Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

Original Airdate: May 21, 2023 Acts 1:1-11 | Ephesians 1:17-23 | Matthew 28:16-20 Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who believe that your only begotten Son, our Redeemer, ascended this day to the heavens, may in spirit dwell already in heavenly realms.  Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Post Date: May 11, 2024 === Gospel John 16:23b-28 Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. “I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Reflection This proclamation on the part of Jesus to his disciples is very profound. There must have been many times when the disciples asked Jesus, please pray to God for us. And when he says, Here, I no longer am going to ask the father for you. You could ask the father directly. And the image is so clear that there has been a bonding with human race and God the Father that has been revealed in the ministry of Jesus. No one ever dreamt that the father loves us as much as Jesus proved that he loved us through giving us his only begotten son, the highest form of love. So we need to take from this passage, and from everything that Jesus is really working on, is repairing and deepening and enriching our relationship with God who lives in our hearts, resonates his love. We no longer have to ask someone else to ask God for us. We talk directly to him. Closing Prayer Father, it's hard for us to imagine that what you're really, really asking of us is that we allow you to love us. Meaning, we open our heart, or mind, our will to the awesome belief that you are deeply, deeply in love with us and want nothing, nothing more than us to be ultimately with you forever. Keep us in touch with this great gift. and we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Post Date: May 10, 2024 === Gospel John 16:20-23 Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” Reflection When you think of the expectations that the disciples had, and how the story of Jesus working with them on this earth, they had to go through a sense of great confusion and loss. And somehow, when the truth that you believed most of your life is challenged, it's like a kind of death. It's kind of like an experience of pain. What do I believe? Where do I go? What do I know? That's the most important thing for all of us as we evolve and grow and change into the person God has created us to be. It's a dying and a rising, dying to error and lies, rising to truth in love. Closing Prayer Jesus, you surrendered to the father's will and let go of any human desire to be successful in the ways of the world. And we see Jesus accepting something that had to be so difficult. Every time we're presented with a new way of seeing that radically changes where we were, we are desperately in need of your support. Bless us with a conviction that we do not grow on our own, but only do it through your grace. Through the work of your Holy Spirit. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Post Date: May 14, 2024 === Gospel  John 15:9-17 Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you:  love one another.” Reflection When Jesus tells his disciples that he loves them, he uses as an example. He says, My love for you is the same love that God has for me. And what I want you to understand is that unless we believe that we are loved unconditionally, not based on anything that we say or do, if we think anything we can do diminishes the love that God has for us, we've missed the mystery and the power of this teaching. You can't love if you're not loved, and you can't feel love if it's based on performance. So the challenge is to let go of our ego and our personality and surrender to simply a God who is nothing but love. Closing Prayer Father, open our minds and most especially our hearts to the fullness of what it means that you are so deeply in love with us, just as we are. Not because we improve. Not because we're doing better. Simply because of who we are. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Post Date: May 8, 2024 === Gospel John 16:12-15 Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” Reflection This passage, in a way, underscores the need for something like the Holy Spirit, because we cannot understand and accept the fullness of reality when we simply aren't ready. And the readiness is something that comes about slowly. It is a growth in understanding in consciousness of how the world works, who God is and who we are in him. And the more that evolves, the more open we become to the depth of the mysteries that have to become a part of us. The Holy Spirit's work is to guide us on that journey. Closing Prayer Father, we continue to evolve. To change. To be open to more things than we ever thought we could ever understand. So bless us with patience and understanding of how this all works. So that we can be truly receptive to each new insight that the Holy Spirit sends to us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Post Date: May 7, 2024 === Gospel  John 16:5-11 Jesus said to his disciples: "Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.” Reflection We see in this passage something that’s very human. The disciples have been told that Jesus is leaving, they didn't expect that to happen, and they were completely filled with grief. And I'm sure they were thinking primarily about what's going to happen to us? What's going to happen to this message? And what he's again reminding them is that there is a truth that the world will not see and has not seen yet, and they are the ones to bring that into the world. And he's not telling them, They have to figure it all out. They have to know it now. No, he's saying, That this will be something you will grow into. And as you understand, you will bring those into greater understanding. Closing Prayer Father, there will always be voices that will contradict everything that you're teaching us. We pray always for the wisdom to see clearly what you are to us, and how you have done so much for us. Help us never to waver in our appreciation, our thankfulness for your message. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Post Date: May 6, 2024 === Gospel John 15:26—16:4a Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. "I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.” Reflection We're coming to the end of Jesus ministry with his disciples. And what he's promising them is something really important. He's saying, I'm not really leaving you. My father and I are one, and we are there for you. And the form that we take is this mysterious thing called the advocate. The Holy Spirit. And it's the power of God continually to work with each individual, and open their eyes to the mystery that we are faced with. Understand fully the redemption that Jesus won for us. We need that teacher. Closing Prayer Father, as we ponder the mystery of who you are in our life, we know that we long to understand this mystery more and more. So help us to be open to the ways in which you will guide us. Let us surrender to the insights that you share with us as we continue to live the word of God. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: May 14, 2023 Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 | 1 Peter 3:15-18 | John 14:15-21 Grant, almighty God, that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy, which we keep in honor of the risen Lord and that what we relive in remembrance we may always hold to in what we do.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 15:18-21 Jesus said to his disciples: "If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.” Reflection There's something hopeful in realizing that as we have continued to preach and teach this beautiful message of God flowing to us through Jesus and explained through the Holy Spirit that what we're really receiving is an understanding of who we really are. God is asking us to be nothing other than who he created us to be. And when we bring that truth to someone who is caught in the lies that they have created, there's always going to be hatred and a desire to destroy the one who speaks the truth. Closing Prayer Father, help us never to be discouraged. The world is changing. Is moving more and more into being what God intends it to be. Help us to see that and to take courage in simply being the truth. Being a person who is able to understand that they are vehicles of God's grace, changing the world we live in. Making it into the Kingdom of God. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 15:12-17 Jesus said to his disciples: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.” Reflection There is something about trusting a friend and being able to reveal to them things that we know and that we feel. Jesus used that as an example of His relationship with us. But you can't fully grasp it until you realize what Jesus is doing. For the first time in the history of the human race, He’s revealing the fullness of who God really is. What a thing to tell the world. Jesus, the man, the human side of Him was hearing all this for the first time in a sense, and he shared it with people because He knew how transformative it was and how different it was from the fullness of the Old Testament, which didn't get close enough to revealing the fullness of who God really is. We need to bask and live in this new knowledge with an open heart. Closing Prayer Father to know you is to fall in love with you, and to fall in love with you is to know what life is for and how we are to live. So we know that your love is never conditional on our performance, but rather, in a sense, the reward of our belief that you are the lover you say you are. You are the healer in all of us that we now possess. Let us feel the joy and the peace that that brings. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 15:9-11 Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.” Reflection The commandments that Jesus is referring to is the heart of the law. To love God, to love your neighbor, and to love yourself. The beautiful thing about being human is that when we are loved, we learn how to love. We have to understand how much God loves each of us as we are, as he created us, and having that conviction of our value. We have that sense that there is something in us that we can offer to another, that our love has a quality that is needed and always appreciated. Closing Prayer Father, free us from all those voices in our past that have told us that if we're not doing something as we're supposed to, that we will be rejected. There is no rejection on the part of God to anyone that he has created. He's there to support, to tell us we're valuable, to tell us that we have a gift within us. His love that he longs for us to share with the world. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 15:1-8 Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” Reflection Jesus continues to teach his disciples the heart of what he has established his kingdom. The kingdom is one in which he lives in you, you live in him, and the goodness that you have, through that union is what you give to the world. It's called love, acceptance, encouragement, hope. The fruitfulness that God wants each of us to have is nourishing our brothers and sisters and ourselves through this mysterious, indwelling presence of God. Without connection to that, we have no real capacity to give life to anyone. Closing Prayer Father, we can become overwhelmed when we look around us and see the things that we would like to see change. And if we do our work and try to fix them, it is even more discouraging because we are not the ones who can fix this world or improve the way people treat each other. It's only you. You are the gift. Help us to trust in the gift of you, in me, in all of us, and resonate that, intend it for the world and know that it is more than enough. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  John 14:27-31a Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me.” Reflection Jesus is preparing his disciples for his death and resurrection. They have no real understanding of what it is and what it will do for them. But he does make something clear that it's about a sense of well-being, about a sense of peace, knowing that things are the way they need to be, but not necessarily the way we think they should be. Jesus makes it clear that the peace that he offers is not the same kind of peace that we in the world want. The way we want it is no tension, no problems, everything working the way we think it should work. When he's saying, No if you surrender to all that God has planned for you, you will find peace. Just as he says, That my love for the father has enabled me to do whatever he has commanded me. And that's a reference to his death and resurrection. Closing Prayer Father, give us the faith to trust in the way our life unfolds. You love us so intensely that you know what we need more than we know that. And when you do not answer our prayers, give us the wisdom to seek the answer that is there, is promised the answer. Help us to believe in that promise. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 14:21-26 Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, "Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. "I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name -- he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” Reflection The change that Jesus wanted to bring to the world is something that’s always been difficult for us to understand. What we can understand is that the rules and regulations have to be done, and if we do them, then we will receive something. But Jesus doesn't talk that way. He doesn't talk about doing something. He talks about being someone. And the being you have to be is the one who has responded perfectly to what God commands. And what he commands is that you love him. If you love him, you will have a gift, and the gift is the fullness of who he is, as revealed in Jesus. God the father is our creator. Jesus is the one that reveals who the father is. And then the Holy Spirit comes along and says, I am here to teach you, remind you, show you over and over and over again. Because the work of being in love, in a state of being that you know you are loved is a thing that we work on all the time. It's not, we get it and we've got it. We just evolve and evolve and evolve until we become the kingdom of God. Closing Prayer Let us pray. Father, we have a hard time dealing with things that we can't fully understand. But we do know what love is. We do know what it feels like to love someone or to have them love us. Help us to realize this is the major commandment that God has called us to be. Lovers, caretakers, people that support one another. That's the work. That's the goal of all faith and truth. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: May 7, 2023 Acts 6:1-7 | 1 Peter 2:4-9 | John 14:1-12 Almighty, everliving God, constantly accomplish the Pascal mystery within us that those you are pleased to make new in holy baptism may, under your protective care, bear much fruit and come to the joys of life eternal through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 14:7-14 Jesus said to his disciples: “If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” Reflection It's a challenge to believe that we have a destiny like the Christ. Jesus a human being, as we are human beings, was touched by God, filled with the spirit of the Father. And out of that spirit and through that spirit, he was able to do all the marvelous things he was doing and to teach the truth in a way that had never been proclaimed before to the human race. And yet we are told we will participate in that same kind of life. To be an instrument of God's grace. That is what gives God the glory. That's all He wants our permission and for us to be the source of the things the world needs. It's a privilege, but it's also the will of God. So we know it will work. Closing Prayer Father, it's so natural for us when we see something that needs our help or needs our advice. We try to do the best that we can, and so often we're using just our own mind and our ego trying to figure out what's the right thing to do? What's the best thing to do? We have to do in place of that is make an intention that whatever is needed will be done not by us, but by the spirit flowing through us that we believe will do and accomplish whatever needs to be done. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 14:1-6 Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Reflection Jesus has challenged his disciples to go out and to teach, to preach, to bring life to others. But they are often troubled. They don't know how to do it. And Thomas is the doubter. He's the one always wondering, What if I can't do it? What if it doesn't work? And what God is saying through Jesus so beautifully is, Look, you have to understand this mystery. I no longer just live in that holy of holies in the temple, I live in you. I am with you wherever you go. I am there to dwell within you, to give you the direction you need, to give you the abilities you need to do the work of establishing the kingdom. I am going to show you the way. I will reveal to you the truth and you will experience life. Closing Prayer Doubt is not necessarily a bad thing. Lord, when we doubt we have an option to remain in that doubt or to seek the confidence that you promised to share with us. Everything that you ask us to give to others is first given from you to us. Keep us always in that union and communion as we go about our work of loving and caring and healing. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 13:16-20 When Jesus had washed the disciples' feet, he said to them: "Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it. I am not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me. From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” Reflection John is the only disciple that shares with us this very interesting, intimate moment between the disciples and Jesus. And taking the role of a servant, He's really describing for them the work that they will have, the work that you and I have. But the interesting thing that He's teaching us is that what He wants you to be is not just a better you, but a you that brings Him to someone else. It's a mysterious work that we all participate in. And without it, we lose hope. Closing Prayer Father, we are so much more than our actions. We are more effective than we realize when you are in us, working through us for others. Help us to take on freely this work of service and be that instrument that you need for those that we love. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 12:44-50 Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me.” Reflection Jesus is trying to point out, to the Scribes and Pharisees that the one that they are refusing to accept is God Himself. Jesus is filled with God, and God's presence is something the Pharisees do not experience. They're judgmental. They're constantly condemning people for not following the law. And here is Jesus crying out that He is nothing but light. He wants people to live. He is not interested in condemning anyone. He doesn't want to inflict punishment on anyone. He wants only that they not be in the place they are because sin has its own intrinsic punishment. To choose darkness is to live in darkness. To choose light is to live in light. Closing Prayer Father, we always resist something new. But we see in the example of the Scribes and Pharisees the absolute insanity of turning away from that which is life and light. Open us to see and to hear the fullness of your message so we can truly live in and continue to manifest the Kingdom of God. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  John 10:22-30 The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” Reflection This encounter between the Pharisees and Jesus happens on a feast day that remembers the dedication of the temple. The temple was everything to the Jews. It was a sign of their strength and their power. And it was grounded in a story of the Old Testament, an Old Covenant. And the rigidity of that covenant was found in the law and Jesus came to destroy the law and open up a different way of approaching life and no longer looking to something you're told to do, but rather open to something that God wants you to become. The truth. You are free of the law, you are encountering on a daily basis the holy of holies that was hidden, kept from many in the center of the temple. The temple is now your heart and God lives there. Closing Prayer Father, give us patience with those who refuse to see the truth. Let us pray for them and ask God to bless them, to break open the place they are hiding in. They don't want to be free. They don't want to see. Help us to be agents that free them so they can experience the fullness of the teaching of God, the fullness of love. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 10:1-10 Jesus said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Reflection Jesus uses the role of Shepherd to instill within his disciples an understanding of who they will be once Jesus fills them with the truth. God is the source of all truth. Jesus is filled with God. The way you enter into the Kingdom of God is through an acknowledgment of what is true, what is real, what is unchangeable. And what we see in this story is that Jesus is also saying that those who have not opened their heart to the truth are thieves and robbers when they try to take care of people. And he is obviously talking about the people of the temple. The Scribes and Pharisees were thieves and robbers keeping people from truth. And God has come in the form of Jesus to change all of that. Closing Prayer Father, so many voices speak to us about who you are and what you call us to be. Ground us in your truth. So we hear your truth, we will open our hearts to it, when we hear lies and half truths, we will turn away. Bless us with wisdom to know the difference. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: April 30, 2023 Acts 2:14a, 36-41 | 1 Peter 2:20b-25 | John 10:1-10 Almighty, everliving God, lead us to a share in the joys of heaven so that the humble flock may reach where the brave shepherd has gone before, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 16:15-20 Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. Reflection Imagine yourself in this scene. The resurrected Jesus is standing there before you. You understand him. He's been teaching you since he rose from the dead, and he's been amazingly clear to you as to what it is he wants from you. It's not just that you have this gift for you, but you must give it to other people. Speak a new language to them. The language of love, not the language of law, and heal them from their darkness and from their depression. And most especially from fear. This is the beginning of the work that we have promised we will participate in to establish the Kingdom of God here and now. Closing Prayer Father, often we're timid about proclaiming you to other people, but help us to realize that you gave us such a perfect model. It's not so much of what we say, it's but who we are when we resonate a joy, when we resonate, a feeling of hopefulness. And when we resonate love, we are doing the work of speaking a new language. We are doing the work we're called to do. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 6:52-59 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever." These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Reflection It’s fascinating to me that when Jesus comes to the end of his ministry, he reveals the essence of the mystery that is the hope of all of us. God living in us. God guiding us, God using His power to help us heal one another. And he uses such a dramatic statement about standing in front of a crowd in the synagogue, and he's already a sort of a questionable character. And he screams out something that nobody would be able to make sense of by hearing it. Eat my flesh, drink my blood. I mean, that's that's really a bizarre thing. It's almost like he's stirring their imaginations on purpose so that they can say, this man who now has the authority of miracles, is claiming something that is absolutely out of our categories, because this new category that they are bringing into the world, this category of God living in you is radical. Closing Prayer Father, the words that Jesus spoke to us were so difficult in one sense to understand, but at the same time so rich, so loaded with meaning that when we ponder them, we grow slowly into the fullness of what it really means. You are choosing to live within us. You dwell in our hearts, You are in me and I am in you. That is a mystery that I can only surrender to without really understanding exactly how it works. But to know that it is changes everything. Because I'm no longer doing what I do alone, out of my own understanding or my own strength. It is you in me that does the real work. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 6:44-51 Jesus said to the crowds: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” Reflection Jesus makes clear that the work that we are called to in this process of growing and evolving into who we are intended to be is a process of receptivity. The father is doing something for us that he's never done before. And it's interesting the way John says very clearly that those of you who've lived with the Old Testament, you've never really seen the father and I'm the one who will reveal for the first time who the father is. And when you eat of that, when you take it in, it's more than the signs of the Old Testament. But it's something that changes you. You will never die. You will live forever. Closing Prayer Father awaken us to the newness of the New Testament. So often we cling to so many images from the Old Testament that it clouds the vision that you, God, has revealed to us, as to who you are through Jesus. You are beyond our imagining. You are so generous, so loving, so forgiving. It's hard for us to grasp. We feel comfortable and we earn things. It's difficult for us to accept gifts. Help us, help us to receive. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 6:35-40 Jesus said to the crowds, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” Reflection The Old Testament is filled with requirements, laws, regulations that if one followed them, they would receive a blessing from God. Now as Jesus proclaims the New Testament, it is clear that this is not something that you work for and that you try to earn. It is something given, and you need to understand the greatness of this gift. You need to feel the power that it offers you in order to surrender to it and say yes. Yes to the will of my father. That Jesus, the image, the truth. When I receive it, it will bring me to eternal life, to goodness, to love. Closing Prayer Father, we are filled with longings. We hunger for truth. We hunger for peace. We hunger for all those things that we believe will fill us and give us meaning and purpose. Help us to believe that you are that source, and that these are things we need to believe you can give us. And when we turn to you expecting that gift, we are a perfect disposition to be filled with life, nourished, strengthened. And we asked this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  John 6:30-35 The crowd said to Jesus: "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat." So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." So they said to Jesus, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” Reflection The interesting thing about the crowds question Give us a sign. And then they go on to say that God gave us a sign. And why won't you give us a sign? And what an opportunity for Jesus to make a statement that is so profound when he says everything that pointed to something for life in the Old Testament is about me. I am the one with the authority. If you witness me, you will receive all that you need. I am the sign. I am life. I'm the bread of life. Closing Prayer Father, you have authority. You have within you the spirit of truth that you long to share with us. Help us get past all the times in which we're asking for more than we really need in order to enter into your life. Let it be always a decision, not necessarily a feeling or a logical conclusion, but let it be our desire to believe in you. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 6:22-29 After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.] The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” Reflection Taking Salvation History from the first book of the Bible till the present day. We see this evolution in understanding of who God is and who we are with Him, and in Him, and for him. And what’s clear is that there had to be a major shift from Old Testament to New Testament, and there had to be a voice, a powerful voice that had authority to make this shift, to explain it, to do something that in a sense took away their need to work for. It is a gift. And to believe in that gift and to know what it is, is the key to the great transformation from Old Testament to New Testament. Closing Prayer Father, you have revealed yourself in the person of Jesus. Open our hearts to fully understand who He is, and what it means for us that He is who he is so that we too can become that and continue his work of bringing life and hope and mercy to all who meet us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: April 26, 2020 Acts 2:14, 22-33 | 1 Peter 1:17-21 | Luke 24:13-35 May your people exalt forever, oh God, a renewed youthfulness of spirit so that rejoicing now in the restored glory of our adoption we may look forward in confident hope to the rejoicing of the day of resurrection through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 6:16-21 When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading. Reflection Nothing is repeated more in the Scriptures, in the words of Jesus, when he says, Do not be afraid. Fear is the awareness of something that is so strange and different that when we experience it, there is a sense that we are not in a place where we are in charge or in control. He invites us into a world that is so beyond our imagining. We're on a journey across the sea of darkness. And God has promised, if we do not fall into fear when we are in a place where what is happening to us doesn't make any sense. It's not something familiar. It's then that we are offered the chance to believe and to trust, and we reach our goal through faith. Closing Prayer Father, that which is not understandable, that which is mysterious is always a struggle for us to surrender to. And it's strange that there is something in us that when we don't live in a world that we know, we're afraid, we're uneasy, were unsure. We lose our confidence. Help us through those moments of fear to trust in you. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 6:1-15 Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone. Reflection The God of the Old Testament demanded obedience. The God of the New Testament is not a demanding God, but a giving God, abundantly offering to us everything that we need, all the nourishment and encouragement we need by loving us without measure. And when the people saw the gifts that God was abundantly giving to the world, they wanted to make him king, as if He would then be worshiped as the one who gives this to them. And Jesus is saying, No it’s the father that gives all of this to you. I'm the model. I am a human being filled with divinity, being able to take care and nourish those around me. That's who you will be. Not subjects to me, but receivers of the father that I offer you.  Closing Prayer Father, awaken our hearts to this gift that you have promised to us. That we will be the source of life for the people around us that we love, that we will have within us, whatever they need. Because you are the source of what is given. Keep us free of any egocentricity about the gifts that we have. Keep us in that model that you have so beautifully witnessed. We are servants. Servants filled with the power of God to heal, to save, to free. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 3:31-36 The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him. Reflection God's voice as it comes to us through Jesus, is a voice of enormous generosity, of a deep longing for everyone to receive everything that they need. He does not ration his gifts. One needs to realize how much God is offering to each of us, and all He asks is that we accept each thing as it comes to our consciousness and not resist it in any way, shape or form, because we don't fully understand it. We’re to live in mystery, and mystery is something that you can only say, I choose to believe rather than say, I know it's right, or I know how it works. It's not knowing how it works, it’s believing that it works. Closing Prayer Father, awaken in us an understanding of your love, your generosity, your abundance and longing to give us everything that we need. Keep us from that narrow view of having to understand something fully before we can accept it. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 3:16-21 God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. Reflection The intention of God is clearly stated in this passage. He has not come to condemn, which is not necessarily meaning sent to hell, it means that a condemned person has no capacity, no hope that they can ever change. Like a building that’s condemned can't be saved or renovated. So what we're seeing in this is the fact that God’s will is to lift all of us out of darkness, of shame and fear and anger, and yet we can choose not to be lifted out of those things. We can choose the darkness. It’s a frightening thought that we can turn away from everything that we deeply, deeply long for. Closing Prayer Father, You've given us a gift of free will. Help us to ponder the choices that are before us, help us to see the fullness of what each choice creates for us, so that we will see the wisdom and the power of the life that you've called us to live with you, through you, in you, and let us feel and know that light. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  John 3:7b-15 Jesus said to Nicodemus: "'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus answered and said to him, 'How can this happen?" Jesus answered and said to him, "You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Reflection Nicodemus was an unusual Pharisee because he wanted to talk to Jesus. He was interested. He was curious about him, but yet he was still part of that company that was so resistant to anything that Jesus would do or would say. And so when he explains something that is impossible to figure out how it works, and he rejects it, in a sense. Jesus saying, Well, you reject everything. Everything I say you people reject even the most ordinary things that I might say that you could easily understand. You say is wrong. You're not open. You are not a listener to what I'm saying. And you're not open to the unusual things, the impossible things, the unexpected things that I promise you. You need to accept. They were blind, blind guides. Closing Prayer Father, create in us an openness, an expectation to receive that which we cannot understand. Our mind is an important part of who we are, but the imagination in our heart can open us to the ways in which you have promised to live with us and be an instrument through us that we cannot fully understand with the mind. Open our heart, open our imaginations. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 3:1-8 There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Reflection Nicodemus is a perfect example of life before Jesus. Nicodemus is a human being, and when Jesus talks about the flesh, He is talking about our humanity and what this image in this reading means is that we are living in two worlds, the practical world that we can understand and figure out. And then we are invited into this radically different world that operates in a different way and the idea of cause and effect as we know it, doesn't fit. So this is an invitation to you and to me that something needs to change within us. And if you think it's something you're supposed to do, stop thinking that way. You need to wait, believe, and trust until it's given. You know, you're forgiven and you're filled with this presence. The Closing prayer Father, alone with just our humanity, we are not able to really see and understand how you work in the world. Bless us with insight so that we don't need to know why or how things work, but we need to know that they are working. Bless us with this deep conviction that your kingdom is constantly coming. Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: April 16, 2023 Acts 2:42-47 | 1 Peter 1:3-9 | John 20:19-3 God of everlasting mercy, who in the very recurrence of the Pascal feast kindle the faith of the people you have made your own, increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed that all may grasp and rightly understand in what fount they have been washed, by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose blood they have been redeemed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Mark 16:9-15 When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either. But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Reflection This gospel is a perfect review of what we've just listened to through the Scriptures of this week. Jesus first appeared to a single individual, and then He appeared to two people, and then he appeared to his disciples. And now we see in this story, when he's with his disciples and he sees that this process of it growing from person to person is what he is so excited to invite his disciples to participate in. He makes it clear that belief is everything, you need to believe in what he is teaching. New life comes through this mystery of who God is in Christ and how we are asked to live that same life. It's a message of great hope. And it’s going out to everything that God created. Everything will be made new. Everything will be made as God created it originally. When he always said after every day he created, it is so very, very good. Closing Prayer Father, we see so much in this week your intention You long for your kingdom to come. Everything you created you've told us is good. So let us believe that we are participating in this marvelous work of creating a new heaven and a new earth. You guide us, you feed us, and all you ask is we believe. We believe in who you are and what you've promised. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 21:1-14 Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead. Reflection These stories are all about Jesus revealing Himself to his disciples, His followers, those who knew his teaching. And it’s clear what his calling them to is to continue the work that he established. And it’s gathering all people together and making the community one by believing in this one beautiful revelation that Jesus is sharing with His people. But what I love about this story, is that in the work of doing that, and it's our work, all of us. He wants to be the source of what we can accomplish by feeding us. Come, eat breakfast. Come, eat with me. Come, let me nurture you. It's a beautiful image of church. It's a beautiful image of who we are in God. And it gives us great hope as we continue to try to establish His kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven, here and now. Closing Prayer It's clear that from the beginning, Jesus intended that His church grow and change and enter into every heart and every mind and animate their actions. When he asked that of us, we must understand that he is also telling us that he will nurture us. He will feed us. He will cook for us and give us the energy, the insight and the wisdom that we need to accomplish his work through us, through our humanity. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Luke 24:35-48 The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way, and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” Reflection There’s a beautiful image of a Eucharistic celebration. Jesus appears. Jesus becomes present to a group of people who are filled with finally the belief and the understanding of the mystery of who he is and what he has come to accomplish. He proves his presence through his eating the fish, and he reminds them that what they have to do is to understand they are called to something, like Jesus went through, to suffer. Which means to accept the unbelievable things that are happening and to surrender to them and to be able to be filled with his presence, and his presence is about the forgiveness of sin, about lifting people out of darkness into light. And they are to witness these things to everyone. It is a challenge given to the church. Closing Prayer Father, your presence is your gift to us. Keeps in touch with the beauty of that indwelling presence that continues to nurture us, awaken us, free us from everything that robs us of the joy that you've called us to help us to feel the enthusiasm that we see in these men and women who are finally aware of who you are to us. You didn't leave us. You've come to be with us forever. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Luke 24:13-35 That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his Body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the Eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Reflection It's fascinating that in these stories, when Jesus appears in the flesh, they do not recognize him. But when he speaks or when he explains Scripture, whenever he is doing what he longs to do most, they feel his presence instantly in that gift of his desire and his longing for them to understand and to live out his teaching. So what it reminds me of very much that this presence of God in the world today is not so much that He physically walks around us, but that he dwells in our hearts and resonates from there, his healing and his loving presence. It's all about his presence. That's what will never go away. That's what stays always. That is what they could never kill. Closing Prayer Father, you have told us as you told the disciples, that you have not deserted us on this place we live in. As you said, you would be with us always, and help us to grow in our imagination, our curiosity to how this works, because it draws us into the work of the church. The work that we have as beings called to a new life. And in living that life, we are reflecting the presence of this man, God, Jesus. And he is there now with us, through us, for us and for each other. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  John 20:11-18 Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he had told her. Reflection The period after Jesus died is so important to understand, what did he want to say? What did he want to teach? In this particular passage, he really speaks clearly that what he longs for is an open heart, a heart filled with wisdom, and Mary had that heart. And so he first appears to her, tells her to tell the others that he is alive. But he also shares a great mystery. The fullness of what Jesus accomplished was finished in a sense, at Pentecost, when His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, entered into humanity. And what he says here is, I have to return to my father. It's hard to understand exactly what that means or how to interpret it, but it means there was a plan, and the plan includes the ending, and the ending is God inside of you, God unifying you with your brothers and sisters through His presence. Closing Prayer Father, over and over again, we see those that were most intimately connected with you, being challenged to believe in the things that you said as they are revealed, and as they are experienced. Bless us with faith and trust. We don't need to understand how things work, but we do need to understand what it is that God has planned for us. And we asked this In Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 28:8-15 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce the news to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the  present day. Reflection It's interesting to see the influences that worked against what Jesus was trying to establish. A community of believers that were filled with his presence, and they knew that he cared deeply for them and he would be with them in their journey. And the other powers that be, be it the institutional church or the institution of politics, whatever those things are get involved with it, it's always somehow a major obstacle. Who really has the ultimate authority? An institution called the church? The government? No, the real authority is in God, and he promises his presence. He is the one that we surrender to. Closing Prayer Father, your presence within us is the gift that you have given us through your death and resurrection. Help us always to rely upon that wisdom that you promise. Guide us so that we can truly live the lives that we have been called to live. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: April 12, 2020 Acts 10:34a, 37-43 | Colossians 3:1-4 | John 20:1-9 Oh God, who wonderfully created the dignity of human nature and still more wonderfully restored it, grant, we pray, that we who share in this divinity may share it with those that we are called to serve, and we ask this through Christ our Lord, amen.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthe 28:1-10 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.” Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Reflection The reaction of the angel is very interesting. Can you imagine walking to a place where you thought the person was still there? You knew he was dead, and you encounter a figure, a beautiful young man who simply says, He's not here, He's risen. And yet they were told that would happen. And so they were totally amazed. And the response is so interesting coming from the angel, why are you amazed? Did you not believe it? Did you not understand Jesus? And of course, that is the point. They did not understand Jesus’ teaching. They didn't fathom the fullness of what he would be until those many days, those beautiful 40 days after he rose and taught them, awakened them to the mystery of the God that wants to live within them. Closing Prayer Father, your promise to be with us, to be in us, to be for us, to forgive us. All these things are still struggles for us to be able to fully fathom what they are. Bless us with the kind of wisdom, the longing that Eve had at the very beginning of the human races relationship with God. She longed for wisdom. That's what we still need, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. And we asked this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 18:1—19:42 Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and that they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may come to believe. For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:             Not a bone of it will be broken. And again another passage says:             They will look upon him whom they have pierced. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by. Reflection One of the great challenges is to move from the Old Testament, understanding its wisdom and its teaching, and then receive from the New Testament the fullness of the message of who God is. And we see here a situation where in John himself is saying, this is the way it had to happen, because this is the way it was written in the Old Testament that it would happen. Interesting. And how clearly it seems now to look at the disciples and see how they didn't understand all this, because they were never taught these things from the temple. The temple didn't seem to even pay attention to those kinds of predictions that would come and they didn't recognize Jesus. But if you listen to the Old Testament, you know who Jesus is. And it's so affirming that it's really the revelation of who God really is. Closing Prayer Father, give us wisdom. We cannot see you or understand your message without this gift of your presence within is enlightening our minds. Help us to see all of this as it was intended to be seen and be transformed by it, as God intended us to be. And we asked this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 13:1-15 Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’  