Claire Smith

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

“…Feed My Lambs…My Sheep.”

We continue to celebrate the heart of our faith, this great season of Easter – and today’s Scriptures highlight the person of St. Peter as he interacts with Jesus and later seeks to witness the person of Jesus risen from the dead to his contemporaries.

No doubt, Peter comes across as a likeable guy, very human.  As a disciple, he was both eager to follow Jesus, but also weak in following through; his words and deeds did not always match!

St. John’s gospel selection begins with Peter and some other disciples going fishing after Jesus had been murdered on the Cross.  The disciples were emotionally charged, and so they escaped by going fishing, to perhaps console one another.  Jesus shows up on the shore and in a teasing manner calls out to them, “…children, have you caught anything to eat?”  Jesus then tells them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat; reluctantly, they do so, and they are surprised with a big catch:  153 large / keeper fish!  John recognizes Jesus on the shore, shouts out that it’s Jesus – and Peter jumps into the water to swim toward Jesus.  Jesus then invites the group to have a breakfast of some fish and bread that He has prepared.  What a special feast!

Then Jesus directly addresses Peter:  “…do you love me?”  The request is repeated three times, and each time Peter responds “Yes!”  Jesus invites Peter to “feed my lambs, feed my sheep”:  really, to shepherd the infant Church!  Today we know that Peter and the others did fulfill the mission Jesus gave them:  they filled Jerusalem with the Good News of Jesus despite the opposition, the Church grew, and we today live as 21^st Century disciples in other parts of the world.

The Risen Jesus asks us to love Him and to help share the Good News of His love for our world.  We’ve been fed by the Holy Eucharist, nourished by the Scriptures and other Sacraments, and encouraged by the example of fellow disciples.  Like the early disciples, we have our strengths and our weaknesses, and we’re encouraged to keep trying our best as we live our personal vocations to credibly live our faith as Easter People.

Who knows what will happen today, or tomorrow?  For St. Peter, it meant further opportunities and challenges as a disciple, ultimately resulting in his martyrdom.  Our Church today faces a time of critical discernment as the Holy Spirit guides the Conclave of Cardinals to elect a new Pope.  Ourselves, we move forward as Easter People, blessed in many ways and challenged to be credible messengers of hope for our needy, broken world.  Together, in word and deed, let’s proclaim our “Amen!”, in the spirit of a heartfelt Easter “Alleluia!”

Fr. John Schork, C.P. serves as the Province Vocation Director and also as Local Superior of the Passionist Community of Holy Name in Houston, Texas.  

Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:1-8
John 14:6-14

Reflection:

One of the simplest yet profound summaries of Jesus—summarising his being, mission, and relationship to us—is his statement, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

To this, we might also add those words that shine light on the mystery of Trinitarian life and express – within the limit of words – our own relationship both with and within God. “No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip might speak for all of us in his seeking to know ‘more’ of this mystery, but is left to contemplate the truth at its most mysterious depth. “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me”

Faith does seek understanding, but it can stand in the company of the unknown, too.

As we grow in life, not just in terms of years and experience, but also in one’s depth of faith, what is not understood doesn’t hold such power over us, and so often certainty diminishes whilst the unknown increases. For any follower of the Way, but perhaps more so for older disciples, gentle uncertainty becomes a fond companion – life goes on, we grow calmer in the face of change and mystery, and our witness ironically can become more powerful in the absence of rational explanation.

Such is the life of the disciples who ‘know’ Jesus.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is the Provincial Superior of Holy Spirit Province, Australia. 

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Scripture:

Acts 5:34-42
John 6: 1-15

Reflection:

Although St. Athanasius lived in the fourth century, he experienced persecution much like the earliest disciples. In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see the Apostles facing possible death, and through the intervention of Gamaliel, they escape with only a flogging.

St. Athanasius, like the Apostles, was misunderstood and persecuted because he preached the Incarnation. He emphasized that Jesus Christ is both fully divine and fully human, a concept that was defended against various heresies that denied either His full divinity or His full humanity. In fact, St. John Henry Newman describes Athanasius as a “principal instrument, after the Apostles, by which the sacred truths of Christianity have been conveyed and secured to the world”.

