V2 - 4/27/08 (A)

Volume II Archive

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Contents: Volume 2: Easter 6A 04-27-3008

1. -- Lanie LeBlanc OP

2. Musings: -- Fr. Michael Kennedy

3. -- Fr. Paul O'Reilly, SJ

4. -- Jenn Schaaf

5. (Your reflection can be here!)

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1.

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Subject: 6th Sun. of Easter

In the passage from John's Gospel that we read this week, we hear Jesus's words "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." In spite of all the communities to which we belong such as our families, our parishes, religious communities, at work, even in neighborhoods, there are times when we feel abandoned and all alone in this world, just like orphans. Maybe "nothing seems to be going right" or hardship has befallen us, or we have to face up to something pretty serious or God's timing is way too long or maybe we are at odds with ourselves. It is difficult to find someone on earth, even a very best friend or a spouse, who can really change that feeling. Usually the presence of that very best friend or spouse alleviates the feeling of abandonment just enough to help us take the next step. We might just cry out as Jesus Himself did "Why have you abandoned me?" The cry focuses us on the Solution.

We need to open our heart once again to the hope we all have: Jesus. He said it very clearly: "I will come to you." Sometimes we don't even notice He is there because the clouds of abandonment can seem pretty dark and all-encompassing. Just like on Good Friday, however, there will be Light once again .

Let us remember those with gratitude who sit beside us, often silent, in those dark moments and also let us be willing to be there for someone else in need. May the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, continue to work in each of us, in our dark moments and in those in which we comfort others, merely (but not so merely) by our presence. It is that presence that is the perpetual reminder of His Presence.

Blessings,

Dr. Lanie LeBlanc OP

Dominican Laity

lanieleblanc@mindspring.com

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2.

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MUSINGS AND OTHER ARTICLES AVAILABLE ON WEB SITE LINK LISTED AT BOTTOM Musings from Michael©

****

Nice Guy From Nazareth

(6th Sunday of Easter)

****

Having probably been

Familiar with the unique

Point of view of Mark and Luke

And Matthew the author of the

Gospel according to John had the

Freedom to express another view

Of Jesus in the great stories

And dialogues of Jesus in the

Fourth Gospel and He helps us

To see a more Complete and

Nuanced View of Jesus as

Both the Anointed One

And the Son of God

****

And the author

Hits the nail on the head by

Sharing the news that though

Jesus was the first still a new

Advocate will come and this one

Whose title also means literally

A defense attorney or mediator

And He will be our free supporter

Which makes sense since Jesus

Said He would not leave

Us orphans for He will

Live in us and we

Will live in Him

****

So the promise is

That the Holy Spirit

AKA the Advocate will always

Be there for us and we will know

It when we see Him living in us

And this Gift will never stop

Giving for the Spirit will

Help us love and live

The mission given to

Us by that nice Guy

From Nazareth

****

MJK

©Michael J. Kennedy 2007

https://home.comcast.net/~michaeljkennedy/

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3.

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Year A: 6th Sunday in Easter

"If you love me you will keep my commandments."

There was a time in my life before I became a priest when I was sent by my Jesuit superiors to be a teacher. I was not good at it. My big problem was that I just could not keep order in class. One word from me and the children did whatever they wanted to do. I tried everything I could I tried being nice to them; I tried being nasty to them. None of it worked. In despair, I brought my problem to another teacher who never seemed to have any trouble in her class. I asked her how she did it. She simply said: "well I love them and they love me. And because they love me, they do what I ask them to do."

I think that is part of what Jesus means when he says: "If you love me you will keep my commandments."

If you really love me then you will trust me that what I ask of you is for your own good and then you will do it not because you have to; not because you'll get in trouble if you don't; but because you want to.

More recently, when I worked with an Amerindian community in the Amazon, we once had a meeting with some of the lay church leaders about how we could make the Sunday service reflect their particular Amerindian culture more closely. So the first question was how to perform a welcoming ceremony at the start. How did that community do "welcome"?

So I asked them: "What does the Touchau the village chief - say when visitors come to see him." So they thought about that for a little while. And the answer came back: "He says: 'Hello'."

And we asked: "But, doesn't he say anything else?"

And they talked for a little while among themselves and the answer came back: "No, not really. He just says 'Hello'."

But I felt we needed something more to start a Sunday service with than just "hello". So we talked a bit more and we got nowhere. Eventually one of my brother priests asked the key question: "What does the Touchau do when a visitor comes?"

They said: "Oh well! He gives them water to wash and a big bowl of Casiri to drink." that's the local traditional caassava beer.

And then we had a long and interesting discussion of whether or not it was a good idea to start Sunday service by sharing around a large bowl of cassava beer. And in the end we decided it probably wasn't.

That may or may not have been the right decision (I was in the dissenting minority), but it made an important point - the welcome is not in the words. Words are cheap. The welcome is in the action.

We welcome Christ not by faith alone - not just by saying that Jesus is Lord. We welcome him by keeping his commandments - by living our lives as he asked of us and by sharing his body and blood as he told us.

Catholic Christianity is a faith of action, not of words. We don't remain in Jesus' love by sitting and doing nothing - not even by prayer and reading the scriptures. Not even by believing in our hearts and confessing with our lips that Jesus is Lord. We remain in his love by living in his commandments. In the gospel, he tells us what they are:

• - to love the Lord our God with all our minds and all our soul and all our strength.

• - to love our neighbour as our self.

• - to be perfect as God our father is perfect.

• - to love one another as I have loved you.

• - and finally, to do this, the Eucharist, in memory of me.

Let us stand and profess our Faith in the love of Christ and the power of the commandments he taught us while on earth.

Fr. Paul O'Reilly, SJ <fatbaldnproud@yahoo.co.uk>

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4.

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The other day, I was flipping through channels on the TV. It was an odd time, and there wasn’t really anything good on, but I caught the end of the movie The Librarian. (I’ll admit, the movie wasn’t great, but had some similar adventure themes to the Indiana Jones flicks.) In order for the main characters to release a spear, which both they and the Bad Guys were looking for, The Librarian (played by Noah Wyle of ER fame) had to solve a riddle. At a Buddhist monastery, high in the Himalayas, the question that had to be answered was, "What is the name of God?" The Librarian said it was an impossible question -- that people had been trying to answer that question for years and that there were many, many names. After further thought, he pushed in the letters for the equivalent answer of, "Me," explaining the answer with, "because God lives in each of us."

Today, in the Gospel according to John, we hear Jesus tell the disciples that an Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, will be with them. Jesus then goes on to tell the disciples that when he is gone and the Spirit is present, they will realize, "that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you." Although The Librarian isn’t nearly as theologically sophisticated as the Gospel of John, both reinforce the same truth -- God is alive and working within each of us!

Is it easy or difficult to believe that the "Spirit of truth" is always with us?

Do you think it would be easier to believe if the Spirit was tangible in the same way the person of Jesus was?

How do you connect with the Spirit who is in you? How do you encourage others to engage with God?

Jenn Schaaf, Dominican Associate

Campus Minister, Ohio Dominican University schaafj@ohiodominican.edu

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5.

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Volume 2 is for you. Your thoughts, reflections, and insights on the next Sundays readings can influence the preaching you hear. Send them to jboll@preacherexchange.org.  Deadline is Wednesday Noon. Include your Name, and Email Address.

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