Evangelii Gaudium 112
Sunday of the Seventh Week of Easter Glorify Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. (John 17:1) Welcome to week 7. You ve made it this far, great job; you re almost to the finish line. Hopefully the journey through Easter has been a blessing for you thus far. This week is the last week leading up to Pentecost. You will notice that this week has 8 reflections, one for each day through the last week of Easter plus the day of Pentecost. Pentecost is where we celebrate the Holy Spirit descending upon the disciples and empowering them to be sent out into the world (cf Matt 28). Pentecost is also known as the beginning or the birth of the Church it was at Pentecost that the Church was birthed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let s begin this last week with an open heart and mind as we approach Pentecost. Today s Gospel comes from the passage that is called the High Priestly Prayer, because it is Jesus our High Priest praying to the Father on our behalf. Jesus states in the Gospel of John, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. This prayer comes right before Jesus is arrested, during His greatest agony. Well aware of what is about to happen Jesus prays to the Father with everything He has, handing His life over to the Father. By giving over His life, Jesus gives glory to the Father. Jesus offers everything He is and everything he has to the Father. Jesus offers his life as a sacrifice to the Father on our behalf restoring humanity and restoring creation. By doing this and acknowledging that the Father is the one to whom this sacrifice must be presented to, He gives glory to the Father. Jesus knows He cannot do this without the Father. He asks for the glory of the Father to come upon Him and that the glory of the Father be made known through His life, death and resurrection. The work of Christ is all about the Father. The prayer of Jesus thus becomes our prayer. As Christians empowered by the Holy Spirit we are called to live our life for God. All that we do should bring glory not to ourselves but to the Father. Just as Jesus life on earth brought glory to the Father so should our life on earth bring glory to the Father. This is why we were created to give glory to God and live in relationship with Him forever. As we approach Pentecost may our hearts be transformed to bring glory and honor to God in all that we say and do! Reflect on today s passage. What sticks out to you from the prayer of Jesus? What is the Lord speaking to you through this passage? Make it a point to try and attend daily Mass this week. Notice that the Mass is the Sacrifice of Jesus, offering His life for the glory of God. Take some time during Mass to offer you heart to the Father. What changes in your life can you make to bring more notice to God and less of yourself?
How is the Lord calling you to bring glory to Him in your life? What areas of your life do you desire to be empowered to bring glory to God? Spend some time reflecting on the prayer of Jesus, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. (John 17:1)
Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter Take Courage In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. (John 16:33) The overall theme for our reflections this week is called, because the nature of the Holy Spirit is to empower us and send us out. The Holy Spirit is given to us in order to go out and proclaim the greatness of the Lord in however way we can; wherever the Lord leads us to do this. It can be in our homes, at our jobs, or by the simple acts of charity we do throughout the day. It could be interior at times, when we are just trying to be more trustful and faithful to the Lord. It could be in battling temptations as St. Paul wrote about in his second letter to the Corinthians. There will be times when are called to do more outward acts for the Lord as well. And any of it, interior or exterior, may seem daunting at times. The enemy will want to make us feel as if we are alone. He will want to make us feel as if our tasks are not good enough and that we are failures at following Christ. But Jesus tells us not to worry. Jesus states in the Gospel of John, In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. He has already conquered it. Jesus warns us and comforts us at the same time. First, Jesus warns us by saying you will have trouble. Jesus doesn t skirt around the issue. He knows that life is difficult and that we can t avoid it. So He tells us, warns us and prepares us for the trouble ahead. We should take note of His warning, because we will all face trouble in our life. Second, Jesus heeds us to take courage. Courage is an essential virtue in the Christian life. Yet, courage is a self-generated virtue, it is a virtue that is given to us by the Holy Spirit. Courage or fortitude grows in our life as we trust in Jesus. The Holy Spirit will give us the courage we need. When we face trouble in our lives Jesus will be with us every step of the way. Third, Jesus comforts us by letting us know that he has conquered the world. Jesus has defeated the enemy and has brought about the Glory of the Father. Jesus is already on the other side, having carved out the path for us. He calls for us to follow Him, and He is always with us. He has sent down His Spirit, the Spirit that was born out of the love between the Father and Son. The Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity is here, giving us the graces to go out. We are given courage by the Spirit s presence, when He lets us remember what Jesus has promised us and taught us. The Spirit was given to the Church for us to go out as a Church, to be like John the Baptist who went before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God (Luke 1: 76-78). So let us not be troubled, but to take courage in Christ as we become a Easter people living in the power of the Spirit. Reflect on today s passage. What sticks out to you from this verse? How is Jesus speaking to you through this passage? How is the Lord inviting you to take courage this week? How is He inviting you to take courage and be sent? Who is the Lord calling you to reach out to in your life? Where is the Lord sending you to be His light?
