Good Friday

                                                 Good Friday A B C

Readings: Isaiah 52:13‑53:12   Hebrews 4:14‑16; 5:7‑9   John 18:1‑19:42

           The readings for Good Friday present us with Jesus as the obedient Servant and Son of God who lays down his life for the life of the world.  Although all three readings allude to both the suffering and the triumph of the passion, there is a progression from a meditation in the Isaiah reading on the poignant sufferings of God's servant, to the consolation in the Hebrews reading of having in Jesus a sympathetic high priest whose obedient death has sealed a new covenant, and finally to the life‑giving triumphant of Jesus' death as the new Lamb of God in John's passion story.  The responsorial psalm assigned for this day (Psalm 31) is a lament of a righteous sufferer which invites us to enter the stark reality of Jesus' trustful embrace of his Father at the moment of death.  “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Ps 31:6).
           The first reading is taken from the fourth of the so‑called Servant Songs of Second Isaiah.  It begins and ends with God's voice (Isa 52:13‑15; 53:11‑12) announcing the triumph of the suffering servant and the salvation he will bring to the startled nations.  The central section (53:1‑10) is a confession by a group that has witnessed the ignominious life and death of the servant and now realizes that his sufferings were borne, not for his own sins, but for theirs.  They confess:
                       “We had all gone astray like sheep,
                       each following his own way;
                       But the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all.” (Isa 53:6)
           This confession of a new understanding of God's servant was undoubtedly influenced by the suffering of prophets like Jeremiah and possibly second Isaiah himself.  In retrospect, the Israelite community can see that the servant's sufferings in fidelity to his mission have brought life to the exilic community.  The servant brings salvation for others by voluntarily offering his life as a sacrifice to atone for "the sins of the many."
           The Hebrews reading from chapters 4‑5 continues the theme of salvation through suffering by exhorting us to "confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and favor and to find help in time of need" (Heb 4:16).  According to the author of Hebrews, Christians may do this because in Jesus they have a sympathetic high priest who knows weakness and temptation.  Although Hebrews presents the resurrected Jesus as the great high priest who has passed through the heavens, it also stresses that in his earthly existence Jesus was perfected through suffering, obedience and testing.  Jesus did not exercise an earthly priesthood by offering animal sacrifices in the temple; rather, in the flesh he learned to be an obedient Son.
           The second part of the reading (5:7‑9) probably alludes to Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he offered "prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to God" as he faced death in trust that God could save him.  Only through his obedient endurance of death in faith did the Son become perfected so that he might become the source of eternal salvation for all who follow him in obedience.

           John's passion account is the story of Jesus' movement to glory. Although it contains many incidents familiar from the synoptic tradition, they are handled in a way consistent with John's theology of glory.  In the arrest in the garden, for example, (18:1‑14) there is no hint of agony; Jesus has come to the hour of his glory (12:27‑32) and he is in complete control as the Good Shepherd who begins to "lay down" his life only to take it up again (18:4; see 10:17‑18).  When the band of soldiers approaches, Jesus asks them "Whom do you seek?' to which they respond, "Jesus of Nazareth" (18:4‑5).  When Jesus answers with the solemn "I am he," they draw back and fall to the ground before his divine presence.  Jesus then gives the soldiers permission to take him, but, as the shepherd who "has not lost one of those you gave me," Jesus commands them to let his disciples go.  When Peter tries to fight to prevent Jesus' arrest, he says, "Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?" (18:11).
           John's account of the trials before the high priest and Pilate presents a much more loquacious and regal Jesus than do the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke).  Using dramatic irony, John makes the trials scenes dialogues in which Jesus turns the tables on his accusers and convicts them for failing to believe in him.  For example, when the high priest questions Jesus "about his disciples and his teaching," Jesus challenges him to question his believing disciples:
                      "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always
                       taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all
                       Jews come together; I have said nothing secretly.
                       Why do you ask me?  Ask those who have heard me,
                       what I said to them; they know what I said" (18:20‑21).
A word about John's treatment of "the Jews" here and throughout his gospel is in order at this point.  Unfortunately, John's gospel was written during a period of hostility between church and synagogue (see John 9:22; 12:42; 16:2), and this has influenced his portrayal of the Jews throughout the gospel.  To prevent the possibility of anti-Semitism which would hold the Jewish people as a whole responsible for the death of Jesus, readers might us such phrases as "the religious leaders" or "the Jewish authorities" throughout the passion reading.

           The trial before Pilate revolves around the issue of Jesus' kingship and whether it is of this world or not.  In the end, both the Jewish authorities and Pilate will by their words and actions affirm that they are subjects of Caesar, a king of this world, rather than of Jesus, and will thus condemn themselves.   When Jesus is questioned by Pilate about the nature of his kingship (18:33‑36), Jesus challenges him to believe in the truth of his divine kingship which he has borne witness to (18:37‑38), and later he assures Pilate that he would have no power over him "unless it had been given you from above" (19:11).  The Jewish leaders on the other hand, threaten Pilate by saying, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend; everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar" (19:12).  The trial scene ends with both judging themselves by choosing Caesar's kingship.  When Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd with the words, "Behold your King!" they ask for his crucifixion and say, "We have no king but Caesar" (19:14‑15).  At this point Pilate capitulates to their earlier threat and hands Jesus over to be crucified (19:16).  In the end, however, Pilate becomes an unbelieving witness of the truth of Jesus' identity.  He places a title on the cross in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek which reads, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" (19:19‑20).  When the chief priests try to force him to change it to read "This man said, I am King of the Jews," Pilate refuses by saying, "What I have written I have written" (19:21‑22).
           John's portrayal of the crucifixion is consistent with his theology of glory.  Jesus does not really suffer on the cross; he reigns as he enters his glory with the completion of the task given him by his Father.  Jesus is "the Good Shepherd" who lays down his life to take it up again (10:17‑18), "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (1:29,36), and the source of living waters (4:13‑15; 7:38).  Rather than having to be assisted by Simon of Cyrene (Mk 15:21; Matt 27:32; Lk 23:26), Jesus carries his own cross to Golgotha (19:17), and dies with the words "It is finished" (19:30). The time of his death is a  day earlier than in the Synoptic Gospels so that Jesus, as the Lamb of  God, dies on the day of Preparation for the Passover, just as the  lambs would be slain in the temple (19:31).  Like the lambs used for Passover who were not to have a bone broken (19:36; Ex 12:46), Jesus' legs are not broken when the soldiers discover that he is already dead (19:33‑37).  Instead, his side is pierced and blood and water flow out‑‑ the fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 12:10, "They shall look on him whom they have pierced" (19:37).
           Finally, in contrast to the picture in the Synoptic Gospels where Jesus is deserted by his disciples and the women stand at a distance (Mk 15:40‑41), in John there are believers, including his mother and the beloved disciple, standing by the cross (19:21).  Jesus speaks with them and commends his mother and the beloved disciple to one another's care‑‑ a symbol of the love the community he is leaving behind is to have (19:26‑27; see 13:34‑35; 14:18‑21; 15:10‑17).