and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” Reflection It’s clear in the Scripture that the disciples did not understand the Kingdom that Jesus came to establish. It was a wonderful kingdom so different than the temple. It was not about people having authority over someone else, about each individual being cared for and honored for their dignity and their value. So it strikes me that what Jesus was giving them example of, is the Kingdom of God that's going to come is never going to be caught up and should never be caught up in a kind of servitude that it demands of others, but rather the institution, the work, the community has to be that of a servant. One who honors the person that they're serving and not having some kind of power over them. Closing Prayer Father, We are a church, each of us, without realizing it, perhaps. We represent who Christ is. That's our role here on this planet. And when we ever use our authority over people, when we tend to abuse them in any way by taking away their freedom or by simply controlling their life, we need to notice that, we need to be afraid of that kind of way of service. It's not really what people need. They don't need to be told what to do. They need to be honored for who they are. That's what we pray for. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel Matthew 26:14-25 One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“ The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.” Reflection There is such an interesting image in this particular passage that always catches my imagination. And is, whose house was this? Who is this man who they were to find? He’s not named. They will offer his house to Jesus for the most important moment in his ministry, The Last Supper. And I think it's so interesting that the line in your house, I will celebrate the Passover. What is our house that God longs to enter? It is our heart. And what is the Passover other than the institution of the miracle of God dwelling in us, a Eucharistic presence that we take in every time we celebrate liturgy. When that is offered, we enter into that same moment of this is the house in which God has chosen to dwell. That's the hope for all of us. That's what we trust in. Closing Prayer Father, we face so many things alone. We feel like we need to do something in order to win your affection. But help us to see how clearly in these stories, particularly at the end of your ministry, you made clear to us that you long to dwell within us. You want to celebrate in our house, in our heart, your presence, your healing power, and your truth. Help us to keep that in mind, to believe in it. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel  John 13:21-33, 36-38 Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, "Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him, "Master, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it." So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, "Buy what we need for the feast," or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night. When he had left, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, 'Where I go you cannot come,' so now I say it to you." Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later." Peter said to him, "Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.” Reflection This is one of the most dramatic moments in Scripture. It's a confrontation between goodness and evil. And many people ask, you know, why did this happen? Why was Judas turning toward the evil? I mean, it's like there was no more holy environment in which to grow and change than this tiny group of people listening every day to the work and seeing the majesty of Jesus. How could evil get into that? How is evil a part of the world? And we have to understand that in the plan of Jesus, in the plan that's been revealed to us. Evil has a place. And when Jesus said, this is the way it's written, I think that's what he's really saying. The work that we have is a struggle, and we know that we have a power much greater than any evil. But when it's there, we have to name it and ask it to leave  Closing Prayer Father, mystery of imperfection Evil is very difficult for us to grasp. We tend to think that you want us to be free completely of all evil. But that's not your plan. It comes in. We struggle with it. We learn from it. Help us not to be afraid of the fact that, yes, like the disciples themselves, we get caught up sometimes in a way of seeing the world and the what we need over what should be done for others. We get lost in that. Give us patience with ourselves as Jesus had patience with Judas. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gospel John 12:1-11 Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, "Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages and given to the poor?" He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him. Reflection These next two weeks are very, very important, for they talk about the very essence of why Jesus came into the world and the resistance and the acceptance that He encountered. Three people in the story stand out, obviously. Judas, Lazarus, and Martha. Judas represents all those who reject Jesus, Martha, all those who accept him, embrace him, and long for that same strength that he has to be something that touches everyone's life, to be anointed. And the image of the aroma going through the whole house is so beautiful. And then there was Lazarus, who more than almost anyone else, witnessed the power of God over death, over everything that would harm us. So we see three major actors in these next two weeks that set the stage for the recognition of who Jesus is and how he touched so many people and how some rejected it. Which one are you? That's the question. Closing Prayer Father, you have now come to the end of your ministry. You are about to make so many statements, so clearly stating who you are. And that you had to return to the father in order for all these things that you are talked about, that you are, that we can become. Open us to this great mystery of transformation. That's the gift of Christ's redemption. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Airdate: April 5, 2020 Matthew 21:1-11 | Philippians 2:6-11 | Matthew 26:14—27:66 Dearly Beloved, since the beginning of Lent until now, we have prepared our hearts by penance and charitable works.  Today we gather together to herald with the whole church the beginning of the celebration of the Lord’s Pascal mystery, that is to say, of his passion and his resurrection, for it was to accomplish this mystery that he entered his own city of Jerusalem.  Therefore, with all faith and devotion, let us commemorate the Lord’s entry into his Holy City for our salvation, following in his footsteps so that, being made by his grace partakers of the cross, we may have a share also in the resurrection and the life.  Amen.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices