Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Acts 14:5-18  +  John 14:21-26
May 15, 2017

“‘…He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.’”

At the Last Supper, Jesus speaks about the role that the Holy Spirit will play in the lives of the disciples after Jesus’ Ascension.  Although Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Advocate”—a legal term sometimes translated “Counselor”—it’s in terms of teaching that Jesus here describes the Holy Spirit’s mission.  “The Advocate… will teach you everything….” Continue reading →

The Fifth Sunday of Easter [A]
Acts 6:1-7  +  1 Peter 2:4-9  +  John 14:1-12
May 14, 2017

“… be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

The older you grow, you know fewer and fewer people in this world.  The older you grow, the fewer contemporaries you have.  The older you grow, the fewer people there are around who have shared most of your life with you.  Because of this, the older you get, the more you look ahead to the future.

But here there’s a sharp difference between the elderly and young people.  After all, young people—who at times do get caught up with the present moment—certainly do look ahead to the future.  We might think, for example, about those graduating this month, or being promoted from grade school to high school, or those engaged couples who anticipate in just a few weeks becoming husband and wife.  All of these young people look ahead to the future:  to the opportunities of high school, to the independence of college, to the paycheck that comes from a job, to the beauty of a shared life with one’s spouse.

But all these future realities that young people dream about are realities within this world here below.  All of them are “earthly opportunities”, you might say. Continue reading →

The Fifth Sunday of Easter [A]
Acts 6:1-7  +  1 Pt 2:4-9  +  Jn 14:1-12
May 14, 2017

“…whoever believes in me will do the works I do….”

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  When Jesus speaks these words at the Last Supper, two disciples speak out.  Maybe you can relate to each of them in turn.

The first is the Apostle Thomas, often called “Doubting Thomas”.  This not-too-positive name is usually connected to Thomas doubting his fellow apostles when they tell him that they’ve seen the Risen Lord (John 20:24-25).

But today, we hear Thomas express doubt, not about his fellow apostles, but about his Lord.  He does this in two ways.  First, he doubts Jesus when he complains that “we do not know where you are going”.  He’s expressing doubt about Jesus as a leader. Continue reading →

Our Lady of Fatima—IHM Convent Mass
Acts 13:44-52  +  John 14:7-14
May 13, 2017

“The Father who dwells in Me is doing His works.”

On this one-hundredth anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady of Fatima, the Church is in the midst of her Easter Season.  This week we’ve been hearing Jesus’ words from the Last Supper.  John’s is the loftiest of the four Gospel accounts, but the Last Supper discourses offer the loftiest of the loftiest words spoken by Christ in John.  Much of what He says at the Last Supper concerns the unity of the Holy Trinity, and specifically of the Father and the Son. Continue reading →

Our Lady of Fatima
Isaiah 61:9-11  +  Luke 11:27-28

“Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

The message of Our Lady of Fatima can be summarized in three words:  prayer, penance, and reparation.  These three works are not novel, of course.  They are part and parcel of the Gospel message proclaimed by Jesus during His earthly life, and taken up anew by His Church during each age of the Church’s journey through history.  Mary is the Mother of the Church, so it’s hardly surprising that she, like all the other members of the Church, would proclaim this message when she appeared to the three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal starting on May 13, 1917.

During that fateful year, in which the travesty of the Russian Revolt began to spread atheistic communism throughout the world, Our Lady appeared six times to the shepherd children.  She counselled the faithful to works of prayer, penance, and reparation.  Specifically, Our Lady told her children to take up the prayer of the Rosary.  In fact, during the final apparition, on October 13, Our Lady identified herself as Our Lady of the Rosary.  Among all the devotions of the Church (that is, outside the realm of the Sacred Liturgy), the Rosary holds pride of place.

“Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”  It is the mission of each and every Christian to proclaim the Word of God to the world.  This Mary did at Fatima.  She counsels us to observe the Word of God through prayer, penance, and reparation.  From Heaven, Our Lady of Fatima intercedes for each of her children within the Church, that God’s grace might strengthen them to take up faithfully the works of the Gospel.

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Acts 13:26-33  +  John 14:1-6
May 12, 2017

“‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’”

The setting of today’s Gospel is another exchange between the Lord Jesus and the apostle Thomas.  There are two significant exchanges in the Gospel between Jesus and Thomas.  We hear the more famous exchange on the Second Sunday of Easter.  But today, on a weekday during the middle of Easter, we hear another form of doubt from Thomas. Continue reading →

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Acts 13:13-25  +  John 13:16-20
May 11, 2017

“‘…whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.’”

Why, throughout the Season of Easter, does the Gospel passage at Holy Mass narrate the events leading up to the Passion and Death of Jesus?  One reason is practical.  When from the four Gospel accounts the narratives taking place following the Resurrection are put together, there are still relatively few passages for proclamation:  certainly not enough for the entire Easter Season. Continue reading →

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Acts 12:24—13:5  +  John 12:44-50
May 10, 2017

“‘I came into the world as light….’”

When we recite the Creed on Sundays and solemnities, in its second part (the part in which we profess our faith in the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity) we profess that God the Son is “eternally begotten of the Father.”  This statement is a profession of the divinity of Jesus Christ, a statement made against the heresy of the Egyptian priest Arius, who taught that “there was a time when the Son was not.” Continue reading →

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Acts 11:19-26  +  John 10:22-30
May 9, 2017

“‘The Father and I are one.’”

Today’s Gospel passage ends in an intriguing manner, taking an odd turn “off course”.  As a whole, the passage seems to be about Jesus dispelling the Jews’ “suspense” by identifying Himself as the Good Shepherd.  He then describes His relationship with His sheep, and the fact that by following His voice, His sheep have eternal life.  So far, so good.  The metaphors that Jesus uses echo imagery from the Old Testament.  We seem to be on familiar, comfortable ground.  But then an important shift occurs. Continue reading →