First reading: Wisdom 2:12,17-20
—¨Psalm: Ps 54:3-6,8—¨
Epistle: James 3:16-18; James 4:1-3
Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

You ask but do not receive,
because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

The test:

Let’s start with today’s reading from Wisdom. We all know that the references in Wisdom are to the Jewish leaders persecution of the Messiah, that is factual, but where is the deeper meaning.

Peeling away the obvious we see meaning in the dichotomy between the desires of the leaders and the message of the Messiah. The leaders see the Messiah as: the One who is obnoxious to us; sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations.

The Jewish leaders had century upon century of legal interpretations to stand on. They had everything figured out from the how and when of washing ones hands to who and what the Messiah would be. Jesus didn’t fit that bill and they were perturbed, in fact angry because they knew better than God.

The Jewish leaders failed the test of true discipleship. They couldn’t set aside personal interpretations, personal opinions and follow the interpretation, the way shown them by God. How like the leaders of our day and age — religious and secular leaders.

Dependence:

St. James gives us a lesson in dependence, the lesson lost on the Jewish leaders and on our leaders today. What they miss is that discipleship starts in dependence, it starts in admitting our not knowing and in questioning every one of our motives. It may seem a little too analytical or self critical, and I don’t mean that we should downplay ourselves as ignorant, but we should question and compare. When we do, we place our reliance on God’s way over our way. We declare ourselves fully dependent on God’s wisdom, God’s way. God’s wisdom becomes the yardstick by which we measure.

St. James’ key point is that:

the wisdom from above is first of all pure,
then peaceable, gentle, compliant,
full of mercy and good fruits,
without inconstancy or insincerity.

Fact checking:

As disciples we must compare and contrast what we do, what we think, what we believe is inspired against the wisdom from above. That wisdom is scripture and capital —T— Tradition. That is the truth inspired by the Holy Spirit and handed down to us.

Look what we will find in that truth: purity, peace, gentleness, compliance, mercy, good fruit from our work, consistency and sincerity. Look at the conflicts facing so many Churches and nations — and they can all be boiled down to a failure to fact check against Scripture and Tradition, a failure to rely on the wisdom from above, a failure to be childlike disciples.

We are subject to sin:

St. James also reminds us of the consequences of a failure to be dependent, a failure to fact check our actions and opinions against the wisdom from above. As the Jewish leaders and much of the Jewish nation missed the Messiah, as they failed in the test of discipleship so too are we subject to failure. It is expressed in all those things St. James mentions: wars, conflicts caused by our passions, covetousness, murder, envy, fighting and war, emptiness because we do not ask and when we do ask we seek after our own ends.

We are subject to fall into sin when we forget the source of wisdom and our call to be disciples of that wisdom. We fall in sin when we place ourselves ahead of and on top of God’s way in everything from our daily lives to the structure and teaching of the Holy Church.

Sin is manifested in being on-top:

Our sin is most manifest when we claim to speak for God, for the action of His Holy Spirit. It is manifested when we place ourselves on-top in relation to God thinking we have some unique and never heard of insight. Like the Apostles in the Gospel whose chief question was who shall be first among us. Each wanted to believe he was on top.

Have you ever heard someone mention a fresh inspiration from the Holy Spirit for our times? I’ve heard it called a fresh breath of the Spirit, an opening of windows, as if the Holy Spirit somehow needs a BreathSaver or a Renuzit to respond to our times.

Are our struggles that different, our times so vastly set apart from the history of the human condition? Of course not! Our sins are as old as Adam and our propensity to put ourselves above God, first-in-line, is no different than that day in the garden when Adam and Eve thought they could be like God; the day the Apostles argued about who was first.

We are dependent on the wisdom from above:

The wisdom from above is the purity of God’s truth. It isn’t something we need be haughty about, but something we must rely on, something we are dependent upon, that we check ourselves against. It is truth as old as history because it is the truth of God. When we become His disciples, His messengers, we set ourselves apart from the world’s way. We break from the habit of self-reliance, being on top, to God reliance. We stop delivering our message and deliver His message.

