The Real Meaning of the Ascension

From “Living Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Commentaries on the Readings: Acts 1:1-11; Hebrews 9:24-28,10:19-23; Luke 24:46-53

The first reading and the Gospel today seem to be in contradiction. Although both are written by Luke, the Gospel says that Jesus’ ascension was on Easter Sunday and the Acts of the Apostles says it was 40 days after the resurrection. The Gospel also seems to say that the resurrection and the ascension are one thing while the Acts seems to say they are two separate events. In fact, the ascension is part of the resurrection. Resurrection emphazises that Jesus has entered a new life and not just that he recovered his previous life. The ascension emphasizes that the risen Jesus is together with the Father, that he shares the place and dignity of the Father.

Real meaning of Ascension

The real meaning of the Ascension is in the Second Reading, a passage from the magnificent Letter to the Hebrews. The author makes a clear distinction between the role of Jesus and that of the Jewish High Priest. Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands; he entered the dwelling place of God himself. Nor, unlike the High Priest, did or does Jesus enter the sanctuary again and again, as the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies every year. Nor did he, again unlike the High Priest, offer blood that was not his own, the blood of goats and bulls. Jesus entered God’s presence by the spilling of his own blood on the cross. “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many (that is, of all); and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Washed totally clean

How are we to share in all of this? It is again put very well in the second part of the Second Reading: “Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assistance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

Jesus has totally replaced the old way, the old covenant. The place where God is is the new Holy of Holies. Jesus is the curtain through which we, all of us sharing in the priesthood of Christ, have access to that presence. That is the meaning of the Ascension, which we celebrate today.

Therefore, we have no need to fear. We have freedom and, by the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, we can go into the holiest place. This is the path which has been opened for us through our baptism and our participation in the life of the Christian community.

Continuing the work of Jesus

But before we go to share Jesus’ glory, there is work to be done. When Jesus left us, he made it clear that he wanted us to carry on the work he had begun. He said that we could do the same things he did and even greater. So before leaving them, he tells his disciples to go back to Jerusalem and there wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

This experience will be their baptism when they will become filled with the very Spirit of Jesus. But before Jesus leaves them, his disciples ask him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Even at this late moment, they still do not understand the meaning of Jesus’ life and work. They still do not understand what kind of Messiah he is.

Jesus will not just restore the Kingdom of Israel; he will establish a new Kingdom altogether. This kingdom will be open to include all the people of the world. It will not be a political force or a military power. Rather, it will be – as the Preface of the Mass of Christ the King says,

An eternal and universal kingdom:

a kingdom of truth and life,

a kingdom of holiness and grace,

a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.

The disciples will soon learn this, accept it and promulgate it everywhere. For, after they receive the Spirit of Jesus themselves, they themselves will begin to inaugurate the Kingship of God not only in Israel, in Jerusalem and Judea but in time to the very ends of the earth. This is their mission – and ours: to carry the message of Jesus to the whole world.

As Jesus spoke, he is covered by a cloud, clearly indicating the enveloping presence of God. Jesus can no longer be seen. But the Ascension should not be understood too literally, as if Jesus floated up into the sky to a place called ‘heaven’. Rather he is wrapped in the all-embracing presence of his Father, symbolised by the cloud.

 Lower your eyes

As Jesus disappears from their sight, the disciples continue to gaze upwards into the sky. It is then that two men wearing white clothes stand beside them and say: “Men of Galilee, what are you doing looking at the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Did they take these words to mean that they, in their lifetime, would see him return? Time would show that that was not the meaning of the messengers’ words. The nameless messengers in white are understood to be angels, direct representatives of God and indicating the importance of what is happening. They were also present at the resurrection.

A new lesson

The disciples have a new lesson to learn: they will not now find Jesus in the sky, in “heaven”. The Jesus they knew before the crucifixion has left them for good. They have to go back to Jerusalem. There, through the outpouring of the Spirit of the Father and Jesus on them, they will begin to understand and grow in understanding. If they want to find Jesus, they will find him in the Christian community, in those they mix with every day of their lives.

Every time they receive the love of a brother, it is the presence of Jesus. Every time they share their love with a brother or sister, they are making Jesus present to that person. They – and we – are to be Jesus in this world. We are to be the visible presence of Jesus. It is really a great challenge and a rather scary responsibility.

