Second Sunday of Easter, April 27, 2025

What is faith? What is the role of doubt in faith?

John 20:19–31

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’ and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’

After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.’

Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord,’ but he answered, ‘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.’

Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving any more but believe.’

Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’

Jesus said to him: You believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

There were many other signs that Jesus worked in the sight of the disciples, but they are not recorded in this book.

These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.

Brief Analysis and Comparison of the Resurrection and Post-Resurrection Narratives) >>

Music Meditations

• Christ in Me Arise—Trevor Thomson
• Our God is Here—Chris Muglia (Praise and Worship)
• We Remember--Marty Haugen
• Come Thou Font of every Blessing—Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Preparation / Centering

If done in a group setting, the prompts are read aloud by the leader; otherwise a silent meditation.

Presence of God:

In times of stress and pressure, Lord, it is hard to remember that you are always with me, in my heart and soul. I breathe in and out slowly, silently repeating “Jesus, you are with me”, for several minutes.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Freedom:

Jesus, I am free to believe in you, in your love, in your mission, in your constancy. I am also free to have doubts and worries, to waver now and then, knowing that you bless me and the freedom God has given me. [1-2 minutes of silence]

Consciousness:

Jesus, I sit quietly and become aware of where I sense hope, encouragement and growth in my life. I look at several incidents in the past month that have asked me to discern where I was going, with whom and why. I look at my responses and thank you for any signs of renewed commitment to you and your truth. I pray for resolve.

[2-3 minutes of silence]

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord, often we are ordinary persons, knotted up in our own worries and concerns that we cannot see your presence among us. Our doubts and fears often get in the way of our peace and growth. Help us to believe, more, to trust more, to rejoice more in your love and your company.

Companions for the Journey

This is a short writing from one of the Christian or non-Christian witnesses of our tradition, with a message that embodies the theme of the gospel we are studying today:

Adapted from “First Impressions” 2019, by Father Jude Siciliano, O.P., a service of the southern Dominican Province:

My first response to today’s gospel is, “Thank God for Thomas.” We are a long way removed from this event. As a modern person reading different resurrection accounts, I note variations in the details. I tend to want more accuracy in the stories so that I can show them to others and say, “Here, this is what really happened, all the witnesses agree.” That kind of coalescence of details would satisfy my need for neatness and my penchant for order. I would feel reassured. But would some newspaper report of the events two thousand years ago build my faith, help me believe when in crisis, keep me going over the long haul of discipleship? I wonder.

What we have instead, are stories filled with chaos and confusion. Everyone seems caught off guard by the resurrection. It was a surprise to them as they struggled to deal with something that was completely beyond their experience. So, Thomas’ skepticism sounds real to me. I would have responded similarly, because I respond that way these days. My doubts and struggles don’t go away, but are there despite my faith. I like it that someone I can identify with was on the scene, attempting to throw the cold water of “reality” on what must have been an ecstatic group of disciples. Since I wasn’t there, I want someone to speak my case. Thomas, who missed the first appearance in the upper room, stands in for us who are long removed from these events. His need for help in believing speaks our own needs as we survey a world that acts so contrary to resurrection and new life.

In addition, my own church appears to lack the vibrant faith of a resurrection-based community of believers. If we believe in the resurrection, why aren’t we a more alive community at Sunday worship? Why aren’t we, in a time of multiple military engagements, more outspoken witnesses for the shalom-peace Jesus wishes for his friends in the upper room? Our society needs a strong community’s voice to speak critically to a world of prejudice, fear, hatred, exploitation and oppression. Recent clergy scandals chip away at my resurrection faith as well. I stand with Thomas, hearing about resurrection, but sometimes feeling very removed from any vibrant manifestation of its reality. I am glad Thomas spoke up. I am glad he wrestled, as I do, with doubts. I am even happier that the risen Christ took all this into consideration and made that extra appearance–a return trip to the upper room- just to help a disciple work through his doubts and arrive at faith.

I suspect the early church, rather than denigrate Thomas as the weak link in the chain of faith, saw this story as a treasure. From the beginning there were naysayers who denied the resurrection and held the central belief of the church up to ridicule. For them the first community could point to Thomas, who also was a naysayer and attest, here is one who also doubted and then came to believe. Jesus’ passing through the locked doors of that room suggests he wasn’t and isn’t restricted by any place and time. So for us gathered at worship, we invite that same Christ to come to us, see our doubts and struggles and reassure our faith, we who haven’t seen, but try to believe. The risen Christ greets his frightened followers with a greeting of peace—“Shalom.” This was more than a “hello,” more than a “calm down, get a grip.” Remember earlier in this gospel Jesus promised his peace, “Peace I leave with you....” Today he bids his peace to them twice. They will take his peace into the world, empowered by the Spirit he breathes on them. We are reminded, as Jesus breathes on his disciples, of God’s breathing into the humans God formed from clay in Genesis. We are being created anew, with the life and breath of the Risen One. Now his followers will be able to live and preach his message of peace. God’s shalom was the promise made through the prophets. God would create a new community of believers who would practice forgiveness and harmonious relations, they too would be bearers of shalom, as Jesus was.

We are not merely looking back on one historical moment. Rather, whenever Christians practice forgiveness, overcome death in its daily guises–hatred, deceit, indifference, contention, violence, prejudice, etc —then the Spirit of Christ is alive and well in believers and the resurrection is expressed again in this moment and this time. We can’t “prove” the resurrection to non-believers, not even with this story of doubting Thomas. But we certainly can be fingers pointing to it whenever we are signs that the life of Christ has not been extinguished, but is enfleshed in his modern followers.

Most of us gathered for worship this Sunday probably don’t share the disciples’ fear. They feared for their lives; they had seen what had happened to Jesus. As his followers, they could expect similar treatment, so they locked themselves in to keep danger out. While we probably don’t have their limiting fears, we may have their initial doubts. They had heard Mary Magdalene’s report of the empty tomb (Easter Sunday’s gospel) and her meeting with the risen Christ (20:10-16). But her report was not enough to overcome their doubts. This may be the way Jesus’ message about not being afraid applies to us—he could be telling us not to be afraid because of our doubts. Don’t let our doubts paralyze us; instead of drawing on them, we must lean more on the faith we do have. In addition, we don’t stand alone in these doubts, we belong to a community whose members also struggle with their doubts. Our community worshiping around us today doesn’t consist of some doubters and other believers; it is comprised of believers who wrestle with doubts. Thomas with his doubts, surrendered to belief before the risen Lord. In fact, even seeing the risen Christ wasn’t initially enough for Thomas to have full faith.

Faith, it seems from today’s story, has to go beyond seeing and touching with our physical senses. Instead, like Thomas, the risen Christ encourages a leap of faith, “...do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas is a reminder today that our journey of faith includes doubt. We are fortunate to be among those Jesus called “blessed.” We have trusted the gospel news of the resurrection, have embraced it as our faith and have gone about living as people who draw life from a Spirit that had been breathed into each one of us.

If the resurrection has been told in any other way, we would have felt distant from it. Struggling with our incompleteness, the darkness of faith and the hurts we have experienced and observed in others, the last thing we need is a resurrected savior who comes to disciples all spanking clean and spruced up! This would have made him too removed from our lives. Instead, while he is resurrected, he still shows signs of his dwelling among us—his wounds. It was through his wounds, not in spite of them, that he was identifiable to those left behind. It was through these same wounds that we received our life. Our wounds do not set us apart from Jesus, indeed, they are signs of our union with him. And his wounds assure us we shall not be defeated by all that assails us. When Jesus enters the locked room where his frightened disciples are holed up in fear, he doesn’t come in a blaze of glory, surrounded by angelic powers and blinding light. He comes with his wounds---the wounded savior comes to his wounded disciples. Like us, his sojourn has dealt him heavy blows, he too has been battered. Since we all have wounds, Jesus shared even that with us. He wasn’t a casual visitor who just passed through our lives, an observer not fully involved.

Whenever we experience them in our lives, our wounds don’t have to defeat us. They link us to one another and to the risen Christ. His resurrection helps us bear these wounds and gives us hope that we are being healed of them. But even before complete healing happens, we know that in our own woundedness, we meet Christ, who comes through any barriers we may set up to cover our hurts. He would be with us where we are most protective and locked up---and there bring us his peace.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