This is a matter of choice and of humility. It is not a matter of perfection, for, as I said, we will fall in sin, but when we do, when we fail in our discipleship, to whom shall we turn for redemption? If we are true disciples we turn to the wisdom from above.

True discipleship:

The Apostles were arguing along the way. First, the Gospel teaches us that they just didn’t get what Jesus was saying.

But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.

First they feared the wisdom from above, next:

They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest. —¨

Good job Apostles. Don’t rely on what God already said was important, on the wisdom from above, rather figure our who’s first, who’s on top, who has the insight of God. The Apostles were the first example of Church-gone-wrong for us, the making of church that is not of the Church but of us, of our whims, our desires, of our thinking we know better than God. They were so busy figuring out who’s on first they forgot Who is first.

Now don’t mistake the democratic nature of the PNCC for this type of demagoguery. Our democratic nature lies in the Church membership’s having a say over the secular matters of the Church, control of the assets and property of the Church in which the membership has rightly invested in and supported. This demagoguery goes to the issue of who is in charge of our beliefs, our theology, our Catholicity. It places man in the role of speaking for God. Watch out for those wolves in sheep’s clothing declaring they have all knowledge of the Spirit and righteousness. If it isn’t in scripture and Tradition beware.

[Jesus] said to them,—¨—If anyone wishes to be first,—¨he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.— —¨Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst,—¨ and putting his arms around it, he said to them,—¨ —Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;—¨ and whoever receives me,—¨ receives not me but the One who sent me.—

The child is the simplicity of the wisdom from on high. It is what we were given, our faith, our Catholicity, all we have and hold dear in our Holy Polish National Catholic Church. Disciples do not invent, but give. Disciples do not control, but love. Disciples rely on Scripture and Tradition, holding fast to the wisdom from on high and teaching what has been given.

The desires of this age are like the desires of the Jewish leaders, who relied on themselves and what they thought right and just. Those desires test and persecute Christ, they nail Him to the cross over and over. The desire of the disciple on the other hand is childlike humility, acceptance of God’s wisdom which surpasses that of man and yet loves him completely. The disciple asks rightly, believes rightly, acts rightly — holding the orthodox faith which gives purity, peace, gentleness, compliance, mercy, good fruit from our work, consistency and sincerity. Rely on that, fact check that, and stand in the Catholic faith taught and delivered to us. Doing so we will pass the test of true discipleship and inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

First reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm: Ps 85:9-14
Epistle: 1 John 4:17-21
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant…

We are changed

We are a new people, a people of the new covenant, a people born in love. We have been changed in every way imaginable and we are constantly growing into the people God calls us to become. From the moment we were baptized we have been on the road to change, renewal of life, and of dedication to fulfilling the love our Lord has given us.

Jesus’ coming ushered in this new covenant —“ but that was only the beginning. Often we mistake Jesus as a one time event, even an end point. If we think it all ended with Jesus’ ascension we would be wrong. At His ascension Jesus challenged us to take up the life He called us to, the Christian life in which every day is a step forward in the new covenant.

Jesus’ time on earth was not an experiment in magic or some sort of mystical transformation for humanity, it wasn’t some sort of cheep trick aimed at changing man, but was His gift of love by which we were changed and transformed into a people of the new covenant. In the new covenant we learn that we are to live love. Jesus’ coming was the mark in time from which something very special happened… freedom to love truly and rightly.

The old law is no more…

St. Paul often talks about the law as being about sin and death. He strongly stated that by Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection, the marking points for the new covenant, we were freed from the law, freed to live forever in the love of God.

The law given to Moses was a prescription against sin. Like any drug it was meant to be used by people who were already sick. Freedom from the law does not mean that we won’t get sick, literally that we will fall in sin, but that our lives are not defined by sin. In the new covenant our falling is cured by living transformed lives defined by the love Jesus taught.

It starts with Jesus touching us

Last week’s Gospel was a prime example of the kind of love Jesus taught. As you recall a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment was brought to Jesus. First Jesus took him aside, away from the onlookers, and then He did something remarkable —“ Jesus healed by the power of touch and the word.

