Tag: Father

“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.” | Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “The father of orphans and the defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling. God gives a home to the forsaken; he leads forth prisoners to prosperity. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 16:29-33)

Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

The disciples believe they are coming to understand what Jesus is telling them about going back to the Father. Yet, they cannot see what Christ sees in the coming days of his passion, death, and resurrection. Because of associating with him, they will find themselves abandoning and denying him, isolating themselves, and ultimately being persecuted by religious leaders as his followers. Soon, they would have more trouble than they could handle alone—the trouble in the world that Jesus speaks of. In the midst of this, Jesus wishes them peace, not liberation from trouble but peace in the midst of the firing line. Is there unavoidable trouble today in your life where only Christ can give you peace and courage? That is his gift.

Father in heaven, even as the disciples believed they had their questions about Jesus answered, they were lost. Jesus redirected their gaze toward belief in him and in you. “But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” When I am scattered to my own home—that is, isolated through rejection of you—grant me the peace and courage I need to pick up where I left off and try again. In his mercy, Jesus knows the answer to the trouble the world would assault the disciples with, and he knows the answer to my particular troubles. Grant me the grace, Lord, to hear and take to heart the words of Jesus to know his presence: “Take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“So that they may be one just as we are one.” | Seventh Sunday of Easter—Ascension

From the responsorial psalm: “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 17:11b-19)

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.”

Jesus prays to the Father as his disciples are nearby, overhearing his prayer. Known as the “high priestly prayer,” Jesus prepares to leave this world, a place as he says, that the disciples do not belong to any more than he belongs to. Yet, the prayer is for the disciples who will be sent out into the world, not taken from it. God, whose word and being is truth, hears the prayer of his Son, who asks that the disciples be consecrated in truth as Jesus consecrates himself for them “so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” Compare this to what Jesus would face as John describes in the next chapter, when he meets Pilate, who asks Jesus “What is truth?” in response to these words of Jesus: “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

God, help me hear your Son’s voice, testifying to the truth, even as I face the distortions of truth that the world offers daily. Give me the grace, Lord, to remain in you and in the truth and love whose source is your being. Protect me and guard me as Jesus protected the disciples so that none were lost. “This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,” John says, “that he has given us of his Spirit.” You loved us first, Father, and sent your Son so that we might love one another and remain in you. Lord, help me learn to remain in you and bring your love to perfection as you send me out into the world. Consecrate me in your truth so that I come to share completely in the joy of your Son.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Believe that I came from God.” | Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “I came from the Father and have come into the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 16:23b-28)

“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.”

Jesus reveals to the disciples the unity of the Father and the Son. So that their joy may be complete, Jesus tells them, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” Jesus makes clear the love between the Father and the Son; clearer still will the Advocate make known to them the love among the persons of the Trinity. “On that day you will ask in my name,” Jesus says, “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.” From the Father Jesus came into the world, and from the world he returns to the right hand of the Father. In following him, Jesus invites us to be partakers in the divine nature of the Father.

Father in heaven, help me understand what it means to be in union with you through the saving grace of Jesus your Son and the Holy Spirit. Alone I can do nothing. Make clear to me today what your will is even in the midst of the trials of the world. True God and true man, Jesus returned to you from the world, giving to all who believe in him and ask anything in his name the way to eternal life. Spirit of truth, teach me your paths!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“No one will take your joy away from you.” | Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, and so enter into his glory.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 16:20-23)

Jesus said to his disciples: “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.”

In response to the grief of the disciples, Jesus reassures them that their grief is transitory, comparing it to the anguish and pain of a woman in labor. “You will weep and mourn,” Jesus says, “while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” The joy in this life is in the return of the risen Christ to the disciples, in his Ascension, and in the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. Apart from this, the world rejoices in the things of the world and its enticements. But the fullness of joy is not in this world but in the life of the world to come, where “no one will take your joy away from you.” What grief is there to offer up this very day that leads to eternal joy?