My Lord and My God

A Quote for the Week

from Rainier Marie Rilke: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

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

• Jesus entered that room through locked doors. Are the doors of my heart locked to Jesus?
• Jesus saw something in Thomas’ heart that others missed. Do I believe that Jesus sees into the deepest regions of my poor and doubting heart?
• If Thomas had to get away from the group for a while to process his grief and loss, he might not have been quite ready emotionally to believe a new reality when he has just begun to come to acceptance of the old one. Are there times when we are afraid to trust in joy or good news for fear we will be disappointed and devastated all over again?
• In this gospel, all of the other disciples in that room, except Thomas, had seen Jesus for themselves. What Thomas was asked to do was take their testimony and believe it. Do I ever question the credibility of the witnesses to Jesus I find in scripture?
  Am I Thomas’s twin?
• Thomas is the quintessential modern man, skeptical of easy answers and cheap grace. Have I ever said “I believe it when I see it.”?
  How unrealistic is it for me to believe what I have never seen?
  Is it only honest to admit this?
• 75% of our knowledge comes from accepting the word of others. We tend to have a hard time accepting that about which we are already skeptical or accepting that which we do not like to hear. Have I ever resisted the truth of a situation because it made me uncomfortable?
  Have I ever resisted the truth of a situation because it required me to change?
• How many of us like Thomas, make grand statements of principle, but have trouble following through?
• Can I speak to Jesus honestly about my fears and my doubts?
  Can I ever admit to Jesus that I sometimes have trouble believing?
• Thomas might have been so devastated by the death of Jesus that he was afraid to hope in the resurrection. Have I ever been in a situation in which I felt that it hurt too much to hope?
• Have you ever had a religious experience that was out of the ordinary?
  How did you respond?
  How did this experience affect your life?
• Has there ever been a time in your life when you felt hopeless or lost?
  Was Jesus present in this experience?
• Has it ever been difficult for you to believe in the fact that Jesus lives? Have you ever doubted the possibility of life after death?
• Have I ever had a strong intimation of the power and majesty of God?
  When?
  How did it change me?
• Most walk through life so far with doubt on one arm and faith/trust on the other. What are my doubts or fears?
  In what or whom do I trust?
• Thomas’s doubts grew when he was away from the community. When we doubt, we tend to give up, go away, drop out. Has this ever happened to me?
  Did I seek out other doubters or did I look for ways to stay strong and live with those doubts together with others going through the same things and hanging in there?
  How does my community of faith support me in my doubts or fears?
• How do I hang on to my beliefs in a climate of skepticism and cynicism which is so prevalent in our culture today?
  Do my doubts multiply in a climate of unbelief?
  Can I admit my doubts or do I mask them with bravado?
• What are some of the wounds I have sustained during my life?
  Have they permanently disfigured me, or has the healing power of Christ and of human love made those scars badges of honor?
• Does Christ enter into human experience through his own wounds?
• Did you notice that Jesus’ response was to welcome Thomas into his very wounds, his sorrow?
  Do I think Jesus understands my doubts, my fears, and welcomes me home?
• Too often we judge ourselves harshly because we remember “Blessed are those who have not seen and believed?” Well, good for them! But do I understand that I am loved and accepted by God, no matter where I am in my faith journey?
• Like Thomas, we sometimes set conditions for our belief and trust in God, demanding that He hear our prerequisites for belief or acceptance. Why is this such a human trait?
  Do we sometimes behave this way with others in our lives?
• Is there a climate of unbelief in our society? What in our culture undermines trust/belief? What supports it?
• Did I skip over the part int his gospel where Jesus says: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”?
  What challenge is there for me in this statement?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Thomas was forever known as “doubting Thomas” because he at first refused to believe his fellow disciples when they told him what they had seen. What we sometimes forget to see in this gospel is that Thomas went beyond what he saw in the person of Jesus in that upper room, and was the first to recognize that Jesus was more than his resurrected self, more than his wounds. He saw that Jesus was God. Thomas was not doubting at all in the Jesus who stood before him; in fact he was expressing a more radical faith than any of the others had uttered. Thomas was willing to let go of his doubts and fears because of his utter faith in the divine Jesus. Thomas had no proof of this divinity; his faith must have come from a special gift of the Holy Spirit which allowed him to see beyond the physical to the mystical. He could not do this on his own. In my own life, have I ever had doubts or second-guessed my beliefs and assumptions? How willing was I to accept a new and more radical reality? Have I ever, like the father of the epileptic child in Mark (9:24), prayed: “I believe; help my unbelief”? Do I realize that sometimes we have to take “ a leap of faith” to trust our own instincts, to trust others, to trust the process of living and dying? How hard is that?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

freely adapted from “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

I imagine that I am one of the disciples there in the room when Jesus first appears. How shocked am I? Am I fearful? Comforted? Why do I think Jesus shows me his hands and his side? Does everyone in my community “see” that this is really the resurrected Jesus? Does it happen to each of us all at once, or is there a different pace of recognition for each of us? In my role as disciple in the upper room, am I at all hesitant to believe what I am seeing? How do I feel when Jesus says: ”Peace be with you”? What does it feel like when Jesus breathes on me and tells me to receive the Holy Spirit? Do I have any idea what he is talking about? When Thomas returns, do I rush to tell him what excitement he has missed? How do I feel when Thomas rejects my testimony and demands some sort of proof? Do I feel this is this a rejection of Jesus or a rejection of my own personal experience of Jesus?

When Thomas actually does encounter Jesus himself, he seems to forget his former need for proof. Did Jesus look into his heart and see the need that was there?

In my own life, do I ever feel that my experience of Jesus is special to me, and feel superior to those whose belief is harder won or even non-existent? In my own faith experience, do hope that God looks beyond my first reaction, my hasty words, and sees the need in me for love, for reassurance, for comfort? I sit quietly in Jesus ‘ presence and listen for his voice, being open to whatever he offers me. I resolve to give Jesus not just my intellectual belief, but to give him my heart, because he has already given me his.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Read Psalm 116b, 10I trusted, even when I said, “I am sorely afflicted,”  11and when I said in my alarm, “These people are all liars.” 12How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? 13The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the name of the LORD. 14My vows to the LORD I will fulfill  before all his people.  15too costly in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful. 16Your servant, LORD, your servant am I, the son of your handmaid; you have loosened my bonds.  17A thanksgiving sacrifice I make; I will call on the name of the LORD. 18My vows to the LORD I will fulfill before all his people,  19in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Alleluia Note especially line 15: "Too costly in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful." Within our community and our world there are innocent children and adults who are the victims of poverty and violence caused by war, greed, and political divisions. Seek out an organization dedicated to change the world for the better, such as Pax Christi, Physicians without Borders, Catholic Relief Services or any organization supporting Ukraine and learn as much as you can about what one individual can do to change things. Resolve to do ONE THING this week to aid the cause of justice and peace, whether it is learning more about an issue, donating money, or actually giving time to an organization or even just an individual who might need your help in a time of personal darkness. Pray for the Ukrainian people and for the Russian people.

Literary Reflection:

Read and enjoy the following poem by Michael Kennedy, S.J.

Nail Holes (2nd Sunday of Easter) **** Of all the places In the entire world Thomas was Absent from the place where Jesus Appeared and he must have wondered Why in the world he chose to be gone That night since he had decided he Needed a break from the disciples Who were trapped into a never Ending contest of second Guessing and so a week Later Thomas made it A goal that he would Be present if the Master came to Them again **** And as much as we Admire and praise all the disciples Perhaps our biggest thanks should Go to Thomas for he showed the Other disciples and us that Asking questions with even A skeptical mind was not Only a good idea but Probably mandatory as The quick response of The Risen Lord Would seem to Indicate **** For Thomas gives All followers of Jesus Permission to question even the Most central part of our faith So that after all is said and Done one of the center points After that first Easter Is quietly and simply The nail holes ****

Literary Reflection:

This is a lovely meditation (from a site called “Eleison”) on a poem by Denise Levertov, late a professor of English at Stanford University, who converted to Catholicism while she was here in her sixties and who wrote a Mass for the Day of St. Thomas (also called Mass for the Sunday of St. Thomas).: “Especially on this Sunday I am reminded of the poem “St. Thomas Didymus” by Denise Levertov. In her poem she exquisitely expresses both Thomas’ doubt as well as the beautiful revelation of the risen Lord. She draws a parallel between Thomas’ doubt and the epileptic’s father who exclaimed, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief.” Often, like Thomas, I struggle with doubts of my own. I often doubt that God will tend to me and provide for me as I walk the narrow way, stewarding my sexuality. I fear loneliness, rejection, isolation, and unhappiness as the result of my celibacy. However, I find much comfort in knowing that like Thomas I can express and speak aloud my doubts and like Thomas not be rejected for my doubt but met by the Risen Lord so I may cry, ‘You are my Lord and my God.’”

St. Thomas Didymus  In the hot street at noon I saw him a small man gray but vivid, standing forth beyond the crowd’s buzzing holding in desperate grip his shaking teethgnashing son, and thought him my brother. I heard him cry out, weeping, and speak those words, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief, and knew him my twin: a man whose entire being had knotted itself into the one tight drawn question, Why, why has this child lost his childhood in suffering, why is this child who will soon be a man tormented, torn twisted? Why is he cruelly punished who has done nothing except be born? The twin of my birth was not so close as that man I heard say what my heart sighed with each beat, my breath silently cried in and out, in and out. After the healing, he, with his wondering newly peaceful boy, receded; no one dwells on the gratitude, the astonished joy, the swift acceptance and forgetting. I did not follow to see their changed lives. What I retained was the flash of kinship. Despite all that I witnessed, his question remained my question, throbbed like a stealthy cancer, known only to doctor and patient. To others I seemed well enough. So it was that after Golgotha my spirit in secret lurched in the same convulsed writhings that tore that child before he was healed. And after the empty tomb when they told me He lived, had spoken to Magdalen, told me that though He had passed through the door like a ghost He had breathed on them the breath of a living man- even then when hope tried with a flutter of wings to lift me- still, alone with myself, my heavy cry was the same: Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. I needed blood to tell me the truth, the touch of blood. Even my sight of the dark crust of it round the nailholes didn’t thrust its meaning all the way through to that manifold knot in me that willed to possess all knowledge, refusing to loosen unless that insistence won the battle I fought with life. But when my hand led by His hand’s firm clasp entered the unhealed wound, my fingers encountering rib-bone and pulsing heat, what I felt was not scalding pain, shame for my obstinate need, but light, light streaming into me, over me, filling the room as if I had lived till then in a cold cave, and now coming forth for the first time, the knot that bound me unravelling, I witnessed all things quicken to color, to form, my question not answered but given its part in a vast unfolding design lit by a risen sun.

Closing Prayer

From Sacred Space 2022, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Help us, Lord, to be before you and to hear your word in this time of prayer. You know the needs of our minds, You have heard our words. Now, let us listen to your voice and know your presence. We lay aside our demands and receive what it is you offer to us.