The Sacred Triduum - Holy Thursday

                                         

    Holy Thursday A B C

Readings: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14        1 Corinthians 11:23-26           John 13:1-15

            The readings for Holy or Maundy Thursday present various dimensions of the Passover mystery that are associated with the Christian Eucharist: its Hebrew Bible origins as a memorial of the Lord’s liberating act of the exodus that freed the Israelites from oppression in Egypt and its New Testament fulfillment in Jesus’ act of liberating love, laying down his life as the new Passover lamb who takes away the world’s sins.  All three readings emphasize the attitude that should mark those who celebrate Passover.  The Israelite congregation is to eat their meal in symbolic readiness to depart from their enslaved condition in Egypt; the Christian community is to celebrate Eucharist in such a way as to be faithful to Jesus’ command to serve one another in considerate love.
            For the Jewish community the central importance of Passover as a memorial of the Lord’s deliverance from Egypt is evident in the instructions given to Moses and Aaron for its celebration.  This legislation gives careful directives for the preparation of the Passover feast: the dates for procuring and slaying the lamb, provisions for sharing among households, the type of lamb (one year old male and without blemish) and the way it is to be prepared and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  Despite the precise detail, the rituals keep alive the memory of the liberating nature of the original Passover.  The actions of placing the lamb’s blood on the two doorposts and lintel of each house and dressing in readiness for flight commemorate the night when the Lord passed over the people’s houses, executing judgment on Egypt and enabling them to escape from the Pharaoh’s tyranny.
            The second reading from Paul’s first Letter to the Corinthians is the earliest record of Jesus’ actions and words at his final meal with his disciples on the night before he died.  From Paul’s account it is clear that “the Lord’s supper” was celebrated both as a proclamation of Jesus’ saving death and an anticipation of his return in glory.  The context in which Paul recounts Jesus’ actions at the last supper is noteworthy.  He is exhorting the Corinthians to avoid factionalism and inconsiderate behavior at the Eucharist.
When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the
Lord’s supper, for in eating, each one goes ahead with
his own supper, and one goes hungry while another
gets drunk.  Do you not have houses in which you
can eat and drink?  Or do you show contempt for the
church of God and make those who have nothing feel
ashamed?  What can I say to you?  Shall I praise you?
In this matter I do not praise you.  (1 Cor 11:17-22).
Such actions are the antithesis of what the community is commemorating: Jesus’ self-sacrificing act of love in giving his body and blood to seal the new covenant of God’s forgiveness.  Those who eat the bread and drink the Lord’s cup without consideration for one another in the body that is the community of believers eat and drink judgment on themselves (1 Cor 11:27-34).
            The Gospel reading for Holy Thursday is taken from John’s account of the Last Supper, which does not speak of the institution of the Eucharist but does narrate the striking story of Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet, a tradition not mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels.  As the solemn introduction to the Last supper indicates (13:1-2), this incident marks a significant transition in John’s Gospel.
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass
from this world to the Father.  He loved his own in the world and
he loved them to the end.
The hour has come for Jesus to depart from this world by laying down his life in love as the new Passover Lamb who will take away the sins of the world (John 1:29-30; 19:31-37).  From this point on Jesus will concentrate his message on his disciples, and it will be one of love—the love of the Father and the Son for each other and of both for the disciples who are given the new command to love one another as Jesus has loved them (see John 14-17).  For John, in contrast to the Synoptics, the Last Supper occurs before the Passover festival because he will concentrate the Passover symbolism on Jesus himself, the new Lamb of God who lays down his life to take away the sin of the world; he therefore appropriately dies on the afternoon before Passover as the sacrificial lambs are slaughtered in the Temple (see John 19:31-37; 1:29, 36; etc.).
            John’s first interpretation of Jesus’ menial action in washing his disciples’ feet (13:2-11) contrasts Judas’ betrayal with Jesus’ prophetic foreshadowing of his own death.  John tells us, “The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over” (13:3).  Later Jesus will say that Judas, the betrayer, is not clean because he will not participate in Jesus’ action of self-sacrificing love (13:11).  The point of the dialogue with Simon Peter about allowing Jesus to “wash” his feet is also about participating in Jesus act of laying down his life.  When Jesus has been raised, the disciples (Peter) will understand that to be clean/washed is to share in Jesus’ act of love and to be unclean is to betray that love (13:6-11).
            The second interpretation of the foot-washing (13:12-15) is more straightforward.  Jesus as teacher and master paradoxically acts as servant who washes his disciples’ feet, an act symbolizing his death, when he will lay down his life for his own.  Such self-sacrificing love is to be the model for his disciples’ lives (see 15:12-17).
                        “Do you realize what I have done for you?  You call me
                        ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
                        If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
                        you ought to wash one another’s feet.  I have given you a
                        model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

Easter Vigil (LOTS of readings!)