When people see me, do they see Jesus? When people see me, do they want to know Jesus? When people see me, do they want to join our community, share our life, and take the Gospel as the foundation of their life? That is the meaning of the Ascension.

Today we gather here not only to remember something that happened a long time ago; we are also here to remind ourselves that when Jesus left us he gave us a very important mission. That mission was and is to continue his loving and redemptive presence in the world. Let us ask him today to help us, together with him, to carry out that huge responsibility in the way he wants.

Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 22, 2022

Jesus brings peace; trust Him and preserve His legacy

John 14:23–29

Jesus said to his disciples: “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, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. 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.”

Music Meditations

• Be Not Afraid—John Michael Talbot
• Make me a Channel of your Peace--Susan Boyle
• A Gaelic Blessing (Deep Peace) John Rutter--performed a cappella by Julie Gaulke
• Hold me in Life—OCP Session Choir

Opening Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

—St. Francis of Assisi

Companions for the Journey

It is hard to leave a place where you have been for a period of your life, especially when you have formed close ties. Someone said to me recently, “I hate goodbyes. I find them very difficult.” She said it in a way that suggested this was unique to her and not what almost everyone feels. Who doesn’t “hate goodbyes?” Unless a person is glad to get out of a destructive relationship, or a very difficult situation, I don’t know anyone who finds farewells easy. Most of us look forward to them with sadness and dread. Even people I have known who are moving to a promising future---marriage, a better job, a new home---still feel pain about packing up and leaving. They know they are leaving a known world behind for an uncertain future. Anyone who has invested themselves in friends and place knows the poignancy of saying “farewell.” When the time comes for parting we try to soften the pain of the moment. “I’ll visit when I can.” “I’ll call you often.” “We’ll spend vacation time together.” “You’ll have to visit the first chance you get.” Though we do intend to do just what we say, we often have a fear that time and distance will make it hard to maintain the close ties with family and friends we have known. We will do our best to adapt to new circumstances and relationships and in doing that we may have to let go of at least some of what once was. It’s dreadful! One positive note, though: those we have loved in our past make it possible for us to leave and give us the courage to set down roots again.

In today’s gospel Jesus and his disciples are at table. It is the Last Supper and we are in the midst of the Last Discourse (chapters 13-17). From what Jesus has been telling them the disciples can’t miss the solemnity, indeed the heaviness, of the moment. He is going away and they will no longer have him with them in the ways they have become accustomed . He says he is going “to prepare a place for you” (14:3). Just before today’s passage Jesus reassures them, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come back to you.” When we say our farewells we try to assure the ones we are leaving that we will stay in touch. And we do our best to do just that. We don’t want to lose those we love. Jesus is expressing the same kind of sentiment; but he will keep his promise to “stay in touch” in ways the disciples cannot imagine at this point. “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” Jesus doesn’t want us to have to rely just on his disciples’ recollections of him---who he was for them and what he taught them. He knows that being the mere humans they and we are, these memories will fade and weaken over time, especially when life tests our faith and hard times threaten to break our ties with him.

Jesus is saying a very unique goodbye. He is leaving his beloved band of followers, but promises to be with them in the future in a new way. He has to go, he tells them but, “...I will come back to you.” Jesus isn’t just saying, “Cheer up, things won’t be so bad.” Actually things are going to get quite bad for him and them. But he is assuring them that the coming of the Holy Spirit will keep their relationship vibrant because the Spirit will be the bond that holds them together in love with him and his Father.

When will Jesus return? Isn’t that the question long-suffering Christians have asked through the ages? Who knows how and when he will. But in his farewell to his disciples he assures them that he will return and he so he does, because God sends them the gift of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit, Advocate and Comforter brings Christ’s presence to us, helps us understand who he is, what he is doing among us and what he expects of us. Jesus promises that God will send the Spirit and what Jesus was to them, the Spirit will be to the Church. Jesus taught his disciples much; the Spirit will continue teaching the Church. Jesus showed his disciples how to love; the Spirit will make that love possible among them. Jesus’ words are in danger of being forgotten; the Spirit will “remind” the disciples of what Jesus taught and continue to teach them in succeeding generations.