Good Friday, April 18, 2025

Jesus completes his mission on this earth

MUSIC MEDITATIONS FOR GOOD FRIDAY:

Pie Jesu—Faure or Lloyd Webber

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit

Jesus, remember Me—Taize

Going Home-sung by Bryn Terfel (the largo from the New world Symphony by Dvorak)

John 18:1—19:42

Chapter 18

1.After he had said all this, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron valley where there was a garden into which he went with his disciples. 2.Judas the traitor knew the place also, since Jesus had often met his disciples there, 3.so Judas brought the cohort to this place together with guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees, all with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4.Knowing everything that was to happen to him, Jesus came forward and said, 'Who are you looking for?' 5.They answered, 'Jesus the Nazarene.' He said, 'I am he.' Now Judas the traitor was standing among them. 6.When Jesus said to them, 'I am he,' they moved back and fell on the ground. 7.He asked them a second time, 'Who are you looking for?' They said, 'Jesus the Nazarene.' 8.Jesus replied, 'I have told you that I am he. If I am the one you are looking for, let these others go.' 9.This was to fulfil the words he had spoken, 'Not one of those you gave me have I lost.' 10.Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. 11.Jesus said to Peter, 'Put your sword back in its scabbard; am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?' 12.The cohort and its tribune and the Jewish guards seized Jesus and bound him.

13.They took him first to Annas, because Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14.It was Caiaphas who had counselled the Jews, 'It is better for one man to die for the people.' 15.Simon Peter, with another disciple, followed Jesus. This disciple, who was known to the high priest, went with Jesus into the high priest's palace, 16.but Peter stayed outside the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the door-keeper and brought Peter in. 17.The girl on duty at the door said to Peter, 'Aren't you another of that man's disciples?' He answered, 'I am not.' 18.Now it was cold, and the servants and guards had lit a charcoal fire and were standing there warming themselves; so Peter stood there too, warming himself with the others. 19.The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20.Jesus answered, 'I have spoken openly for all the world to hear; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the Temple where all the Jews meet together; I have said nothing in secret. 21.Why ask me? Ask my hearers what I taught; they know what I said.' 22.At these words, one of the guards standing by gave Jesus a slap in the face, saying, 'Is that the way you answer the high priest?' 23.Jesus replied, 'If there is some offence in what I said, point it out; but if not, why do you strike me?' 24.Then Annas sent him, bound, to Caiaphas the high priest. 25.As Simon Peter stood there warming himself, someone said to him, 'Aren't you another of his disciples?' He denied it saying, 'I am not.' 26.One of the high priest's servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, 'Didn't I see you in the garden with him?' 27.Again Peter denied it; and at once a cock crowed.

28.They then led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. It was now morning. They did not go into the Praetorium themselves to avoid becoming defiled and unable to eat the Passover. 29.So Pilate came outside to them and said, 'What charge do you bring against this man?' They replied, 30.'If he were not a criminal, we should not have handed him over to you.' 31.Pilate said, 'Take him yourselves, and try him by your own Law.' The Jews answered, 'We are not allowed to put anyone to death.' 32.This was to fulfil the words Jesus had spoken indicating the way he was going to die. 33.So Pilate went back into the Praetorium and called Jesus to him and asked him, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' 34.Jesus replied, 'Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others said it to you about me?' 35.Pilate answered, 'Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?' 36.Jesus replied, 'Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom does not belong here.' 37.Pilate said, 'So, then you are a king?' Jesus answered, 'It is you who say that I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.' 38.'Truth?' said Pilate. 'What is that?' And so saying he went out again to the Jews and said, 'I find no case against him. 39.But according to a custom of yours I should release one prisoner at the Passover; would you like me, then, to release for you the king of the Jews?' 40.At this they shouted, 'Not this man,' they said, 'but Barabbas.' Barabbas was a bandit." 

Chapter 19

"1.Pilate then had Jesus taken away and scourged; 2.and after this, the soldiers twisted some thorns into a crown and put it on his head and dressed him in a purple robe. 3.They kept coming up to him and saying, 'Hail, king of the Jews!' and slapping him in the face. 4.Pilate came outside again and said to them, 'Look, I am going to bring him out to you to let you see that I find no case against him.' 5.Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, 'Here is the man.' 6.When they saw him, the chief priests and the guards shouted, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' Pilate said, 'Take him yourselves and crucify him: I find no case against him.' 7.The Jews replied, 'We have a Law, and according to that Law he ought to be put to death, because he has claimed to be Son of God.' 8.When Pilate heard them say this his fears increased. 9.Re-entering the Praetorium, he said to Jesus, 'Where do you come from?' But Jesus made no answer. 10.Pilate then said to him, 'Are you refusing to speak to me? Surely you know I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?' 11.Jesus replied, 'You would have no power over me at all if it had not been given you from above; that is why the man who handed me over to you has the greater guilt.' 12.From that moment Pilate was anxious to set him free, but the Jews shouted, 'If you set him free you are no friend of Caesar's; anyone who makes himself king is defying Caesar.' 13.Hearing these words, Pilate had Jesus brought out, and seated him on the chair of judgement at a place called the Pavement, in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14.It was the Day of Preparation, about the sixth hour. 'Here is your king,' said Pilate to the Jews. 15.But they shouted, 'Away with him, away with him, crucify him.' Pilate said, 'Shall I crucify your king?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king except Caesar.' 16.So at that Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

They then took charge of Jesus, 17.and carrying his own cross he went out to the Place of the Skull or, as it is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18.where they crucified him with two others, one on either side, Jesus being in the middle. 19.Pilate wrote out a notice and had it fixed to the cross; it ran: 'Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews'. 20.This notice was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the writing was in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. 21.So the Jewish chief priests said to Pilate, 'You should not write "King of the Jews", but that the man said, "I am King of the Jews". ' 22.Pilate answered, 'What I have written, I have written.'

23.When the soldiers had finished crucifying Jesus they took his clothing and divided it into four shares, one for each soldier. His undergarment was seamless, woven in one piece from neck to hem; 24.so they said to one another, 'Instead of tearing it, let's throw dice to decide who is to have it.' In this way the words of scripture were fulfilled: They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothes. That is what the soldiers did. 25.Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. 26.Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son.' 27.Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. 28.After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: I am thirsty. 29.A jar full of sour wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. 30.After Jesus had taken the wine he said, 'It is fulfilled'; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit. 31.It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies' remaining on the cross during the Sabbath -- since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity -- the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. 32.Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. 33.When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs 34.one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.

35.This is the evidence of one who saw it -- true evidence, and he knows that what he says is true -- and he gives it so that you may believe as well. 36.Because all this happened to fulfil the words of scripture: Not one bone of his will be broken; 37.and again, in another place scripture says: They will look to the one whom they have pierced.

38.After this, Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus -- though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jews -- asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission, so they came and took it away. 39.Nicodemus came as well -- the same one who had first come to Jesus at night-time -- and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40.They took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, following the Jewish burial custom. 41.At the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in this garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. 42.Since it was the Jewish Day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there." 

Companions for the Journey:

HOMILY FOR GOOD FRIDAY DEIVERED AT UNIVERSITY PUBLIC WORSHIP, MEMORIAL CHURCH 2008 Nancy Greenfield

The last words of Jesus, according to the writer of the last canonical Gospel, were the cryptic: "It is finished".

What is finished?

I think it depends on your perspective.

Let us, in our mind's eye, gather around the cross and observe the reactions of those intimately connected to the fateful events of that day:

For the High priests, this is the end, or so they think, to all those incendiary speeches, dangerous gatherings of people who are beginning to question the authority of the temple, and who are beginning to see the high priests as collaborators in a system which kept the peace with Rome, but did so on the backs of the poor and marginalized. It is an end to a public relations nightmare in which Rome once again looks at this corner of the world as a hotbed of discontent and sedition. The traitor is dead.

It is finished; FINALLY!

Soldiers on a hill, obeying orders from above. Nasty job to pull. But somebody has to. Wretched day. Hot. Humid. Cloudy. Storm brewing. Anybody for a quick game? Thirsty! Listen to that one. He's thirsty! If you are the king of the Jews, get out of this one — if you can. A bad job; but it's over now. Another day, another shekel. (1.) It is finished:

Two thieves, each with a different reaction on their last day on earth: One is desperate for life, disappointed when Jesus can't pull off the final miracle. "I knew you were a fake!" The other, sensing something larger than life is happening here: "This man has done nothing wrong." But for each of them, there is no coming down from that cross alive.

It is finished.

The crowd dwindles. The shouting subsides. Wagging their heads they snort and chuckle. Destroy the temple! Who did he think he was? Rebuild it in three days! He fancied himself at playing Solomon. Good riddance, I say. That was a good one.

But it's finished now.

Somewhere in the shadows lurks a free man. Released from prison his first day out of jail. Barabbas delivered from bondage! His term of sentence?

It is finished.

Off in the distance on the palace balcony stand Pilate and his wife. A nightmare come true, but after all — I didn’t really know him. It wasn’t as though he were somebody important. What's done is done. " What I have written I have written," And that's that.

It is finished (2.)

The disciples--men and women, many of whom have been expecting a radical change in the religious philosophies and the social structures at the hand of Jesus surely realize that it is finished, and not in a good way, on that fateful afternoon when Jesus dies. "I left my family, my good life as a fisherman to follow him. I thought we had every chance of success. I was going to be his right hand person in his new kingdom. He is the only one who understood everything I ever did. What now? I guess it's back to the job of trying to make a living fishing. That 's it. We failed.

It is finished." (3)

What is finished?

When I was a child, I heard over and over again in one version or another: Jesus' job, to die for our sins, is finished. Jesus had to die in order for humanity to be restored to God's favor. Jesus' death settled the debt we owed by sinning, and opened up the gates of heaven for us once more. When Jesus' death is understood in light of salvation spirituality, his was a necessary sacrifice for all mankind. The reasoning, according to St Anselm in 1097, goes something like this: the human race has sinned, from Adam on down, and all crime must have punishment. Therefore, God must require a punishment, a price, before God can forgive our sins or crimes. God's anger will only be appeased by human sacrifice. This human sacrifice must be unblemished and perfect, so no one other than Jesus, the God-Man will be adequate. Jesus died for my sins. The payment has been made, the debt has been satisfied. (4.) Jesus came to save us. And that job is finished.

Sorry folks, I just don't buy it. For many of us, both in and out of the Christian communion, this notion of substitutionary atonement is more of a stumbling block than a help. For many of us, this reasoning flies in the face of our understanding of God as Abba, a loving daddy. What parent would demand the death of a son or daughter as payment for disobedience? Not a normal one.