The Easter Vigil A B C
Readings: Genesis 1:1-2:2      Genesis 22:1-18          Exodus 14:15-15:1      Isaiah 54:5-14
                  Isaiah 55:1-11       Baruch 3:9-14, 32-4:4  Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28
                  Romans 6:3-11      A: Matthew 28:1-10   B: Mark 16:1-7            C: Luke 24:1-12
            On Holy Saturday night the Church celebrates the Easter Vigil commemorating Jesus’ resurrection in a service with an extended Liturgy of the Word of seven Old Testament readings, an epistle reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans proclaiming Christian Baptism as the sacrament of Christ’s Resurrection, and the discovery of the empty tomb and announcement of the resurrection from one of the Synoptic Gospels.  Ideally all the readings are to be done, but at a minimum three selections from the Old Testament should be read and the reading from Exodus recounting the escape through the Red Sea is never to be omitted.
            The Old Testament readings recount the saving works of God for the people of Israel beginning with the defeat of darkness and chaos in the magnificent story of creation at the beginning of Genesis.  The primordial condition is one of disorder and darkness: “the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters.”  In six parallel days God brings order and life out of the chaos simply by the word of his command.  On day one he creates light and separates it from darkness, naming them “day” and “night,” and on the parallel fourth day he creates the light bearing bodies: the sun, moon and stars to mark the fixed times, the days and the years and to govern the day and the night and to separate the light from the darkness.  On day two God separates the waters by creating a dome (the sky), and on the parallel fifth day he populates the waters and the region beneath the dome of the sky with sea creatures and birds.  On the third day God gathers the waters beneath the sky into its basin so that the dry land appears; he names the dry land “the earth” and the gathered water “the sea”, and then he commands the earth to bring forth vegetation.  On the parallel sixth day he commands the earth to bring forth all kinds of living creatures and then creates humans in his “image” and “likeness” to rule by having dominion over the animal portion of creation.  Repeatedly (seven times) we hear how God saw that what he made was good, and in fact there is no hint of violence in this world as both humans and animals are given the seed-bearing plants for their food.  This is the world order that we Christians long for in our Easter hope as we sing in the responsorial psalm: “Lord, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104).
            The second reading recounts the terrifying story of the testing of Abraham in the Binding of Isaac which culminates in the Lord’s oath promising Abraham abundant blessing for himself and “all the nations of the earth” because of his trusting obedience to the Lord’s command.  The story is centered on Abraham’s faith expressed in his words to his beloved Isaac who poignantly asks his father, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the holocaust?”  Abraham answers, “Son, God himself will provide (yir’eh “see to”) the sheep for the holocaust.”  Abraham’s faith is associated with the name of the place Moriah which is based on the verbal root” to see” (yr’) in Hebrew and is associated with Abraham’s naming of the place after he has passed the test and has spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket to replace his son as the holocaust victim.  We are told: “Abraham named the site Yahweh-yireh; hence people now say, ‘On the mountain the Lord will see.’”  In Jewish exegetical tradition the site of Moriah is the future site of the Temple in Jerusalem and the lamb that replaces Isaac is associated with the Passover lamb whose blood enables the Israelites to escape from Egypt.  For us Christian readers Isaac is a type of Christ who carries the wood of the sacrifice and is rescued from death by God’s command.
           For Christians the story of the Red Sea crossing is symbolic of the waters of baptism and Christ’s saving victory over the forces of oppression and evil through his death and resurrection (cf. the epistle reading from Romans 6).  For the Israelites passing through the waters is the path to salvation from the cruel oppression of the Pharaoh.  Initially, they are terrified at the approach of his army and chariots and want to return to the security of Egypt, but the Lord commands Moses to tell the Israelites to “go forward” and to use his staff to “split the sea in two, that the Israelites may pass through it on dry land.”  Through the Lord’s saving power they march “into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.”  As a divine warrior, the Lord then uses the waters of the sea to drown “the chariots and the charioteers of the Pharaoh’s whole army.”  Fittingly, when the Israelites see “the great power that the Lord had shown against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord and believed in him and in servant Moses” and break into the lyrics of the Song of the Sea: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant;/ horse and chariot he has cast into the sea” (Ex 15:1).
            The fourth reading from Isaiah 54 proclaims to the Babylonian exiles that the Lord of hosts, as husband and “Maker”, calls Zion/Jerusalem back “like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, a wife married in youth and then cast off.”  For Christians, this reading encapsulates our whole Lenten-Easter observance of returning to the Lord in trust for his unfailing saving purpose for us as a redeemed community. As Jerusalem’s redeemer, the Lord says “For a brief moment I abandoned you,/ but with great tenderness I will take you back.”  His renewed covenant with the Holy City is “like the days of Noah” when the Lord promised “the waters of Noah should never again deluge the earth.”  Even though the mountain and hills may be shaken, the Lord’s covenant fidelity will never abandon the city and temple which he will rebuild in precious stones and where “all your children shall be taught by the Lord” so that “justice shall be established,/far from fear of oppression,/ where destruction cannot come near you.”  
            The fifth reading also from Isaiah 55 is the Lord’s universal invitation to the banquet of life in the restored temple in Jerusalem.  His saving word will satisfy the thirst and hunger of all “without paying and without cost.”   Those who come to him and find life are assured of the benefits of the everlasting covenant with David: “As I made him a witness to the peoples,/ a leader and commander of nations,/ so shall you summon a nation you knew not,/ and nations that knew you not shall run to you,/ because of the Lord, your God,/ the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you.”  With special urgency, the prophet exhort us to “seek the Lord while he may be found” by forsaking wickedness and turning to the Lord for mercy. If we doubt our worthiness, we are assured that the Lord’s ways are above our ways and that his word will achieve the end for which it was sent.  “For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down/ and do not return there till they have watered the earth, . . .so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;/ my word shall not return to me void,/ but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”
            The Baruch reading is an exhortation to conversion in the form of a hymn praising Wisdom found in the Torah as the way to God for the exiles who have forsaken “the fountain of wisdom.”  Had the exiles “walked in the way of God,” they “would have dwelt in enduring peace.”  Now they must “learn” where prudence is . . . so that they may know “where are length of days, and life/ where light of the eyes, and peace.”  Only the creator God knows Wisdom and he “has given her to Jacob, his servant” in the form of “the book of the precepts of God, the law that endures forever.”  So Jacob is invited to “Turn . . . and receive her: walk by her light toward splendor.”
            The seventh and last Old Testament reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel announces the reason for the exile—Israelites’ defiling of their land by their conduct and deeds—and the Lord’s intention for the sake of his holy name to take them back to their own land.  Using priestly language of purification, the Lord announces to the exiles: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.”  And, in order that they may now keep his covenant, he promises, “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts.”  He also promises the gift of the spirit so they may live by his law and renew the covenant: “you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”  The symbols of water, change of heart, the gift of the spirit and covenant renewal all point to the baptism of catechumens and renew our baptismal vows latter the Easter Vigil service.
            In the Epistle reading from Romans, Paul is responding to a possible objection to his gospel of salvation through faith in Christ.  The question is: Does Paul’s gospel encourage continuation in sin “that grace may abound” (6:1)?  Paul’s answer is a definitive “No!”  He substantiates this by a reflection on the effects of the baptism Christian converts received.  Paul interprets Christian baptism, as an entrance into the death and resurrection of Christ which leads to walking in “newness of life.”  It also involves an ethical conversion.  The old self “was crucified with him (Christ) . . . that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.”  Baptized Christians, freed from sin, must now live in the power of Christ’s resurrection.  Paul concludes, “Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.”
            The Gospels for the Easter Vigil are the accounts of the discovery of the empty tomb by the faithful women, always including Mary Magdalene, in the respective synoptic gospels: Matthew for the A Cycle, Mark for the B Cycle, and Luke for the C Cycle.  Although all the narratives share certain features—the women coming to the tomb and finding the stone rolled back, their encounter with a young man/angel/young men who tell them not to be afraid and announce that the crucified Jesus has been raised from the dead, and some account of announcing the good news to the disciples—each also has distinctive features.  Matthew’s account has a mini-apocalyptic tone with a great earthquake and an angel descending from heaven to roll back and stone and sit upon it.  Mark’s account has the young man dressed in a white robe sending the amazed women to the disciples and Peter with the message “that he (the risen Jesus) is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him as he told you” (cf. Mk 14:28).  Luke has the two men in dazzling apparel telling the women to remember that Jesus told them while he was still in Galilee “that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise,” a message which the apostles do not believe because they think it was an idle tale.