What is extraordinary about Jesus’ farewell is his gift of peace to his disciples. The disciples are not having an ordinary meal together; nor is Jesus bidding them, “Good night. Peace, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Instead he offers them peace in the light of the chaos about to enter their lives with his capture and death. He says he doesn’t give them the peace the world offers. That’s good because when things fall apart the world can give us nothing to sustain our spirits and calm our fears. Jesus’ peace take a very specific form: he will return to be with them. His Holy Spirit will strengthen them for what they are about to face and what we, their descendants, will face in the ages to come.

We know the kind of peace we need these days and it is a peace only Jesus’ Spirit can confer. We need wise leaders who can bring God’s peace despite the failures at peacemaking we are encountering in the world. We need the Spirit to bring healing to our troubled and wounded Church. We need a peace-rendering Spirit to draw together our parishes that are divided by arguments large and small. We need a Spirit that will renew our conviction that our Savior is the Prince of Peace, so that we can bring his peace into our families, schools and workplaces. We also need the Spirit’s vision to appreciate the peacemaker and non-violent folks in our midst whose voices and actions are often ridiculed as being naive or ignored because their ways seem “impractical in our modern world.”

No, we don’t have Jesus’ physical presence with us the way the first disciples did who sat around the table, witnessed his washing their feet and listened to his reassuring promises. His farewell to them was a true farewell. He would no longer be with them as he had been. But they and we would have to believe that he is present in a different way with us in the Holy Spirit, God’s gift to us, just as Jesus promised. If we can trust in the Spirit’s presence with us now, then we will have peace in whatever turmoil we or the church face. Easier said than done! This peace is not something we can manufacture for ourselves. It is a gift, or inheritance from Jesus who doesn’t want to “lose touch” with us. Can we be open to that Spirit now and receive the gift that keeps our ties with Christ strong? That’s something we pray for at this Eucharist and in these days leading up to Pentecost.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• This discourse from the Last Supper, is Jesus’ long goodbye to his faithful friends of three years.
  How hard has it been for me to say goodbye to either persons or to a time in my life from which I had to move on?
  What promises did I make to those I was leaving behind?
  Have I kept in touch with them or forgotten them? What does that say about me?
• How does clinging to the past make it hard for us to let go, to embrace the new in our lives?
  How does nostalgic clinging to the past or over-anxiety about the future keep us from living in the present?
• Do I think Jesus ever had moments of anxiety, of worry, of fear, of loneliness?
  What do I think brought Him peace?
  What can bring me peace?
• What does “peace” mean to me?
  Is peace just the absence of war?
  What do I think is the connection between peace and justice?
• Is peace something we passively receive as a gift from God?
• How is the word “peace” related to my right relationship with God?
  Just what IS a right relationship with God?
• Do I see keeping Jesus’ word as a challenge or as a joy?
• From Walter Burghardt, S.J.:
  Peace is your communion with God. Evaluate this definition in terms of your own personal life:
  What wars have you ended in your backyard or your bedroom?
• Do others think of me as an agent of peace?
  What landmines of enmity and hate have I defused in my dorm, home, or office?
• Jesus said “Do not let your hearts be afraid”. What am I fearful about?
  Have I ever experienced the presence of Jesus in the midst of fear?
  Have I tried?
• Even the church of the disciples was plagued by divisions and rifts. Can calm and conflict be two different ways of the Spirit speaking to the Church?
  What disturbs the peace of my church right now?
  How am I helping to be a peaceful presence in the life of the Church?
• Is anyone freer to laugh because you have swallowed your pride?
• Who was hungry for food or affection that you have personally fed?
• Who thirsts for justice and feels more human because you are there?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

In order to experience the peace of Christ, to feel His real presence, we need to open our hearts to others. Pick one concrete action you can perform this week to really SHARE the peace of Christ with another. Pray for the insight to see where your Christian heart is needed and go the extra distance to change a situation or a person you encounter. Especially pray for Ukraine and the suffering that they are enduring. If you can think of some small way to help, do so.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Adapted from “Sacred Space” 2022, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Spend a few moments and let these words of Jesus speak to the deepest part of your heart, your life:
“Do not let your heart be troubled.” What worries me right now? What makes me sad right now? Is there anything I can do to mitigate the situation? I pray for guidance, for acceptance, for trust that Jesus is with me now and forever. I just sit with that notion, thanking Jesus for his ongoing presence in my life.