Oh yes, Jesus came to save us, but not in the way we expected

Jesus became human to show us how to save ourselves from ourselves. He came to give us a vision of how life could be if it were ordered according to the principles of God instead of principles of humans. Jesus came to show us how to love. How to heal, and how to forgive. And this is what he did from one dusty corner of Israel to other. This is what he preached when he spoke of the laborers in the vineyard, or the Prodigal Son. This is what he did when he refused to counter violence with violence in his last hours on this earth. The legacy Jesus left is there for all of us to recall, recounted every time we pick up a gospel reading. . Too often we look on Jesus' death as a one-time solution to all that ails the earth. Too often we pray to God for an end to war, or poverty or injustice, expecting God to make it happen without any change or effort on our part. God has chosen since the beginning of time, to work in and through humans, and if the kingdom of heaven is to be attained, it must be through our own efforts, using the words and works of Jesus as a lodestar.

And when he died on that dark and dreadful day, his part in the drama we call the History of the Earth was over. It was finished. God or no God, by becoming fully human, one in solidarity with all of humanity, it was ordained that he would die--and the manner of his dying showed those who suffer: "I will suffer with you." He had done all he could to leave behind a legacy of love and mission. Unfortunately, the world Jesus left behind is a broken, messy world, riddled with sin and selfishness, and the project of healing is an interactive one between God and us. It is our job to do our part to finish what Jesus started.

And it that sense, it is not finished.

Look around folks.

We got trouble, right here in River City.

Right here on our small planet, we are busy killing one another and have been doing so since the days of Cain and Abel. When we speak of war casualties, --which in this war, numbers 4300 and counting- we rarely count the losses to our "enemy". When we speak of deterrents, we don't always stop to consider that our little planet has enough weapons of mass destruction stockpiled to annihilate every person on this earth. On our small planet, we are punching holes in the ozone layer, polluting the oceans with oil spills and ruining rivers and streams with industrial waste. Some animals, driven out of their habitat by encroaching civilization and industrialization, starve or are killed for profit. Currently, there are over 1000 species of birds and mammals that are facing extinction. And let us not forget that the collateral damage of war is the scorching of Mother earth itself.

IT IS NOT FINISHED!

Right here in this land of the free, last time I looked, bigotry and prejudice were alive and well. Stories of discrimination and hate crimes against Blacks, Asians, gays, women, Jews, Muslims; against "those people" who are not like us--these stories are in the newspaper and on the daily news every day. Every day!

Right here in this prosperous country, the younger you are, the more vulnerable you are. Among industrialized countries, America is the first in military technology, in military exports, in defense expenditures, in millionaires and billionaires, in health technology, but 17th in efforts to lift children out of poverty, 18th in infant mortality, last in protecting our children against gun violence. As our country has grown richer, our children have grown poorer. (5.)

Every 40 seconds a child is born into poverty. Every minute a child is born without health insurance. Every three minutes a child is arrested for drug abuse. Every six minutes a child is arrested for a violent crime. Every eighteen minutes a baby dies. Every two hours a firearm kills a child or youth.

Every day in America 8189 children are reported abused or neglected. (6.)

Every day.

IS SO NOT FINISHED!

Right here in our own small town, today and tomorrow people are surging or sending surrogates into the grocery stores to provision for the Easter feast as if it were the last banquet. As we exit the stores we don't even see the people sitting outside on an upended box with crudely lettered cardboard signs saying: "Homeless. Out of Work. Please help." As darkness closes in, small groups of desperate people arrange their meager bundles for another night in the open. The homeless shelters are full, the lines at St. Anthony's get longer and longer. Right here in our small town, many of the elderly have to make a choice between food and medication, between food and heat. Right here.

IT IS NOT FINISHED!

And we pray to God to fix it.

"Please God, give us peace. Stop people from fighting with us. Please God, stop people from polluting the earth. Please God, end discrimination and poverty and safeguard the most vulnerable. "

I ask you, is this the best we can do to love one another as Jesus has loved us? I think we can do better.

Jesus is no longer with us, and in the words of St Theresa of Avila: " God has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on the world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the earth. "

Instead, Let us pray to God to fix us:

Jesus, Man of Peace,

Give us the wisdom to look beyond military power and brute force to see that the collateral damage of war is often the life of an innocent child, or somebody's mother or hundreds and thousands of homeless and dislocated souls living in refugee camps.

Lord of Consolation,

I want to see with loving eyes all those lonely and hopeless

ones who have no one to talk to, who are locked in their own misery, who are too old to matter to anyone any more. Give me eyes of compassion to look at the faces behind the faces that I meet every day. Help me to see as fellow travelers those tucked into homes lighted for the evening, and in the homeless who arrange their bundles at the end of the day. Give me ears to hear the voices of the needy and the non-voices of silent desperation. Help me to have the courage and the energy to spend something of myself on their behalf Give me a heart that cares and words to heal.

Jesus, brother and friend, you left us an awesome and difficult task--It is not finished.

I am not finished.

I have barely begun.

1. adapted from God Has A Story Too by James A. Sanders, Elizabeth Hay Bechtel Professor of Intertestamental and Biblical Studies at the School of Theology, Claremont, California, and Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate School. He is also the author of Torah and Canon.. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Paul Mobley. God Has A Story Too was published in 1979 by Fortress Press, Philadelphia

2. Ibid

3. Ibid

4. Crossan, John Dominic and Borg, Marcus: The Last Week, p139

5. Walter Burghardt: To Be Just is to Love, 190

6. Ibid

HOMILY FOR GOOD FRIDAY ECUMENICAL SERVICE MEMORIAL CHURCH 2018

John Kerrigan

What would be a crucifixion for me? To feel that I’m absolutely alone, that nobody cared for or wanted me, that it really didn’t matter to anyone whether I lived or died.

About five years ago, I received an email from a former work acquaintance. Her name was Alice and she lived on the east coast. Alice’s note had a frantic tone to it: her son, Chris, enrolled in college in the Bay Area, was failing out of school. Furthermore, he had refused to meet with his academic advisor and stopped attending his therapy sessions. Alice asked if I would meet with Chris; I readily agreed. I sent her son a brief text introducing myself. His reply was hardly encouraging. “What do you want from me?” he wrote. After a few more emails back and forth, he agreed to meet. In my first face-to-face encounter with Chris, I sensed that he was exceptionally paranoid and obscenely angry. Think for a moment about J.D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield in "Catcher in the Rye" and, then, multiply that character’s cynicism by ten and you’ll start to get a picture of Chris. As we spoke, I quickly learned about his former friends, former girlfriend, and former stellar grades. I also learned about his current struggle with the prescription drug Adderall. Over time, I realized that Chris was experiencing the crucifixion of feeling entirely alone. In his mind, no one cared about him; he also had convinced himself that he could care less about anyone else.During the course of subsequent meetings, I simply listened to Chris and allowed him to vent. Ultimately, he decided to withdraw from school and move back east, primarily for economic reasons. I saw Chris for the last time a few days before his departure and helped him move some boxes from his apartment to a place where they could be shipped back east. As I was about to leave, I handed Chris a hat from the Stanford golf course (just like this one), and told him that it might come in handy as he coped with the summer heat back home. As we said our goodbyes, Chris casually handed the hat back to me. I was confused and said, "Chris, this is a gift; it’s yours to keep." He seemed genuinely surprised and said, “I thought you were joking. You mean I can keep it?" Whereupon, he put it on, and with a grin, said "thank you". It was the first time that I had heard him speak those two words.

Now, why do I share the story with you? For two reasons, actually.

First, because it reminds you and me that Calvary is not just a place nor is it a moment in time. Calvary comes to life whenever and wherever the body of Christ is scourged, stripped, broken, pierced. There is the Calvary of war and bigotry, the Calvary of persecution and poverty. There is the Calvary that dwells in every human heart, whenever we turn toward sin and away from Christ. There is the Calvary of young Chris being bound by the chains of despair and self- loathing. The miracle of Good Friday, though, is the realization that by God's grace, Calvary isn't the end of the story.

Second, I share the story about Chris so that we can spend a moment reflecting on the meaning of a "gift." Gifts are something that are given freely. They can, however, be received or ignored by the person for whom they are intended. Chris’s outer shell was pretty hard; he had a difficulty receiving and accepting a gift, though he did eventually embrace my gesture of friendship. It takes a certain humility to accept a gift and, more so, to accept that it is given freely by someone who thinks enough of us to give us that gift. This Good Friday we need to ask ourselves, “Are we willing to accept the gift of God’s unconditional love in our lives? Are you and I willing to stop making excuses for who we are and accept the fact that the person that God’s loves is the person that God made, you and me, just the way that we are?”

For a moment, let’s also ask ourselves, “Why do we call this Friday "Good?” Perhaps, because God used it to remind you and me that our humanity was something precious. After all, Jesus took on our flesh, he was born in the same way that you and I were born. I have no doubt that God could have worked out our salvation in many different ways. Instead, God decided to save us by taking on our flesh and pitching a tent among us. God became one of us because God wanted to experience what we experience and in the same way that we experience it. Recall for a moment, Paul's letter to the Hebrews: "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin."

If you and I want to know the meaning of the word God, we need only look at the life, death and destiny of Jesus of Nazareth. Likewise, if you or I want to know what it means to be a human being, we need look no farther than Jesus of Nazareth. The fullness of humanity revealing the fullness of divinity is found in the gift of Jesus of Nazareth. Which brings us back to God's "gift" this somber day. In all of his ministry, through to the Last Supper and passion and death on a cross, Jesus is saying to us, ‘If you want to hold on to your life, if you try to preserve it, if you grasp it and will not let it go, you will lose it. But, if you give your life away, if you hand it over, if you are willing to die, you will discover that you cannot run out of life.’ Hold onto life, you lose it; give it away and life becomes everlasting.