Easter Sunday readings

                                            Easter Sunday A B C

                    Readings: Acts 10:33-43    Colossians 3:1-4   John 20:1-9

The readings for Easter express extraordinary joy over Jesus’ triumphant resurrection from the dead and confidently exhort us to a new life based on faith in God’s victory over sin and death.  We may all rejoice in singing the refrain of the Easter Psalm: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad” (Ps 118).
Peter’s sermon in the Acts reading proclaims the universal significance of Jesus’ resurrection which brings the good news of God’s forgiving love into the whole world.  Peter begins the mission to the Gentiles by announcing the salvation God has wrought in Jesus to the household of Cornelius, a God-fearing Roman centurion. Beginning with the baptism of John, God anointed Jesus with his Spirit to do good and heal those who were in the grip of the devil.  Although Jesus was put to death in Jerusalem by “being hanged on a tree,” God raised him on the third day and made him manifest to the chosen witnesses who ate and drank with him (see Luke 24).  Now Peter fulfills Jesus’ command to witness to what he has seen (Lk 24:48; Acts 1:8,22) by testifying that Jesus is the one ordained by God to judge the living and the dead, and that in his name forgiveness of sins is available to all.
In the reading from the Letter to the Colossians Paul exhorts them to live out the consequences of the resurrection.  They have been raised up in company with Christ and are now to set their hearts on “the higher realms,” rather than “on things of earth.”   In Colossians 3:5-17 Paul contrast these two ways of living.  “The things of the earth” to which the Christian has died are fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness (3:5-9).  “The things above” are compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and forgiveness (3:10-17) which are to mark the Christian community’s renewed Easter life.
In the Easter Gospel, John emphasizes the initial “darkness” and consternation over the discovery of the empty tomb and contrasts it with the faith of the beloved disciple who believes in Jesus’ resurrection and return to the Father simply on the basis of the sign of the empty tomb.  When Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb “while it was still dark,” she discovers the stone has been rolled away, but she meets no angels to interpret its significance as in the other Gospels.  Instead, she thinks that the body has been stolen and runs to tell Simon Peter and the disciple “whom Jesus loved.”  When they race to the tomb, the beloved disciple arrives first, but he defers to Simon Peter, who enters the tomb and observes the wrappings on the ground and the piece of cloth which had covered Jesus’ head.  We are not told Peter’s reaction, although 20:9 reminds us: “Remember, as yet they did not understand the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”  In contrast to Peter, when the beloved disciple enters the tomb, we are told very simply, “He saw and believed.”  This belief is based on Jesus’ words to the disciples in the farewell discourse at the Last Supper where he announced:              
“You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come

back to you.’  If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am
going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.  And now,
I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens
you may believe.” (John 14:28-29)
For the beloved disciple, the empty tomb is enough of a sign to believe that Jesus has fulfilled his promise.  On this Easter feast, we are called to rejoice in faith with the beloved disciple that Jesus has indeed both returned to the Father and come back to dwell with us believers.

