1) Opening prayer
Lord God, our Father,
You are not far away from any of us,
for in You we live and move and exist
and You live in us
through Your Holy Spirit.
Be with us indeed, Lord,
send us Your Holy Spirit of truth
and through Him deepen our understanding
of the life and message of Your Son,
that we may accept the full truth
and live by it consistently.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 16:16-20
Jesus said to his disciples:"A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me."So some of his disciples said to one another,"What does this mean that he is saying to us,'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,'and 'Because I am going to the Father'?"So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he speaks?We do not know what he means."Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,"Are you discussing with one another what I said,'A little while and you will not see me,and again a little while and you will see me'?Amen, amen, I say to you,you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;you will grieve, but your grief will become joy."
3) Reflection
• John 16:16: Absence and presence. Jesus says a “little while” (un mikròn), that is to say, a very brief period of time, perhaps one “instant.” Over and beyond the multiplicity of nuances, what we want to stress here is the exiguity of time. Just as the time that Jesus remained as Incarnate Word with His own, in the same way, the time between His departure and His return, will also be brief. There will be no change in the interior situation of His disciples because the relationship with Jesus does not change: He is permanently close to them. Therefore, the vision of Jesus will not suffer any interruption, but will be characterized by the communion of life with Him (Jn 14:19).
The repeated use of the verb “to see” in v. 16 is interesting: “In a short time you will no longer see Me, and then a short time later you will see Me again”. The expression “a short time you will no longer see Me” recalls the way in which the disciples see in the historical Jesus the Son of God. The other expression, “a short time later you will see Me again”, recalls the experience of the Risen Christ. Jesus seems to want to say to the disciples that for a very short time the conditions to see Him still exist, to recognize Him in His visible flesh, but later, they will see Him in a different vision and He will show Himself transformed, transfigured.
• John 16:17-19: The lack of understanding of the disciples. In the meantime, some disciples do not succeed in understanding what this absence signifies, means, that is to say, His going to the Father. They experience a certain disturbance regarding the words of Jesus and they express this, asking four questions joined together in one expression: “What is He saying; what does it mean?” Other times the reader has listened to the questions of Peter, of Philip, of Thomas, and now of those disciples who ask for an explanation. The disciples do not understand what He is speaking about. The disciples have not understood how Jesus can be seen again by them if He goes to the Father (vv.16-19). But the question seems to be concentrated on the expression “a short time”, that for the reader, seems to be a very long time that never ends, especially when one has anguish and sadness. In fact, the time of sadness does not pass away. An answer is expected of Jesus, but the Evangelist places a repetition of the same question as before: “You are asking one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a short time you will no longer see Me; and then a short time later you will see Me again?’” (v. 19).
• John 16:20: Jesus’ response. In fact Jesus does not respond to the question asked: “What does ‘in a short time mean’?” He invites them to trust. It is true that the disciples will be tried and tested. They will suffer very much, being alone in a hostile situation, abandoned in a world which rejoices because of the death of Jesus. However, He assures them that their sadness will be changed into joy. The time of sadness is opposed by time in which everything will be overturned. That opposing clause, “but your sadness will be transformed into joy,” underlines such a change of perspective. For the reader it is evident that the expressions “a short time” and “in a short time” correspond to that instant or moment in which the situation is overturned, but until that moment everything will be of sadness and trial.
In the end, the disciples receive from Jesus a promise of happiness and joy. In the instant in which the difficult situation is overturned, to which “His own”, the ecclesial community, are subjected, they will enter into a reality of the world enlightened by the resurrection. In our own lives, through contemplation and the acceptance of Jesus, we can also go from weeping and mourning while the world rejoices, to experiencing joy.
4) Personal questions
• Am I convinced that the moment of trial or suffering will pass away and He will come back to be with me?”
• “You will be weeping and wailing, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” What effect do these words of Jesus have in your lives? How do you live your moments of sadness and anguish?
• What are various ways we may “not see Him” and “a little while later, we see Him”?
• Teresa of Avila, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross, and Bernard are all saints who spoke of the “dark night”. There is a saying: “absence make the heart grow fonder.” What is your attitude when there is a reunion, when “a little while later, we see Him”? Do we use it as a time to renew and strengthen our relationship with Him, to move beyond being “lukewarm”, or do we get upset and demand “where have you been?”
5) Concluding Prayer
The whole wide world has seen
the saving power of our God.
Acclaim the Lord, all the earth,
burst into shouts of joy! (Ps 98:3-4)
1) Opening prayer
Lord God, our Father,
You are not far away from any of us,
for in You we live and move and exist
and You live in us
through Your Holy Spirit.
Be indeed with us, Lord,
send us Your Holy Spirit of truth
and through Him deepen our understanding
of the life and message of Your Son,
that we may accept the full truth
and live by it consistently.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - John 16:12-15
Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."
3) Reflection
• During the Easter Season, the Gospels of each day are almost always taken from chapters 12 to 17 of the Gospel of John. That reveals something regarding the origin and the destination of these chapters. They not only show what happened before the Passion and the death of Jesus, but also and above all, the living out of faith of the first communities after the resurrection. They express the Paschal faith which animated them.
• John 16:12: I still have many things to say to you. Today’s Gospel begins with this sentence: “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you to bear now.” Jesus says two things: the farewell, which characterized the Last Supper, and the concern of Jesus, the older brother, for His younger brothers, who within a brief time will be left without His presence. The time left was very short. The work begun was not yet complete. The disciples were just at the beginning of their apprenticeship. Three years are a very short time to change life and to begin to live and to think in a new image of God. Their formation was not yet finished. Much was still lacking and Jesus still had many things to teach them and to transmit to them, but He knows His disciples. They are not among the most intelligent. They would not be capable of knowing all the consequences and implications of discipleship now. They would become discouraged. They would not be able to bear this.
• John 16:13-15: The Holy Spirit will come to their help. “However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will lead you to the complete truth, since He will not be speaking of His own accord, but will say only what He has been told and He will reveal to you the things to come. He will glorify Me, since all He reveals to you will be taken from what is Mine.” Jesus’ assertion shows the experience of the first communities. In the measure in which they sought to imitate Jesus, trying to interpret and apply His Word to the various circumstances of their life, they experienced the presence and the light of the Spirit. This even happens today in communities which try to incarnate the Word of Jesus in their life. The root of this experience is Jesus’ message: “Everything the Father has is Mine that is why I said, ‘all He reveals to you will be taken from what is Mine.”
• The action of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John. John uses many images and symbols to signify the action of the Holy Spirit. As in creation (Gen 1:1), the Spirit also descends on Jesus, “in the form of a dove, come from Heaven” (Jn 1:32). It is the beginning of the new creation! Jesus speaks the words of God and communicates the Spirit without reserve to us (Jn 3:34). His words are Spirit and Life (Jn 6:63). When Jesus bids farewell, He says that He will send the Paraclete, Consoler, another Defender, who will remain with us. It is the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16-17). By His Passion, death and Resurrection, Jesus won for us the gift of the Holy Spirit. By Baptism all of us have received this same Spirit of Jesus (Jn 1:33). When He appeared to the apostles, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” (Jn 20:22). The Spirit is like the water which springs from within the people who believe in Jesus (Jn 7:37-39; 4:14). The first effect of the action of the Spirit in us is reconciliation: “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” (Jn 20:23). The Spirit which Jesus communicates to us has multiple actions: consoles and spreads (Jn 14:16), communicates truth (Jn 14:17; 16:13), makes us remember what Jesus taught (Jn 14:26); will give witness to Jesus (Jn 15:26); manifests the glory of Jesus (Jn 16:14), will convince the world concerning sin and justice (Jn 16:8). The Spirit is given to us so that we may understand the complete meaning of the words of Jesus (Jn 14:26; 16:12-13). Encouraged by the Spirit of Jesus we can adore God in any place (Jn 4:23-24). Here lies the liberty of the Spirit of which Saint Paul speaks: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor 3:17).
4) Personal questions
• How do I live my adherence to Jesus: alone or in community?
• Has my participation in the community led me to sometimes experience the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit?
• The instructions Jesus gave are simple, yet can still be difficult to bear out in total fulfillment. How do I let the Holy Spirit strengthen me and help me to devote myself to His works?
5) Concluding Prayer
The name of the Lord is sublime,
His splendor transcends earth and heaven.
For He heightens the strength of His people,
to the praise of all His faithful,
the people close to Him. (Ps 148:13-14)
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
if we really believe in You and in Your Son,
we cannot be but witnesses.
Send us Your Spirit of strength,
that we may give no flimsy excuses
for not standing up for You
and for the love and rights of our neighbor.
Make us only afraid
of betraying You and people
and of being afraid to bear witness.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 16:5-11
Jesus said to his disciples: "Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."
3) Reflection
• John 16:5-7: The sadness of the disciples. Jesus begins with a rhetorical question that makes evident the sadness of the disciples in light of of detachment from Jesus: “Now I am going to the One who sent Me; not one of you asks, ‘where are you going?’” It is clear that for the disciples, the detachment from the lifestyle lived with Jesus implies suffering. Jesus acknowledges this, saying “Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this” (v. 6). Saint Augustine explains the sentiment of abandonment of the disciples: “They were afraid to think of losing the visible presence of Christ... they were grieved, saddened in their human affection at the thought that their eyes would no longer be consoled in seeing Him.” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, XCIV: 4). Jesus tries to dispel this sadness, due to the fact that they will not have His presence, revealing to them His departure. He says that if He does not leave them, the Paraclete will not be able to join them; if He returns to the Father, He will be able to send the Paraclete to the disciples. His departure and the detachment of the disciples makes possibility the coming of the Paraclete: “because unless I go, the Paraclete will not come to you...” (v. 7).