Good Friday reminds you and me that we will lose what we hold onto and can never run out of what we freely give away. Let’s apply this principle to our education and work lives as well. You and I may believe that our schooling and careers are gifts given to us to be grasped, prizes that we have achieved and strive to hold on to so as to advance in our professions or to make more money and provide for our family. And, actually, these are fine outcomes. However, if we think that these outcomes are all that our education and work lives are about, then perhaps we are unworthy of both. For the real reason for our education and life of work is to give us a greater ability to serve others. We never truly grasp the full fruits of our education and work until we give them away to others. The measure of our success is the degree to which people who never came to Stanford or set foot in Silicon Valley experience lives that are richer, fuller, more genuinely human because you did go to Stanford or you do work in Silicon Valley.

On Good Friday, Jesus gave everything, until there was nothing left to give – "Father, I hand myself over to you. It is finished.” To be able to give away everything is what all of us are in training to do, from the moment of our baptism. And in doing so, becoming a little more human. And in becoming a little more human, we become genuinely holy.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with Chris and his mother. Though the road’s been bumpy, he's navigating life much better. But, to one degree or another, isn’t life a bumpy road for you and me also. Alice did tell me, though, that the hat that I gave him as a token of our brief friendship is now threadbare from wear; that fact pleased me greatly.

Thanks to the gift of the Incarnation, you, I and God have one thing in common— we’re all human. Therefore, if we wish to be like God, let’s set our minds and hearts on being more human. And the way to be more human is to help others to be more human. To give yourself away.To discover that fact is to discover everything that is important in the Christian tradition. That is the gift that has been given to us this day. Give it away!

Reflections and Meditations:

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

The Way of the Cross, (adapted from Surrender: A Guide for Prayer by Jacqueline Syrup Bergan and Sister Marie Schwann, which is volume 4 of a 5-volume series based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius):

1. As Jesus appears before Pilate, I remember a time when I experienced being misunderstood, condemned:

2. As Jesus receives his cross, I recall a time when I received a cross in my life:

3. As Jesus falls the first time, I remember when I experienced my first failure, my own limits

4. As Mary encourages Jesus, I remember someone who encouraged me to follow God's call; I remember how he or she looked at me:

5. As Simon helps Jesus carry his cross, I consider who has been there to lift a burden from shoulders, from my heart:

6. As veronica wipes the face of Jesus, I remember the Veronicas in my life--those who stood by me, comforted me, even at the risk of their own rejection:

7 As Jesus falls a second time, I recall the times when I have experienced the helplessness of failing, knowing I would fail, again and again:

8. As the women reach out to comfort Jesus, I remember the faces of those whom I have reached out to comfort, even in my own pain:

9. As Jesus falls a third time, I recall a time when I felt as if I was totally defeated and could not go on:

10. As Jesus is stripped of his clothing, I remember the experience of feeling so emotionally naked, so publicly demeaned, so vulnerable before others:

11. As Jesus is nailed to the cross, I consider the things that bound me, kept me "fastened" to my own sorrow, failures or disappointments:

12. As I imagine Jesus dying on the cross, I try to recall a time when I loved so unconditionally, so completely, that I gave my all:

13. As I imagine Mary holding the dead body of her son, I pause and remember those who have held me up in life, nurtured me, and grieved with me:

14. As Jesus' body is laid in the tomb, I consider what in my life keeps me entombed, where I most experience death:

Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Which of the "Seven Last Words of Jesus" in the four gospel accounts of The Passion

speak to you the most? Why?

Mark: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Matthew: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Luke: Father forgive them; they don't know what they are doing.

Today you shall be with me in Paradise.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

John: Woman, here is your son. Here is your mother.

I thirst.

It is finished.

Poetic Reflection:

Read the following poem by A.E. Houseman ( 1896). Imagine that, despite the rather English idiomatic language and context, Jesus is actually the speaker. Which phrases do you think are really true and which are not really true to Jesus himself? Do you think Jesus ever second-guessed his choice to leave home and the trade he practiced for many years?:

THE CARPENTER’S SON

Here the hangman stops his cart:

Now the best of friends must part.

Fare you well, for ill fare I

Live, lads, and I will die.

Oh, at home had I but stayed

‘Prenticed to my father’s trade,

Had I stuck to plane and adze,

I had not been lost, my lads.

Then I might have built perhaps

Gallows-trees for other chaps,

Never dangled on my own,

Had I left but ill alone.

Now, you see, they hang me high,

And the people passing by

Stop to shake their fists and curse.

So ‘tis come from ill to worse.

Here hang I, and right and left

Two poor fellows hang for theft:

All the same’s the luck we prove,

Though the midmost hangs for love.

Comrades all, that stand and gaze,

Walk henceforth in other ways;

See my neck and save our own:

Comrades all, leave ill alone.

Make some day a decent end’

Shrewder fellows than your friend.

Fare you well, for ill fare I:

Live, lads, and I will die.

Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025

Jesus shows us how to live a life of service to others

John 13:1–5

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean." After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord-and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

MUSIC MEDITATIONS FOR HOLY THURSDAY:

Whatever You Do For the Least of My Brothers--Alstott, Batastini and Jabusch

I am the Bread of Life—Toolan

Your Will—Tony Eiras

Companions for the Journey

from “FIRST IMPRESSIONS” , a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Chapter 13 in John brings a major shift in this gospel. It closes the first part called “the Book of Signs”, the account of Jesus’ public ministry. Now we enter the second half of the gospel, called the Book of Glory (ch. 13-17). The word “love” is a key word in this section: Jesus will call his disciples to love and will show them the kind of love he has in mind by offering himself for them. The grain of wheat will die and bear much fruit, as he predicted (5th. Sunday of Lent). The opening verse of this section (13:1) links the final hours of Jesus’ life with the Passover. (Hence the choice of the first reading from Exodus, the account of the origins of the Passover. Jesus will die at the hour the Passover lambs are slaughtered for sacrifice in the Temple.) There is something about what is going to happen to Jesus, his long-awaited “hour”, that is going to complete the meaning of the Passover. The blood of the lamb painted on the lintels of their doors saved the Jews from the angel of death. The blood of this Lamb is going to save all from the death that sin has caused. Jesus isn’t just setting a good example for us as he washes his disciples feet; what he is initiating from this point on in the gospel will save us from the pervasive power of sin over our lives.

Foot washings were a part of hospitality in this culture. The roads were dusty and guests coming for a visit or meal would welcome the chance to have the dust from the road washed from their feet. Normally the washing would have been done before the meal and was the task of the youngest or lowliest servant or slave. The importance of the event is underscored by Jesus’ breaking the pattern of what was customary and acceptable: he interrupts the meal and does the washings himself. His final hour is at hand and he is already emptying himself. His dying has begun; our new life is about to begin. In fact, a sign of the community’s new life brought about by Jesus’ action will be that they will be “foot-washers”, servants to the needy among them. But much more is implied by his actions. Peter objects to Jesus’ humiliation in front of his disciples, he does not want his feet washed. But Peter is no dummy. Maybe he also sees what is implied in Jesus’ actions: if the Master is doing this then Peter may already suspect that the disciples will have to do likewise—himself included. Jesus insists that if Peter is to have any part in his inheritance, he must allow Jesus to wash his feet. And sure enough he learns that the “inheritance” will include washing the feet of others, being a lowly servant in the household where Jesus dwells. However, he will not be required to have a total bath again. As the disciple travels through life in the world, he/she picks up soil from the road. A full bath (another baptism?) is not necessary; but a washing is. We can be washed from our sins and refreshed and renewed as we sit down to the table with other disciples to eat the Passover meal of Jesus.

John is writing for a community like our own who, since their baptism, have many things from which they need cleansing. This account is encouraging for the community members who have failed, as Peter did, to live up to their Christian calling. After he betrayed Jesus, Peter must have been heartened by his remembrance of this incident and the possibility Jesus holds out to be washed from the soil of the road. Since the incident also took place at the table, the suggestion is that forgiveness is offered us through the meal we share in remembrance of Jesus. In our Eucharist, the first thing we do is ask for forgiveness of our failings. It’s as if each eucharistic meal begins with a foot washing. And we are the grateful recipients as we are reminded that what Jesus did for Peter, he does for us.

Thus, there is another way we can imitate the example of the One we call “teacher and master.” We can follow the example he set for us. Besides the call to service, so evident in the foot washing, another response Jesus may be asking of us tonight is to forgive one another as he has forgiven us. Since the ritual will be performed in many places of worship this day, we may want to look around at who else is present at the table with us and wash their feet by forgiving them what we hold against them.

Reflection Questions:

In what aspect of my life would I be ashamed to have Jesus see my “dirty feet”?

When I don’t understand God, do I get impatient?

Whose “feet” am I called to wash in this life of mine?

What does this gospel tell me about the connection between service to others and the Eucharist?

Meditations:

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

I read Matthew 26:36-46 (The agony in the garden). I imagine that I was one of the disciples asked to accompany Jesus as he went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. I had plenty to eat and drink, and the night was so quiet. I could hear the far-off laughter from other homes as people celebrated the seder meal. I could hear animals rustling in the dark, and then the quiet, even breathing of my two companions. In the dimness, I could see the shape of Jesus all by himself in a distant part of the Garden. He was sort of hunched over, folded in on himself. He seemed alone. I must admit that I was a little pleased when asked to be one of those to accompany him outside, but I felt a little rejected by his desire to go off alone. Why did he ask us to come in the first place? Sometimes, that man was an enigma. The others and I started to talk, but the conversation seemed flat somehow. I tried then to pray, but I kept falling asleep. He came back a couple of times and quietly woke us, but just as quietly he returned to his former position far from us. We were so embarrassed to be caught napping, but, really, there was nothing to do. Only later did we come to realize what Jesus was doing and what agony he was going through. After the soldiers came, I couldn’t look him in the eye; I was so ashamed. I often wonder what Jesus thought as he prayed there in the garden. I wonder if he thought we let him down in some way? I will never be able to explain or apologize for my failure. I often wonder what I could have done for him had I known. Every now and then, the scene returns to my mind and try to share with Jesus my thoughts and feelings about his agony. Somehow, I think he understood and still understands.

by Anne Greenfield from Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

From Sacred Space 2022, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

In these quiet moments, I imagine Jesus visiting with me, chatting, and then asking for a basin and a towel. Surprised, I ask “why?” He says “You will understand later!” Can let him kneel and wash my poor feet, just as they are? Am I moved, perhaps to tears, by what he does? Perhaps no one has ever done this for me since I was a child. After a silence, he explains that he himself lives out a life of loving and humble service, and that he wants me as a disciple to copy what he has done for me. I ask him to show me, day by day, whose needs he wants me to meet. I bring him with me whenever I serve others.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
Has there been a time in your life when you were treated unfairly? How did you react?

