After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” John 21:15
Perhaps we have spoken or heard these questions as we move through our heart’s life:
Do you love me?
How much do you love me?
Will you always love me?
Do you still love me?
But true love is immeasurable. It has shades and intensities, but it doesn’t have limits. True love is all; it’s everything – fidelity, forgiveness, delight, hope, chaos, perseverance, sacrifice, joy and generosity.
Jesus knows Peter possesses all these commitments to Him. But He is asking Peter to test himself before Peter is called to take Christ’s place on earth.
The only “more” that ever touched human love was when Jesus took our flesh to live, die, and rise for all of us. Jesus wants to hear Peter say he has that kind of sacrificial Love.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Jesus knows us too, and how we want to love him well; how we may want to love him “more”. Let’s talk with him about that in our prayer today, asking to not let our chances for loving God slip by without our notice.
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. John 17:20-21
Over several Gospel readings, we have been blessed to pray with the prayers of Jesus. Just before today’s passage, Jesus has consecrated those sitting around him who are his friends. In today’s extraordinary moment, Jesus blesses us – and all those down through the ages – who will to believe in Him.
Of course, faith is a gift we cannot acquire through our own effort. The consolation of faith, the feeling of faith, is something that sometimes evaded even the greatest saints. St. John of the Cross writes extensively about the “dark night of the soul” during which he had no emotional awareness of faith. At times, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Mother Theresa and even Jesus himself suffered a sense of isolation from God:
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Even when we find ourselves in a spiritual desert, we still can will to believe by opening our heart and experience to the grace God offers us – by our trust, our perseverance in prayer, and our patience with our own uncertainty.
Spiritual darkness, received as a gift, can reveal an otherwise undiscovered dimension of God’s Love for us.
Music: One Dark Night – John Michael Talbot
In this beautiful music, Talbot recants lines based on the Song of Songs and the writings of St. John of the Cross – poetic imagery that strives to describe encounter with God.
One dark night Fired with love’s urgent longings Ah, the sheer grace In the darkness I went out unseen My house being all now still
In the darkness Secured by love’s secret ladder Disguised Oh, the sheer grace In the darkness And in my concealment My house being all now still
On that glad night In the secret, for no one saw me Nor did I see any other thing at all With no other light to guide me Than the light burning in my heart
And this light guided me More surely than the light of the noon To where he lay waiting for me Waiting for me Him I knew so well In a place where no one else appeared
Oh guiding night A light more lovely than the dawn A night that has united Ever now The Lover now with his beloved Transforming two now into one
Upon my flowering breast There he lay sleeping Which I kept for him alone And I embraced him And I caressed him In a breeze blowing from the forest
And when this breeze blew in from the forest Blowing back our hair He wounded my soul With his gentle hand Suspending all my senses
I abandoned, forgetting myself Laying my face on my Beloved All things ceasing, I went out from myself To leave cares Forgotten with the lilies of the field
And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated. Acts 20:32
Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. John 17: 17-19
Both our readings today describe the act of consecration. In Acts, Paul blesses the presbyters in Ephesus, anointing them for Gospel ministry. In John 17, Jesus prays to the Father for his disciples – that they may be blessed and confirmed in the Word which is Truth.
At some point in our lives, each one of us has been consecrated in that same Truth. We may have been baptized, confirmed, blessed, ordained, and professed. Through those consecrations, the Holy Spirit has been breathed into our hearts to form us in Truth which is God’s Word.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Let’s gratefully remember the fullness of our consecration. By the grace of God, we embody the Divine Power of truth, love, and mercy. How often do we remember to call on this Power when life threatens to overwhelm or confuse us?
Music: Sanctus – Jessye Norman
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
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.” John 15: 14-17
What about Matthias and the story of his emerging role in the spread of the Gospel? He must have been holy and good even to be considered for the office of Apostle. Were there just too many holy people initially to fit him into the biblically magic number of 12? And what about Justus who didn’t make the numerical cut? Was his giftedness lost to the early Church because of a short straw or a muffed coin flip?
In our Gospel, Jesus tells us that we are each “appointed” to bear fruit that will remain. No matter our title or function, we are equally “chosen” to nurture and sustain the life of the community.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Let’s pray with Matthias that, whether recognized or unrecognized, we will be faithful to the Gospel in word and action.
Music: Mathias Sanctus – Hildegard von Bingen (chanted by Bella Voce Chicago)
Mathias, sanctus per electionem, vir preliator per victoriam, ante sanguinem Agni electionem non habuit, sed tardus in scientia fuit quasi homo qui perfecte non vigilat.
Donum Dei illum excitavit, unde ipse pre gaudio sicut gygas in viribus suis surrexit, quia Deus illum previdit sicut hominem quem de limo formavit cum primus angelus cecidit, qui Deum negavit.
Homo qui electionem vidit – ve, ve, cecidit!