What area of your life is the Lord asking and calling you to take courage? Where have you experienced trouble in your life and have seen God at work? How is the Lord calling you to be sent?
Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Everything Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you and they have believed that you sent me. (John 17:7-8) As we continue our journey through Advent and approach Pentecost we look today at the invitation to give the Lord everything. Jesus states in the Gospel of John, Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you and they have believed that you sent me. Jesus prayer at first may seem a little confusing and to some degree there is much mystery to His prayer. There is even a certain mystery to His relationship with the Father. As Humans, our hearts and minds can only comprehend so much of the divine, therefore mystery is part of faith there are certain things that are unexplainable to the human mind. However, Jesus prayer in John 17 gives us a wonderful glimpse into the mystery of His relationship with the Father and how we can model this relationship in our own life. First, Jesus prayers to the Father are very personal and from the depth of His heart. We often think of Jesus and the Father as a relationship that is very formal. We might imagine God in heaven sitting on a throne and the Son on earth doing work. This is not the case at all. We see when Jesus prays a very different picture of His relationship with the Father. Jesus shows us an intimate, personal relationship with God. As Jesus prays He takes us into His heart and expresses His love, trust, and desire to be in union with the Father. We too are invited to this intimated, personal relationship with the Father. God is not sitting up in heaven, using us as His puppets. God desires to be in relationship with us. He longs for our prayers to be unscripted, broken, passionate, and personal. Second, we see in Jesus prayer that He acknowledges that everything comes from the Father and that everything belongs to the Father. Jesus gives everything! Everything is a difficult word for us. Why? It s difficult because we often fight our hearts desire to surrender everything to the Lord. We get comfortable with the idea of some things but not the reality of everything. Jesus holds nothing back to the Father thus giving him everything and acknowledging that everything comes from God and belongs to God. Jesus invites us into the reality of a life of everything where we acknowledge that God is everything, that everything comes from God and that everything we have is God s. In the life of everything comes great freedom for our hearts. Let us unite in Jesus in prayer today and give everything to the Father. Reflect on today s passage from John. How is the Lord speaking to you about everything? How is Jesus inviting you into a life of everything? Spend some quality time today in prayer today reflecting on the word everything. Fasting is a very fruitful and meaningful form of prayer. What can you fast from today or this week? Offer your fast for the grace to surrender everything. Surrendering everything is difficult but we can start with surrendering some things. What are some things you can begin to surrender to God this week? What type of relationship is the Lord inviting you into? How can you respond to this invitation?
Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Share I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. (John 17:13) From the time we are children we were told to share with others. Sharing for the most part, wasn t something that came natural, but something that we had to work on. As we got older we saw the importance of sharing. However, if we were honest sharing is still hard. It s maybe not hard to share some things but what if you had to share everything? What if everything you had, owned, achieved, purchase or was given to you was given access to everyone to share in? What if you money, time, things were not just yours but you shared everything with everyone? It s easy to share with people we love, right. It s even easy to share some things with people we don t know, but what about sharing everything with everyone? Sounds extreme doesn t it? Sounds even a little irresponsible too? When Jesus speaks today He speaks about sharing from a whole different view. Yesterday we spoke a little about mystery. There are some things that are a mystery to us certain things about God that are so beyond our human understanding. Today is one of them. Jesus invitation to share goes beyond our capacity. It s extreme for sure, but so was coming to earth and dying on the cross and rising from the dead and ascending to heaven. We can certainly say that Jesus is extreme. So what s extreme about sharing? Jesus states in the Gospel of John, I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. What s extreme about this statement is just doesn t share things with us like we share things with other. His sharing is much more! Jesus is inviting us to share in His life. He is inviting us to share in everything he has. Thus we have access to everything that is His. In the Book of Galatians it states, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the holy one and members of the household of God (Gal 2:18-19). The word divine filiation is a theological term used to describe the reality that through Christ we are sons and daughters of God. We are no longer strangers but we are no fellow citizens of the household of God. Thus when Christ speaks about sharing what He is speaking about is inviting us to share in His life. We now have complete and total access to the Father s inheritance. Jesus speaks about this in the story of the prodigal son when the father says, Everything I have is yours (Luke 15:21). This is exactly Jesus idea of sharing. Jesus doesn t divvy out his inheritance to each of us like we would our children no; he gives us everything he has. All of us, through Christ, share in the life of God and have access to all of Him at all times. This is the mystery of sharing that Jesus invites us into today. As we approach Pentecost may our hearts be reminded of the life Christ is inviting us to share in! Reflect on today s passage, I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. John 17:13 What is the Lord speaking to you through this verse? Reflect on the passage from Galatians, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the holy one and members of the household of God (Gal 2:18-19). What is the Lord speaking to you through this verse?
Share in the life of Christ this week by sharing in the Mass or in Adoration. Take some time to visit Jesus in the Eucharist at Mass or Adoration. How is the Lord inviting you to share His life with others? Think about ways He is sending you out to share him. How is the Lord inviting you to enter into the mystery of sharing in His life, into divine filiation? How is the Lord calling you deeper into the mystery of His love for you? How is the Lord calling you to share His love with others?
Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter Made Known I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. (John 17:26) Today we continue to look at the prayer of Jesus as He prays to the Father right before His arrest. Jesus High Priestly prayer is one of great depth. His prayer takes us deep into the mystery of His relationship with the Father and deep into the Mystery of His love for us. Jesus goes on to pray in John 17, I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. As Jesus prays to the Father we are given unique insight into where we fit in to Jesus prayer. First, Jesus reveals the fullness of Gods love to us. Jesus, states, I made known to them your name. In revealing the Father to the world, the world now has access to the love of the Father. The Father s love is made known to each of us through the work of Jesus. Through the Paschal Mystery (passion, death and resurrection) of Christ we are given a full view of Gods love. We are made to know the love of God and Jesus makes this love known to us. Even more so, through the prayer of Jesus we are invited to experience the love of the Father by living in union with Christ. To know Him is to know the Father. Second, Jesus reveals that the love between the Father and the Son is the same love that the Father has for us. Let s just sit with the reality of this for a moment. Yes, the Father loves us with the same love in which He loves His Son. Third, Jesus helps us to understand that the love of the Father is not something that is external, but is an internal reality for each of us. Jesus states, the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. Jesus is speaking about the Holy Spirit. The powerful love between the Father and the Son is the third person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is given to each of us, to live in us, to guide us, and to empower us. The Fathers love is not distant, far off or external. No, the Fathers love is real, tangible, internal, powerful, available, and inviting. Jesus invites us today to experience the love of the Father. We are invited to join in the prayer of Jesus and to be in relationship with the Most Holy Trinity. Let us allow the love that is made known to us through Jesus be alive in our hearts. Let us experience this love in a personal way and allow the Holy Spirit to empower us. Reflect on the powerful mystery of Jesus prayer in today s Scripture. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. (John 17:26) What is Jesus inviting you into through His prayer? How can your heart receive what the Lord is offering you? How is the Lord sending you out to help make His love known to the world around you? Do something loving for someone this week. Remind them of the powerful love of the Father. Spend some time reflecting on the love of God in your life? When have you experienced His love? In what ways do you or don t you struggle with this love? How is Jesus inviting you deeper into this love?
Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter Follow Me And when he had said this, he said to him, Follow me. (John 21:19) As the Easter Season comes to a close and we approach Pentecost we are posed with a very significant command. Jesus states to Peter in the Gospel of John, he said to him, Follow me. Notice that Jesus isn t asking Peter a question, but is giving him a command. However, to understand this command we must zoom out and look at the entire passage. In John 21 Jesus and Peter are having a serious conversation. During the conversation Jesus asks Peter three times the same question. Jesus states in John 21:17, He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter who denied Jesus three times earlier is now posed with the same question from the Lord three times. Do you love me? There is no doubt that Jesus is getting to something through his conversation. What is it? Certainly Jesus wants to know if Peter truly loves him this is evident in their conversation. Surely Jesus understands that if you love something you are willing to invest in it. Yet, Jesus wants to know something more. This brings us back to Jesus command follow me. The word follow in the Greek translation means akoloutheo, as a particle of union, and keleuthos, a road, properly, to be in the same way with, to accompany. Thus when Jesus commands Peter to follow He is saying you are to be in union with me, you are to accompany me down the road and you are to be in union with me. Jesus earlier asks Peter a question, here in John 21:19 Jesus makes the command clear. Jesus is saying if you love me you will follow me. These two things cannot be separated. Thus what you love truly love you are willing to give everything you have for it. Who you love truly love you are willing to give everything you have for that person. For us as Christians Jesus poses to us the same question and gives us the same command as He did to Peter. Do you love me? Yes or no? If so, follow me! This question and this command is not always easy for us to do. However, Jesus never asks us to do something that He wasn t willing to equip us to do. As we learned yesterday Jesus shows us the Father s love and the Father sends the Spirit of love to live in us. Thus we have the capacity to love and the capacity to answer the question Jesus poses to Peter. Do you love me? We were created to respond to this question with a resounding yes! Furthermore the same Spirit that the Father sends to us is the same Spirit that gives us the courage to accept the command of Christ and to follow him. Let us take courage and follow what we love.jesus. Reflect on the Gospel of John 21:15 What is Jesus speaking to you through the passage and His conversation with Peter? How is the Lord inviting you deeper into love and deeper into following? With Pentecost vastly approaching how might the Lord be urging you to share His love with others? Take some time today to reflect on the command of Christ follow me. What are you doing or what do you need to do to take this command more serious. As you journal today how is the Lord inviting you to into a deeper response to this question do you love me? Looking back on this week with the theme of how is the Lord inviting you to share your faith?
Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter Testify It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we that his testimony is true. (John 21:24) Today is the final day of the Liturgical season of Easter. This 49-day journey reflecting on the life of Christ after his death and resurrection is a tremendous blessing to us. The Church in its infinite wisdom gives us the Season of Easter to truly enter into the life of Christ and the life of the Church. As we reflect on this final day of Easter before entering in to the celebration of Pentecost we are invited to reflect on one last challenge from Jesus. Yesterday we entered into the intimate conversation between Jesus and Peter where Jesus challenged Peter to love and to follow. We were challenged to do the same. Today, Jesus continues this conversation with his disciples in the Gospel of John chapter 21. Jesus goes from the one-on-one conversation with Peter to opening up the dialogue with the others. In doing so Jesus gives them their life s mission. At the end of the Gospel of John as well as Matthew and Mark we read about Jesus sending out the disciples. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus states, All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. In the Gospel of Mark 16:15 Jesus states, Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. And at the end of the Gospel of John Jesus states, It is this disciple who testifies to these things. As a side note Luke s Gospel does not give a sending forth to the disciples. Luke s Gospel ends with Jesus ascending to heaven and the joy of the promise of the Holy Spirit by Jesus. Luke was also thought to have written the book of Acts, so it is thought that he continued the story there where we see the birth of the Church at Pentecost and the Apostles being empowered and sent. However, it is clear that Jesus has a life s mission for the disciples. This mission is to be sent and to testify to the world about Jesus. In reading the Gospels and the entire New Testament Canon there is never a doubt that part of being a Christian and part of being a disciple of Christ was the reality of joining in the mission of Christ to testify. The word testify in the Greek translation means, martureo which translates - to be a witness, testify charge, give (evidence), bear record, have (obtain, of) good (honest) report, be well reported of, testify, give (have) testimony, (be, bear, give, obtain). In the very DNA of what it means to be a Christian is the reality that we are given the power of the Holy Spirit to testify or be a witness to our faith. Today Jesus invites us into the reality of being a disciple and invites us into the mission of the Church to testify. Let us join in the mission of the Church and share the love of Jesus. Reflect on these three passages today. Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus states, All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Gospel of Mark 16:15 Jesus states, Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Gospel of John 21:24 Jesus states, It is this disciple who testifies to these things. What is the Lord speaking to you today? How is the Lord calling you to be sent, to testify and to witness?