Jesus spit, touched the man’s tongue, and put His fingers in the man’s ears. He then spoke a word and the man’s ears were opened and he could speak clearly. I’m thinking that if Mary was there she would have been indignant and would have told Jesus to go wash His hands. When we hear that Gospel, and ones similar to it, we sense a definite ick factor. But what Jesus did was a perfect act of love. Jesus touched the man; He laid his hands on Him and made him whole. By loving the man Jesus opened his ears and his life to the message of love.

Jesus touches us to love us. He gave us the sacraments for that very reason, so He could enter into our lives through the hands of his ministers. Jesus wants to be with us and wants to show His love. Then He asks that we take His touch, His love, and share it with the world.

It works when we accept

Back to the ick factor… what if the man got grossed out and ran away? Well, he wouldn’t have been healed, but more so, he wouldn’t have been set free.

The starting point and the path that Jesus offers requires our full cooperation, just like the man cooperated with what Jesus was doing. This is what Bishop Hodur and the Church define as regeneration.

That process begins at baptism and wends its way through our lives till we reach a point where we actively engage the Lord and say yes to Him. Picture the revival meeting or the altar call in your head, people coming up and falling on their knees to accept Jesus. We may not be quite as dramatic —“ but you know what, that’s what we are called to do. We must make the choice; fall on our knees and say: —Yes Lord, I love you and I want to live by the love you taught.—

Be careful of the ick factor and don’t let it get in the way of true faith in our Lord and Savior. He is the one who spit, put His hands on the man’s tongue, put His fingers in his ears, made a mud of spit and dirt and placed it on another man’s eyes, and endured the cross —“ giving us His body and blood to eat and drink. True faith means that accepting Jesus means that we accept His commandment of love which transforms the ick of life into beauty, the commandment that collapses the former law into the love command:

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

That’s not the end

‘Do this, and you will live‘ requires that we do more than accept. We could show up for 10,000 altar calls, to justify ourselves but that will be of no avail. The one acceptance, acceptance of Jesus in our hearts and into our lives, makes us new and puts us on the road to heaven. It is what we do after acceptance that matters, our cooperation in living Jesus’ commandment of love.

I love the way Bishop Hodur stated the work of the Church. The Church is here to accept, help, and love all who seek Christ and abide in her, and if some should chose another path we wish them well and do not disparage them.

Isn’t that Christian love in action? Christian love means that we set aside the ick, the criticism, the disparaging, and every ill thought. Our transformed lives welcome, accept, hold up, love, and care for all. We journey together to heaven and we do not disparage those who seek another path to heaven. We journey together in the process of learning from the Church, taking its guidance as a means for improving the way we love each other —“ and all —“ for who is my neighbor.

If we focus on the Christianity of laws, criticism, ick, or he or she is not good enough, then we cannot claim to be Christians at all, for we will have fallen back into the old ways of the law, trying to change behaviors instead of changing our very identity.

We start in accepting Jesus Christ; we work on changing ourselves so that everything we are says that we live in Christ, loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Let’s get close

The time to get close is now. First, get close to Jesus. If you’ve never consciously done it, say yes to Him and invite Him to change your life, to change your identity. It happened to me at the Mission and Evangelization Workshop in Perth Amboy not that many years ago. We went to a Full Gospel Church to learn about that Church’s ministry. Sitting in the sanctuary and listening to one of their deacon’s describe the power of the Holy Spirit I asked Jesus to change me. The beauty of the moment —“ I’ll never forget it. The change, ask my wife, its on-going and didn’t happen overnight. But I know that the Lord is with me telling me constantly to love, to be transformed.

Next, let’s get close to those around us, here in church, at work, at home, in the neighborhood. Let’s find the people the world calls icky, the people we avoid or are uncomfortable with. It is time to start the process —“ to learn how to love as Jesus loves, to invite as Jesus invites.