Have you ever counted on friends to be with you in a stressful time in your life? Were they there for you or did they "fall asleep"?

Peter denied Jesus three times. Recall a time when you found it difficult to witness to the values you believe in.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Today’s gospel speaks of Jesus’ last meal, and it can lead us to think about the

growing crisis of world hunger. "Rising food prices are fueling the global

hunger crisis. It is taking an immense toll on the world's poorest people, who

typically spend up to 80 percent of their income on food. As many as 100

million more poor people could be made worse off by this burgeoning hunger

crisis. After 30 years of progress against hunger and poverty, that is a setback

that the United States and the rest of the world cannot afford to let happen."

http://www.bread.org/learn/rising-food-prices.html

"The prayer which we repeat at every Mass: "Give us this day our daily bread,"

obliges us to do everything possible, in cooperation with international, state

and private institutions to end or at least reduce the scandal of hunger and

malnutrition afflicting so many millions of people in our world, especially in

developing countries." (Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI, 2007)

Did you know?

- 854 million people across the world are hungry, up from 852 million a year

ago

Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child

every five seconds.

-35.1 million people in the US---including 12.4 million children---live in

households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger.

-The U.S. Conference of Mayors reports that in 2006 requests for emergency

food assistance increased an average of 7 percent. The study also found that 48

percent of those requesting emergency food assistance were members of families

with children and that 37 percent of adults requesting such assistance were

employed.

What can you do?

Poetic Reflection:

How do you think Jesus felu on this night, when Peter, and maybe the others, still did not understand what he was teaching?;

LONELY CHRIST

Lonely Christ

I pray to you.

You are a puzzle to me

as those I love

always are.

My soul is at odds

with the words.

What mad reach of mine

touches any thread of you?

Or what of mine, arms or eyes,

ever shares with people

where they may lie--

as they always do--i

in a hard place!

What of mine shall make good

their taking of a breath,

their rising, caring, feeding

their sleeping in fear--

what shall make good

their slight faith,

their enormous promises

made in iron

for a child, man, a woman--

what of mine shall be with the people

as they caress a special grief

fondled again and again

In bludgeoned love?

What do I bring

with which to clutch

the merest hint of your shadow?

Poetic Reflections:

Read the following poem by W.S. Di Piero (from The Restorers). Have I ever disappointed or betrayed anyone? How did it feel?

“Gethsemane”

He had nerve enough to follow,
dogging his heels, for what? To learn
a new vocabulary, a prayer,
down there in yellow iris that smelled
like carcass? He came back smiling.
The dog had its day, rolling in meat.
This meat was news: The Word of God
wants what we want, to be unchosen.

He must have made up his mind then
What if he said, I don't see Him here,
we’ll check later? Instead he gagged
on words, like a mouthful of water
brought from the garden, that blood squirms
from the blossom loads and cracked boughs,
and in the stagnant lake of the heart
the sprouting trunk splits, groans,
spilling wine, the spongy dirt
inhaling any blood that falls,
and I'm falling into the tree
and dogs at lakeside bark at clouds.

Like that. As if his own speech could
infuriate time while he waited
for an act to come upon him
(as joy sometimes happens). The soldiers
(were they his joy?) got impatient.
So finally his bloodless lips
screamed More life! More salt!
before he gave away his kiss.

Now read the following poem by Mary Oliver. How is its tone different?

“Gethsemane”

The grass never sleeps.
Or the roses.
Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning.
Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.

The cricket has such splendid fringe on his feet,
and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,
and heaven knows if it ever sleeps.

Jesus said, wait with me. And maybe the stars did, maybe
the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn’t move.
Maybe the lake far away, where once he walked
as on a blue pavement,
lay still and waited, wild awake.

Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not
keep that vigil, how they must have wept,
so utterly human, knowing this too
must be part of the story.

Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025

Jesus, the Obedient Son, the Source of Forgiveness

[Feel free to use the meditative reading of the gospel alone, or read the gospel text straight through and use the usual reflection questions and meditations, or use all the materials.]

Music Meditations

• Jesus, Remember Me—Taize
• Stay With Me Here—Fernando Ortega
• Pie Jesu—Andrew Lloyd Webber, sung by Sarah Brightman
• Give Me Jesus—sung by Fernando Ortega

Preparation / Centering

[If done in a group setting, the prompts are read aloud by the leader; otherwise a silent meditation.]

Presence of God:

As I sit here, I become aware of the beating of my heart, the ebb and flow of my breath moving and the movements of my mind [pause]. All are signs, loving Jesus, of your ongoing love for the world. I pause for a moment and become aware of your presence within me.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Freedom:

Jesus, I ask you to free me from my own ambitions, my own fears, my own lack of courage as I contemplate the freedom that allowed you to see your mission to its very end. I ask you, also, for the freedom to seek and grant forgiveness and for myself and for those who have hurt me, which is ultimate freedom.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Consciousness:

Holy Spirit, Divine Sophia, how can I become more aware of your presence in my life, giving me wisdom, understanding and courage? Can you lead me beyond the cares of this day to an awareness of the cosmic goodness that is your spirit within me, within others, within this beautiful spring re-creation? Give me eyes to see, ears to listen and a heart to encompass goodness as I contemplate the ultimate goodness and generosity of Jesus.

[2-3 minutes of silence]

Opening Prayer

Lord, how often I have whined and cried about the trials and sorrows of my life. How often I have raged at the unfairness of my life or people in it. How often I have failed to summon up deep gratitude for my very existence, and for those who have brighten my days. How often I have failed to forgive those who have hurt or disappointed me. How often I have not been connected to you deeply enough through prayer. Lord, help me to see in the last days of Jesus the model for gratitude, forgiveness and prayer. Help me to be like Him.

Meditative Reading of Luke 22:14—23:56

[In a group setting, the sections of the gospel may be read aloud by group members, and the meditation questions by the facilitator. A period of silent reflection should follow each question.]

THE LAST SUPPER

[First reader:]

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you.  For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.  But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.  The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!”  They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.  Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.  But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.  For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.  You are those who have stood by me in my trials.  And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me,  so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”  But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”  Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”  Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered.  He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.  It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”  The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.” “That’s enough!” he replied.

Meditation:

I put myself in Jesus’ place as his plans for his final evening with friends went totally awry. Has this ever happened to me? How did I react?

What does it mean to me that the very institution of the Eucharist is re-enacted at each and every Mass?

JESUS PRAYS AT THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

[Second reader:]

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”  He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,  “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.  “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Meditation:

Have I ever relied on the comfort of friends at a stressful time in my life? How did it go?

Have I ever failed to be there for someone who needed my understanding?

JESUS ARRESTED

[Third reader:]

While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”  When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?”  And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.  But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.  Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs?  Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”

Meditation:

Have I ever been misunderstood, publicly shamed or embarrassed, or worse, been blamed for something I did not do?

PETER DISOWNS JESUS

[Fourth reader:]

Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance.  And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”  But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.  A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied.  About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”  Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.  The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”  And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Meditation:

Has fear of shame, fear of losing reputation with my friends or colleagues caused me to lie about another to protect myself?

Have otherwise upright institutions lied to protect their country, church, or ethnic affinity? What has been the result?

THE “TRIAL” OF JESUS

[First reader:]

The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him.  They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?”  And they said many other insulting things to him.  At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them.  “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me,  and if I asked you, you would not answer.  But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”  They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied, “You say that I am.” Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”  Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate.

And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”  So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.  Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”  But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”  On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean.  When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.  When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort.  He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.  The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.  Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.  That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.  Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people,  and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.  Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.  Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)  Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.  But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”  For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.” But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.  So Pilate decided to grant their demand.  He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

Meditation:

How have I reacted in the face of anger or hatred or when a bunch of people turned on me, made fun of me, or worse? Was I silent and dignified, paralyzed by fear and shame, belligerent and accusatory, or did I react in another way?

THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS

[Second reader:]

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.  A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.  Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.  For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’  Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”  Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the Jews.  One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Meditation:

How hard has it been for me to forgive someone who has hurt me or someone I love?

Do I really believe I will see Jesus in my next life?

THE DEATH OF JESUS

[Third reader:]

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,  for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.  The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”  When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.  But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Meditation:

How hard is it to surrender my will to that of God’s, even in small things, much less suffering and death?

THE BURIAL OF JESUS

[Fourth reader:]

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man,  who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God.  Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body.  Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.  It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.  The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.  Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Meditation:

What in my life holds me entombed?

Closing

[Each person in the group expresses aloud his or her feelings about this reading.]

Companions for the Journey

This is a short writing from one of the Christian or non-Christian witnesses of our tradition—a person who embodies the theme of the gospel we are studying today.

This is from “First Impressions” 2010, by Jude Siciliano, O.P.:

As we listen to the Passion today we might hear something of ourselves in the narrative. There is a hint in the Passion of the still-unfinished formation of the disciples. Immediately after the blessing of the bread and cup, with Jesus’ solemn injunction to the disciples, “do this in memory of me,” Jesus predicts that one of them will betray him. Luke tells us they debated among themselves who could do such a thing. There is a touch of irony here because the reader, well aware of what’s ahead for the disciples, might intrude on their debate and say, “Anyone of you is possible of betrayal. Soon you will all abandon Jesus.”

Luke moves quickly to the disciples’ failure to perceive what Jesus has been teaching them about what lies ahead. They begin an argument about who among them is the greatest. As we say in baseball lingo, “They are out in left field.” They have completely missed the point of all Jesus has been saying about what following him requires.

Jesus is about to go to his death and those he has been training to carry-on when he leaves are as dense as when they first took up with him back in Galilee. A great sign of his compassion and patience is that he doesn’t throw up his hands, walk out and try, at the last minute, to patch together more suitable candidates for disciples. Instead, one more time he commences to teach them that true greatness is to be found in serving others. Nor does Jesus give up on us when we fail to respond to opportunities to act as his disciples.

Jesus then tells Peter that he will deny him. Peter protests, but Jesus’ prediction will prove true. Though Jesus foresees Peter’s failure, he predicts Peter will eventually prove himself a disciple when he says, “once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” The gospel is a story of second chances (and third and fourth ones as well!). Peter will be forgiven for acting in fear and denying Jesus—and so are we.

If we have followed Jesus and his disciples through Luke’s gospel we know we have been hearing a story, not of human triumph over adversity; not of heroic actions in the face of insurmountable odds, but of humans found frail and lacking comprehension. Still, without heroic traits of their own, they continue to follow and be drawn to Christ, even if for the wrong goals and with less-than-total commitment. The rest of the Passion narrative will continue to reveal the disciples’ failure to understand who Jesus is and what he is asking of them.

Unlike the recent Winter Olympics, this is not an account of athletes possessing great natural abilities and, with enormous discipline, winning gold medals. No, this is the gospel and more a story of God’s achievement amid very limited humans. Grace trumps human frailty and draws strength and heroism where there were weakness and betrayal. When the story ends who is the winner? God’s grace is—and therefore so are we!

The characters in the rest of the Passion narrative fall far short as well. The religious leaders try Jesus and find him guilty. They then bring him to Pilate and he sends Jesus to Herod who, with his soldiers, mistreat him. Then the chief priests and the rulers of the people all call for Pilate to crucify Jesus. So continues the story of the human response to Jesus as he faces his passion. The crowds also join their voices to that of the religious leaders calling for Jesus’ crucifixion.

This week what is still sinful, incomplete, or weak in us is gathered up by Jesus at his cross. Jesus continues to show compassion even on the way to his execution as he acknowledges the grieving women. As he is dying he attends to the thief on the cross next to him and promises him paradise. Right up to the end Jesus highlights those who would benefit by his surrender to God’s will—the neglected and those rejected and cast out by society.

Not all the religious leaders turn against Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Council whom Luke describes as a “virtuous and righteous man,” requests and receives Jesus’ body and places it in a tomb. Luke again mentions the presence of women; they follow Jesus’ body to see the tomb where it is laid. Our attention is now drawn to the tomb and the events that are about to take place there.

Luke’s Passion reveals how much Jesus has lost—his followers and friends have abandoned or betrayed him; his life’s project has collapsed into humiliation and defeat. As we hear the story today we are deeply moved by his loss and our heart goes out to him. But Luke is also inviting anyone of us who have our own losses through the death of loved ones; the dramatic change of life because of job loss or health failure; an unfulfilled dream; the disintegration of our family; the arrest of our child etc.—to identify with Jesus.

It’s clear from the Passion account that Jesus is no stranger to loss and suffering. As we follow the women to his tomb, we also know that he has accompanied us to our own tombs; the places where we have known death and defeat. We also know where this story is going. The tomb is not Jesus’ end, we are about to be surprised by resurrection. Nor is the tomb our end as we hope for new life in the very places we have experienced death. As the television announcers advise us, “Stay tuned for what’s coming next.”

Luke portrays Jesus as an innocent martyr. He has Pilate declare Jesus’ innocence three times. The thief dying at his side makes the same pronouncement. We know Jesus’ suffering continues beyond the Passion account. Perhaps we will hear the story of innocence persecuted and ask: where in our world today are people victimized and the poor burdened by heavy crosses with no modern Simon of Cyrene to help?

Despite his unjust treatment Jesus continues to offer forgiveness right up until his death. He died as he lived—giving and healing. (At his arrest in the garden he heals the ear of one of those who came to arrest him.) Jesus has established how his followers who come after him are to behave. They are to forgive even their enemies. At his death they are scattered; but after Pentecost they will set out from Jerusalem and do what Jesus did—preach and practice forgiveness.

Further reflection:

• Additional commentaries on the passion narrative in Luke's gospel >>

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Father, forgive them, they know not what they do

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

• Describe a time in your life when you felt a lack of God’s presence in your personal need. How did you handle it?
• Have you ever been anxious or worried about something and found that your usual support system was somehow lacking?
  How did you feel?
• Describe the way Jesus handled his interrogation and torture. What qualities of his that he displayed in these instances do you particularly admire?
• From “First Impressions” 2010:
  Among the losses I have experienced in my life, which was the most painful?
  Did I have any experience of Jesus’ presence with me during that period of pain?
• From “America”:
  How might Luke’s portrayal of Jesus as a good example even in death challenge you in your own life?
• Everybody has a cross to carry in this life, whether it is illness, loneliness, anxiety, personal relationships or professional ones. Can you name one of your “crosses”?
  How can you be more like Jesus as you carry your cross(es)?
  How can you be sympathetic to the “cross” another is carrying?
• From “First Impressions” 2013:
  How have I experienced Jesus helping me carry that cross?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

I think of the times in his short life that Jesus was betrayed by those whom he loved. First, at the beginning of his ministry, some family members were sent to fetch him home, fearing that he was mentally ill. Have there been times in my life that I have been betrayed by someone’s lack of faith in me? Judas, perhaps disappointed by Jesus lack of political activism, or motivated by simple greed, sold Jesus for a handful of coins. Have I ever been betrayed by someone’s expectations that I could not fulfill? Have I been betrayed by someone’s willingness to trade my friendship or my well being for personal gain? Peter, Jesus’ right-hand man and good friend, paralyzed by fear, swore vehemently that he never knew Jesus. Have I ever been betrayed by someone else’s insecurity or fears? Did I turn to God in my distress? Then finally me... Have I ever betrayed Jesus and my relationship with him out of embarrassment, selfishness, greed or laziness? I speak to Jesus about these failures of mine, knowing he loves and understands.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Jesus: a Victim of Capital Punishment
We worship a God whose Son died as a common criminal despite His innocence. During this week when we recall the execution of Jesus Christ, we hear our Pope and Bishops call us as Catholic Christians to work for an end to the death penalty in our state and in our nation. Resolve this week to learn more about California Governor Newsom’s decision on this issue, and resolve to do something this week to advance the cause of the elimination of the death penalty in this country (and eventually, worldwide). Make this a concrete task, not an aspirational one…

Poetic Reflection:

“The Poet Thinks of the Donkey”

On the outskirts of Jerusalem
the donkey waited.
Not especially brave, or filled with understanding,
he stood and waited.

How horses, turned out into the meadow,
leap with delight!
How doves, released from their cages,
clatter away, splashed with sunlight.

But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.

Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.

I hope, finally, he felt brave.
I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,
as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.

—Mary Oliver

Fifth Sunday in Lent, April 6, 2025

Justice and Mercy; Do not judge others; God will always welcome us back

John 8:1–11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus,

“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

But when they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Music Meditations

• Come Back to me—John Michael Talbot
• I Have Loved You With an Everlasting Love—Chris Brunelle
• Turn to Me—Chris Brunelle
• It Is Well—Audrey Assad
• Pie Jesu—Sarah Brightman

Preparation / Centering

If done in a group setting, the prompts are read aloud by the leader; otherwise a silent meditation.

Presence of God:

In times of stress and pressure, Lord, it is hard to remember that you are always with me, in my heart and soul. I breathe in and out slowly, silently repeating “Jesus, you are with me”, for several minutes.

[1-2 minutes of silence]

Freedom:

May our promises free us, not chain us. [1 minute of silence]
May what we desire fill us and not entrap us. [1 minute of silence]
May those persons we love finish us, not bind us. [1 minute of silence]
(from Ed Ingebretzen, S.J.)

Consciousness:

Jesus, I sit quietly and become aware of where I sense hope, encouragement and growth in my life. I look at several incidents in the past month that have asked me to discern where I was going, with whom and why. I look at my responses and thank you for any signs of renewed commitment to you and your truth. I pray for resolve.

[2-3 minutes of silence]

Opening Prayer

Jesus, your words: “I do not condemn you” are meant for me as well. So often I have gone over and over mistakes I have made, wrongs I have committed, reflecting on those I have hurt or failed in some way. So often I have found myself wanting. So often I have been accusatory of those around me because they failed to meet my standards, which I assume are everybody’s standards. Help me to believe your words of compassion and help me to extend those very same words of compassion, whether spoken or unspoken to those who have made mistakes, even horrible ones. Open the eyes of my heart and allow me to feel your forgiveness for me, and allow me the grace to forgive those in my life against whom I hold grudges. Help me not to judge myself or others.

Companions for the Journey

This is a short writing from one of the Christian or non-Christian witnesses of our tradition—a person who embodies the theme of the gospel we are studying today.

The following is from John Harrington, S.J., in a back issue of America magazine, the national Jesuit publication:

The Sunday Gospel readings for this Lent have given particular attention to Jesus’ efforts to balance the justice and the mercy of God, the two great divine attributes in the biblical tradition. The narrative preserved in most manuscripts in John 8 (though it sounds like Luke) is set in the area of the Jerusalem temple where Jesus had been teaching. His opponents bring forward a woman caught in adultery. The penalty for such an offense was death by stoning. The opponents want to use the occasion to embarrass Jesus, since he had the reputation of proclaiming God’s mercy toward sinners. If he takes the side of the adulterous woman, he is open to the charge of ignoring God’s law and God’s justice. If he insists on following the Law exactly, his reputation as a prophet of God’s mercy will be open to question. This is the dilemma that the opponents construct for Jesus.