“Peace I leave you.” What do I mean by peace? What particular kind of peace am I praying for at this moment? Whose peace am I praying for right now? Can I believe that Jesus brings peace because Jesus IS peace?

I breathe quietly, in silence, without words, just resting in the presence of an all-loving God who desires my happiness.

A Meditation in the Dominican style/Asking Questions:

In Murder in the Cathedral, written by T.S. Eliot, Thomas Becket in his Christmas sermon said: “Does it seem strange to you that the angels should have announced Peace, when ceaselessly the world has been stricken with War and the Fear of War? Does it seem to you that the angelic voices were mistaken, and that the promise was a disappointment and a cheat?”

In the history I recall, where has the promise clashed with reality? In the news I consume daily, where has the promise clashed with reality? Why is that? Where do you spy peace on earth? Is peace really possible? Is peace another word that allows us to live at ease with the great divide between the hope and the reality, without looking at our role or our county’s role in the anger and hate that fuels so many conflagrations, international, national, and personal? How easy is it to blame “the other” for lack of peace? Where does forgiveness fit in? I spend some time praying for insight, courage and generosity of spirit which would help me be a better missionary of peace.

Poetic Reflections:

Most of the poems we run across, unfortunately, are describing or lamenting all the ways in which peace has been absent in human history. Here are a few:

“Tragic Error”

The earth is the Lord’s, we gabbed, and the fullness thereof– while we looted and pillaged, claiming indemnity: the fullness thereof given over to us, to our use– while we preened ourselves, sure of our power, willful or ignorant, through the centuries. Miswritten, misread, that charge: subdue was the false, the misplaced word in the story. Surely we were to have been earth’s mind, mirror, reflective source. Surely our task was to have been to love the earth, to dress and keep it like Eden’s garden. That would have been our dominion: to be those cells of earth’s body that could perceive and imagine, could bring the planet into the haven it is to be known, (as the eye blesses the hand, perceiving it form and the work it can do).”

—Denise Levertov, from The Evening Train

“Land of the Death Squads”

The vultures thrive, clustered in lofty blue above refuse-dumps where humans too search for food, dreading what else may be found. Noble their wingspread, hideous their descent to those who know what they may feast on: sons, daughters, and meanwhile, the quetzal, bird of life, gleaming green, glittering red, is driven always further, higher, into remote ever-dwindling forests.

—Denise Levertov, from a Door in the Hive

“We Are Saviors”

We have saved the world from political systems or economic systems or social systems of which we do not approve. We call it “our national honor”.

We have saved the world From oppression by people we do not like by giving our young people guns and allowing them to commit unspeakable atrocities on ordinary, everyday people in the name of liberation. We call it “collateral damage”.

We have saved the world From evil regimes in country after country, from Flanders fields to Vietnam, from Ancient Palestine to Iraq, and left each place worse than when we found it. We call it “the price of freedom”.

We have saved the world from sin and error from age to age, from the Spain of the Inquisition to the ovens of Auschwitz, and purified the world by taking people out of it. We call it “doing God’s work”.

At the end, we have saved nobody not this current generation not the children of the future not even ourselves, who have become what we have hated in others. We never learn.

Poetic Reflection:

Poet, environmentalist, farmer (and a former Stanford Stegner Fellow), Wendell Berry seeks nature as an antidote to his anxiety about his future and that of his family:

“The Peace of Wild Things”

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the woodrake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

—Wendell Berry from Collected Poems

Closing Prayer

From “Sacred Space”:

This is how you work with me, Lord. The Holy Spirit does not whisper new tidings in my ear, but rather reminds me of you, of your life and your words, so that gradually I put on Christ. We only learn what we already know. Help us to know your peace.

Thomas Merton on War

“The church must lead the way on the road to nonviolent settlement of difficulties and toward the gradual abolition of war as the way of settling international or civil disputes. Christians must become active in every possible way, mobilizing all their resources for the fight against war… Peace is to be preached, nonviolence is to be explained as a practical method, and not left to be mocked as an outlet for crackpots who want to make a show of themselves. Prayer and sacrifice must be used as the most effective spiritual weapons in the war against war, and like all weapons, they must be used with deliberate aim: not just with a vague aspiration for peace and security, but against violence and war. This implies that we are also willing to sacrifice and restrain our own instinct for violence and aggressiveness in our relations with other people. We may never succeed in this campaign, but whether we succeed or not, the duty is evident. It is the great Christian task of our time. Everything else is secondary, for the survival of the human race itself depends upon it.”

