Spirit in Greek “pneuma” means breath). The Holy Spirit is God’s presence dwelling in us just like our breath and the Spirit assists us in living as we should (“if you love me, you will keep my commandments”). The nearness of God’s Spirit allows us to more readily hear God’s Word and be strengthened by His presence. Oftentimes the Holy Spirit is recognized when our conscience is leading us to making the right decision, that is God’s Spirit, which dwells within us, helping us when we are in need of guidance (or when we don’t think we need guidance!).

     At Mass there is a moment called the epiclesis (pronounced like EpiPen…’epi’….cleesis) where the priest calls down the power of the Holy Spirit onto the gifts of bread and wine that through the power of the Spirit they may be transformed. We live in a continuous state of Epiclesis, continually calling the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and to transform us.

     It is rare that we direct prayers to God the Holy Spirit, but we should because Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit into the world to help us. Dear Holy Spirit, be with me today and help my heart to become more like the heart of God; Father, Son and Spirit.

May 22nd 2011, Gospel Reflection I

Hopefully religious teachings help us to love better, but Jesus converted hearts by His presence not sermons. "go and do likewise"

“Do not let your hearts be troubled”

In today’s Gospel Jesus is preparing His disciples to be strong in their faith even when the time comes for Him to ascend into Heaven to be with the Father. Jesus is reassuring them that He will always be with them, that he loves each of them, and that he is preparing a place for them in Heaven. It is difficult to have faith in something that you cannot see, but while they might not physically see Him Jesus says that they will find them when they look with eyes of Faith.

“‘Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?”

Jesus reveals Himself all around us and we can see Him if we see with eyes of Faith.

-Who are the people and what are the places that you see Jesus’ presence?

Jesus doesn’t walk around our cities and towns and show Himself to us in visions, Jesus speaks in the silence of our hearts and acts through the hands of our own loving action. Since many people do not explicitly see or hear Jesus they do not believe that He is God or that He exists at all.

-Should Jesus show Himself more?

-Does our daily life sometimes make it difficult for us to see or hear Jesus?

-Is Jesus asking us to be his presence to those we encounter?

Imagine if each of us “put on the love of Christ” in a radical way. Imagine if the millions of us that gather in churches would put on Christ and carry Him in the world. Could people overlook that many Jesus-es?! Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life and we are called to make that way, truth, and life more present (relevant/non-contradictory) in our world.

If we live with a radical love people will wonder why we are different…and they will know we are Christians by our love.

May 15th, 2011: Gospel Reflection III

The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-10

Gospel 2.0

1. Check out the video and lyrics below of You Created by Caedmon's Call.

-What would you recommend to a friend who is looking for meaning in life?

-What gives meaning to your life?

-Do you agree that 'You created nothing that gives me more pleasure than you"? Is it possible for someone to have just as abundant life with or without a relationship with God?

2. Google images of “Jesus is the Good Shepherd” and find an image of Jesus you like with sheep. 

-How does this image make you feel? 

-What does this image tell you about Jesus? 

-What does this image tell us about how we are to live?

You Created

Caedmon's Call

Who is like unto the Lord our God 

Who dwelleth on high, Who dwelleth on high 

Who is like unto the Lord our God 

Who dwelleth on high, Who dwelleth on high 

You dwell in glory 

The heavens are Your home 

You began the story 

And made Your beauty known 

But You created nothing 

That gives me more pleasure than You 

And You won't give me something 

That gives me more pleasure than You 

You hung the planets 

In Your image You made man 

I'm overcome and broken 

At the wonders of Your hand

May 15th, 2011: Gospel Reflection II

The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-10

One of our 1^st grade catechists shared that a few weeks ago when the 1^st graders were practicing the Our Father prayer some of the kids were confused and prayed ‘my kingdom come, my will be done on earth as it is in heaven’. An honest mistake of a child who is practicing the prayer, but it carries more truth than we might want to admit. We tend to ask God that our will be done, not His. This is goat thinking. Goats are notorious for being difficult to guide and not very good at flocking together and following. This is why Jesus uses the analogy of separating the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25. We are called to be sheep and to follow our Good Shepard.