Spend some time in from of the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration asking the Lord to empower you to be sent and to give you the vision of where to testify. Think of all the places (work, home, etc..) and all the people (family, co-workers etc ) that the Lord could use you to witness. Pray that the Lord will open opportunities and give you the courage to testify on His behalf. Are you ready to be a witness of Jesus and to testify? What fears to you have? What do you need from the Lord? How do you feel God can use you and your gifts to serve Him?
Pentecost Sunday Holy Spirit And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. (John 20:22) Welcome to Pentecost. The word Pentecost is a transliteration of the Greek word pentekostos, which means fifty. Today marks the fiftieth day after Easter, the day in which the Father sent the promise of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and sent them out to spread the Good News. Today is also known as the birth of the Church because the Holy Spirit empowered the Apostles to be sent and to form what we know today as the Church. We read throughout the Book of Acts how the Church came together, formed, and began. In chapter 2 of Acts it states, They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to breaking of the bread and to the prayers (Acts 2:42). The actual event of Pentecost is recorded in the Book of Acts as well. We read in Chapter 2, and when the day of Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim (Acts 2:1-4). Thus today we celebrate the beginning of the Church and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is important for us to understand the significance of Pentecost, not only the significance of Pentecost day over two thousand years ago but also the significance of Pentecost for us today. Let s look at both of these. First we read, see and get a glimpse into Pentecost and the early Church when we read the Book of Acts. As Christians we get a historical account of Pentecost as well as great spiritual and theological insight. Needless to say the importance of Pentecost is paramount after the importance Easter and Christmas we have Pentecost. Of course we need all of these to get a glimpse of the full story of salvation. The resurrection is nothing without the birth and the birth and resurrection is incomplete without the descent of the Holy Spirit. Therefore Pentecost was the promise that Jesus kept referring to in the Gospels. Jesus promised the Apostles that he would never leave nor forsake them. He also promised that He would send the advocate to be with them. He also promised He would empower them. Therefore we see this all come to completion at Pentecost. It was on the day of Pentecost that the promise was fulfilled and the Apostles were empowered to join in the work of Christ and the salvation of the world. However, what happened two thousand years ago wasn t just a moment in history meant for specific people. The Church is alive today because of what happened at Pentecost, but it is also alive today because the Holy Spirit has continued to empower Christians throughout history. We too are empowered! From the time of the Resurrection of Jesus till today is considered the age or period of the Resurrection or the 8th day. This is the period of time between the Resurrection and now. It is the time of repentance the time where the Church on earth is joined in the work of Christ to convert hearts and bring freedom to people s lives. It is at Pentecost that the empowerment to do this work begins. Today we continue to see the work of Christ being done and we are called as Christians to join in this work and allow the Holy Spirit to use us and empower us in our lives. Let us be Church that is empowered to spread the word of Christ and do His work here on earth. Welcome to Pentecost, where the Church came alive and where the Church is alive! Reflect on Jesus words about the Holy Spirit, And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. (John 20:22) In your prayer invite the Holy Spirit into your life and to empower you even more.
Spend some time reading the Book of Acts and learn more about the Holy Spirit and how the Early Church was empowered to serve. How is the Lord empowering you with the Holy Spirit to be sent? Where is the Lord inviting you and empowering you to serve Him? Over the next few weeks read the Book of Acts. Spend some time journaling about your experience as you read through the book. In what ways is the Lord calling you and inviting you to spread the Gospel to the people in your life?