—Thomas Merton, quoted in Our God Is Nonviolent by John Dear, S.J., Pilgrim, 1990, p. 94.

Commentary on the Farewell Discourses in John

This gospel selection is taken from John the Evangelist’s reflection on the last discourse of Jesus to his disciples at his last supper with them. They are called the “Farewell Discourses”.

This is what George W MacRae, S.J., in his discussion of John’s gospel, called Invitation to John (part of a series from Image Books) has to say about the farewell discourses of Jesus:

The farewell discourses (13:33 to 17:26) are not unified in form or in content, most probably because they consist of various originally distinct portions of discourses. Chapter 14 alerts us to this problem in that it is complete in itself, ending with what appears to be a final remark by Jess. Yet there are three more chapters of discourses to follow. The result of this collection is a very long section characterized by repetition, variations on. The same themes, sometimes even contradiction. But there is an overall unity of themes throughout the chapters, such as the departure and return of Jesus, the sending of the Holy Spirit, the mutual love of Father and Son, the new commandment of love, and others.

What is most distinctive about these discourses, however, is the tone of them. There is none of the air of confrontation and challenge that marked the discourses of the Book of Signs (John, chapters 1:9 to 12:50). What accounts for the change in tone is that these discourses are addressed to the disciples—and thus to the Christian readers of the Gospel—to help them interpret the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is hard to discover logical patterns which would enable us to divide the discourses into smaller units, and perhaps we are not meant to.

Because the discourses comment on events yet to happen, time is, as it were, collapsed in them. Present past and future are not logically distinct. Verse 25 is a good indication of this, for Jesus speaks as though he had already departed.

The emphasis of the discourse in chapter 14 and indeed of the others also is on the consequences for the disciples of the return of Jesus to the Father, But the discourses continue to be christologically oriented, particularly in terms of Jesus’ relationship to the Father. Such statements as “If you know me, you know my Father too”, and “To have seen me is to have seen the Father” are some of the strongest assertions in the Gospel that Jesus is the revelation of God himself. In Johannine thought it is this primary role of Jesus as revealer which undergirds the exclusive claim of Jesus to be not only the Way to the Father, but the only way to him. Despite the lofty claims of Jesus to be the Revelation of the Father, the Fourth Gospel does not simply equate Jesus with God. Jesus and Father are mutually in each other (verse 11) yet Jesus must go to the Father, “for the Father is greater than I” (verse 28)

One of Jesus’ main purposes in this discourse is to instruct the disciples to carry on his mission in the world after his departure to the Father. They are to “perform the same word” as he, even greater ones (verse 12). Our acquaintance with Johannine vocabulary enables us to translate this task as to confront the world with the revealing word of God and thus bring people to faith, but the disciples, who lack understanding, are bewildered, and are even about to desert Jesus in his passion, can hardly carry out this mission unaided. Hence Jesus promises them the Holy Spirit of trust who will be with them forever.

Verse 16-17 and 26 are the first two of several passages promising that the Father ( or Jesus) will send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit. This designation of the Holy Spirit is unique in the fourth Gospel (and the first Epistle of John) and obscure in its origin. It may be preferable to use the work “Paraclete”, which is merely taking over the Greek word used, since such translations as “Advocate” and “Counselor” indicate only limited aspects of what the Paraclete is to do for the Church. The most important is that this is another Paraclete (verse 16), implying that Jesus has fulfilled the same role while he was with the disciple. The Holy Spirit, therefore, in this capacity is the continued divine presence assisting the disciples to perform the mission of Jesus in the world. He will remain with them and within them. He will teach them everything and make them remember all that Jesus has said. The fourth Gospel itself is thus evidence of the work of the paraclete in the Johannine church.

Study Questions:

• What do we learn about God if the ultimate revelation of him is in the human Jesus?

• How does the Spirit function as a Paraclete (advocate, counselor, instructor) in the church of today?

Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 15, 2022

We are to love others as Jesus loved us

John 13:31–33a, 34–35

Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Music Meditations

• Love One Another --Bob Dufford, SJ
• Ubi Caritas-Ola Gjeilo
• Love One another-Mormon Tabernacle Choir
• Hold us together--Matt Maher ( Christian Rock)

Opening Prayer

Lord, help me to understand what it means to love, to understand that love is not a sentimental feeling but an action. Give me the grace to spend time with you and your disciples in this post-resurrection season learning how you loved them, and how in turn, they loved others after you were gone. Give me the generosity of spirit to think of others beside myself and to show them the compassion Jesus showed Peter, John and the rest of humanity.

Companions for the Journey

From “Living Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

In the Gospel Jesus speaks of the foundation and heart of his teaching and message. These are his parting words to his disciples before he goes to his passion and death. What is this message? Is it to be faithful in keeping the Ten Commandments and leading a moral life? Not exactly. Does he warn us to be sure to be in church every Sunday and to go to confession regularly? Not really. Does he tell us to use all our energies in loving God? Surprisingly, perhaps, no!

What he does tell us is to love other people—and to love them as he has loved us. This, he says, is a “new” commandment. The Hebrew Testament told us to love God with our whole heart and soul and so on; and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus has added a new element in telling us that the true test of discipleship is to love other people in the same way that he has loved us. And we might remember that these words lead the way to the “greatest possible love” that a person can show, that is, by letting go of one’s very life for others. This Jesus will very dramatically portray in the terrible suffering and degradation which he will submit to out of love for us, out of love for ME.

The only valid test: To incorporate that level of love in my life will surely call for a new way of thinking, of seeing, of behaving and of interacting with other people. And it will be the test, the only valid test, of whether I truly love God as well. Is this really the way, is this the frame of mind in which I live my normal day? Or rather, let me say, is this the way we—who dare to call ourselves Christians—live our normal days?

For it is clear that the disciple of Christ is not primarily an individual person but an inter-person. I am defined as a disciple not by how I individually behave, by my personal moral life, but by how I inter-act with other people. The solitary Christian is a contradiction in terms because the Christian is only to be measured by the way he/she loves and that love, by definition, involves other people. I am my relationships.

What is love?: The word “love”, of course, can lead to misunderstandings. The word is used by us mainly in contexts which imply deep affection, emotional attraction and a good feeling when the beloved is around or even just thought of. That is not quite the meaning of the word in this context. The word that is used by John in this passage is agape (pronounced ‘aga-pay’ (Greek: ἀγάπη)). This is not, strictly speaking, love in the mutual or romantic sense. Rather, it implies a reaching out to others in a caring attitude for their wellbeing, irrespective of whether there will be a similar response by the other. It is the compassion that Jesus shows for the sinner and the evil person. It would be difficult for me to love a Hitler, a Stalin, a serial rapist killer or child abuser in the first sense. It would have no meaning and Jesus does not expect me to create such an artificial attitude.

Loving enemies: On the other hand, in terms of deep caring for the good of another, I can certainly “love” Hitler, Stalin, the murdering rapist or any other person who causes me difficulties, who I believe has hurt me or failed me or who simply behaves in a way which I cannot accept as good. This is what makes it possible for me to “love” my “enemies” and to pray for them and to wish God’s blessings on them so that they may change their ways (not to suit me but for their own wellbeing and bring them back into harmony with God’s way). It is why the true Christian disciple does not in fact have enemies. This is what Jesus is doing in praying for forgiveness for those who were nailing him to the cross. He loves them then not as close friends obviously, but as people who truly needed enlightenment about what they were doing not just to him but to themselves. Jesus cared, he had a deep sense of agape at that moment. In the First Reading, from the Acts, we see another form of agape on the part of two early missionaries, Paul and Barnabas. They went through all kinds of hardships and misunderstandings so that the message and vision of Jesus might be communicated to as many people as they could reach. And to those who were already Christians they gave support and encouragement to persevere in their Christian convictions. In this sense, then, can people say of me that I am a truly loving, caring and forgiving person? A redeeming person, a person who makes hurt people whole again? It is all that Jesus, on the threshold of his suffering and death, asks of me and nothing else. It is not impossible, it is not hopelessly idealistic, it does not require massive willpower and self-control. What it does require is a change of attitude, of the way I see the world, others, myself. It is through this constant love-centered interaction among each other that the “new earth, the new heaven and the new Jerusalem” can begin to come into existence. It is in our hands. And we have a perfect example in Jesus our Lord. As disciples of Jesus, imbued with his message of agape, loving in the way that he loved us, we are called to do the same—to give support to our fellow disciples and to share our faith and our love with as many people as possible.

