III Sunday of Easter

GO FISHING!

Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

Readings for the III Sunday of the Year

Sue Bohlin writes: “I was cleaning the grungy bathtub of a family that wouldn’t notice and would never acknowledge or thank me even if they did. I was getting madder by the minute, throwing myself a pity party, when the Lord broke into my thoughts. He quietly said: ‘I see you. I appreciate what you’re doing.’ Whoa! That totally changed everything. Suddenly, I was able to do a menial job—and later, more important ones—as a labor of love… it forever changed my view of work.”

What Sue experienced while cleaning a bathtub, Jesus’ disciples experienced on the Sea of Tiberias! They encountered God in their workplace (so did Moses, Gideon, Paul…).

The gospels portray the disciples as very human: they are bewildered; seldom understand Jesus’ ways; often do their own thing. That continues after the resurrection.  

Jesus has appeared to them twice. But he’s not with them constantly and he hasn’t told them what to do. They don’t know what lies ahead. So, they do what they’ve done and know how to do: they go fishing! 

They know Jesus is not far from them and will come to them. And he does! They encounter him in their workplace. With his guidance, they catch a large haul of fish. This encounter in the workplace renews them and they can go back to being fishers of men and missionaries of the gospel (as the first reading attests). 

Sometimes we believe or act as if life is divided into two disconnected parts. God is in one spiritual dimension and work is in another dimension. This view of work is unacceptable for Christians: all of life relates to God and is sacred, whether we’re making a business presentation or changing diapers or teaching someone the faith. Further, God calls us to make him the centre of our lives and wants us to invite him into our work; he wants to be Lord of our work. And as Sue Bohlin experienced, God sees everything we do, and he appreciates it and will reward us, regardless of the type of work we do.

Often, we find ourselves in the disciples’ position. We aren’t sure what to do. Jesus seems to come and go from our lives, or we from his. It’s then we have to keep doing what we do. We work faithfully and wait patiently… for an encounter with the Lord… who asks us what we have caught, or who sees and appreciates what we are doing! 

When I am at the crossroads of life, let me “go fishing”! May I encounter God in my work and may this encounter strengthen me for his mission for me.

II Sunday of Easter

NO SHORT CUTS

Acts 5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31

Readings for the II Sunday of Easter

Robert Johnson, ex-chairman of Johnson & Johnson, was a terror when he inspected his plants. On one visit, the plant manager had a fortunate 30-minute tip prior to his arrival. Hastily he had things spruced up by ordering several large rolls of paper transported to the roof of the building. When Johnson arrived, he was furious. His first words: “What in the hell is all that junk on the roof?” How was the manager to know Johnson would arrive in his personal helicopter!

As every homemaker knows, there are no short-cuts to sprucing up a home! It is the same with life and especially with faith. There are no short-cuts to faith! Faith comes from a personal experience of God and grows through doubt and difficulty.

This is the thrust of today’s gospel. Thomas is absent when Jesus appears to the apostles. And though the others testify that they have seen the Lord, Thomas refuses to believe: “Unless I see… and place my finger… and place my hand.” 

Thomas will not take a short-cut to faith. He is not content with a second-hand faith. He refuses to say that he can believe in the resurrection when he cannot; and is brave enough to express his doubt. Thomas is no different from the other apostles. The apostles did not believe the testimony of Mary Magdalene or the “Emmaus disciples”; it is only after Jesus appeared to them that they believed!

What brings Thomas to belief is not the proof he demanded but an experience of the risen Jesus. Then he affirms the divinity of Jesus.

When we use our God-given intelligence, we will have doubts and questions about our faith. Like Thomas, we need to be honest about our doubts. Like Thomas, we need to allow ourselves to experience the risen Jesus.

Will I boldly face and express my doubts, and seek a response to them? Or will I be happy with a short-cut to faith? Will I be content with a second-hand faith?

Easter Sunday

TRANSFORMED!

Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8; John 20:1-9

Readings for Easter Sunday

In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin penned his own epitaph: 

  The body of B. Franklin, 

  printer, like the cover of an old book

  its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding,

  lies here, food for worms.

  But the work shall not be wholly lost:

  for it will, as he believ’d, appear once more 

  in a new and more perfect edition, 

  corrected and amended by the author.

Franklin’s epitaph is a near-perfect summary of the transformation that the resurrection brings!

Recall the transformation that happened to Jesus. His resurrected body was radically different from his earthly body! It was so radically different that his own disciples could not recognise him, and he was able to move about as he desired, and through closed doors.

We will experience this radical transformation of our bodies on the last day; our bodies, as Ben Franklin wrote, will appear in a new and more perfect edition. 