In John 8, Jesus most obviously manifests the mercy of God. Here is a lone woman caught in a serious sin punishable by death. Against her are male accusers with reputations for great learning and piety. And yet Jesus, the wise and merciful teacher, devises a way to get her out of the situation, to save her life and to let her begin over again. Thus he champions the mercy of God.

In manifesting the mercy of God, Jesus also upholds the justice of God. He does not reject the biblical commandment against adultery. Instead he stalls for time by doodling on the ground. Then he delivers a penetrating challenge, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” His challenge has the effect of turning the accusers’ attention back on themselves and making them realize that they too are sinners. It reduces them to silence and causes them to slink away in shame. By appealing to the justice of God and the injustice of humans, Jesus upholds God’s mercy.

In his parting words to the woman Jesus again manifests both mercy and justice. He first says to her, “Neither do I condemn you,” upholding the mercy of God. Then he adds, “From now on do not sin any more.” Jesus knows what sin is. He does not shrink from calling certain actions “sins.” He recognizes that some actions are inappropriate and offensive to the justice of God. He forgives the sinner but does not excuse or explain away the sin. Thus Jesus upholds the justice of God.

At this point in the Lenten season we may need to recognize and experience both God’s justice and God’s mercy. By confessing our sinfulness and determining to avoid sin, we bear witness to the justice of God. By accepting the forgiveness of our sins and by determining to forgive those who have offended us, we bear witness to God’s mercy.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her”

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

• The woman has no name, and has only been identified throughout history by her sin. Have I ever depersonalized another or a group, thinking of them only as bad, immoral, wrongheaded, users, bullies scofflaws, etc., and dismissed them as human beings?
• The scribes and pharisees asked Jesus a question, expecting a certain answer. Can I listen to the voice of God even when it is something I did not expect or want to hear?
• Have I, like the scribes and pharisees, been made aware of a personal fault or failing that makes me no better than those I am judging?
• Has my heart and head ever been in conflict on an issue?
• Have I ever expected censure, blame and/or punishment for something I did wrong or a mistake I made, and received only graciousness and understanding instead?
  How did it feel?
• We don’t know if the woman left and turned her life around. But what about us?
  Shall we accept the forgiveness that Lent has made us aware that we need?
  Shall we also accept the help God offers us so we can make the changes we know we need to make in our life patterns?
• Have I ever been challenged for doing something wrong or gauche and exposed in front of others?
  How did it make me feel?
  Was the person who accused me a loved one or someone who was hostile to me?
  Would that have made a difference in my reaction?
• Does the memory of being caught in an embarrassing situation (or worse) make me angry with my tormentors or more compassionate toward those who have been in similar situations?
• I try to remember a time when a big mistake was not held against me….
• I try to remember a time when I stood up for someone when everyone else was against him or her.
• Has something someone said to me deeply affected me and caused me to make a change in my life?
• From “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:
  Is there a word we need to speak to someone that will set them free?
• Do I think that showing mercy is an excuse for ignoring a wrong that has been done?
  How would I describe God’s mercy to me?
• This is an example of radical forgiveness—that is, Jesus freely offered forgiveness without the woman having to ask for it.
  Have I ever extended forgiveness to someone who did not acknowledge that they did anything wrong or apologize?
• Is it better to extend forgiveness privately in our hearts, or face to face with “the offender”?
• Why is it that when we think of sin, the first thing that comes to mind is sexual sin?
  Why did the people of Jesus time, and why does our own church treat sexual sin as somehow worse that many other kinds of sin?
• Often religions have emphasized sexual sins over other sins. This lets a lot of us ignore the biggest sin of all—putting ourselves at the center of the universe. Have I ever demanded more than my share of the world’s or even my family’s/friends’ attention?
• Considering that the accusers, the scribes and pharisees, were all men, what does it say to us about the misogyny inherent in our history?
  And considering that the man caught in adultery is nowhere to be found, nor even sought, what does reviling and punishing only the woman say about the even-handedness of “justice”?
• Have I ever set myself up as a judge of another?
  There are two behaviors most of us indulge in more often than any other behaviors: Judging others, and rationalizing our own behavior to ourselves and maybe to others. Of the two, which do I indulge in most often?
• How do I keep from judging others?
• From Catholic bible Study on the Gospel of John by Gaetano Piccolo, S.J.:
  What are the mirrors that I see myself reflected in?
  What role to I play in my life’s drama: victim or prosecutor?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

I place myself in the events of that long-ago day, imagining the scene at the temple area of Jerusalem where people have gathered to hear Jesus preach. I picture the bright early morning, and I hear the sounds of all the people in that crowded area; I see the packed dirt on which Jesus is standing. Then I notice the little commotion as the scribes and Pharisees—the upright ones—drag in a woman who has broken the law of adultery. Is she someone’s wife? How was she discovered? Where is her partner in crime? As the scene plays out before my mind’s eye, I put myself in her place, imagining how I would feel if my worst sin were displayed for all to see. Then I notice Jesus writing something on the ground. What is it? Why do the accusers gradually fade away? Why does Jesus help me? When he says: “Tell me, has no one condemned you?” I answer “No one, Sir”. Jesus replies: “And neither do I. Go now and sin no more”. How does that make me feel?

From “Sacred Space” 2022:

Where do I stand in this scene: like the woman standing before her accusers? Like a silent sympathizer hoping that something will happen to save her? Like the skulking male adulterer who got her into trouble? Like the bystanders already collecting the best stones with a view to killing? Like the one of the elders who slinks away, unable to cast the first stone? What goes through my head as Jesus is doodling in the sand?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

This parable is one we can all relate to if we look beyond the story itself to the human behavior it reveals.

First, other people constantly show us a reflection of ourselves and reveal parts of ourselves that we are unconscious of or deliberately ignore. When this happens we are annoyed, embarrassed or we refuse their assessment. Has this ever happened to me? What about myself do I wish to hide from others, what about myself puts me on the defensive?

Second, what do I think Jesus wrote on the ground? We often project onto others those faults about which we are most ashamed. In what way is this woman a projection of all the men who surround her? In what way am I most annoyed by fault or behaviors in others which are may faults and behaviors as well?

Third, if we define adulterers as people who are unfaithful, can we exempt ourselves? In what everyday ways do we betray our relationships, our physical world, our vocations, life itself? What (money, power, fame) seduces us away from what we know to be the right way to be and live? What would Jesus write in the sand about me?

The scribes and pharisees wanted to make Jesus act as their judge and executioner. Unfortunately, that is sometimes how we view God. Our actions and relationship are often based in appeasement and fear. Instead, this gospel shows us a different understanding of God. Jesus invites us to be free to forgive ourselves because God does, not because we deserve it. Jesus invites us to be free of fear, guilt and open to the mercy and compassion of God. What fears and guilts do I need to be freed from?

Finally, I rest in the wonder of the mercy and love of God, resolving to offer to others the same understanding and forgiveness I have been given.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

By Father Paul O’Reilly, S.J. in “First Impressions” 2007:

I am going to ask you to think for a moment of the worst thing you have ever done, or failed to do. We all have at least one; most of us will have a few to choose from.
Something that I once did, that really hurt another human being;
…some kindness I could have done, but failed to do.
…the thing in my life that I am least proud of.
…the greatest failure.
…the greatest regret.
…the greatest lack of love.
…the one action or word I wish—I really wish—I could take back.
It may be in how I treated my parents,
…or how I treated my family or my wife or husband.
It may be in how I lied
…or cheated
…or stole
…or how I betrayed a friend or a loved one.
I’d like to ask you to pick the very worst…
Let us all, just for one moment, think of that.

And then, I want you to imagine seeing that thing on the front page of every newspaper in the country
…perhaps with a photograph of you looking at your worst;
…the first item on every news bulletin on television or radio.
Imagine being the only subject of every conversation in every pub and bingo hall in the country.
When you walk down the street, people look at you and whisper; children point at you and laugh. And out of all that is said to you, there is nothing you can say in reply. Because every word of it is true.
That is what it is in our day to be a public Sinner. Not much has really changed since Jesus’ time.

But imagine, if you will, that there is someone to whom you go who knows you and who loves you;
…who knows what you have done and what you have failed to do,
…and who doesn’t say it’s OK, because it isn’t,
…but who understands that you are not the only one
…who understands that all have sinned and fallen short of the Kingdom of God
…and who can you give you back your self-respect.

That is what we call the sacrament of reconciliation.
That is the sacrament that Jesus gave to the woman caught in adultery.
If you haven’t been recently, I would like to recommend it to you.

Literary Reflection:

Consider the following poem by Rev. Ed. Ingebretzen (from To Keep From Singing). How does Jesus’ response to sin differ from the response of “the righteous”? Into which camp do I often fall?

“In the Center of Right”

The woman taken in adultery
faces the glee of the takers—
they leap upon her
like shoppers upon the prize.

She wears her fright
like the face on Veronica’s veil
as they toss their cage
of rectitude and certainty,

having caught at last
the lioness smelling of blood
trapped in the heat of love.

We are never safe, she and I—
unfaithful as cats in heat
in neighborhoods where dogs strain
with white, law-edged teeth.

From behind her eyes, encircled,
I catch a bit of her fear;
I feel in my bones the violence
come of being wrong, cornered
in the center of right.

Closing Prayer

From Lenten Longings: Seeing With God’s Eyes:

L: Our past hurts we bring to you, Lord.
A: Please heal them

L: Our past sins, we bring to you, Lord.
A: Please forgive them

L: Our prejudices we bring to you, Lord.
A: Please help us overcome them.

L: Our burdens we bring to you, Lord.
A: Please lift them

L: Seeds of our healing, we bring to you, Lord.
A: Please plant them.

L: Our efforts for justice and our desire to forgive we bring to you, Lord.
A: Please direct them.

L: Our small faith community we bring to you, Lord.
A: Please be our companion

L: Our time together we bring to you, Lord.
A: Please bless and transform it. Amen.