I might reflect today on the ways I personally fail to be a loving, caring, compassionate and understanding person. Who are the people I really love and care for? Who are the people I cannot bring myself to love and care for—and why? Who are the people I never even think of loving and caring for—and why? Do I only love the people of my own race, my own class, my own religion? Do I care for anybody outside the circle of my family and immediate friends? Do I love and care for my family members? Whom do I regard as my friends and why? Do I love and care in any tangible way for people who need my care—however indirectly—even though I do not know them and they can give me nothing in return, e.g. the poor, the addicted, the exploited and marginalized in my own and other societies? Finally, do I really love myself? A great deal of our difficulty in extending love and especially forgiveness to others is our own insecurity, the fragility of our egos, which can be so easily hurt. Only those persons who are fully convinced that they are themselves lovable can reach out comfortably and unconditionally to love others.

Find links to addtional commentaries on this Gospel >>

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Love one another as I have loved you

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Have you ever been in a life situation (marriage, having a child, divorce, serious illness, losing someone you love, graduating from school, moving to a different location far away etc.) that made you feel as though you were leaving one phase of your life and entering another?
  Was it difficult?
  Were your sad about leaving some folks you loved behind?
  Did you stay close to them anyway?
• Has anyone you loved moved on to a new situation which took him or her away from you physically or emotionally?
  Did you feel sad, lonely, abandoned?
  How did you manage to stay close?
  Was the effort one sided? How does that work?
• How do you think Jesus felt when Judas left the group in order to betray Jesus?
  What is the “darkness” that Jesus might have experienced, knowing that He had “lost” Judas?
  How could he continue to love Judas?
• Have I ever felt I had to be rich or beautiful or accomplished in order to be recognized or loved?
• Have you ever had anyone in your life whom it was difficult to love?
  Have you ever been difficult to love at times in your life?
• How does it feel to contemplate that God makes a dwelling with the human race (Revelation reading)?
• How do you describe “love”? Can you love someone you don’t actually like or admire?
  What do you think is the difference between love and affection?
  Is your idea of love a feeling that is reciprocated?
  How do you deal with having your attempts at love rejected by someone?
• We witness to the love of Jesus by who we are, by what we do with our lives and how we treat others. In what ways is my life a witness to the love Jesus talks about?
  In what ways can I improve?
• Have you ever had to employ tough love with a friend or relative?
• Someone said that love without justice is sentimentality. Do you agree or disagree?
• Jesus (Luke 8) said: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” Father Bausch said love is not repaid, is passed on. Can you think of an instance where you passed on to another love that was freely extended to you?
• When is love tough?
• Love in community has its own set of challenges: Choosing the collective good over individual good Loving those you don’t like Forgiving those who hurt you or others Being an active witness of this community love (”See how they love one another”) Actually doing justice Which of these do I find the most difficult to live out?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from Living Space 2022, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

The word “new” appears several times in today’s readings. The passage from Revelation speaks of a “new” heaven, a “new” earth and a “new” Jerusalem. Jesus in the Gospel speaks of a “new” commandment. What’s supposed to be “new”? A new life in Christ, of course, is something that can come early or late into the life of a person. For many saints it came after quite a long period of loose and immoral living without God. St Augustine and St Ignatius Loyola come to mind. For others, like Therese of Lisieux, it came relatively early. She was already a saint when she died at the tender age of 24. For most of us, it is something that may come in waves. In other words, it will not be a once-for-all experience but something that comes at different stages in our life, each time bringing us to a deeper level of understanding, insight and commitment.

Easter is the time when we both remember and celebrate the new life which has come to us through our Risen Lord. The “new life” that the Scripture speaks of is also referred to as “conversion”, a turning round, or, in Greek meta-noia (μετάνοια). It means a radical change of vision, of our priorities in life. It means new attitudes, new values, new standards of relating with God and with people and indeed with our whole living environment of which we are a synergistic part.