• John 16:8-11: The Mission of the Paraclete. Jesus continues to describe the mission of the Paraclete. The term “Paraclete” means “advocate,” that is, support, assistant. Here the Paraclete is presented as the accuser in a process that is carried out before God and in which the accused is the world, which has made itself guilty for condemning Jesus: “He will show the world how wrong it was, about sin, and about who was in the right and about judgment” (v. 8). The Greek verb elègken means that He will make an inquiry, He will question, will test: He will bring to light a reality and will furnish the proof of guilt.
The object of the confutation is sin: He will give the world the proof of the sin that it has committed regarding Jesus and will expose it. What is the sin in question here? - that of unbelief (Jn 5:44ff; 6:36; 8:21,24,26; 10:31). Besides, for the world to have thought that Jesus was a sinner (Jn 9:24; 18:30) is an inexcusable sin (Jn 15:21ff).
In the second place He will “refute” the world “concerning justice.” On the juridical level, the notion of justice which adheres more to the text is the one which implies a declaration of guilt or innocence in a judgment. In our context this is the only time that the term “justice” appears in the Gospel of John. Elsewhere there is the term “just.” In John 16:8 justice is linked to all that Jesus has affirmed about Himself, that is, the reason why He is going to the Father. Such a discourse concerns His glorification: Jesus goes to the Father. The disciples will no longer be able to see Him. He is about to trust and to submerge Himself completely in the will of the Father. The glorification of Jesus confirms His divine filiation or son-ship and the approbation of the Father regarding the mission which Jesus has accomplished. Therefore, the Spirit will directly show the justice of Christ (Jn 14:26; 15:26) protecting the disciples and the ecclesial community.
The world that has judged Jesus, condemning Him, is condemned by the “prince of this world,” because he is responsible for His crucifixion (13:2,27). Jesus, in dying on the Cross, is exalted (12:31) and He has triumphed over Satan. Now the Spirit will give witness to the significance of the death of Jesus which coincides with the fall of Satan (Jn 12:32; 14:30; 16:33).
4) Personal questions
• This is the beginning of our exposure to the Trinity. What is my relationship with the Holy Trinity?
• Do you allow yourself to be led by the Spirit, the Paraclete, who gives you certainty of the error of the world and helps you to adhere to Jesus, and therefore, leads you into the truth about yourself?
• Very few go forth with the intention to sin or do evil, but rather, they are misled or confused. What do you do to discern the authentic influence and advice of the Paraclete versus being mislead?
5) Concluding Prayer
I thank You, Lord, with all my heart,
for You have listened to the cry I uttered.
In the presence of angels I sing to You,
I bow down before Your holy Temple. (Ps 138:1-2)
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
if we really believe in You and in Your Son,
we cannot but be witnesses.
Send us Your Spirit of strength,
that we may give no flimsy excuses
for not standing up for You
and for the love and rights of our neighbor.
Make us only afraid
of betraying You and people
and of being afraid to bear witness.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 15:26-16:4a
Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. "I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you."
3) Reflection
• In chapters 15 to 17 of the Gospel of John, the horizon extends beyond the historical moment of the Last Supper. Jesus prays to the Father, “I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in Me” (Jn 17:20). In these chapters, there is constant reference to the action of the Spirit in the life of the communities after Easter.
• John 16:26-27: The action of the Holy Spirit in the life of the community. The first thing that the Spirit does is to give witness to Jesus: “He will be My witness.” The Spirit is not a spiritual being without a definition. No! He is the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, will be sent by Jesus Himself, and introduces us to the complete truth (Jn 16:13). The complete truth is Jesus Himself: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life!” (Jn 14:6). At the end of the first century, there were some Christians who were so fascinated by the action of the Spirit that they no longer looked at Jesus. They affirmed that now, after the Resurrection, it was no longer necessary to look at Jesus of Nazareth, the one “who comes in the flesh.” They withdrew from Jesus and remained only with the Spirit. They said, “Jesus is anathema!” (1 Cor 12:3). The Gospel of John takes a stand and does not permit the action of the Spirit to be separated from the memory of Jesus of Nazareth. The Holy Spirit cannot be isolated with an independent greatness, separated from the mystery of the Incarnation. The Holy Spirit is inseparably united to the Father and to Jesus. He is the Spirit of Jesus that the Father sends to us, that same Spirit that Jesus has gained with His death and Resurrection. And we, receiving this Spirit in Baptism, should be the prolongation of Jesus: “And you too will be witnesses!” We can never forget that precisely on the eve of His death Jesus promises the Spirit, in the moment when He gave Himself for His brothers. Today, the Charismatic Movement insists on the action of the Spirit and does much good, but it should always insist on more. It should also insist on affirming that it is the Spirit of Jesus of Nazareth, who out of love for the poor and the marginalized was persecuted, arrested and condemned to death. Precisely because of this, He has promised us His Spirit in such a way that we, after His death, continue His action and are for humanity the revelation of the preferential love of the Father for the poor and the oppressed.
• John 16:1-2: Do not be afraid. The Gospel tells us that to be faithful to Jesus will lead us to difficulties. The disciples will be excluded from the Synagogue. They will be condemned to death. The same thing that happened to Jesus will happen to them. This is why at the end of the first century, there were people who, in order to avoid persecution, diluted or watered down the message of Jesus transforming it into a Gnostic message: vague, without any definition, and which did not contradict the ideology of the Empire. To them is applied what Paul said: “They are afraid of the cross of Christ” (Gal 6:12). John himself, in his letter, will say concerning them, “There are many deceivers at large in the world, refusing to acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in human nature (He became man). They are the Deceiver; they are the Antichrist!” (2 Jn 1:7). Thomas’ demand: “Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in His hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into His side, I refuse to believe.” (Jn 20:25) is another variant. The Risen Christ who promises to give us the gift of the Spirit is Jesus of Nazareth who continues to have, even now, the signs of torture and of the cross on His risen Body.
• John 16:3-4: They do not know what they do. They do all these things “because they have never known either the Father or Me.” These people do not have a correct image of God. They have a vague image of God, in the heart and in the head. Their God is not the Father of Jesus Christ who gathers us all together in unity and fraternity. For this reason Jesus was impelled to say, “Father, forgive them, because they know not what they do.” (Lk 23:34). Jesus was condemned by the religious authority because, according to their idea, He had a false image of God. In the words of Jesus there is no hatred or vengeance, but only compassion: they are ignorant brothers who know nothing of our Father. This is another “Way” He teaches, as we talked about before, which guides us especially in dealing with those of other religions or those Christian denominations that have watered down His word in order to not be inconvenienced in our society.
4) Personal questions
• The mystery of the Trinity is present in the affirmation of Jesus, not as a theoretical truth, but as an expression of the Christian with the mission of Christ. How do I describe my relationship to each of the three persons of the Trinity?
• How do I live the action of the Spirit in my life in a visible way?
• “They have not known either the Father or Me” applies to one who believes wrongly, believes a false god, or one who is ignorant of God entirely or refuses to believe at all. This passage still applies to Christians in the Middle East just as it did then. It also applies to our experiences within secular society. What are all the ways we experience this lack of knowledge of the Father and the Son in our life today and how can we respond?
5) Concluding Prayer
Sing a new song to Yahweh:
His praise in the assembly of the faithful!
Israel shall rejoice in its Maker,
the children of Zion delight in their king. (Ps 149:1-2)
The Holy Spirit will help us
understand Jesus’ words
John 14,23-29
1. Opening prayer
Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavour of the holy memory.
2. LECTIO
a) The text:
23 Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.
25 "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. 26 But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.
b) A moment of silence:
Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.
3. MEDITATIO
a) Some questions:
- “And we will come to him and make our home with him”: looking in our interior camp, will we find there the tent of the shekinah (presence) of God?
- “He who does not love me does not keep my words: Are the words of Christ empty words for us because of our lack of love? Or could we say that we observe them as a guide on our journey?
- “The Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”: Jesus turns to the Father, but everything which he has said and done remains with us. When will we be able to remember the marvels which divine grace has accomplished in us? Do we receive or accept the voice of the Spirit who suggests in our interior the meaning of all that has taken place, that has happened?
- “My peace I give to you: The peace of Christ is his resurrection”: When will we be able in our life to abandon the anxiety and the mania of doing, which draws us away from the sources of the being? God of peace, when will we live solely from you, peace of our waiting?
- “I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe”: Before it takes place... Jesus likes to explain to us beforehand what is going to happen, so that the events do not take us by surprise, unprepared. But, are we ready to read the signs of our events with the words heard from him?
b) Key for the reading:
To make our home. Heaven does not have a better place than a human heart which is in love. Because a dilated heart extends the boundaries and all barriers of time and space disappear. To live in love is equal to live in Heaven, to live in Him who is love, and eternal love.
v. 23. Jesus answered him: If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. In the origin of every spiritual experience there is always a movement forward. Take a small step, then everything moves harmoniously. And the step to be taken is only one: If a man loves me. Is it really possible to love God? And how is it seen that his face is no longer among the people? To love: What does it really mean? In general, to love for us means to wish well to one another, to be together, to make choices to construct a future, to give oneself... to love Jesus is not the same thing. to love him means to do as he did, not to draw back in the face of pain, of death; to love as he did takes us very far... and it is in this love that the word becomes daily bread to eat and life becomes Heaven because of the Father’s presence.
vv. 24-25. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. If there is no love, the consequences are disastrous. The words of Jesus can be observed only if there is love in the heart, otherwise they remain absurd proposals. Those words are not the words of a man , they come for the Father’s heart who proposes to each one of us to be like Him. In life it is not so much a question of doing things, even if they are very good. It is necessary to be men, to be sons, to be images similar to the One who never ceases to give Himself completely.
vv. 25-26. These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. To remember is an action of the Spirit; when in our days the past is seen as something lost forever and the future is there as something threatening to take away our joy today, only the divine Breath in you can lead you to remember it. To remember what has been said, every word coming from God’s mouth for you, and forgotten because of the fact that time has gone by.