Passion (Palm) Sunday C

Palm Gospel: Luke 19:28-40

Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7   Philippians 2:6-11               Luke 22:14-23:56

The readings for Passion Sunday begin the celebration of the Paschal mystery with a moving presentation of the Lukan Jesus who comes to Jerusalem as a humble Messiah, offering the peace of God’s reign. When he is rejected by the Jewish authorities, he heroically fulfills his destiny to die in Jerusalem in order to enter his heavenly glory as God’s messiah.  The liturgy for Passion Sunday both challenges us with the cost of a life of Christian discipleship and consoles us with the assurance of the triumph of the loving forgiveness of God’s reign.  In hope, let us sing in the words of the responsorial psalm: “I will proclaim your name,/ in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:/ ‘You who fear the Lord, praise him;/ all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him .’”  (Ps 22:23-24).
Luke’s version of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem continues several themes that have dominated his gospel.  This is the completion of Jesus’ long journey to Jerusalem (9:51-19:44), in which he has instructed his disciples on God’s merciful forgiveness as a way of salvation open to all and has repeatedly warned them of his impending rejection by the religious authorities in Jerusalem and their own forthcoming persecution for the gospel’s sake.  Throughout Luke’s Gospel the response to Jesus has been divided.  Outcasts have received his healing miracles and teachings as the liberating arrival of the messianic age, “the mighty works” of God.  The self-righteous, powerful and rich (often symbolized by the Pharisees) have rejected him as a threat to their narrowly defined and self-serving understanding of God’s way (see, for example, 7:36-52).  This divided response persists in Jesus’ climactic entrance into Jerusalem.  He comes as the peaceful, humble Messiah, spoken of in the book of Zechariah (9:9), by riding a donkey’s colt, rather than the warhorse of a militaristic Messiah.  As such, he is received joyfully by the whole multitude of disciples in the words of Ps 118:25, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord,” to which Luke adds, in words that recall the angels’ greeting to the humble shepherds on the hills of Bethlehem, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (see 2:14).  When the Pharisees ask Jesus to rebuke his disciples for acclaiming him as Messiah, Jesus rejoins: “If they were to keep silence, I tell you the very stones would cry out.”
The Old Testament reading is the third servant song from Second Isaiah which gives an autobiographical report of the servant’s tireless commitment to speaking a rousing word to the “weary” exiles who think that their Lord is powerless to save them from their Babylonian captors.  Because of his confidence that the Lord is his help, the prophet, like Jesus in the garden scene in Luke’s passion story, has had the courage not to turn back from his wearisome task, even though it involves suffering and rejection.

Paul’s magnificent hymn to the self-emptying Christ in Philippians continues the imagery of God’s victory over sin through humble service.  In the context of exhorting the Philippians to give up selfish and petty jealousy (2:1-5), Paul uses this early Christian hymn to establish the foundation for the Christian life of selfless love.  The pattern, established in Jesus, of death to self and resurrection through God’s power is to mark the life of the community.  Christ, in contrast to his antitype Adam, did not grasp at being godlike, but, like the suffering servant in Second Isaiah, took the form of a servant and emptied himself by becoming fully human, even to the point of obediently accepting the degradation of death on a cross.  God responded to this act of self-emptying love by exalting Jesus, like the glorious Son of Man in Daniel 7, and bestowing on him lordship over the cosmos, so that at his name all beings in the universe might acknowledge him as Lord and Messiah.
Luke’s passion has several unique elements that continue the themes introduced by the other readings.  His last supper features speeches by Jesus that anticipate his future messianic glory beyond the imminent suffering and at the same time warn the apostles that the model for their lives must be humble service after his example.  Jesus begins the meal by announcing to the apostles his great desire to have this last Passover with them before he suffers because he will not eat and drink with them again until the kingdom of God comes (22:14-18).  After he has given
bread as his body “which is given for you” and the cup of wine “which is poured out for you in a new covenant in my blood,” the apostles ironically have an argument over who will betray Jesus and who is the greatest.  Jesus has to teach them that their behavior should not be modeled on Gentile kings who exercise lordship but on servants who wait on table, and ultimately on him who is among them as one who serves (22:19-27).  Only after they have continued with him in his trials, will they eat and drink at his table in the kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (22:28-30).
Luke’s treatment of the garden scene (22:31-62) stresses both Jesus’ submission to his Father’s will and the way the disciples are to respond in similar trials.  He warns the apostles that they are about to enter an hour of crisis when he, like the servant in Second Isaiah (53:12), will be “reckoned with transgressors.”  They are taught to pray that they may have the strength to do the Father’s will and not enter into temptation (22:39-46), and if they are illegally seized as criminals, they are not to respond with vengeance but instead are to follow the lead of Jesus who healed the ear of the slave of the high priest (22:47-53).
The handling of Peter’s denial reminds the disciples that a lapse of courage in such a trial need not be an occasion for despair.  In foretelling Simon’s threefold denial, Jesus assures him that he has already prayed for him that his faith not fail and that he will be able to turn again and strengthen his brethren (22:31-34). When the denial occurs, Jesus is still in the courtyard.  He turns and looks at Peter so that he remembers these words (22:54-62).  In this context Peter’s weeping is a sign of repentance that will lead to his courageous preaching about the resurrection in Acts (see Acts 2, etc.).
In his accounts of the Jewish and Roman trials (22:66-23:25), Luke goes to great lengths to stress Jesus’ innocence of false charges brought by the Jewish leaders before the Roman procurator, Pilate.  The charge that Jesus forbade tribute to Caesar (23:2) is contradicted by an earlier incident in Jesus’ Jerusalem ministry (22:19-26), and three times Pilate declares before the Jewish authorities that he finds Jesus guilty of no crime (23:4,14,22).  Luke has a hearing before Herod (23:6-12), who also finds Jesus innocent of the charges brought against him (23:15).  At the crucifixion both the penitent criminal and the Roman centurion attest to Jesus innocence or righteousness (23:40-41,47).  Luke is warning his readers that though they may be innocent of crimes against the Roman state, they still face the prospect of martyrdom for following the way of Jesus (see Acts 22-26).

Luke’s presentation of the events at the cross shows Jesus living out the ideals he taught during his ministry.  Luke makes Jesus’ death the model of a martyr’s death which will then be followed by Stephen (see Acts 7).  As he carries his cross, Jesus selflessly continues his prophetic ministry by warning the lamenting women of Jerusalem, “Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children . . .” (23:26-31).  At the crucifixion he prays to his Father for the forgiveness of his persecutors, as he had taught (23:34; see 6:27-36; 11:4), and he offers to the penitent criminal the assuring promise of God’s salvation (23:35-41; see 7:36-52).  At his death Jesus rejects for the last time the temptation to be a miracle-working Messiah who saves himself from death on a cross (23:35-41; see 4:1-12) and prays the confident words of trust in Ps 31:5, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”  A mission is thus accomplished that first began with the descent of God’s Spirit on him at his baptism (3:21-22).
            In contrast to the religious leaders and soldiers who ironically taunt Jesus by challenging him to save himself, several characters respond appropriately to Jesus’ saving death.  The good criminal, aware of his sins and recognizing the Messiah, asks to be remembered by Jesus when he enters his kingdom.  The Roman centurion, witnessing Jesus’ death and hearing his trustful words, praises God and says, “Certainly this was a righteous man!”  The crowds, who had gathered to witness the spectacle, when they see what had taken place, return to their home, “beating their breasts.”  The faithful women, who have been with Jesus since Galilee (8:1-3), witness the death and burial so that they return after the Sabbath with spices and ointments.  Finally, Joseph of Arimathea, “a good and righteous man, who though a member of the Sanhedrin, had not agreed to their plan and action” to hand Jesus over to the Romans, is described by Luke as “waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God.”  He has the courage to go to Pilate and ask for the body of Jesus and bury him in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid.

Lent V - RCIA option .

5th Sunday of Lent A

Readings: Ezekiel 37:12‑14  Romans 8:8‑11  John 11:1‑45

Raising of Lazarus - J. Tissot
            As we move ever closer to the memorial of Jesus' death, this Sunday's readings remind us of the triumph of the resurrection which lies beyond the cross.  Even in the depths of our sorrow over sin during this Lenten season, let us sing with resurrection faith the refrain of the responsorial psalm: "With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption" (Ps 130).
            The first reading proclaims God's power to bring the Babylonian exiles back to life by restoring them to the land of Israel.  It is the conclusion of Ezekiel's famous vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37).  Thinking that God has abandoned them, the exiles are crying out, "Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off" (Ezek 37:11).  In the midst of this despair Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy to the dry, lifeless bones, and, by the power of God's spirit, they are joined together and given life again.  In the Lord's name he goes on to announce: "O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel."  Ezekiel concludes by assuring the exiles that the Lord's promise is irrevocable: "’I have promised, and I will do it,’ says the Lord."    
            In the Romans reading Paul is both celebrating God's triumph over sin and death through Jesus' resurrection and encouraging the Roman Christians that "he who raised Christ from the dead will bring your mortal bodies to life also through his Spirit dwelling in you."  In this section he contrasts the way of the flesh with the life of the spirit.  For Paul, the flesh represents the baser desires of our human nature apart from God’s guidance, our sensual instincts which can lead to sin.  The Spirit, in contrast, is the power of God unleashed by Jesus' resurrection which enables us, even while living in our mortal bodies, to pursue a life of justice.  Christians are now dead to sin (the flesh) but alive in the spirit through the power of God.   
            The Gospel story of the raising of Lazarus is the last and the greatest of the miracles in John’s Gospel. It reveals Jesus as “the resurrection and life” who triumphs over death and gives lasting life to whoever believes in him.  Like all the signs in John, this is a symbolic story in which Jesus is challenging his hearers, and us, to see the sign as a revelation of his glory.  For example, when Jesus first hears the news that Lazarus is sick, he solemnly announces to his disciples: “This sickness is not to end in death; rather it is for God's glory, that through it the Son of God may be glorified.”   This statement not only refers to Jesus' raising Lazarus, but also to Jesus' own death and resurrection which is his hour of glory in John's theology.  The raising of Lazarus sets these events in motion.  When many Jews come to believe in Jesus after the raising of Lazarus, the leaders begin to plot to kill him (see 11:45‑53).

            The dialogue with Martha challenges her to move beyond simply believing in Jesus' power to resurrect a corpse or even a belief in a general resurrection of the dead on the last day, a view held by the Pharisees.  When Jesus finally arrives, Martha says to him, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would never have died.   Even now I am sure that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”  When Jesus assures her, “Your brother will rise again,’ she thinks he is speaking of ‘the resurrection on the last day.”   But Jesus challenges her with the proclamation:
                                    "I am the resurrection and the life: whoever believes
                                    in me though he should die, will come to life;
                                    and whoever is alive and believes in me will never die.
                                    Do you believe this?"
Despite Martha's confession that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of God,” at this stage neither she nor the other witnesses believe fully in Jesus as “the resurrection and life.”  As Jesus begins to weep before the tomb, some in the crowd say, “He opened the eyes of that blind man.  Why could he not have done something to stop this man from dying?”  When Jesus commands that the stone be taken away from the cave, Martha herself expresses doubt:  “Lord, it has been four days now; surely there will be a stench!”   In contrast to the disbelief of all around him, Jesus is confident and prays only “for the sake of the crowd, that they may believe that you (the Father) sent me.”
            The actual miracle is a dramatic demonstration of Jesus' power and the liberating effects of the resurrection. It is accomplished simply by his command: “Lazarus, come out!”  We are told that when "the dead man came out, bound hand and foot with linen strips, his face wrapped in a cloth," Jesus then commands: “Untie him and let him go free.”  This causes “many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, to put their faith in him."  As we move closer to Holy Week, let us enter its mysteries with the same faith.

 

                                         5th Sunday of Lent C

               Readings Isaiah 43:16‑21  Philippians 3:8‑14  John 8:1‑11   

                                   Adulterous woman - Wm. Blake
 
            As we make a sincere effort to turn from sin during the Lenten season, God's grace offers undreamt possibilities for new life.  In today's readings Second Isaiah, Paul, and Jesus speak of new beginnings for those once trapped in sin or self righteousness.  Let us celebrate the new life beyond sin in the words of the responsorial psalm: "The Lord has done great things for us;/ we are filled with joy" (Ps 126).
            In the first reading Second Isaiah announces that the Lord is about to lead the Jewish exiles home from Babylon in a magnificent new exodus.  The same Lord who opened a way in the sea and "snuffed out" the Pharaoh's "chariots and horsemen" will now liberate the exiles from the mighty power of Babylon.  In fact, the exiles are commanded to forget the wonders of the past, so magnificent will this “new thing" be.
     "Remember not the events of the past,
     the things of long ago consider not;
     See, I am doing something new!
     Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (Isa 43:18‑19)
This new deed includes a wondrous journey home through the wilderness filled with life giving waters.  All is done so that the Israelites may witness to the Lord by announcing his praise, the very thing they do in the verses of the responsorial psalm.
            When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage,
            it seemed like a dream.
            Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
            on our lips there were songs.  (Ps 126:1‑2)
            In the Epistle Paul testifies to the Philippians, who were tempted to adopt a righteousness based on the observance of the Jewish law, that he himself has forfeited such righteousness and accounts it as "rubbish" in comparison to the justice which comes through faith in Christ.  In contrast to the old human righteousness which rests on our paltry observance of the law and inevitably leads to self righteousness, this new righteousness "has its origin in God and is based on faith."  It involves "knowing Christ" by sharing in the pattern of his suffering and death, but also being strengthened by "the power flowing from his resurrection."  This righteousness through faith in what God has done in Christ gives the believer a hope which Paul describes as a runner straining for the finish line.  Because he has been freed from the burden of the past and "grasped by Christ," he can say: "I run toward the prize to which God calls me‑‑ life on high in Christ Jesus."

            The Gospel selection from John also shows Jesus offering a new life that transcends self righteousness centered on the law.   Using a woman caught in the act of adultery, the scribes and Pharisees attempt to trap Jesus into condemning her to be stoned, something mandated by Jewish law (see Lev 20:10; Deut 22:23‑24), but forbidden by the Romans, who according to John did not allow the Jews to carry out the death penalty in cases where their law required it (see John 18:31).  At first, Jesus delays by simply bending down and tracing on the ground with his finger.  When the scribes and Pharisees persist in asking Jesus to render a judgment on the case, he challenges them with the words: “Let the man among you who has no sin be the first to cast a stone at her.”   Confronted by their own sins, the crowd drifts away, beginning with the elders.
            Jesus then offers the woman, who had simply been a legal case example for the elders, a new lease on life.  Suddenly alone with Jesus, she appears superior to her accusers in that she has not condemned another.  Jesus simply asks, “Woman, where did they all disappear to?  Has not one condemned you?”  When she humbly replies, “No one, sir,” Jesus sends her on her way with an assurance of forgiveness and a command to turn from sin and begin life anew.
            "Nor do I condemn you.  You may go.
            But from now on, avoid this sin."
Our Lenten observance is moving toward its goal when we act on these same words.   

LENT IV A option for those celebrating RCIA

                                               4th Sunday of Lent A

          Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13   Ephesians 5:8-14   John 9:1-41

       The Fourth Sunday of Lent presents a rich cluster of baptismal symbols and images (anointing with oil, light vs. darkness, sight vs. blindness) as it challenges us to learn that God’s ways often overturn human expectations and standards.  Let us entrust ourselves to the Lord’s mysterious guidance in the words of the responsorial psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want” (Ps 23:1).
In the first reading, both Samuel and Jesse are confronted with the Lord’s surprising choice of David as the future king of Israel despite his being Jesse’s youngest son who had the lowly job of tending sheep.  When Samuel is sent to Bethlehem to designate one of Jesse’s sons to replace the rejected Saul, he naturally expects to anoint the eldest son Eliab, but the Lord tells him, “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him.  Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.”  After Jesse has presented his seven older sons, Samuel again tells him “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”  Only as an afterthought does Jesse remember his youngest son David, who is tending sheep; yet, in God’s plan, this unlikely lad is designated as the anointed one who is endowed with the rush of the Lord’s spirit.
The Ephesians reading is an exhortation to the Gentiles, who before their conversion to Christianity were in “darkness” but have now become “light in the Lord.”  The letter constantly emphasizes the difference between the standards of the world and those of the Church which has been loved by Christ as a bride and is called to live that love in a hostile environment.  In this section, Paul is reminding these converts that at baptism they turned from a fruitless life of darkness (immorality, impurity, greed, obscene talk and idolatry).  Now he encourages them to “live as children of the light” by producing “every kind of goodness and justice and truth.”  The section concludes with what is probably part of an early Christian baptismal hymn which alerts the believer to the newness of life offered by Christ. “Awake, O sleeper,/ arise from the dead,/ And Christ will give you light.”
Jesus’ curing of the man born blind in John 9 continues the baptismal theme of Jesus as the light of the world.  Before he cures the blind man, Jesus announces to his disciples that the man’s physical blindness is not due to sin.  Rather, his blindness will serve to manifest the works of God done through Jesus as “the light of the world.”  For John, the only sin/blindness is the unbelief of the Pharisees who refuse to accept Jesus as coming from God.

