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Daily Scripture

+ 7th Week of Easter

We are to be consecrated in truth.

Readings: Acts 20:28-38 Psalm 88:29-30, 33-36 John 17:11b-19

Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they may also be consecrated in truth. [John 17:18-19]

Read the Gospel very slowly and if possible, out loud and if necessary, three times! Although John’s literary style is quite complex, the farewell prayer of Jesus is as powerful as is Paul’s farewell message in Acts.

It is not likely that these passages are the actual words of Paul and Jesus. They are compositions that Luke and John or whoever wrote in their name and are based on the oral tradition of the sayings of Jesus and the preaching of Paul. They were written in the style of farewell addresses of prominent leaders of their times in order to win the attention of early believers to whom the message of truth was entrusted.

The ‘truth’ that is being proclaimed is not from a catechism nor is it a defined doctrine or dogma. It is the core truth about the God who spoke through the prophets and then through Jesus about the universality of God’s love.

During this time of immediate preparation for Pentecost, we are invited to think about our own responsibility to pass on the ‘truth’ of God’s goodness entrusted to us in Christ and how we are to live that truth in our daily lives, each in our own unique way. No one of us can do this alone and so we much join hands literally and figuratively within the community of believers everywhere.

To live the ‘truth’ is to live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ the fruits of which are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, moderation, self-control, reverence, etc. I’m sure you memorized these ‘fruits of the Holy Spirit.’

These are the true ‘marks’ of our authenticity as believers.

Feast of Christ the King 'C'

Saturday November 20, 2010

Our Shepherd King

Talk of kings and kingdoms is a bit anachronistic in these times. However, news of another royal wedding in Great Britain has revived fond memories of Princess Diana whose gracious heart touched the hearts of many. Whatever one’s take on her lifestyle, she was not typical of royalty but became known as the ‘Queen of Hearts’ because of her many charities and causes for the common people.

Jesus born in the line of “royal David’s line” was not typical of kings. In fact he was more a shepherd than a king.

The Scriptures this weekend provide a lens through which we are invited to reflect on why Jesus lived so faithfully and died so shamefully.

We are invited to go back center stage to the Book of Samuel for the early portrait or prototype of the Christ yet to come. It is a prophetic view of his mission and ministry. “All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, and said: ‘Look, we are your bond and flesh… it was you who led out Israel and brought it in.’ The Lord said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.’”

Jesus was born in the line of David, but this man born among shepherds was himself destined to be a shepherd not of sheep or of royal subjects but of the souls of sinners. He was concerned with the inner life of humans that connected with the inner life with God as he himself was connected.

He knew that we cannot be linked to God and it not be reflected in our outer life. He was a servant shepherd, not lording it over the sheep but leading with the gentle wisdom that comes from above. “A bruised reed he shall not break.” [Isaiah 42:3]

We are invited to refocus on the true identity of the Jesus of Nazareth through the lens of Luke’s Gospel, the Jesus who preached not from a bully pulpit but from a platform of pain and suffering; not that suffering was his call and ultimate destiny. It was not, but it was inextricably connected to his commitment to life and to justice. Jews and gentiles alike could not fathom his style; could not accept his message or his method. Indeed, he became a threat to their way of life.

In order to grasp the full significance of Jesus’ life, we need to turn to the beautiful baptismal hymn of Paul addressed to the Colossians.

“For in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Christ to reconcile to God’s own self all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”

The celebration of this feast at the conclusion of the liturgical year is not capricious but a suitable preparation for the celebration of the Bethlehem event on December 25th. The cross was not the end of the road for Jesus—not for him and not for us. It was for him and can be for us a transforming experience.

This feast is meant to be provocative, to get us to think about the implications of our relationship with Jesus. It is meant to be corrective of false notions of Jesus, plastic images that may have crept into our spirituality— Jesus as a knight in shining armor or as a warm fuzzie.

This feast challenges us to get to know the Jesus of the four gospels, not just to know “about” him. We need to pray the gospels, not just study them. We need to live the gospel, not just listen to them.

During this time of violence and war, when one decision can mean the death of thousands or more, we need to make sure that we on the same page as Jesus so that we do not lose our heads but more important that we do not lose heart or allow fear to rule our lives.

We need true believers who know not just about the shepherd but who know the Shepherd. We need people who know the servant-shepherd and who in the prophecy of Isaiah is described as a bruised reed who will not quench a smoldering wick who will not crush until justice is established on the earth. [Isaiah 42: 3-4]

No, we are not at the end of the road or at the end of our rope. The story is still unfolding and it will not conclude until all God’s children are safely home at the banquet table in eternity.