v. 27. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. The peace of Christ for us is not absence of conflicts, serenity of life, health... but the plenitude of every good, absence of anxiety in the face of what is going to happen. The Lord does not assure us well-being, but the fullness of son-ship in a loving adherence to his projects which are good for us. We will possess peace, when we will have learnt to trust in that which the Father chooses for us.
v. 28. You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you’. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. We come back to the question of love. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced. But what is the sense of this expression pronounced by the Master? We could complete the phrase and say: If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father... but since you think of yourselves, you are sad because I am leaving, going away. The love of the disciples is an egoistic love. They do not love Jesus because they do not think of Him, they think of themselves. Then, the love which Jesus asks, is this love! A love capable of rejoicing because the other will be happy. A love capable of not thinking of self as the centre of all the universe, but as a place in which one feels open to give and to be able to receive: not in exchange, but as the “effect” of the gift received.
v. 29. I have told you before it takes place, so when it does take place, you may believe. Jesus instructs his own because he knows that they will remain confused and will be slow in understanding. His words do not vanish, they remain as a presence in the world, treasures of understanding in faith. An encounter with the Absolute who is always and for always in favour of man.
c) Reflection:
Love: a magic and ancient word as old as the world, a familiar word which is born in the horizon of every man in the moment in which he is called into existence. A word written in his human fibres as origin and end, as an instrument of peace, as bread and gift, as himself, as others, as God. A word entrusted to history through our history of every day. Love, a pact which has always had one name alone: man. Yes, because love coincides with man: love is the air that he breathes, love is the food which is given to him, love is the rest to which he entrusts himself, love is the bond of union which makes of him a land of encounter. That love with which God has seen in his creation and has given: “It is something very good”. And he has not taken back the commitment taken when man made of himself a rejection more than a gift, a slap more than a caress, a stone thrown more than a silent tear. He has loved even more with the eyes and the heart of the Son, up to the end. This man who became a burning torch of sin, the Father has redeemed him, again and solely out of love, in the Fire of the Spirit.
4. ORATIO
Psalm 37,23-31
The steps of a man are from the Lord,
and he establishes him in whose way he delights;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord is the stay of his hand.
I have been young, and now am old;
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging bread.
He is ever giving liberally and lending,
and his children become a blessing.
Depart from evil, and do good;
so shall you abide for ever.
For the Lord loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
The righteous shall be preserved for ever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall possess the land,
and dwell upon it for ever.
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.
5. CONTEMPLATIO
I see you, Lord, dwelling in my days through your word which accompanies me in my more intense moments, when my love for you becomes courageous, audacious and I do not give up in the face of what I feel that does not belong to me. that Spirit which is like the wind: blows where it wants and his voice is not heard, that Spirit has become space in me, and now I can tell you that he is like a dear fried with whom to remember. To go back to remember the words said, to the lived events, to the presence perceived while on the way, does good to the heart. I feel profoundly this indwelling every time that in silence one of your phrases comes to mind, one of your invitations, one of your words of compassion, your silence. The nights of your prayer allow me to pray to the Father and to find peace. Lord, tenderness concealed in the pleads of my gestures, grant me to treasure all that you are: a scroll which is explained in which it is easy to understand the sense of my existence. May my words be the dwelling place of your words, may my hunger be your dwelling, bread of life, may my pain be the empty tomb and the folded shroud so that everything that you want may be accomplished, up to the last breath. I love you, Lord, my rock.
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God;
it is good to live in the friendship
of Your Son Jesus Christ.
Make us realize that also in this love
we are committed to Him and share with Him
for better or for worse,
in misunderstanding and contradiction
as well as in joy and intimacy.
Help us to rejoice even when treated
with indifference or ridicule on account of Him,
for it means that He is still with us
who is our Lord forever.
2) Gospel Reading - John 15:18-21
Jesus said to his disciples: "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me."
3) Reflection
• John 15:18-19: The hatred of the world. “If the world hates you, you must realize that it hated Me before it hated you.” The Christian who follows Jesus is called to live in a way that is contrary to society. In a world organized according to the egoistic interests of people and groups, Christians seek to live and radiate the love which will be crucified. This was the destiny of Jesus. This is why, when a Christian is praised by the power of this world and is exalted as a model for all by mass media, it is good to not trust that too much. “If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because My choice of you has drawn you out of the world, that is why the world hates you.” It was Jesus’ choice which separated us. If we base ourselves on this vocation of Jesus, we will have the strength to suffer persecution and to have joy in spite of the difficulties.
• John 15:20: The servant is not greater than his master. “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept My word they will keep yours as well.” Jesus had already insisted on this same point in the washing of the feet (Jn 13:16) and in the discourse on the mission (Mt 10:24-25). It is this identification with Jesus throughout the centuries that has given so much strength to people to continue the journey, and has been a source of mystical experience for many saints and martyrs.
• John 15:21: Persecution on account of Jesus. “But it will be on My account that they will do all this to you, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” The repeated insistence of the Gospel in recalling those words of Jesus which can help the communities understand the reason for persecutions is evidence that our brothers and sisters of the first communities did not have an easy life. From the persecution of Nero after Christ, up to the end of the first century, they lived knowing that they could be persecuted, accused, imprisoned and killed at any moment. The force which sustained them was a certainty that God was with them.
4) Personal questions
• Does the world love me? Do others love me as one who goes along with the values, expectations, and priorities of the world, or as one who sets a higher example according to Jesus?
• How do I respond to persecution from others? Is it a way to offer leadership in love to others, or do I shrink from it and conform to expectations?
• At times when others persecute me, is it because I am truly showing love and the will of the Father to others, or am I behaving even worse than society expects?
5) Concluding Prayer
For Yahweh is good,
His faithful love is everlasting,
His constancy from age to age. (Ps 100:5)
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God, loving Father,
You have given us your Son Jesus Christ
as the true vine of life
and our source of strength.
Help us to live His life
as living branches attached to the vine,
and to bear plentiful fruit
of justice, goodness and love.
Let our union with Him become visible
in our openness to one another
and in our unity as brothers and sisters,
that He may be visibly present among us
now and for ever.
2) Gospel Reading - John 15:12-17
Jesus said to his disciples: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another."
3) Reflection
• Today Gospel of John 15:12-17: Jesus defines His relationship with the disciples and gives His final commandment to them. Let us take some of the points considered that day.
• John 15:12-13: To love one another as He has loved us. The commandment of Jesus is only one: “to love one another as I have loved you!” (Jn 15:12) Jesus exceeds the Old Testament. The ancient criteria was the following: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 18:19). The new criteria is this: “Love one another as I have loved you.” It is the sentence that we sing even today and which says, “There is no greater love than to give one’s life for one’s brother!”
• John 15:14-15: Friends and not servants. You are My friends if you do what I command you,” that is, the practice of love to the point of total gift of oneself! Immediately Jesus presents a very high ideal for the life of His disciples. He says, “I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I have learned from My Father!” Jesus no longer held any secrets from His disciples. He tells us everything that He has heard from the Father! Behold the wonderful ideal of life in community: to reach a state of total transparency to the point of not having any secrets among us and to have full trust in one another. Being able to enrich one another by speaking about the experience of God that we have. The first Christians succeeded in reaching this ideal after many years: “They had one only heart and one only soul” (Acts 4:32; 1:14; 2:42-46).
• John 15:16-17: Jesus has chosen us. We have not chosen Jesus. He met us, called us and entrusted a mission to us to go and bear fruit, and a fruit which lasts. We need Him, but He also wants to need us and our work in order to be able to continue to do today for the people what He did for the people of Galilee. This is My commandment: love one another!”
4) For Personal Consideration
• To love our neighbor as Jesus has loved us. This is the ideal of every Christian. He showed this not only by dying for us, but by devoting His life to helping us to know and find God the Father. Do I love as Jesus loved and devote my life in the same way?
• All that I have heard from the Father I make it known to you. This is the ideal of the community: total transparency. How do I live this in my community, which can be family, parish, neighborhood or religious order?
• Jesus called them “friends” and told them to love one another. Do I make distinctions, rather than considering all equally, among those in my community whom I should call “friends”? How do I respond or accept it when I am treated differently than another “friend” in my community?
5) Concluding Prayer
My heart is ready, God, my heart is ready;
I will sing, and make music for You.
Awake, my glory, awake, lyre and harp,
that I may awake the dawn. (Ps 57:7-8)
Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
You want Your Church
to be open to all persons and all nations,
for Your Son was available to all
and Your love all people.
God, give us open minds
and open hearts.
Save us from our narrow prejudices
and stop us from trying to create people
in our own image and likeness.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 15:9-11
Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. "I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete."
3) Reflection
• The reflection around the parable of the vine includes verses 1 to 17. Today we will mediate on verses 9 to 11; the day after tomorrow, the Gospel skips verses 12 to 17 and begins with verse 18, which speaks about another theme. This is why, today, we include in a brief comment, verses 12 to 17, because in them blossoms the flower and the parable of the vine shows all its beauty.
• Today’s Gospel is formed of only three verses which continue from yesterday’s Gospel and give more light to be able to apply the comparison of the vine to the life of the community. The community is like a vine. It goes through difficult moments. It is the time of the pruning, a necessary moment in order to be able to bear more fruit.
• John 15:9-11: Remain in My love, source of perfect joy. Jesus remains in the love of the Father, by observing the commandments which He receives from Him. We remain in the love of Jesus by observing the commandments which He has left for us. And we should observe them in the same way in which He observed the commandments of the Father: “If you keep My commandments you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love”. It is in this union of the love of the Father and of Jesus that the source of true joy is found: “I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and your joy be complete.”