Boves et arietes habuit, sed faciem suam ab eis retrorsum duxit et illos dimisit.
Unde foveam carbonum invasit, et desideria sua osculatus in studio suo, illa sicut Olimpum erexit.
Tunc Mathias per electionem divinitatis sicut gygas surrexit, quia Deus illum posuit in locum quem perditus homo noluit.
O mirabile miraculum quod sic in illo resplenduit!
Deus enim ipsum previdit in miraculis suis cum nondum haberet meritum operationis, sed misterium Dei in illo gaudium habuit, quod idem per institutionem suam non habebat.
O gaudium gaudiorum quod Deus sic operatur, cum nescienti homini gratiam suam impendit, ita quod parvulus nescit ubi magnus volat, cuius alas Deus parvulo tribuit.
Deus enim gustum in illo habet qui seipsum nescit, quia vox eius ad Deum clamat sicut Mathias fecit, qui dixit: O Deus, Deus meus, qui me creasti, omnia opera mea tua sunt.
Nunc ergo gaudeat omnis ecclesia in Mathia, quem Deus in foramine columbe sic elegit. Amen.
Mathias, a saint through being chosen, a champion in his victory, did not know himself chosen before the Lamb’s blood was shed: he was tardy in knowledge, like a man who is not perfectly awake.
God’s gift aroused him, so that for joy he rose like a giant in his strength: God foresaw him as he had foreseen the man whom he formed of clay when the first angel, who denied God, fell.
The man who saw his choice, alas, alas, he fell!
He had oxen and rams at his bidding, yet he looked away from them, turned his back and abandoned them.
Thus he plunged in the pit of coal and, kissing his own desires, in his ardor he raised them high, like an Olympus.
Then Mathias, divinely chosen, rose like a giant, because God set him in the place that Judas, the lost, rejected:
O wondrous miracle that shone through him thus!
For God foresaw him in his miracles, though he had not yet the merit of accomplishment, but the mystery of God had joy in him, joy that in its original plan it did not have.
Joy of joys that God works in this way, when he lavishes his grace on one who does not know, so that the child does not know where the grown man will fly, whose wings God has given to the child!
For God savors the one who does not know himself, because his voice is crying out to God, as Mathias cried, saying: God, my God, who created me, all my works are yours!
So now let all Ecclesia take joy in Mathias, he whom God thus chose in the cleft where the dove nestles. Amen.
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. John 16: 32-33
We can fool ourselves about what “courage” really is.
I grew up in a tough inner-city neighborhood. We kids had to have courage to survive the street dynamics our parents were blissfully unaware of. I had a lot of that kind of courage and still do. I’m not even afraid of mice, neighborhood toughs like Big Jimmy (remember him?), nor of monsters hiding under my bed.
But do I have the kind of courage Jesus is talking about?
the courage to believe when God seems silent
the courage to remain peaceful when spiritual turmoil surrounds me
the courage to live truthfully in a culture of lies
the courage to be patient with my own limitations
the courage to be merciful in the face of repeated affront
the courage to love what is not lovable
the courage to persevere when circumstances test me
the courage to champion and reverence the marginalized
the courage to challenge systemic indifference to the vulnerable
the courage to say “No” when it is what God would say
the courage to live God’s “Yes” in an unreceptive world
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Let’s think about the kind of courage Jesus prayed for in his disciples. Let’s mirror our life against it and ask for more of it where we need it.
Poetry: Courage – Edgar A. Guest (sorry about the non-inclusive language)
Courage isn't a brilliant dash, A daring deed in a moment's flash; It isn't an instantaneous thing Born of despair with a sudden spring It isn't a creature of flickered hope Or the final tug at a slipping rope; But it's something deep in the soul of man That is working always to serve some plan.
Courage isn't the last resort In the work of life or the game of sport; It isn't a thing that a man can call At some future time when he's apt to fall; If he hasn't it now, he will have it not When the strain is great and the pace is hot. For who would strive for a distant goal Must always have courage within his soul.
Courage isn't a dazzling light That flashes and passes away from sight; It's a slow, unwavering, ingrained trait With the patience to work and the strength to wait. It's part of a man when his skies are blue, It's part of him when he has work to do. The brave man never is freed of it. He has it when there is no need of it.
Courage was never designed for show; It isn't a thing that can come and go; It's written in victory and defeat And every trial a man may meet. It's part of his hours, his days and his years, Back of his smiles and behind his tears. Courage is more than a daring deed: It's the breath of life and a strong man's creed.
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. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. John 17:11-15
In today’s Gospel, Jesus prays with great tenderness for his beloved disciples. He asks the Father to “keep” his friends, the way we keep precious things in our hearts, our prayers, and our memories.
I have prayed like this for the people I love, haven’t you? We ask God to protect them the way we would protect them. We don’t ask for miracles, but simply that they be delivered from the evils of “this world”.