Father in heaven, Jesus says to the disciples, “whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” Grief and joy, anguish and rejoicing. How can I miss what Jesus means by pairing these words so closely together? “In the world you will have trouble,” Jesus says “but take courage, I have conquered the world.” Give me the grace, Lord, to know today that anguish is passing but joy never departs. Grief veils joy, but the risen Christ has torn the veil from top to bottom and sits at your right hand. “For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome, is the great king over all the earth,” the psalmist sings. Stay with me, Lord; in the name of Christ, let the day’s passing griefs be a means to lasting joy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“You will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” | Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “I will not leave you orphans, says the Lord; I will come back to you, and your hearts will rejoice.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 16:16-20)

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

Jesus seems to present a riddle to the disciples when he says to them, “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” Yet, he conveys to them the departure of the incarnate word and the coming of the Spirit of truth, the Advocate. The grief the disciples experience at his passion and death will be replaced by joy at his resurrection and ascension into heaven. Although no longer present before the disciples, he will be present in body and blood, soul and divinity, in the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper and present also in the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Rather than going away, Jesus firmly establishes his presence in a new way as he sends the Advocate.

Father in heaven, help me understand the particular place from which the joy Jesus speaks of originates. The departure of Jesus is not final; his physical disappearance makes way for a stronger—though invisible—reappearance. In the Eucharist, Jesus your Son is the source and summit of our faith and with us always. Paradoxically, the departure of Jesus brings to us the fullness of his presence; no longer seeing him means seeing him more definitively in the Eucharist and in the descent of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did go away but not to leave us orphans; he went away to glorify you, Lord, making himself completely present for all who believe in him—his joyful invitation to join you eternally in the life of the world to come.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“I have much more to tell you.” | Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 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.”

Jesus speaks to the disciples about the coming of the Spirit of truth, the Advocate. As he guides them to all truth, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Father and the Son. “He will glorify me,” Jesus says, “because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” One with the Father, Jesus is able to say that the Holy Spirit will take what is his and declare it to the disciples and to the entire Church. “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.” The fullness of revelation through the Holy Spirit takes place as Jesus sends the Advocate. What the disciples could not bear before Pentecost, they came to understand through the revelation of the Holy Spirit in the unity of the Father and the Son.

God, help me understand the unity of purpose within the Trinity. Everything that the Holy Spirit does glorifies your Son in his guiding to all truth. In sending the Advocate, Jesus says that he will not speak on his own but will speak what he hears, glorifying the Father and the Son in declaring it. How am I to understand the fullness of what Jesus describes in the coming of the Holy Spirit? Give me the courage, Lord, to remove barriers between me and the Spirit of truth so that he can complete in me what Jesus made possible by way of the cross and the coming of the Advocate at Pentecost. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“But if I go, I will send him to you.”| Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “Because of your kindness and your truth, you have made great above all things your name and your promise. When I called, you answered me; you built up strength within me. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 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.”

In prayer to the Lord, the psalmist says, “You have made great above all things your name and your promise.” In the Gospel, Jesus expresses the fulfillment of those words in sending the Advocate, the Holy Spirit. In obedience to the Father through his passion and death, Jesus is able to say of the Advocate: “And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation.” Only in perfect obedience to the point of death on a cross, Jesus can say that the Holy Spirit convicts in regard to righteousness because he ascends to the Father, having fulfilled his redemptive mission. In that mission, he is also able to speak of conviction in regard to the sin of unbelief and the condemnation of Satan. “Because of your kindness and your truth, you have made great above all things your name and your promise.”

Father in heaven, increase my faith because of the words of your Son. “I am going to the Father,” he says, “and you will no longer see me.” Jesus saw the grief and sadness in the eyes of the disciples when he told them he was going away. No one asked where he was going, but if they had, they would have known the joy of Jesus in his imminent return to you—the same joy he wished to share with them. I am unable to see Jesus as the disciples saw him, yet he is present to me in Scripture, through the Eucharist and the sacraments of the Church, and in the people you place before me. Help me, Lord, in receiving the Spirit of truth today so that he guides me one day to come to all truth, face to face with you in unending joy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“And you also testify.” | Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

From the Gospel acclamation: “The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord, and you also will testify.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 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.”