There is another transformation that happens now, at the personal level. Look at the transformation in the disciples!

- from fear to joy and bold proclamation

- from doubt to belief 

- from people who fought for position and greatness to people who were of one heart and one soul

After the resurrection, in the words of the second reading, they became “a fresh batch of dough”!

What about me? Do I live like an Easter person with joy and in solidarity with others? If not, what are my fears and doubts that keep me from living as an Easter person and witnessing to the resurrection? What must I do to become “a fresh batch of dough”?

Easter is a time of hope and new beginnings, and a message that we are not created to die but are on a journey to the fullness of life. May you and I experience this new beginning, lived transformed lives, and participate one day in the fullness of life.

Palm Sunday

CELEBRATE OUR HUMBLE KING

Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; 

Luke 22:14—23:56 or Luke 23:1-49 (short form)

Readings for Palm Sunday

In the movie The Lion King, young Simba sings “I Just Can’t Wait to be King”. He wants to be free, with… 

No one saying ‘do this,’ no one saying ‘be there,’

No one saying ‘stop that,’ no one saying ‘see here.’

Free to run around all day, free to do it all my way!

The people of Jerusalem were like Simba. They just couldn’t wait for Jesus to be king and for a similar reason. They wanted to be free from foreign rule; they didn’t want anyone saying ‘do this’ and ‘be there’ and ‘stop that’!

Their king comes… 

But Jesus is not the mighty king they envisioned. His entry into Jerusalem was a deliberate fulfilling of Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice, O daughter Zion! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey.”

Jesus underlined his kind of kingship. Only during war did kings ride upon horses; when they came in peace they came upon a donkey. Jesus came as king of love and peace, not as the conquering military hero the people expected. He would rule through humble and obedient service.

This theme is reiterated in the readings. 

The first reading is the third “suffering servant” song. The mission of the servant is to encourage, console, and liberate the weary. 

Paul’s hymn, in the second reading, speaks about Jesus’ humility: the Son of God did not cling to his privileges but humbled himself and became obedient unto death on a cross. 

In the Gospel, following the meal, the disciples argue about who is the greatest. Jesus takes the opportunity to distinguish leadership in the Kingdom from forms of leadership seen in the world. 

During his passion, Jesus is betrayed, deserted, disowned; is kicked around like a political football, flogged to pacify a politician’s conscience, and handed to the mob because of cowardice. Despite his suffering, Jesus is merciful and other-centred: he is concerned about the women who follow him; asks forgiveness for the ones crucifying him; promises the repentant thief a place in heaven.

Today’s liturgy places before me two models of leadership: the people’s model of seeking freedom and power to do one’s will and Jesus’ way of humility, self-emptying, and loving service.

Which model of power do I choose and live? May we be free to do it HIS way!

V Sunday of Lent

DON’T LOOK BACK!

Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11

Readings for the V Sunday of Lent

August 7, 1954. Vancouver, Canada. The venue of one of the greatest track and field events in history: the “miracle mile”. Only two men had run the mile under four minutes: Roger Bannister and John Landy. This was a face-off.

Bannister’s strategy was to set a good pace on the first and second laps, cut pace on the third to save his energy for the final lap. Landy’s strategy was different: on the third lap, he sprinted and took a big lead. By the start of the final lap, Bannister had managed to cut the lead to fifty metres. As the runners headed down the home stretch, Landy looked back. Bannister launched his attack. Landy did not see him until he lost the lead, and Bannister won the “miracle mile” by five metres. By looking back, Landy lost the race. 

Often, looking back is the cause of many of our problems. We need to look at the past and to learn from our mistakes. The problem is we remain looking back. 

In the first reading, Isaiah commands the people in Babylon “to remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.” These were nothing bad. They included the Exodus: their liberation and foundational event! Yet he asks them to “remember not” for Israel had problems whenever she clung to the past.

Paul, writing to the Philippians, recounts “the supreme good of knowing Christ.” He had been a model Pharisee. Now that he has been seized by Christ, the past no longer counts.

In the gospel, we hear of the woman caught in adultery. The problem was not the woman or her adulterous act. The problem is that scribes and the Pharisees are stuck in the past. They are entrenched in the law and weighed down by hatred towards Jesus and the woman. Jesus refuses to condemn the woman. The woman can now forget what lies behind and embrace the new possibility that grace gives her.

All of us have a past:  our sicknesses and horrible experiences; our accomplishments and happy memories. We can carry our past with us and let it weigh us down. Or we can choose to leave it behind.

Do I look through the rear-view mirror or through the windshield of life? What are the things of the past that weigh me down and prevent me from enjoying the present?