• John 15:12-13: Love one another as I have loved you. The commandment of Jesus is only one: “To love one another, as He has loved us!” (Jn 15:12). Jesus goes beyond the Old Testament. The ancient criterion was: “You will love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18). The new criterion is, “That you love one another, as I have loved you.” Here He utters the sentence which we sing even until now: “Nobody has greater love than this: to give one’s life for one’s friends!”
• John 15:14-15: Friends and not servants. “You are My friends if you do what I command you”, that is, the practice of love up to the total gift of self! Immediately after, Jesus adds a very high ideal for the life of the disciples. He says, “I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learned from My Father!” Jesus had no more secrets for His disciples. He has told us everything He heard from the Father! This is the splendid ideal of life in community: to attain a total transparency, to the point of not having any secrets among ourselves and of being able to have total trust in one another, to be able to share the experience of God and of life that we have, and in this way enrich one another reciprocally. The first Christians succeeded in attaining this ideal during several years. They were “one only heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32; 1:14: 2:42, 46).
• John 15:16-17: Jesus has chosen us. We have not chosen Jesus. He has chosen us. He has called us and has entrusted us the mission to go and bear fruit, fruit which will last. We need Him, but He also needs us and our work in order to be able to continue to do today what He did for the people of Galilee. The last recommendation: “My command to you is to love one another!”
• The symbol of the vine in the Bible. The people of the bible cultivated the vine and produced good wine. The harvest of the grapes was a feast with songs and dances, and this gave origin to the song of the vine, used by the prophet Isaiah. He compares the people of Israel to the vine (Isa 5:1-7; 27:2-5; Ps 80:9, 19). Before him, the prophet Hosea had already compared Israel to an exuberant vine, the more fruit that it produced, the more it multiplied its idolatries (Hos 10:1). This theme was used by Jeremiah, who compares Israel to a bastard vine (Jer 2:21), from which the branches were uprooted (Jer 5:10; 6:9). Jeremiah uses these symbols because he himself had a vine which had been trampled on and devastated by the invaders (Jer 12:10). During the slavery of Babylonia, Ezekiel used the symbol of the vine to denounce the infidelity of the people of Israel. He told three parables on the vine: 1) the vine which is burnt and is good for nothing (Ezek 15:1-8); 2) the false vine planted and protected by two waters, symbols of the kings of Babylonia and of Egypt, enemies of Israel. (Ezek 17:1-10); and 3) the vine destroyed by the oriental wind, image of the slavery of Babylonia (Ezek 19:10-14). The comparison of the vine was used by Jesus in several parables: the laborers of the vineyard (Mt 21:1-16); the two sons who have to work in the vineyard (Mt 21:32-33); the parable of the wicked tenants, who did not pay the landowner, beat the servants, and killed the son of the landowner (Mt 21:33-45); the barren fig tree planted in the vineyard (Lk 13:6-9); and the vine and its branches (Jn 15: 1-17).
4) Personal questions
• We are friends and not servants. How do I consider this in my relationship with other people?
• Consider what "friend" really means to you: If you came out of the kitchen with the last bowl of soup there, and your friend was sitting there, would you tell him/her there was no more, or would you offer to share it, or would you give it all to him/her? If you gave it all, would you sit there and look hungry or sad, or would you go back to the kitchen to make it look like you had some too so your friend would have no bad feelings about eating? Ask, what have I done in my past? This scene summarizes our options as Christians to our friends.
• It is easy to see and think about necessities such as food in this context, especially as they are used so frequently in biblical references, but it is not limited to this. Consider if I am talking in a group and another joins who perhaps is not as confident in the language I am using. Do I slow down, or use easier words, so that the friend who has just joined the conversation may understand more? Do I help him/her, or do I just continue, not considering such things? Do I make an effort to understand his/her needs in this at all? Or do I just go on, either ignorant of my friend's needs or handicaps, or being critical of them? Do I say "come with me and I will help you" and take personal interest in your friend, or do I just give him/her the name of a tutor and I am done with it?
• Who is my friend? Is there a boundary? Do I treat those in my community as different friends than those on the street? Can a stranger be a friend? If, in the soup question, it wasn't a friend at the table, but instead a knock at the door and a beggar was there, how would I answer differently?
• To love as Jesus has loved us. How does this ideal of love grow in me?
5) Concluding Prayer
Proclaim His salvation day after day,
declare His glory among the nations,
His marvels to every people! (Ps 96:2-3)
Easter Season
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God, loving Father,
You have given us Your Son Jesus Christ
as the true vine of life
and our source of strength.
Help us to live His life
as living branches attached to the vine
and to bear plentiful fruit
of justice, goodness and love.
Let our union with Him become visible
in our openness to one another
and in our unity as brothers and sisters,
that He may be visibly present among us
now and for ever.
2) Gospel Reading - John 15:1-8
Jesus said to his disciples: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."
3) Reflection
• Chapters 15 to 17 of the Gospel of John present us with the diverse teachings of Jesus which the Evangelist has put together and placed in the friendly and fraternal context of the last encounter of Jesus with His disciples:
Jn 15:1-17: Reflections around the parable of the vine.
Jn 15:18 to 16:4a: Advice on how to behave if we are persecuted.
Jn 16:4b-15: Promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Jn 16:16-33: Reflections on the farewell and the return of Jesus.
Jn 17:1-26: The Testament of Jesus in the form of a prayer.
• The Gospels of today and tomorrow present part of the reflection of Jesus around the parable of the vine. To understand the significance of this parable, it is important to carefully study the words used by Jesus. It is also important to closely observe a vine, or any other plant, to see how it grows: how the trunk and branches become united, and how the fruit springs from each.
• John 15:1-2: Jesus presents the analogy of the vine. In the Old Testament the image of the vine indicated the people of Israel (Is 5:1-2). The people were like a vine that God planted with great tenderness on the hills of Palestine (Ps 80:9-12). But the vine does not correspond to what God expected. Instead of producing good grapes, it produces sour fruit which is good for nothing (Is 5:3-4). Jesus is the new vine, the true vine. In one phrase alone He gives us the comparison. He says, “I am the true vine and My Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that bears no fruit He cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes to make it bear even more.” Pruning is painful but it is necessary. It purifies the vine, and thus it grows and bears more fruit.
• John 15:3-6: Jesus explains and applies the parable. The disciples are already purified. They have already been pruned by the word that they heard from Jesus. God does the pruning in us through His word which comes to us from the Bible, from trials in our life (Rom 5:4; Heb 12:6), and from many other means. Jesus extends the parable and says, “I am the vine, you are the branches!” It is not a question of two different things: on one side the vine and on the other the branches. No! The vine does not exist without the branches. We are part of Jesus. Jesus is the whole. In order to produce fruit, the branch has to be united to the vine. It is only in this way that it can receive the sap. “Without Me you can do nothing!” The branch that does not bear fruit will be cut down. It dries up and it is ready to be burnt. It is good for nothing, not even for wood!
• John 15:7-8: Remain in my love. Our model is that which Jesus Himself lives in His relationship with the Father. He says, “As the Father has loved Me, I have loved you. Remain in My love!” He insists on saying that we must remain in Him and that His words should remain in us. And He even says, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you may ask for whatever you want and you will get it!”, because what the Father wants most is that we become disciples of Jesus and that we bear much fruit. And what is it that we should want? If we are to be like Jesus, it is the same as what the Father wants, and that He grants.
4) Personal questions
• What have been the various pruning, or difficult, moments in my life which have helped me to grow? What have been the pruning or difficult moments that we have had in our community which have helped us to grow?
• What keeps life unified and alive, capable of bearing fruit, is the sap which goes through it. What is the sap which goes through our community which keeps it alive, capable of bearing fruit?
• Are those things that I ask of the Father consistent with His will and desire, or my own?
5) Concluding Prayer
Sing a new song to Yahweh!
Sing to Yahweh, all the earth!
Sing to Yahweh, bless His name!
Proclaim His salvation day after day. (Ps 96:1-2)
Easter Season
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God, almighty Father,
You have absolute power over the world,
and yet You respect the freedom of people,
even of those who persecute Your faithful.
Make us realize that our faith
does not protect us against the evil
which people bring upon one another,
but that You want us to build according to Your plan
a kingdom of justice, love and peace.
Help our faith to stand the test
when our meager efforts fail.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - John 14:27-31a
Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 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. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me."
3) Reflection
• Here begins the farewell of Jesus, in John 14:27. At the end of chapter 14 He ends the conversation, saying, “Come now, let us go!” (Jn 14:31). But instead of leaving the room, Jesus continues to speak for three more chapters: 15, 16, and 17. At the beginning of chapter 18, we see the following phrase: “After He had said all this, Jesus left with His disciples and crossed the Kidron valley where there was a garden which He entered with His disciples.” (Jn 18:1). In Jn 18:1, there is the continuation of Jn 14:31. The Gospel of John is like a beautiful building constructed slowly, rock on top of rock, brick upon brick. Here and there, there are signs of rearrangement or adaptation. In some way, all the texts, all the bricks, form part of a building and are the Word of God for us.
• John 14:27: The gift of Peace. Jesus communicates His peace to the disciples. The same peace will be given after the Resurrection (Jn 20:29). This peace is an expression of the manifestation of the Father, as Jesus had said before (Jn 14:21). The peace of Jesus is the source of joy that He communicates to us (Jn 15:11; 16:20,22,24; 17:13). It is a peace which is different from the peace which the world gives us. It is different from Pax Romana. At the end of the first century the Pax Romana was maintained by force and violent repression against the rebellious movements. Pax Romana, as a policy of the Roman government, guaranteed institutionalized inequality between the Roman citizens and the slaves. This is not the peace of the Kingdom of God. The peace which Jesus communicates is what in the Old Testament is called “shalom.” It is the complete organization of all life around the values of justice, fraternity and equality.