This Solemnity marks our difference

Our Church has given us this beautiful Solemnity. Our Church echoes the words of Jesus —“ Come unto me! Pójdź za Mną! That is the call of love that goes forth from every Parish in the Holy Polish National Catholic Church. Come; do not count cost or past transgression. Do not dwell on the ick. We do not abide in hell fire and fear, red devils or criticism. All are welcome to join us —“ to be brothers and sisters living renewed and regenerated lives of love. We believe in God’s goodness – the seed He planted in each of us which takes shape from the moment we come to Him. We are transformed and on the road — becoming the loving people of God. Amen.

First reading: Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8
Psalm: Ps 15:2-5
Epistle: James 1:17-18,21-22, 27
Gospel: Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

—Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.—

Wrong-hearted:

Here we are, Youth Sunday, on the verge of a new school year and a new year in our School of Christian Living.

When discussing youth and the Church we often focus on the contents of today’s scripture. We recount the laws of the Lord and the do’s and don’ts which make everything very simple. We warn against the dangers of the world, of the false ethics imposed by the media and government. We hope and certainly pray that the Lord protect our children from danger and from the wrong path. We look at our list of bad stuff and ask that our children avoid:

evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.—¨

I don’t think any of us would want our children to be drawn into any of these. We hope for the best and fear a bit because we have to trust an educational system without a an objective center to help us in our task of raising children. For five days a week that system works against the one morning a week we pray, offer sacrifice, and teach our children in the way of the Lord. Something more is required so that our children avoid wrong-hearted choices; so that they come up in the way of the Lord.

Something more:

What can work miracles, what can make the difference, what is the something other?

That something other starts with us. We can make that miraculous intervention. What that takes is a consistent message. It doesn’t consist of preaching or lectures. Those have their place, but more important is the day-to-day life we lead. We can use the word example but that’s abstract. How about this:

Do we celebrate traditions in our home that center on the liturgical year — such as fasting on Fridays and Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent; that include joyful moments: Hey! you Christians get gifts on St. Nicholas Day? Both the fasts and the joys are teaching moments to be shared by family. What is our language like? Do we pray before every meal or are we too rushed? Do we eat together at a table like Jesus did or in front of the television? Do we hold our children accountable for their actions, the wrongs they may do? Do they apologize to those they may have hurt? Do we sit together and focus on homework or do we send our children off alone to suffer through it? Do we give the Church’s view of current events and the news — not to be judgmental — but to teach that there is an objective standard of behavior, that right and wrong do actually exist? Do we teach the art of charity or is everything on sale in the yard or on Amazon? Do we jump out of bed on Sunday morning in the joy of anticipation or is it obvious that it is drudgery?

Each of those things are the something more we can actually do. These are the practical steps for making a difference. There is also something more…

This school year we have confirmation and first communion classes. The reality — God’s gift of grace makes the biggest difference every week. The Holy Mass, penance, the Word, the Eucharist impart life changing and world changing grace. With those gifts, with true faith and belief in those gifts, and our cooperation with those gifts, our children will stay protected.

It comes from the heart:

Jesus told us: —From within people, from their hearts…— We understand what Jesus meant… that good and evil comes from the heart. The dangers out there, those in our homes, among the members of the Church, in society at large come from the heart. The good, the love Jesus calls us, our families, the Church to, that comes comes from the heart as well. To minister to our youth, to raise up our children and to hold them before the Lord we need to impart hearts that destroy wrong, that eliminate corruption. —¨

Brave heart:

A man I used to work with had a saying: —God hates cowards.— Not theologically or philosophically correct, but with a drop of truth. St. Paul writing to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:7) reminds us that:

God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.

Timidity has been translated many ways — but essentially meaning that God gives us a spirit of courage, a brave spirit. We need to impart a message of bravery in proclaiming our faith. Our children need to know that they are allowed to be brave in the face of the world, friends, sin. This doesn’t mean that we should teach our youth to be offensive in bravely delivering the message, for every message must be delivered with love, but that they can be confident in its truth.

The spirit we have been given, which we pass on to our children, delivers Christian truth with courage and confidence. As the shirts and advertisements say: No Fear!

Steady heart:

In the second half of Psalm 51:10 we read: put a new and right spirit within me.