In today’s Gospel Jesus says that he is the gate through which the sheep walk through into the sheepfold (a place where sheep were safe at night). Each of us longs for peace and safety. Instead of trying to make it ourselves like goats why don’t we try on some wool and to let the Good Shepard lead us through the gate, keep us safe, and when we do go astray, know that He will leave the 99 behind to seek after each one of us who is lost. This is what it means to have abundant life…but this message doesn’t sell as many iPads.

 

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

May 15th, 2011: Gospel Reflection I

The Good Shepherd 

John 10:1-10

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”

As Christians we believe that being faithful to the laws of God do not limit us but free us to be the most happy we can be. Imagine a playground on the edge of a mountain. If there was a wall there it would allow the kids to play more not less. In the final line of today’s Gospel Jesus promises us (as He does multiple times!) that He came into the world that we might have abundant life! Jesus did not say “I came that they might have less fun than others”, or, “I came that I may make sure they don’t get to do certain things”.

As the Archbishop of San Francisco, George Niederauer, told our community at the Confirmation Liturgy last week, Jesus took bread and blessed it saying “take and eat this is my body, do this in remembrance of me”, not, “play soccer in remembrance of me or “have every minute of your life scheduled in remembrance of me”. Sports, money, work, popularity, school, and the things we fill our days with are not bad things but if we expect them to make us abundantly happy we are fooling ourselves. I think our best bet is to listen and follow the guide of the Person who made us. As one of my favorite Christian songs says “You created nothing to give us more pleasure than you”. It makes perfect sense theoretically, but when we translate that into going to Mass each Sunday or loving our enemies we tend to lose confidence because it does not fit into schedule or our will. 

Media Saturation

A must read for any parent of teens, pre-teens, or future teens. 

Even for those a long way from that reality this article about the effects of media saturation on teenagers probably hiots a little too close to home for each of us...

National Day of Prayer

Happy National Day of Prayer!

May today remind us that God is with us, listens to us and that as a community of believers we are not alone.

 May God truly bless our land, people, and leaders and empower us to "be the change we want to see in the world".

...Who/What are you praying for today?

Mother's Day Approaches!

 If you are looking for a gift for your wife, mother, sister, sister-in-law, etc. check out these two recommendations below from the Archdiocese of San Francisco Newspaper.

  

Amazon can have them shipped in 2-days! (I should really get some kick-back for the product placement!)

...and maybe some flowers

Love Your Enemies?

The recent announcement of the assassination of Osama Bin Laden causes me to reflect on one of Jesus' more uncomfortable teachings "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you". Sit with this and say it again:  "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you". 

Bin Laden's death carries with it a variety of emotions; it is rare that we have such a visceral reaction to one of our 'enemies'. Because of this is important to sit with that feeling and to allow God's love, peace, mercy, and presence to dwell within us. Faith is not something added on to our lives for convenience but should be our source, especially in times of great emotion both in joy and in sorrow. I rejoice that Bin Laden will no longer be able to inflict evil and pain on this world, but I am also saddened that his heart was so hardened and pray for his soul and for those of his followers. 

My response is that I may "be the change [I] want to see in the world" (Ghandi) and that I may allow peace to begin with me. We are called to transform the world and we are offered an amazing moment to transform the world today. This is not easy but this is the radical love that we are called to, which counteracts the evils of terrorism and violence. May we emulate the heart of God our Father to hold both justice and mercy in our hearts today.

On this same day when Pope John Paul II was identified as Blessed earlier as 1.5 million gathered to join in prayer and celebration of holiness his words continue to resonate:

"Let there be an end to the chain of hatred and terrorism, which threatens the orderly development of the human family. May faith and love of God make the followers of every religion courageous builders of understanding and forgiveness, patient weavers of a fruitful inter-religious dialogue, capable of inaugurating a new era of justice and peace." - Blessed John Paul II, Easter Message, April 20, 2003