• John 14:28-29: The reason why Jesus returns to the Father. Jesus returns to the Father in order to be able to return immediately. He will say to Mary Magdalene, “Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father” (Jn 20:17). Going up to the Father, He will return through the Holy Spirit which He will send (cf. Jn 20; 22). Without the return to the Father, He will not be able to stay with us through the Spirit.
• John 14:30-31a: That the world may know that I love the Father. Jesus had ended the last conversation with the disciples. The prince of this world wanted to impose himself on the destiny of Jesus. Jesus will die. In reality, the prince of this world, the Tempter, the Devil, has no power over Jesus. The world will know that Jesus loves the Father. This is the great witness of Jesus which impels the world to believe in Him. In proclaiming the Good News, it is not a question of spreading doctrine or imposing Canon Law, or of uniting all in one organization. It is above all a question of living and radiating what the human being desires and has deeper in his heart through intimacy with God: love. Without this, the doctrine, the Law, the celebration, will only be a wig on a bald head.
• John 14:31b: Come now, let us go. These are the last words of Jesus and the expression of His decision to be obedient to the Father, revealing His love. In the Eucharist, at the moment of the consecration, in some countries, it is said, “On the day before His passion, voluntarily accepted.” In another place Jesus says, “This is why the Father loves Me: because I lay down My life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own free will. I have power to lay it down so I have power to take it up again, and this is the command that I have received from My Father.” (Jn 10:17-18)
4) Personal questions
• Jesus says, “I give you My peace.” How do I contribute to the building of peace in my family and in my community?
• Looking into the mirror of the obedience of Jesus toward the Father, how could I improve my obedience to the Father?
• Jesus told His disciples beforehand so that they would believe. Do I need to “see” beforehand in order to believe, or do I see everything with faith and trust?
• We also have choices to lay down our “life” for others every day – in charity and denial of self in order to serve others in our daily “life”. Do I volunteer my “life” every day, all day, or only sometimes or only when asked?
5) Concluding Prayer
All Your creatures shall thank You, Yahweh,
and Your faithful shall bless You.
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingship
and tell of Your might. (Ps 145:10-11)
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Easter Time
1) Opening prayer
Lord God, loving Father,
we look for Your presence
in the temple of nature
and in churches built by our hands,
and You are there with Your people.
But above all, You have made Your temple
right in our hearts.
God, give us eyes of faith and love
to recognize that You live in us
with Your Son and the Holy Spirit
if we keep the word of Jesus Christ,
Your Son and our Lord for ever.
2) Gospel Reading - John 14:21-26
Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, "Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. "I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name -- he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you."
3) Reflection
• Chapter 14 of the Gospel of John is a beautiful example of how the catechesis was done in the communities of Asia Minor at the end of the first century. Through the questions of the disciples and the responses of Jesus, the Christians formed their conscience and found an orientation to address their problems. In chapter 14, we find the question of Thomas and the answer of Jesus (Jn 14:5-7), the question of Philip and the response of Jesus (Jn 14:8-21), and the question of Judas and the answer of Jesus (Jn 12:22-26). The last phrase of the answer of Jesus to Philip (Jn 14:21) forms the first verse of today’s Gospel.
• John 14:21: I shall love Him and reveal myself to Him. This verse presents the summary of the response of Jesus to Philip. Philip had said: “Show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied!” (Jn 14:8). Moses had asked God: “Show me your glory!” (Ex 33:18). God answered: “My face you cannot see, for no human being can see Me and survive” (Ex 33:20). The Father cannot be shown. God lives in inaccessible light (1 Tim 6:16). “Nobody has ever seen God” (I Jn 4:12). But the presence of the Father can be experienced through the experience of love. The First Letter of Saint John says: “He who does not love does not know God because God is love”. Jesus tells Philip: “Whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and reveal Myself to him”. By observing the commandment of Jesus, which is the commandment to love our neighbor (Jn 15:17), the person shows his love for Jesus. And whoever loves Jesus, will be loved by the Father and can be certain that the Father will manifest Himself to him. In the response to Judas, Jesus will say how this manifestation of the Father will take place in our life.
• John 14:22: The question of Judas is the question of all. The question of Judas: “Lord, what has happened that You intend to show Yourself to us and not to the world?” This question mirrors a problem which is real even today. Sometimes, among us, Christians, there arises the idea of being better than the others and of being loved by God more than others. Do we attribute to God distinction among people?
• John 14:23-24: The answer of Jesus. The answer of Jesus is simple and profound. He repeats what He had just said to Philip. The problem is not if we, Christians, are loved more by God than others, or that the others are despised by God. This is not the criteria for any preference by the Father. The criteria of the Father is always the same: love. “If anyone loves Me, he will observe My word, and My Father will love him and We shall come to him and make a home in him. Anyone who does not love Me does not keep My words”. Independently of whether the person is Christian or not, the Father manifests Himself to all those who observe the commandment of Jesus which is love for neighbor (Jn 15:17). In what does the manifestation of the Father consist? The response to this question is engraved in the heart of humanity, in the universal human experience. Observe the life of the people who practice love and make their life a gift for others. Examine their experience, independently of religion, social class, race or color. The practice of love gives us a profound peace and it is a great joy that they succeed to live and bear together pain and suffering. This experience is the reflection of the manifestation of the Father in the life of the person. It is the realization of the promise: “I and the Father will come to him and make our home in him.
• John 14:25-26: The promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus ends his response to Judas saying: I have said these things to you while still with you. Jesus communicates everything which He has heard from the Father (Jn 15:15). His words are a source of life and they should be meditated on, deepened, and updated constantly in the light of the always new reality which surrounds us. For this constant meditation on His words, Jesus promises us the help of the Holy Spirit: “The Consoler, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in My name will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.
4) Personal questions
• Jesus says: We will come to him and make our home in him. How do I experience this promise?
• We have the promise of the gift of the Spirit to help us understand the word of Jesus. Do I invoke the light of the Spirit when I prepare myself to read and meditate on Scripture?
• Do I keep His word in a way that allows the Father and the Son to dwell in me continuously, or is it only on good days or certain times?
5) Concluding Prayer
Day after day I shall bless You,
I shall praise Your name for ever and ever.
Great is Yahweh and worthy of all praise,
His greatness beyond all reckoning. (Ps 145:2-3)
Jesus said to Peter, "You are the Rock!"
The Rock of support and of scandal
Matthew 16:13-23
1. Opening prayer
“Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind with which You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus.
In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your suffering and death. Thus, the cross which had seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the resurrection and source of new life.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in creation, in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the power of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.”
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
The liturgical text of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul is taken from the Gospel of Matthew: 16:13-19. In our commentary we also include verses 20 -23, because in the entirety of the text, verses 13 to 23, Jesus turns to Peter and twice calls him "rock". Once he calls him the foundation stone (Mt 16:18) and once the rock of scandal (Mt 16:23). Both statements complement each other. While reading the text, it is good to pay attention to Peter's attitude and to the solemn words that Jesus addresses to him on two occasions.
b) A division of the text to help with the reading:
13-14: Jesus wishes to know what people think of him.
15-16: Jesus asks the disciples and Peter makes his confession: "You are the Christ, the Son of God!"
17-20: Then we have Jesus' solemn reply to Peter (a key phrase for today's feast).
21-22: Jesus explains the meaning of Messiah, but Peter reacts and refuses to accept.
22-23: Jesus' solemn reply to Peter.
c) The text:
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) Today there are many who want to put themselves before Jesus and His message. They come with an attitude that distorts His words, often for personal gain. Can you see and identify some of them? What rebuke might they be deserving of?
b) Who do the people think Jesus is? Who do Peter and the disciples think Jesus is?
c) There can be many ways to deny Jesus, for instance, to be embarrassed to discuss such things in “polite company”. Have I ever denied Jesus?
d) Peter is rock in two ways: what are they?
e) What kind of rock is our community?
f) In the text we find several opinions as to who Jesus is and several ways of presenting the faith. Today too, there are several opinions as to who Jesus is. Which opinions does our community know? What kind of mission does that imply for us?
5. A key to the reading
to enter deeper into the theme.
i) The context:
In the narrative parts of his Gospel, Matthew follows the sequence of Mark's Gospel. However, he also quotes a source known to him and Luke. Rarely does he give information that is solely his, as in today's Gospel. This text and the dialogue between Jesus and Peter is interpreted variously, even in opposite directions in the various Christian churches. In the Catholic Church, this text forms the basis for the primacy of Peter. Without diminishing in any way the importance of this text, it might be good to situate it in the context of Matthew's Gospel, where elsewhere the qualities ascribed to Peter are also attributed to other people. They do not belong exclusively to Peter.
ii) Commentary on the text:
a) Matthew 16:13-16 The opinions of the people and those of the disciples concerning Jesus.
Jesus wishes to know what people think of Him. The answers are quite varied: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. When Jesus asks the disciples' opinion, Peter replies in their name: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" Peter's reply is not new. On a previous occasion, when Jesus walked on the water, the other disciples had made a similar profession of faith: "Truly You are the Son of God!" (Mt 14:33). This is an acknowledgment that in Jesus the prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled. In John's Gospel, Martha makes the same profession of faith: "You are the Christ, the Son of God who is come into the world" (Jn 11:27).
b) Matthew 16:17 Jesus' reply to Peter: Blessed are you, Peter!
Jesus proclaims Peter "blessed" because he has been given a revelation from the Father. Jesus' reply is not new. On a previous occasion, Jesus had made the same proclamation of blessedness to the disciples because they were hearing and seeing that which no one else knew before (Mt 13:16), and He praised the Father because He had revealed the Son to little ones and not to the learned (Mt 11:25). Peter is one of the little ones to whom the Father reveals Himself. The perception that God is present in Jesus does not "come from flesh and blood", it is not the result of study or merit of human effort, but a gift that God gives to whom He pleases.
c) Matthew 16:18-20 Peter's qualifications: Being foundation stone and taking possession of the keys of the Kingdom.