In the dialogues which follow the cure, the blind man comes to gradual belief in Jesus despite official opposition from the Pharisees.  During the interrogation by his neighbors, the man admits that he is the one cured by “the man called Jesus.”  But when questioned by the Pharisees, who will not accept Jesus as a man from God because he has cured on the Sabbath, the man confesses that Jesus is a “prophet.”  His parents, however, will not make any profession of faith, “because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.”  In a second highly ironic dialogue with the Pharisees, the cured man insists that Jesus must be from God if he has listened to him in opening the eyes of a man born blind.  At the same time the Pharisees ironically say that both Jesus and the former blind man are “sinners,” while they are “disciples of Moses.”  Finally, after the Pharisees have “cast him out,” the man comes to Jesus and to full belief in him as “Son of Man.”
The incident ends with a final dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees which ties together the themes of seeing/belief and blindness/sin.  After the cured man has worshiped him, Jesus solemnly announces, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”  The Pharisees then asks, “Are we blind also?” Harkening back to the blind man’s physical blindness and the Pharisees righteous refusal to accept him, Jesus responds, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”
As we move toward the renewal of our baptismal commitment at Easter, we are called, like the man born blind, to open our eyes in courageous faith and embrace Jesus as light in a darkened and hostile world.

LENT IV C

4th Sunday of Lent C
Readings: Joshua 5:9, 10‑12  2 Corinthians 5:17‑21   Luke 15:1‑3,  11‑32
            "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord."  This Sunday's responsorial psalm (Ps 34) invites us to rejoice in the bounty of God's goodness.  In the midst of our Lenten penance we joyfully remember the goal of our life's journey: the heavenly banquet with God and his children. Today's gospel parable of the father and his two sons issues a twofold invitation.  If we have squandered our Father's gifts, we are called to return home to his loving embrace.  If we resent the Father’s forgiving love for others, we are invited to rejoice in the return of our prodigal brethren.
            The reading from Joshua recalls Israel's first celebration of Passover in the land of promise when our Jewish ancestors ate "the produce of the land in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain," which replaced the manna that sustained them in their forty year wilderness sojourn.  By their repeated sins in doubting the Lord's sustaining power in the wilderness journey (see Numbers 11‑21), the Exodus generation forfeited the privilege of entering the land of Canaan.  After forty years of wandering, a new generation has been born, and they have crossed over the Jordan and entered the land of Canaan under Joshua's leadership.  Their joyous celebration of Passover reminds us Christians of the Easter celebration which is the goal of our Lenten journey.
           In the 2 Corinthians reading, Paul is both celebrating the reconciliation between God and humanity through Christ's death and also appealing to a divided community to "be reconciled to God."  Paul's language in this section is apocalyptic.  Christ's death and resurrection have accomplished a "new creation" for those who are "in Christ" through faith.  At the apocalypse, the judgment of sinners was expected to take place.  But God, in Christ, has now reconciled the world to himself by "making him who did not know sin (Christ) to be sin, so that in him we might become the very holiness of God."  Paul and the other apostles are “ambassadors” for Christ, and so he implores the Corinthians in Christ's name: "be reconciled to God."
            Luke's parable of the father and his two sons both celebrates a resurrection victory over sin and offers an appeal to reconciliation.  Jesus speaks this parable, as well as the  Lost Sheep and Lost Coin (see Lk 15:4‑10), to defend his joyful table fellowship with "tax collectors and sinners," who have  turned from sin, and also to appeal to the self righteous  Pharisees and scribes who are murmuring, “This man welcomes  sinners and eats with them.”
            The prodigal younger son, like the tax collectors and sinners, once left his father's home for a far country and squandered his share of the estate “on dissolute living.”  But, after a famine has driven him to slave on a pig farm and reduced him to hunger, he comes to his senses and decides to return to his father's house.  "How many hired hands at my father's place have more than enough to eat, while here I am starving."   Although he only expects to be treated as a hired hand, his indulgent father greets him with "the finest robe . . . a ring for his finger and shoes for his feet."   He then throws the most extravagant of parties with "the fatted calf," dancing, and music, because, as he says, "this son of mine was dead and has come back to life.  He was lost and is found."

            The elder son, like the Pharisees and scribes, has dutifully served his father and never disobeyed his orders.  But now the father invites him to rejoice in the return of his younger brother to life. His complaint to the father expresses the self righteous resentment in many of us over God's mercy to others.
            ‘For years now I have slaved for you.  I never disobeyed
            one of your orders, yet you never gave me so much
            as a kid goat to celebrate with my friends.  Then,
            when this son of yours returns after having gone
            through your property with loose women, you kill
            the fatted calf for him.’
            The parable ends with the father's assurance of his love for the elder son and a justification of the celebration for the younger brother.
            ‘My son, you are with me always, and everything
            I have is yours.  But we had to celebrate and rejoice!
            This brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life.
            He was lost, and is found.’
            Jesus leaves the parable open ended.  We are not told if the elder son chose to join the festivities.  We have to hear the parable's call and complete it for ourselves.  Perhaps the greatest challenge Jesus offers us is the invitation to rejoice in God's forgiving love for others.