What do you understand this “new life” to mean ? Can you say that you have experienced this “new life” this Easter or, for that matter, in any previous Easter? Are you aware of becoming changed in any way—for the better—over the years? Or has the Easter experience simply passed you by? Speak to Jesus about his promise of a new life, and what your response might be.

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

The Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke the Evangelist, chronicles the ups and downs of the Church Jesus left behind, and a little later, of the Church the apostles left behind. Can you recall any examples of disagreements among various members of the early Church? How were they handled? What are some examples of ways in which the early Church communities lived out the command of Jesus, in spite of some real differences? Today’s first reading illustrates that Paul and Barnabas, through their love for Jesus and his message, spread the good news over 1200 miles, and still answered to their fellow Christians about their successes and failures.

Thomas Bokenkotter’s A Concise History of the Catholic Church is not so very concise at some 430 pages, but you might find some chapters very interesting and informative. And remember, we are dealing with over 2000 years of history, with theological and personal differences which at times the Church was unified and cohesive and at times rendered it riven by animosity and even violence.

From Jude Siciliano, O.P.:

What is the situation in our local churches? How are we like or unlike the community in Acts? Are the poor, uneducated, ill, disabled, unemployed, at home among us? Do some people come to church for years and never feel like they really belong? Some people say the hour in church on Sunday is the most segregated time of the week. Do minorities, refugees, and others feel a part of us? Are convicts visited by our faithful?

What are some of the issues in the contemporary Church that sometimes seem divisive? If you have attended any of the Synod listening sessions, you may have seen some differences of opinion in those very discussion groups. Can you think of any?

What are some constructive ways to handle the deeply different opinions and visions of the Church without slipping into divisiveness and hostility? Does it help to remember that none of us gets to say who is the real Catholic in the room? Does it help to assume the integrity, intelligence and good will of the person with whom I disagree? Does it help to give the other person’s opinion the respect it deserves? Can we have a discussion without becoming argumentative, or worse, enemies? Can others say of us: “See how they love one another…”?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Has anyone in my life been a mirror of God’s love for me? Have I ever told that person how much his or her unconditional love means to me? Have I ever withheld love from someone who clearly wanted my love? What was the reason—I disapproved of his actions, or her personality irritated me or I simply saw that it gave me power over another? What do I do now?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Imagine that you are one of the disciples, and it is becoming clear that Jesus will not be with you for very much longer. How do you feel about having him go out of your life at this point? What are the things you want to say to him? What do you want to ask him? Are you comforted by the words of today’s gospel? Sit with Jesus a while and share your feelings about your desire to stay close to him and to do his will.

Literary Reflection:

Read the Following poem by Thomas Centolella. What does it say to you about Jesus’ exhortation to love one another?

“In The Evening We Shall Be Examined On Love”
-St. John of the Cross

And it won’t be multiple choice,
though some of us would prefer it that way.
Neither will it be essay, which tempts us to run on
when we should be sticking to the point, if not together.
In the evening there shall be implications
our fear will turn to complications. No cheating,
we’ll be told and we’ll try to figure the cost of being true
to ourselves. In the evening when the sky has turned
that certain blue, blue of exam books, blue of no more
daily evasions, we shall climb the hill as the light empties
and park our tired bodies on a bench above the city
and try to fill in the blanks. And we won’t be tested
like defendants on trial, cross-examined
till one of us breaks down, guilty as charged. No,
in the evening, after the day has refused to testify,
we shall be examined on love like students
who don’t even recall signing up for the course
and now must take their orals, forced to speak for once
from the heart and not off the top of their heads.
And when the evening is over and it’s late,
the student body asleep, even the great teachers
retired for the night, we shall stay up
and run back over the questions, each in our own way:
what’s true, what’s false, what unknown quantity
will balance the equation, what it would mean years from now
to look back and know
we did not fail.

(from Lights & Mysteries)

Closing Prayer

Lord, there are so many in this world who need the kind of love Jesus showed his disciples: the lonely, the ill, the poor, the depressed, those suffering from war and violence in their lives. Help me to move from sentimental pity to actually putting my feelings into action, Open my eyes to those in my life who are in need of my generous, and maybe even sacrificial, love. Help me to reach out to those outside my own circle of friends and family to address the vast needs of a world broken by hate and greed. Help me to be your love in my world.