Jesus is preparing the disciples for his ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. When he refers to this coming, he speaks of the Trinity, the Spirit of truth that Jesus sends them from the Father. When Jesus ascends to heaven, he doesn’t go away. There is no diminishment of his presence but an amplification of it. In his ascension, he sends more of himself through the Father in the Spirit of truth, from the power of the Holy Spirit who proceeds from him. Strengthening them with these words, Jesus goes on to prepare the disciples for their coming persecution and rejection from the Jewish leaders. “I have told you this so that you may not fall away,” he says to them. Rather than alienating them, the suffering they will face will take place not apart from Jesus but in the fulfillment of his mission and in the consummated embrace of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God, help me understand today’s Gospel. Jesus says to the disciples, “I have told you this so that you may not fall away.” Help me remain in your Son as he remains in you. Give me the grace to know that you are present even when I face rejection for the glory of your name. Guide me and show me what Jesus showed the disciples in their mission to spread the Gospel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“No one has greater love than this . . .” | Sixth Sunday of Easter

From the responsorial psalm: “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 15:9-17)

“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.”

As he speaks to the disciples, Jesus uses the word love nine times. In the second reading from the First Letter of John, we hear love spoken about in almost every line—nine times altogether. “Whoever is without love does not know God,” John says, “for God is love.” In the Gospel, Jesus invites us twice, in his words, “remain in my love” just as he has kept his Father’s commandments and remains in his love. And twice he commands the disciples and all who hear him to love one another as he has loved us. How is it possible to remain always in God’s love? On our own, it’s impossible; failure is certain. John reassures us that despite this, love has triumphed: “In this is love,” he says, “not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” Similarly, Jesus says to the disciples: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” Our love—human love—doesn’t always win, but God’s does because God is love. To this—to the loving relationship of the persons of the Trinity—Jesus asks us to be obedient.

Father in heaven, in your love free me from the domination of false gods and contrived notions of who you are; bring me into the saving friendship of your Son. I am inclined to hear the words “love one another” and then hear my cynical, jaded self respond, “Yeah, right.” Love can be a feeling, but feelings fade. Should I be looking more at a decision, a line drawn in the sand that limits what is passing? The very being of love, you loved me first (“not that we have loved God, but that he loved us”). Let me choose to love, Lord, and reject what is not of you. “Go and bear fruit that will remain,” Jesus says, “so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.” In the name of your Son, Father, help me know the limitlessness of your love and make it known to others.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”| Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. The LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The Lord is gracious and merciful.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 5:17-30)

Jesus answered the Jews: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

Today’s Gospel continues where yesterday’s left off. Because Jesus told the man he cured to pick up his mat and walk, some of the Jews who learned of this began to persecute Jesus for encouraging the man to work on the sabbath by carrying his mat. When Jesus is questioned, his persecutors accuse him not only of breaking the sabbath but making himself an equal to the Father. But as the Father does, the Son also does. Jesus does the will of his Father, and like the Father, he “raises the dead and gives life,” and as the Son of Man he will call all who are in tombs to come out, either to the resurrection of life or to the resurrection of condemnation. The Son does the work of the Father; as a just judge, he works to accomplish his Father’s will.

God, help me imitate Jesus, who says, “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” I have many questions about how I am to work today, how the day and how the week will play out. From the untold number of decisions I will make today and act on, give me the grace to remember that my work is to do your will, and the grace to understand and accomplish it. What possible hesitation or fear do I have of working throughout the day if I am committed to knowing your will and doing it? Father, you gave me life and sent me for a purpose no one else can fulfill. For the sake of your glory, Lord, help me do your work today.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.