1. Being Rock: Peter has to be rock, that is, he has to be a strong foundation for the Church, so that she may stand up to the assaults of the gates of hell. Through these words addressed by Jesus to Peter, Matthew encourages the suffering and persecuted communities in Syria and Palestine, who saw in Peter the leadership that had marked them from the beginning. In spite of being weak and persecuted, they had a solid foundation, guaranteed by the words of Jesus. In those days, the communities cultivated a very strong sentimental tie with the leaders who had established them. Thus, the communities of Syria and Palestine cultivated their relationship with the person of Peter; those of Greece with the person of Paul; some communities in Asia with the person of the beloved disciple and others with the person of John of the Apocalypse. Identifying themselves with the leader of their origin helped them to grow better in their identity and spirituality. But this also gave rise to conflict as in the case of the community of Corinth (1Cor 1:11-12). Even today, there are Christian communities, ecclesial communities, who follow a particular leader and identify with him or her.
Being rock as foundation of the faith, recalls to mind the word of God to the people in exile in Babylonia: "Listen to me, you who pursue justice, who seek the Lord; look to the rock from which you were hewn, to the pit from which you were quarried; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sara, who gave you birth; when he was but one, I called him, I blessed him and made him many" (Is 51:1-2). When applied to Peter, this quality of foundation stone points to a new beginning for the people of God.
2. The keys of the Kingdom: Peter receives the keys of the Kingdom to bind and to loose, that is, to reconcile people with God. The same power of binding and loosing is given to the communities (Mt 18:8) and to the disciples (Jn 20:23). One of the points on which the Gospel of Matthew insists is reconciliation and pardon (Mt 5:7,23-24,38-42,44-48; 6:14-15; 18:15-35). The reality is that in the 80s and 90s, there were many tensions and divisions within families in the communities in Syria because of faith in Jesus. Some accepted Him as Messiah whereas others did not, and this was the source of many contrasting views and conflicts. Matthew insists on reconciliation. Reconciliation kept on being one of the most important tasks of coordinators of the communities. Like Peter they must bind and loose, that is, work so as to bring about reconciliation, mutual acceptance, and build up true fraternity.
3. The Church: the word Church, in Greek, ekklesia, is found 105 times in the New Testament, almost always in the Acts and the Epistles. We find the word only three times in the Gospels and only in Matthew. The word means "a called assembly" or "chosen assembly". The word applies to the people gathered, called by the Word of God, a people that seeks to live the message of the Kingdom brought by Jesus. The Church is not the Kingdom, but an instrument and a sign of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is greater. In the Church, the community, all must see or should see what happens when a group of people allows God to rule and take possession of their life.
d) Matthew 16:21-22 Jesus completes what is lacking in Peter's reply, and Peter reacts by not accepting.
Peter had confessed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!" In keeping with the prevailing ideology of the time, he imagined a glorious Messiah. Jesus corrects him: "It is necessary that the Messiah suffer and be killed in Jerusalem". With the words "it is necessary", He says that suffering had been foreseen in the prophecies (Is 53:2-8). If the disciples accept Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, then they must accept Him also as the Servant Messiah who must die. Not just the triumph of glory but also the way of the cross! But Peter will not accept Jesus' correction and tries to change His mind.
e) Matthew 16:23 Jesus' reply to Peter: rock of scandal.
Jesus' reply is surprising: "Get behind me, Satan, you are a scandal to me, for you do not mind the things of God, but those of men!” Satan is the one who leads us away from the path marked out for us by God. Jesus literally says: "Get behind me!" (in Latin, vada retro!). Peter wanted to steer and point the way. Jesus says: "Get behind me!" Jesus, not Peter, is the one who points the way and sets the rhythm. The disciple must follow the master. He must live in constant conversion. Jesus' word was also a message to all those who led the communities. They must "follow" Jesus and they may not go before as Peter wished to do. It is not only they who are able to point the way or the manner. On the contrary, like Peter, instead of being a rock of support, they can become rock of scandal, a stumbling block. Such were some leaders of the communities at the time of Matthew. There were ambiguities. The same may happen among us today.
iii) A further explanation of the Gospels concerning Peter:
A portrait of St. Peter.
Peter was transformed from fisherman of fish to fisherman of men (Mk 1:7). He was married (Mk 1:30). He was a good man and very human. He tended naturally to a role of leadership among the twelve disciples of Jesus. Jesus respected this natural quality and made Peter the leader of His first community (Jn 21:17). Before joining Jesus' community, Peter's name was Simon bar Jona (Mt 16:17), Simon son of Jonah. Jesus nicknamed him Cephas or Rock, and this then became Peter (Lk 6:14).
By nature, Peter could have been anything but rock. He was courageous in speech, but at the hour of danger he fell victim to fear and fled. For instance, when Jesus came walking on the water, Peter asked: "Jesus, can I too come to you on the water?" Jesus replied: "Come, Peter!" Peter then went out of the boat and started walking on the water. But when a bigger wave came along, he was afraid and began to sink. He then cried out: "Save me, Lord!" Jesus took hold of him and saved him (Mt 14:28-31). At the last supper, Peter said to Jesus: "I shall never deny you, Lord!" (Mk 14:31); yet a few hours later, in the palace of the high priest, in front of a servant girl, when Jesus had already been arrested, Peter denied Jesus, swearing that he had no connection with Him (Mk 14:66-72). In the garden of olives, when Jesus had been arrested, he even used his word (Jn 18:10), but then fled, leaving Jesus alone (Mk 14:50). Peter was not naturally rock! And yet the weak and human Peter, so like us, did become rock because Jesus had prayed for him: "Peter, I have prayed for you so that your faith may not fail; and, when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren" (Lk 22:31-32). That is why Jesus was able to say: "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church" (Mt 16:18). Jesus helped him to become rock. After the resurrection, in Galilee, Jesus appeared to Peter and asked him twice: "Peter, do you love Me?" And Peter replied twice: "Lord, you know that I love you" (Jn 21:15,16). When Jesus put the same question to him the third time, Peter was hurt. He must have remembered that he had denied Him three times. So he answered: "Lord, you know all things! You know that I love you!" It was then that Jesus entrusted to him the care of the sheep: "Peter, feed My sheep!" (Jn 21:17). With Jesus' help, the strength of the rock grew in Peter and He revealed Himself on the day of Pentecost. On that day, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples, Peter opened the doors of the upper room where they were all gathered behind closed doors for fear of the Jews (Jn 20:19), and, infused with courage, began to announce the Good News of Jesus to the people (Acts 2:14-40). From then on he never stopped! On account of this courageous proclamation of the resurrection, he was arrested (Acts 4:3). During the interrogation he was forbidden to announce the good news (Acts 4:18), but Peter did not obey the prohibition. He said: "We must obey God rather then man!" (Acts 4:19; 5:29). He was arrested again (Acts 5:18,26). He was scourged (Acts 5:40). But he said: "Thank you very much. But we shall go on!" (cf. Acts 5:42).
Tradition tells us that at the end of his life, when he was in Rome, Peter had another moment of fear. But then he went back, was arrested and condemned to death on the cross. However, he asked that he might be crucified with his head down. He thought that he was not worthy to die in the same way as his master, Jesus. Peter was true to himself and to Jesus to the very end.
6. Psalm 103 (102)
Thanksgiving: Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
The Lord works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will He keep His anger for ever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor requite us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children,
so the Lord pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord
is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him,
and His righteousness to children's children,
to those who keep His covenant
and remember to do His commandments.
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
and His kingdom rules over all.
Bless the Lord, O you His angels,
you mighty ones who do His word,
hearkening to the voice of His word!
Bless the Lord, all His hosts,
his ministers that do His will!
Bless the Lord, all His works,
in all places of His dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen the Word but also practice it. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
The difficult process of forming the disciples.
How to be born again.
Luke 9:51-62
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading: The literary context
In the context of Luke’s Gospel, the text for this Sunday is at the beginning of the new phase of Jesus’ activity. The frequent conflicts with the people and the religious authorities (Lk 4:28; 5:21.30; 6:2.7; 7:19.23.33-34.39) confirmed Jesus as being the Servant Messiah as foreseen in Isaiah (Is 50: 4-9; 53:12) and as assumed by Jesus himself from the beginning of his apostolic activities (Lk 4:18). From now on, Jesus begins to proclaim his passion and death (Lk 9:22.43-44) and decides to go the Jerusalem (Lk 9:51). This change in the course of events created a crisis among the disciples (Mk 8:31-33). They cannot understand and are afraid (Lk 9:45), because they still hold on to the old way of thinking of a glorious Messiah. Luke describes various episodes touching on the old mentality of the disciples: the desire to be the greatest (Lk 9:46-48); the will to control the use of the name of Jesus (Lk 9:49-50); the violent reaction of James and John at the refusal of the Samaritans to welcome Jesus (Lk 9:51-55). Luke also points out how hard Jesus tries to get his disciples to understand the new concept concerning his mission. This Sunday’s text (Lk 9: 51-62) gives some examples of the way Jesus tried to form his disciples.
b) A division of the text to help with the reading:
Luke 9:51-52: Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem
Luke 9:52b53: A village in Samaria does not welcome him
Luke 9:54: The reaction of John and James at the Samaritans’ refusal
Luke 9:55-56: Jesus’ reaction to the violence of James and John
Luke 9:57-58: Jesus’ first condition for following him
Luke 9:59-60: Jesus’ second condition for following him
Luke 9:61-62: Jesus’ third condition for following him
c) The text:
51 When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him; 53 but the people would not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?" 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.
57 As they were going along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." 59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 60 But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
3. A moment of prayerful silence
So that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) Which part of the text pleased you most and which touched you most?
b) What defects and limitations of the disciples can we discover in the text?
c) What teaching method does Jesus use to correct these defects?
d) What facts from the Old Testament are recalled in this text?
e) With which of these three vocations (vv. 57-62) do you identify yourself? Why?
f) Which of the defects of Jesus’ disciples is most prevalent in us, his disciples of today?
5. A key to the reading
that may help us to go deeper into the theme.
a) The historical context of our text:
The historical context of Luke’s Gospel always contains the following two aspects; the context of the time of Jesus in the 30’s in Palestine, and the context of the Christian communities of the 80’s in Greece for whom Luke is writing his Gospel.
At the time of Jesus in Palestine. It was not easy for Jesus to form his disciples. It is not simply the fact of following Jesus and living in community that makes a person holy and perfect. The greatest difficulty comes from “the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod” (Mk 8:15), that is, from the time’s dominant ideology, promoted by the official religion (the Pharisees) and by the government (the Herodians). Fighting against the leaven was part of the formation he gave his disciples; especially that the manner of thinking of the great had taken deep root and always raised its head again in the minds of the little ones, the disciples. The text of our meditation this Sunday gives us an insight into the way Jesus faced this problem.
In Luke’s time, within the Greek communities. For Luke, it was important to help the Christians and not leave them prey to the “leaven” of the Roman empire and pagan religion. The same applies today. The “leaven” of the neo-liberal system, spread by the media, propagates a consumeristic mentality, contrary to Gospel values. It is not easy for people to realise that they are being duped: “What I have in my hand is nothing but a lie!” (Is 44:20).
b) A commentary on the text:
Luke 9:51-52a: Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem
“Now as the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven”. This statement shows that Luke reads Jesus’ life in the light of the prophets. He wants to make it quite clear to his readers that Jesus is the Messiah in whom is accomplished that which the prophets foretold. The same manner of speaking is in John’s Gospel: “Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass form this world to the Father, ...” (Jn 13,1). Jesus is obedient to the Father, “he decisively set out towards Jerusalem”.
Luke 9:52b53: A village in Samaria does not welcome him
Hospitality was one of the pillars of community life. It was difficult for anyone to let someone spend the night outside without welcoming him (Jn 18:1-5; 19:1-3; Gs 19;,15-21). But in Jesus’ time, the rivalry between Jews and Samaritans urged the people of Samaria not to welcome Jews who were on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and this led the Jews from Galilee not to pass through Samaria when they went to Jerusalem. They preferred to go through the valley of the Jordan. Jesus is contrary to this discrimination and, therefore, goes through Samaria. Consequently he suffers discrimination and is not made welcome.
Luke 9:54: The violent reaction of John and James at the refusal of the Samaritans
Inspired by the example of the prophet Elijah, James and John want to call down fire from heaven to exterminate that village! (2 Kings 1:10.12; 1Kings 18:38). They think that by the simple fact that they are with Jesus, everyone should welcome them. They still cling to the old mentality, that of privileged persons. They think that they can keep God on their side to defend them.
Luke 9:55-56: Jesus’ reaction to the violence of James and John
“Jesus turned and rebuked them”. Some versions of the Bible, basing their translation on some old manuscripts wrote: “You know not what spirit dwells in you. The son of man did not come to take the life of men, but to save it”. The fact that someone is with Jesus does not give that person the right to think that he or she is superior to others or that others owe them honour. The “Spirit” of Jesus demands the opposite: to forgive seventy times seven (Mt 18:22). Jesus chose to forgive the criminal who prayed to him on the cross (Lk 23:43).
Luke 9:57-58: The first condition for following Jesus
One says: “I will follow you wherever you go”. Jesus’ reply is very clear and without any hidden meaning. He leaves no room for doubt: the disciple who wishes to follow Jesus must impress this on his or her mind and heart: Jesus has nothing, not even a stone to lay his head on. The foxes and the birds are better off because they at least have holes and nests.
Luke 9:59-60: The second condition for following Jesus
Jesus says to one: “Follow me!” These were the words addressed to the first disciples: “Follow me” (Mk 1:17.20; 2:14). The reaction of the one called is positive. The person is ready to follow Jesus. He only asks that he may be allowed to bury his father. Jesus’ reply is hard: “Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God”. This is probably a popular proverb used for saying that one has to be radical in one’s decision making. The one who is ready to follow Jesus must leave everything behind. It is as though one were dead to all one’s possessions resurrected to another life.
Luca 9,61-62: The third condition for following Jesus
A third one says: “I will follow you, but first let me go and say good-bye to my people at home”. Again the reply of Jesus is hard and radical: “Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”. Jesus is more demanding than the prophet Elijah when Elijah called Elisha to be his disciple (1 Kings 19:19-21). The New Testament is greater than the Old Testament in its demands on the practice of love.
c) A further deepening: Jesus the formator
The process of the formation of the disciples is demanding, slow and painful, because it is not easy to give birth to a new experience of God in them, a new vision of life and of the neighbour. It is like being born again! (Jn 3:5-9). The old mindset keeps creeping back in the life of people, of families and communities. Jesus spares no effort in forming his disciples. He gave much time to this, not always successfully. Judas betrayed him, Peter denied him and, in the moment of trial, all abandoned him. Only the women and John stayed close to him, near the cross. But the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent to us after his resurrection, completed the work Jesus began (Jn 14:26; 16,13). Apart from what we have said concerning the text of this Sunday (Lk 9:51-62), Luke speaks of many other examples to show how Jesus went about forming his disciples and helping them to overcome the misleading mentality of the time:
In Luke 9:46-48 the disciples argue among themselves as to who is the greatest among them. The competitive mindset here is that of fighting for power, characteristic of the society of the Roman Empire, and it had already infiltrated the just-beginning and small community of Jesus! Jesus tells them to hold to the opposite way of thinking. He takes a child to his side and identifies himself with the child: “Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me!” The disciples were arguing as to who was the greatest, and Jesus tells them to look at and welcome the smallest! This is the point most stressed by Jesus and the one to which he witnessed: “[I] did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mk 10:45).
In Luke 9:49-50, someone who was not part of the group of the disciples was using the name of Jesus to drive out devils. John saw him and stopped him: “Let us stop him because we do not know him”. In the name of the community, John stops a good action! He thought he owned Jesus and wanted to stop anyone from using the name of Jesus to do good. He wanted a closed community. This was the old mentality of the “Chosen people, a separate people!” Jesus replies: “Do not forbid him, because anyone who is not against you is for you”. The aim of formation cannot lead to a feeling of privilege and ownership, but must lead to an attitude of service. What is important for Jesus is not whether someone is part of the group or not, but whether the person is doing the good that should be done by the community.
Here are some more examples of the way Jesus educated his disciples. It was a way of giving human form to the experience he had of God the Father. You can complete the list:
* he involves them in his mission and on their return he goes over what happened with them (Mk 6:7; Lk 9:1-2; 10:1-12, 17-20)
* he corrects them when they go wrong (Lk 9:46-48; Mk 10:13-15)
* he helps them discern (Mk 9:28-29)
* he questions them when they are slow (Mk 4:13; 8:14-21)
* he prepares them for the conflict (Mt 10:17ff)
* he reflects with them concerning present problems (Lk 13:1-5)
* he sends them to look at reality (Mk 8:27-29; Jn 4:35; Mt 16:1-3)
* he confronts them with the needs of the people (Jn 6:5)
* he teaches them that the needs of the people are above ritual prescriptions (Mt 12,7.12)
* he defends them when they are criticised by their adversaries (Mk 2:19; 7:5-13)
* he thinks of their rest and nourishment (Mk 6:31; Jn 21:9)
* he spends time alone with them to teach them (Mk 4:34; 7:17; 9:30-31; 10:10; 13,3)
* he insists on vigilance and teaches them to pray (Lk 11:1-13; Mt 6:5-15).
6. Psalm 19 (18), 8-14
The law of God source of formation
The precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is thy servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern his errors?
Clear thou me from hidden faults.
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practise the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus welcomes and defends
the woman with the ointment.
Poor people’s trust in Jesus
Luke 7:36 to 8:3
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:
The text of this Sunday’s Gospel puts before us two related episodes. The first episode is quite emotional. A woman who was thought to be a sinner in the city, has the courage to go into Simon’s house, a Pharisee, during a meal, to meet Jesus, wash his feet and cover them with kisses and ointment. The second episode describes Jesus’ community of men and women.
As you read the text, imagine being in the Pharisee’s house at table and look carefully at the attitudes, actions and words of those present, the woman, Jesus and the Pharisees. Read again the brief information that Luke gives concerning the community that grew around Jesus and try to examine carefully the words used to show that the community was made up of men and women who followed Jesus.
c) A division of the text to help with the reading:
Luke 7:36-38: A woman washes Jesus’ feet in the house of a Pharisee
Luke 7:39-40: The Pharisee’s reaction and Jesus’ reply
Luke 7:41-43: The parable of the two debtors and the Pharisee’s reply
Luke 7:44-47: Jesus applies the parable and defends the girl
Luke 7:48-50: Love generates forgiveness and forgiveness generates love
Luke 8:1-3: The men and women disciples of Jesus’ community
c) Text:
36 One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to a meal. When he arrived at the Pharisee's house and took his place at table, 37 suddenly a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment. 38 She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is and what sort of person it is who is touching him and what a bad name she has.' 40 Then Jesus took him up and said, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.' He replied, 'Say on, Master.' 41 'There was once a creditor who had two men in his debt; one owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty. 42 They were unable to pay, so he let them both off. Which of them will love him more?' 43 Simon answered, 'The one who was let off more, I suppose.' Jesus said, 'You are right.' 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, 'You see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 For this reason I tell you that her sins, many as they are, have been forgiven her, because she has shown such great love. It is someone who is forgiven little who shows little love.' 48 Then he said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.' 49 Those who were with him at table began to say to themselves, 'Who is this man, that even forgives sins?' 50 But he said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'
8:1 Now it happened that after this he made his way through towns and villages preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve, 2 as well as certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments: Mary surnamed the Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 Joanna the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their own resources.
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) What struck you most in the text? Why?
b) What does the woman do and how does she do it?
c) What is the Pharisee’s attitude towards Jesus and towards the woman: what does he do and say?
d) What is Jesus’ attitude towards the woman: what does he do and say?
e) The woman would not have done what she did unless she was absolutely certain that Jesus would welcome her. Do present day people who are marginalized have the same certainty in our regard as Christians?
f) Love and forgiveness. Who are the women who follow Jesus? What binds them together?
g) Jesus’ community: Who are the women who follow Jesus? What do they do?
5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme
a) The literary and historical context of the text:
In chapter 7 of his Gospel, Luke describes the new and surprising things that happen among the people since Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God. In Capernaum, he praises the faith of the foreigner: “Amen I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith! (Lk 7:1-10). In Naim he raises the widow’s son from death (Lk 7:11-17). The way Jesus proclaims the Kingdom surprises the Jewish brethren so that even John the Baptist is surprised and sends word to ask: “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Lk 7:18-30). Jesus criticises the wavering of his adversaries: "They are like children who do not know what they want!" (cfr. Lk 7:31-35). And here, at the end of the chapter, that is our text (Lk 7:36 to 8:3), something else that is new begins to appear and to surprise in the Good News of the Kingdom: Jesus’ attitude towards women.
At the time of the New Testament in Palestine, women were marginalized. They took no part in the synagogue nor could they witness in public life. From the time of Ezra (IV century B.C.), resistance towards women kept growing as we note in the stories of Judith, Esther, Ruth, Naomi, Susanna, the Sulamite woman and many others. This resistance towards women did not find an echo in Jesus who welcomed them. In the episode of the woman with the ointment (Lk 7:36-50) we see anti-conformism in Jesus’ welcome of the woman. In the description of the community that was growing around Jesus (Lk 8:1-3), we see men and women gathered around Jesus, equal in standing as disciples.
b) A commentary on the text:
Luke 7:36-38: A woman washes Jesus’ feet in the house of a Pharisee
Three totally different persons meet: Jesus, a Pharisee and a woman who was said to be a sinner. Jesus is in Simon’s house, a Pharisee who had invited him to eat in his house. A woman comes in, kneels at Jesus’ feet, weeps, bathes his feet with her tears, loosens her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet, kisses them and anoints them with ointment. The act of loosening her hair in public was a sign of independence. This is the scene that causes the debate that follows.
Luke 7:39-40: The Pharisees’ reply and Jesus’ reply
Jesus does not retreat, does not reprove the woman but rather welcomes what she does. The woman is someone who, according to the observant Jews of the time, could not be welcomed. Seeing what was going on, the Pharisee criticises Jesus and condemns the woman: "This man, were he a prophet, would surely know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner!" In reply to the Pharisee’s provocation, Jesus tells a parable; a parable that will help the Pharisee and all of us to see the invisible call of the love of God who reveals himself in that scene.
Luke 7:41-43: The parable of the two debtors and the Pharisee’s reply
The parable recounts the following: A creditor had to debtors. One owed him 500 denarii and the other 50. A denarius was equivalent to a day’s wage. Thus the wages for fifty days! Neither of the two could pay. Both were forgiven. Which of them will love him more? The Pharisee replies: "He to whom he forgave more!" The parable presupposes that earlier, both the Pharisee and the woman had received some favour from Jesus. Now, in their attitude towards Jesus, they show their appreciation for the favour received. The Pharisee shows his love, his gratitude, by inviting Jesus to his house. The woman shows her love, her gratitude with her tears, with kisses and with the ointment. Which of these actions shows a greater love; eating or the kisses and ointment? Does the measure of one’s love depend on the size of the present offered?
Luke 7:44-47: Jesus applies the parable and defends the woman
When he had received the correct answer from the Pharisee, Jesus applied it to the situation which arose with the coming in of the woman during the meal. He defends the sinful woman against the criticism of the practising Jew. What Jesus is saying to the Pharisees of all times is this: "He to whom little is forgiven, loves little!" The personal security that I, the Pharisee, create for myself because of my observance of the laws of God and of the Church, frequently prevents me from experiencing the gratuitous love of a forgiving God. What matters is not the observance of the law as such, but the love with which I observe the law. Using the symbols of the love of the sinful woman, Jesus answers the Pharisee who considered himself just: «You see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. For this reason I tell you that her sins, many as they are, have been forgiven her, because she has shown such great love. It is someone who is forgiven little who shows little love». It is as if he said: "Simon, in spite of the banquet you offer me, you have little love!" Why? The prophet Jeremiah had once said that in the future, in the new covenant, “no longer will they need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more”. (Jer 31:34). It is awareness of being freely forgiven that makes one experience the love of God. When the Pharisee calls the woman a “sinner”, he is considering himself to be a just man who observes and practices the law. He is like the Pharisee from the other parable who said: “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, robbers, dishonest, adulterers, or even like this publican” (Lk 18:11). Simon must have thought: “O God, I thank you because I am not like this sinful woman!” But the one who went home justified was not the Pharisee but the publican who had said: “Be merciful to me a sinner!” (Lk 18:14). From the beginning, Pharisees always consider themselves sinless, because in all things they observe the law of God, they go to Mass, pray, give alms and pay their taxes. They place their security in what they do for God, not in the love and the forgiveness of God towards them. That is why Simon, the Pharisee cannot experience the gratuitousness of God’s love.
Luke 7:48-50: Love generates forgiveness and forgiveness generates love
Jesus says to the woman: "Your sins are forgiven you." Then the guests begin to think: "Who is this who even forgives sins?" But Jesus says to the woman: "Your faith has saved you. Go and sin no more!" Here we see Jesus’ new attitude. He does not condemn but welcomes. It is faith that enables the woman to know herself and to accept herself and God. In her exchange with Jesus, a new force breaks forth in her that enables her to be reborn. An important question comes to our mind. Would the sinful woman in the city have done what she did had she not been absolutely certain that Jesus would welcome her? This means that for the poor people of Galilee in those days, Jesus was someone to be trusted absolutely! “We can trust him. He will welcome us!” Do the marginalized people of today have this same certainty towards us Christians?
Luke 8:1-3: The disciples of Jesus’ community
Jesus went to the villages and towns of Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God and the twelve were with him. The expression “following Jesus” shows the condition of a disciple who follows the Master seeking to imitate his example and sharing in his fate. It is surprising that besides the men there were also women who “followed Jesus”. Luke places the men and women disciples on an equal level. He also says that the women servedJesus with their goods. Luke also mentions the names of some of these women disciples: Mary Magdalene, born in the city of Magdala. She had been delivered of seven demons. Joanna, the wife of Cuza, Herod Antipa’s procurator, who was governor of Galilee. Susanna and many others.
c) Further information:
i) Luke’s Gospel has always been considered the Gospel of women. Indeed, Luke is the one who most records occasions that show the relationship of Jesus with women. However, the novelty, the Good News concerning women, is not simply because of the many citations of their presence around Jesus, but in Jesus’ attitude towards them. Jesus touches them, allows them to touch him, without fear of being contaminated (Lk 7:39; 8:44-45.54). The difference between Jesus and the masters of the time is that Jesus accepts women as followers and disciples (Lk 8:2-3; 10”39). The liberating force of God, which acts in Jesus, raises women to assume their place of dignity (Lk 13:13). Jesus feels the suffering of the widow and joins in her sorrow (Lk 7:13). The work of the woman who prepares food, is seen by Jesus as a sign of the Kingdom (Lk 13:20-21). The persevering widow who fights for her rights is presented as a model of prayer (Lk 18:1-8), and the poor widow who shares her meagre goods with others is presented as the model of gift and of dedication (Lk 21:1-4). At a time when the witness of women was not considered valid, Jesus chooses women as witnesses of his death (Lk 23:49), of his burial (Lk 23:55-56) and of his resurrection (Lk 24:1-11.22-24).
ii) The Gospels record different lists of the names of the twelve disciples who followed Jesus. The names are not always the same, but there are always twelve names, evoking the twelve tribes of the new people of God. There were women who also followedJesus, from Galilee to Jerusalem. Mark’s Gospel defines their attitude in three words, three verbs: following, serving, going upto Jerusalem (Mk 15:41). The Evangelists do not give a list of the women disciples who followed Jesus, but their names are known to this day through the pages of the Gospels, especially of Luke, and they are:: Mary Magdalene (Lk 8:3; 24:10); Joanna the wife of Chuza (Lk 8;,3); Susanna (Lk 8:3); Salome (Mk 15:45); Mary, James’ mother (Lk 24:10); Mary, Cleophas’ wife (Jn 19:25); Mary, the mother of Jesus (Jn 19:25).
6. Prayer: A hymn to Love (1 Cor 13:1-13)
Above all, love!
1 Though I command languages both human and angelic -- if I speak without love, I am no more than a gong booming or a cymbal clashing.
2 And though I have the power of prophecy, to penetrate all mysteries and knowledge, and though I have all the faith necessary to move mountains -- if I am without love, I am nothing.
3 Though I should give away to the poor all that I possess, and even give up my body to be burned -- if I am without love, it will do me no good whatever.
4 Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited, 5 it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store up grievances. 6 Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. 7 It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. 8 Love never comes to an end. But if there are prophecies, they will be done away with; if tongues, they will fall silent; and if knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we know only imperfectly, and we prophesy imperfectly; 10 but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will be done away with.
11 When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and see things as a child does, and think like a child; but now that I have become an adult, I have finished with all childish ways. 12 Now we see only reflections in a mirror, mere riddles, but then we shall be seeing face to face. Now I can know only imperfectly; but then I shall know just as fully as I am myself known.
13 As it is, these remain: faith, hope and love, the three of them; and the greatest of them is love.
7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