As bishop of Alexandria in North Africa, St. Athanasius stood up to the Arian heresy, which taught that Jesus was not fully divine. Roman emperors and some of his fellow bishops with Arian views called Bishop Athanasius a troublemaker. He was isolated and threatened; and banished from his people in Alexandria five times. He spent seventeen of the forty-six years of his episcopate in exile.

St. Athanasius risked his life and his reputation to continue to preach the truth of Jesus’ Incarnation because he believed it so deeply. He challenges us to do the same: to really believe that God loves our world, demonstrated by Jesus the Eternal Word entering our world in human form and sharing our planetary reality, loving us and everything else. We see that love in today’s Gospel, where Jesus feeds thousands of stranded and hungry people.

Following the example of Jesus and St. Athanasius, how do we love our world in the 21^st century?

We cherish life on our planet: the species of animals and plants that have evolved over millennia; as well as the diverse cultures, which are the result of human genius to survive and thrive in various places around the world.

And so, we pray for courage to respond:

—when ecosystems are destroyed and indigenous people are removed from their lands,     
—when people struggle to hold on to their cultural ways after they are displaced by climate change, war, or persecution,
—when we fail to see the face of Jesus in someone of a different ethnicity, nationality, or religion.
In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She serves on the Board of Directors at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan. Patty is currently a member of the Laudato Si’ Vision Fulfillment Team and the Passionist Solidarity Network.

Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker

Scripture:

Genesis 1:26b-2:3
Matthew 13:54-58

Reflection:

Where did he get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?

Jesus’ neighbors were puzzled and upset that this man from their town, who grew up there, spoke with such authority and wisdom in their synagogue. To them, he was just a carpenter’s son, not a student at some rabbinical school.

Joseph the carpenter took his responsibility seriously, along with Mary, to raise Jesus. Joseph never speaks in the Gospels, but we learn so much from his actions. When God needed him, when Mary needed him, when the young Jesus needed him, Joseph was present. He was the family’s guardian, protector and provider.

Back then, sons usually followed in their father’s trade, so Joseph would become Jesus’ teacher, too. We assume Jesus learned a trade because in the same synagogue scene in Mark’s Gospel (6:3), the Nazarenes call Jesus the carpenter. Joseph taught Jesus wood working and stone masonry, and they likely traveled the region together for work.

St. Joseph the Worker teaches us the same lessons he taught the young Jesus. Work is dignified and an intrinsic good. No matter the trade or role, the worker must always be respected and valued. Through the development of our talents and abilities we strengthen our families and communities. When we work, we share in God’s creativity of bring God’s kingdom here on earth.

Today, on the feast of St. Joseph the Worker and the day dedicated to workers, let us pray for all workers, so that no one might be without work and all might be paid a just wage. May they benefit from the dignity of work and the beauty of rest.   –Pope Francis

Mike Owens is coordinator of the Passionist Alumni Association and a member of the Migration Commission of Holy Cross Province. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Scripture:

Acts 5:17-26
John 3:16-21

Reflection:

A gentile came up to the great rabbi Hillel and challenged him: “Teach me the Torah while I stand on one foot.”  Hillel responded: “That which you hate, do not do to others.  That is the entire Torah.  The rest is simply explanation.  Go and learn it.”  Hillel was paraphrasing the command to love one’s neighbor.

The evangelist John is Hillel for us today with one of the most recognizable verses in the New Testament is here before us:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)

This is the whole gospel in a nutshell.

So popular and familiar is it that this passage, or its verse number, John 3:16, is emblazoned on T-shirts and sweatshirts.  It is printed on coffee mugs, bookmarks, bumper stickers, even on the bottoms of In-‘N-Out milkshake containers.  During football games and baseball games, someone, usually wearing a wild multi-colored wig, is waving a placard for all to see.  And it reads: John 3:16.

But, despite all this biblical zeal, there lurks a problem.  The passage has been clipped from its contextual moorings.  Consequently, its real meaning and impact have been lost, gone adrift in a sea of sentimentality.

The passage is indeed about God’s love for us, for the whole world.  God loves us so much that he gave us his son.  No argument there.

The issue lies with the word “gave.”  John, the evangelist is using poetic word play here. That is, he’s using a word that has both a literal and a deeper symbolic meaning.

In the Greek, the word “gave” is didomi.   It can mean quite literally “to give,” as in God “gave” us the gift of his son.  But the word also has another, deeper meaning.  It also means to surrender, to deliver up, hand over, as in Jesus was handed over, surrendered to the Romans for crucifixion.

The passage now reveals a richer meaning.  Yes, God loved us so much that he gave us his greatest gift, his son.   But it means more.  It means that God so loved the world that he surrendered his greatest gift, his son, to humanity’s evil of crucifixion.  This love is not abstract or mawkishly sentimental.  This costly love would cost everything, even death on a cross.  This is the whole of the Gospel while standing on one foot.  It is now for us to go and learn it.

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin & Doctor of the Church

Scripture:

Acts 4:32-37
John 3:7b-15

Reflection: 

The soul is in God and God is in the soul. God is closer to us than water is to a fish. – Saint Catherine of Siena

Today, the Church celebrates the feast day of one of the four women who are Doctors of the Church, Catherine of Siena. She was a third-order Dominican whose famous work was The Dialogue. She worked for the unity of the Church and was loyal to the pope. Her influence on Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from Avignon, France was Divine intervention only because she listened to God with deep love and was open to the Holy Spirit. 

The Chosen is a popular online series about Jesus’ life, Passion, death, and Resurrection. In the second season, Nicodemus, a visiting Pharisee, meets Jesus on a rooftop after hearing of His miracles. During their conversation, Jesus invites Nicodemus to follow Him. Nicodemus struggles with the decision due to his family and position in the Sanhedrin. Although he ultimately does not join Jesus, he leaves a bag of gold for Him. The scene ends with a saddened Nicodemus, aware of the opportunity he missed.

The scene described prompts us to consider how earthly matters can hinder our spiritual pursuits. Although the depiction from The Chosen is the interpretation of its writer and producer, it is plausible that a similar event could have transpired. Many individuals over the past 2,000 years have likely faced a comparable dilemma when deciding whether to embrace the Gospel message or persist in their current path. The invitation to follow God is continually present; He never abandons us. It is we who choose to turn away and decline the invitation, which can leave a profound impact because God’s presence resides within us.

The first reading highlights the influence of Christ’s message as demonstrated by the actions of His followers who sold their properties or houses and donated the proceeds to the Apostles. They shared all possessions and were united in “one heart and mind”. The community placed their trust in the Word and in the Apostles. This collective trust ensured that everyone’s needs were met. The Apostles recognized that God was present with them and within them. I wonder what ever happened to Nicodemus? God knows.

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Acts 4:32-37
John 3:7b-15

Reflection:

            As they prayed. The place where they were gathered
            shook, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and
            continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

During these post-resurrection days, the scriptures are filled with accounts of the apostles taking the call to discipleship seriously.  Even though they were sad because Jesus was no longer with them in the flesh, they ministered with hope and determination.  Empowered by the Holy Spirit they boldly proclaimed the message of Jesus as he taught them to do!

How are we as disciples of Jesus Christ living out our call to preach the resurrected Jesus during this Easter season 2025?!  What are some ways we are called to proclaim the RISEN CHRIST in our midst to our friends, neighbors, family, community and world at large?!  Some ideas may include;

Gather with folks to break open the Easter scriptures.  The Acts of the Apostles can give us hope and promise for a church reborn.  Take time to share how these scriptures are impacting your faith life.  Take time to listen as others recount their stories as well.

During the past several months, I have been blessed to journey with our OCIA/RCIA candidates and catechumens on their journey to the Easter sacraments.  I would encourage anyone to get involved in this process.  It is a holy experience and so uplifting to walk this journey of faith with those persons who are eager to learn more about the Risen Christ.  When you serve as a team member or sponsor, your faith can grow by leaps and bounds!  Together, you become an even greater gift to our global faith community!

I woke up this morning to learn of the passing of our dear Pope Francis! His tenure as our faithful leader has been a beacon of hope. He will be sorely missed and remembered for his faithfulness to gospel values and courage to work for justice for all who have been labeled ‘different’.  We can proclaim the Risen Christ when we take the time to emulate a trusted mentor, teacher, pastor, friend or world leader such as Pope Francis.  Pope Francis calls us to spread the message of Easter to all our sisters and brothers in need.

During this Easter season, may we focus on our call to be Resurrection people by the way we announce the good news, JESUS CHRIST HAS RISEN!

Easter Peace and Blessings!

Theresa Secord is a retired Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.