We want them to have the courage to live good lives, and to be blessed by that goodness. We want them to find joy in the immense blessings God offers us, yes, in “this world” as God created it.
This is the prayer Jesus offers for his disciples … and for each one of us.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Rest in Jesus’s prayer for those who love him that we may be one with him in Trinitarian Love. Let it convince your heart of the joy, hope, love, and mercy God has for each of us.
A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus. He was an authority on the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and, with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. After his arrival he gave great assistance to those who had come to believe through grace. Acts 18:24-27
In this passage, we meet early Christians who loved and supported one another as they spread the faith. Priscilla and Aquila were a power couple for the early Church. Eloquent Apollos arrives on the scene not perfectly synched with the evolving Gospel. Priscilla and Aquila tenderly redirect him, welcoming him to teach the community.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We get a great picture of the importance of having good buddies for the mission. As we look at our own lives in service, how precious are our faith companions as we deepen our life in Christ! How grateful we can be for the gentle corrections, encouragement and support we have received in community! Let us pray for our whole Church that we will understand what it means to truly “buddy” one another in Christ.
Music: Companions on the Journey – Carey Landry
We are companions on the journey, Breaking bread and sharing life; And in the love we bear is the hope we share for we believe in the love of our God, We believe in the love of our God.
No longer strangers to each other, No longer strangers in God’s House; We are fed and we are nourished by the strength of those who care, By the strength of those who care.
We have been gifted each other, And we are called by the Word of the Lord: To act with justice, to love tenderly And to walk humbly with our God, To walk humbly with our God.
We will seek and we shall find; We will knock and the door will be opened; We will ask and it shall be given For we believe in the love of our God, We believe in the love of our God.
We are made for the glory of our God, For service in the name of Jesus, To walk side by side with hope in our Hearts, For we believe in the love of our God, We believe in the love of our God.
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…
… 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.” John 16:20
Jesus understands that life can be hard, and the Christian life even harder. His followers will face the grief of losing his physical presence, the scorn of their persecutors, and the sorrows inextricably woven into every human life. Their equanimity may break like a fragile eggshell under the press of these burdens.
But Jesus leaves them with a glorious promise. In him, their grief will be transformed to joy. They “will see him again”, not just in some distant parousia, They will see him in life itself as they learn to live it in the Father as Jesus has lived it.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We ask for the grace to believe Jesus’s promise, and to see God in our lives as they have been given to us. We pray for the courage to use that blessed assurance in a ministry of love and mercy to the world.
Poetry: Joy and Peace in Believing – John Newton (1725 – 1807), author of Amazing Grace
Sometimes a light surprises The Christian while he sings; It is the Lord who rises With healing in his wings: When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again A season of clear shining, To cheer it after rain.
In holy contemplation, We sweetly then pursue The theme of God's salvation, And find it ever new: Set free from present sorrow, We cheerfully can say, E'en let th' unknown to-morrow Bring with it what it may.
It can bring with it nothing But he will bear us through; Who gives the lilies clothing, Will clothe his people too: Beneath the spreading heavens, No creature but is fed; And he who feeds the ravens, Will give his children bread.
Though vine nor fig-tree neither Their wonted fruit shall bear, Though all the field should wither, Nor flocks nor herds be there: Yet God the same abiding, His praise shall tune my voice; For while in him confiding, I cannot but rejoice.
Music: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Johann Sebastian Bach
When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” Acts 1: 6-12
Our Gospel today recounts how Jesus ultimately left his disciples to reassume his fullest self in heaven. There are many lessons in this reading but one strikes me particularly on this Ascension Thursday.
Just as Jesus returned to heaven so will each of us – to assume the fullness of ourselves as we were created to be; to be folded completely into the Eternal Love of the Trinity.
In the meantime, like the disciples, we have received the fullness of the Holy Spirit to become Christ’s witnesses in our time.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We stand beside those who love Jesus as he ascends from their midst. We feel their sadness, joy, amazement, anxiety, and hope. We feel their confidence that, in the power of the Holy Spirit, all good things are possible in their yet uncharted future.
Let’s talk to Jesus about this special moment, and what graces it might waken in our own hearts.
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. John 16:12-13
In this passage, Jesus indicates that the “Truth” can be overwhelming. He tells the disciples that they cannot bear it all just now. But the Holy Spirit will guide them to receive the Truth.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Isn’t that a fact for all of us? Don’t we need to grow into the Truth rather than comprehend it all at once?
At best, we live in a world of appearances and, at worst, a world of fabrication. We may be tempted to judge reality based on these thin and misleading surfaces.
To respond to the deep truths of life, we need to prayerfully follow the Spirit – to be gradually strengthened in our capacity to see the world as God sees it, to respond to the world as God would respond. – in Truth.
Lavish Mercy 