4th Sun Lent Year B 2015 (Jn 3:14-21)

The focus of today’s gospel is the love of God.  There are many things one might say about love—whether human or divine—but two are prominent in this gospel message.  One is to say that when we love someone, we desire to be close to that person.  Love always seeks an intense personal closeness—an emotional, spiritual and physical bond—that melts the two hearts into one.  Closeness is what we want most of all when we love someone.  We want to spend time with them, talk with them, get to know them if we don’t already, and share our life with them.  This does not always happen, we know, but this is the experience most of us want—to be physically and emotionally close to the one we love. 

 

The other thing to say is that love thrives on the hope that it will be reciprocated.  We first and foremost want those whom we love to return our love, to love us back, so to speak.  We often look for signs in that regard.  And, as long as those signs are there, we feel satisfied in the relationship.  A failure to return love, on the other hand, is often the cause of much hurt and disappointment in a relationship.

 

The gospel message for today shows that God is not different from us in these two respects.   Because he loves us, God desires to be close to us both in spirit and in body, and to have his love returned.  God was not content to remain hidden away in his heaven, unseen and unapproachable by us except in spirit and prayer.  Rather, his profound love for us compelled him to send his only Son to live among us, to be one of us, to be like us in every way. 

 

During his life on earth, Jesus demonstrated in clear terms that our relationship with God is an intense personal relationship of love, even insisting that we call God “Daddy” in today’s lingo.  Jesus also made it plain that he loves the father by loving us.  In fact, Jesus loves us in the same way that the father loves him.  For, he says to his disciples, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love” (Jn 15:9).  The question is, how do we remain in God’s love?  How do we love God back?

Jesus provides the answer when he asks us to keep his commandments.  For he says to his disciples, 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 (Jn 15:10).  This is how others will know that we are his disciples.  By imploring us to remain in his love, Jesus is asking to have his love returned; he wants us to love him back.  This is the reason behind the two great commandments of love for God and neighbor.  And, the Apostle John reminds us that we must not give mere lip service to these commandments.  Rather, he insists that we must love in deed and in truth (1 JN 3:18).  "Actions—not words" is the guiding principle in returning our love to God. 

We know what those actions are.  Jesus proved his love for us to the greatest extent by giving his life for our sake, and now he wants his love returned through service to God and neighbor.  He is our model.  We would do well to imitate Jesus by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, welcoming the stranger, and giving shelter to the homeless. 

 

Our service does not end with taking care of bodily needs, however.  We are also called to provide spiritual care—to comfort others, to counsel others, to forgive others, to pray for the living and the dead.  All these very ordinary deeds done in the name of Christ are true works of mercy.  They are signs that we are returning our love to God, and God will not fail to notice.  Jesus assures us that, whoever gives a cup of water to drink in his name will have their reward (Mk 9:40).

During Lent, we often focus on caring for the needs of others.  Three traditional practices associated with Lent provide opportunity in that regard—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  We usually think of almsgiving in terms of giving money to the poor.  According to the Psalmist, "Blessed is he that considers the needy and the poor" (Ps 40:2).  Notice that the Psalmist says “considers” rather than “gives” to the needy and the poor.  This way of putting it suggests that anything done to assist the needy and the poor out of genuine charity is almsgiving.  Thus, almsgiving includes much more than giving money to the indigent.  Every deed carried out to benefit our neighbor in the name of Christ, no matter how small, is almsgiving.  How our actions affect the poor are worth considering. 

When it comes to prayer, Jesus is our first model.  We read in Scripture that Jesus often went out alone to a secluded place and prayed.  Rarely is the content of his prayer revealed to us.  What we do know, however, suggests that during his prayer Jesus spoke openly and honestly with his heavenly Father, holding back nothing.  Since he came to do the Father’s will, we can be sure that he spent time in prayer discerning what the Father might want.  Sometimes prayer is the only way we learn how to help others. 

   

Almsgiving and prayer are two legs of a traditional Lenten practice.  The third is fasting.  We usually think of fasting as giving up something, a favorite food or treat. This is certainly appropriate.  Vatican II in fact encouraged the renewal of this practice, especially before celebration of the Easter Vigil.  But, there are other ways of fasting.  In a less dramatic way, for example, we might give up criticizing or judging others.

The prophet Isaiah offers more insight into what it means to fast.  Isaiah quotes the Lord when he says, "This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own" (Is 58:6-7).

Sometimes it is easier to help a stranger than our own.  Lent is also a time to consider how well we love those closest to us.  They too need our alms, prayers, and fasting.   

Feast of the Holy Family B 2014

            Scripture provides very few details about the boyhood and coming of age years of Jesus. We know from scripture that, for the first thirty years of his life—90% of his time on earth—Jesus lived a very ordinary family life with Mary and Joseph.  He grew up in a town called Nazareth where he became strong in spirit and filled with wisdom. The young Jesus was not a willful child or a rebellious teen, but was obedient to his parents.  He behaved as he should have.  He did chores around the house.  He studied Scripture as well as his school lessons, and he went to the Temple with his parents at the appropriate times. 

            As he grew older, Jesus worked with Joseph and earned his living as was expected at the time. Throughout his life, Jesus never travelled more than 200 miles from his home, even after he began his public ministry.  Jesus experienced a normal growing up process, both physically and mentally, that most everyone goes through.  All of this shows that Jesus placed a great deal of importance on ordinary living.

            The ordinary life of Jesus was holy because he was dedicated to God from the moment of his conception.  In the same way, our ordinary lives are also holy.  Indeed, the feast of the Holy Family shows that ordinary living is sacred living.  We celebrate this feast during the Christmas season, for this is a very holy time of year when family takes on special meaning and importance. 

            We tend to think of family in very traditional terms of mother, father, and children—all of whom reside together in one household and are related by marriage, birth or adoption.  We know the reality is often very different, but we hang on to this ideal because thinking this way keeps us in our comfort zone.

            Jesus makes it clear, however, that our relationship with each other in the household of God is spiritual rather than biological.  He reveals his view of family in particular when he responds to someone who says to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.”  Jesus responds with the question, “Who is my mother?  Who are my brothers?  And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother’” (Mt 12:47-50).   

            The message is clear.  For Jesus, natural kinship is only “half” the story.  Jesus’ “whole” family includes all those who do the will of his heavenly Father.  With this response, Jesus shows that we are a spiritual family in the household of God, united in ways that enlarge the traditional terms of family.

              In his letter to the Colossians, Paul calls attention to what life in the household of God means in ordinary, practical terms.  According to Paul, we are equal “citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God…For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom 8:14-17). As a result, Paul says we are to put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…bearing with one another and forgiving one another…and above all, we are to put on love (Col 3:12).     

            From this ordinary standpoint, we should experience our own families as safe havens.  Just as the baby Jesus found rescue and safety with his family, we too should find rescue and safety in our families.  Family is the place to find love and acceptance, encouragement and support, freedom from psychological and physical abuse.  Family is where we should find mercy and forgiveness, and a less critical eye than the world brings to bear.  Family is where we can learn genuine love for God and for others.

            Genuine love means taking an active regard for those around us.  And we can do this in very ordinary and yet sacred ways.  We can bring the love of Christ to others in our own families and in our spiritual family.  Our words and actions can be life-giving and life-affirming.  We can inspire others to search for truth and abandon old, destructive ways.  We can be open to all people, especially the foreigner and the stranger.   Sometimes all it takes is a simple act of kindness—just being there when somebody needs you.

            This is what the feast of the Holy Family means—showing love for others in very ordinary and yet sacred ways.  Ordinary living is sacred living.

Feast of Christ the King, Year A, 2014

Kings and queens are out of place in our American culture and way of life.  For us, kings are little more than a social curiosity with celebrity status.  We value independence, self reliance and democracy far too much than to allow a serious role for a king in our society.

           

For this reason, the feast of Christ the King presents us with a challenge.  Because this feast reminds us that Jesus Christ is the true King of heaven and earth, the challenge is how to acknowledge and honor Jesus as the king of our lives. 

This feast also presents us with a paradigm.  Through his life and mission, Jesus shows us what HE means by king, and how we can participate in the kingdom of God.  The paradigm that Jesus offers as a guide is the very opposite image of an ordinary understanding of royalty.

The challenge and paradigm both begin with the birth of Jesus, who was born into poverty rather than wealth.  His birthplace was a stable for animals rather than a castle for monarchs.  Soon after his birth, he becomes a political fugitive rather than ruler of an empire.  With no royal army for protection, he flees with his family to Egypt out of fear.  At the age of 12, with no palace guard to watch over him, he gets left behind in the temple, and when found, makes the odd claim that he is about his father’s business.     

As an adult, he lives as a hermit for forty days in a desert.  Afterward, he visits a social outcast named John and asks John to baptize him.  Jesus then travels the countryside as a homeless person with no place to sleep, let alone a country estate.  He preaches the good news of salvation.  Some of his followers see him as a political warrior who will save them from Roman oppression, not from the slavery of sin and death.  He eats with tax collectors and sinners, and enlists the aid of women to lead his mission. He even treats women as equals—hardly the mark of royalty in his day.  Indeed, a woman anoints his feet with tears and oil, rather than his head as the high priest would anoint a king of this world. 

In fact, Jesus promotes a kingdom not of this world, where membership is freely granted to faithful servants, not earned by loyal subjects, and where love rules supreme, not power and wealth. Those who listen do not understand nor do they accept his message that love of God and love of neighbor go hand in hand.  Serving others as the way to love God is not in their vocabulary.

And yet, this is the message that Jesus delivers over and over.  He informs his followers that the Son of Man came to serve, not to be served.  He tells them that they must not lord it over others.  That the greatest among them must be the least, the one who washes the feet of the others. 

Jesus demonstrates though word and deed what being a king means and what participation in the kingdom of God entails.  He heals the sick; he cares for the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized; he challenges injustice; he insists that mercy and compassion overrule custom and ritual; he sums up the entire Mosaic Law with the dual command to love God and to love neighbor as self.

Jesus is no one’s fool, however.  He warns his disciples that following in his footsteps is also risky.  He makes clear that those who challenge injustice and go against the grain to oppose greed and extravagant accumulation can expect the same fate that he will soon endure.  The only assistance Jesus offers is a sure promise to send his Spirit to guide the way and provide the necessary defense.  At first, the disciples don’t understand what fate he has in mind.  But before long, they witness firsthand what awaits their beloved teacher, only to catch a glimpse of their own futures—and they run. 

The disciples watch from a safe distance as Jesus is treated as an enemy of the state rather than a beloved king.  He is arrested in the middle of the night, stripped of his own garments, and given a purple cloak and a crown of thorns rather than a bejeweled crown of gold.  He suffers a most egregious beating and torturous death, and the public disgrace of a sign overhead that mocks his kingship.  Only after his humiliating death of sacrifice is Jesus able to claim his throne of love.  Only then does Jesus come into his kingdom to rule the hearts of those who follow him in the way of love.   

Soon, we begin our Advent preparation for the coming of our great King, Jesus Christ.  We do this with full awareness of what participation in his kingdom really means.  Following Christ means picking up the cross of self denial, rather than a royal scepter of power and wealth.  It means having an active regard for others and ourselves out of love for God.  It means developing and nurturing an ambition for that which has everlasting value.  As St. Paul reminds us, following Jesus means living a life worthy of the gift and calling that we have received—living in peace and unity, with patience and humility, bearing with one another through love—living in the Spirit of Christ our King (Eph 4:1-6; cf. 2 Pt 1:10-11).