Again the translations vary, but essentially that new and right spirit is a steadfast spirit. Isn’t that our hope as well. We want our children to have a steady, steadfast heart.

What does that mean? No less that this: that they have a firm determination for the faith; that they be unshakable in the faith; that their faith convictions are firm; their statements and speech consistent; that they be unbendingly loyal and devoted defenders of Christ and His Holy Polish National Catholic Church.

A brave heart and a steady heart is given through the grace of God and our work.

Clean heart:

Psalm 51:10 also begins: Create in me a clean heart, O God.

While we are born with a clean heart we enter a world corrupted by original sin and our hearts… they take on that corruption. The corruption is alluring, is easy, is offered on a silver platter and we and they will fall over and over. Our children need to know that there is a way to freedom, to a clean heart. They do not need an expectation of perfection but an expectation of forgiveness.

Create in me a clean heart, O God begins in our desire to escape sin. It begins in an accountability to He who created us as calls us to everlasting life in the perfection of goodness.

Our children need to know that. We may be offering them a message of unattainable perfection – perfect grades, great relationships, alluring careers. We want all that for them and unfortunately we may build up just enough pressure so that they seek a surer way to get there, that is by the road of sin and failure. That sure road isn’t so sure and taking it… they may end up in abject failure. What then?

That is when they need to know that faced with human frailty, faced with the hurts they have imposed and the sins they have committed, there is a way out. They need to know that they can cry out: Create in me a clean heart, O God and that it will happen. They need to see us going to confession, need to see us asking for forgiveness and admitting wrong — not just to feel good or keep the peace — but to attain true reconciliation. Seeing us they will know its true.

True heart:

A brave, steady and clean heart combine in creating a true heart. This is what Jesus calls us, calls our children to. He is calling us to do all that is necessary, not just for our salvation but for our children’s and our grandchildren’s. Those gifts of the heart are what God offers, and what we are charged with delivering. The heart gifts counter the five-day-a-week regimen of the world. The heart gifts come in the regeneration of baptism, are supported by the sacraments which impart beautiful gifts of grace and continues in all we say and do to build their brave, steady and clean hearts. Amen.

First reading: Joshua 24:1-2,15-18
Psalm: Ps 34:2-3,16-21
Epistle: Ephesians 5:21-32
Gospel: John 6:60-69

—The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe.——¨

The club

You might say that we belong to a club – Christians that is. We have Jesus’ words which are Spirit and life. We partake in the meals that I spoke of last week. We follow the club’s rules and its traditions. It is pretty cool to belong to the club. We even have a distinctive name: Christians. The apostles chose to belong to the club. Peter put it this way:

—Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.—

For sure, they joined the club.

As human beings we generally abhor separateness. We like to belong and Jesus wanted us to live as community. Now hold that thought about separateness versus belonging.

Is there a not club?

We could say that those who reject Christ do not belong to the club. That was pretty obvious from today’s Gospel. Those who wanted out left after Jesus crossed the line from interesting preacher and miracle doer to a challenge.

many of his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer accompanied him.—¨

In leaving they said:

—This saying is hard; who can accept it?—

As Christians we have a tendency to beat non-believers and those who have left us over the head with this saying. We want to draw a distinction between club members and non-members, outsiders. We call them weak, unable to meet the hard saying, the narrow path. If we are the club and on the path then they must be the opposite — outsiders. We are the ones who accept the challenge of the club and the path while everyone else rejects it.

Is there any hope?

Club versus non-club, the path versus the wide way of corruption. There are tons of distinctives and a lot of Christian history has been an engagement in the drawing of lines. It was thought that we could tidily box in the club and dwell securely. We, on the inside, in the club, on the path — we have our destiny wrapped up. Everyone outside the club, well we made great paintings of hell fire and preached on it extensively. Stay in the club or die. If you’re not in the club it would appear that there’s no hope.

Is there any hope?

Jesus fixes our perspective:

Jesus fixed us but good for our perspectives didn’t He?

Look at the world — amass in non-club members. I think there’s more outside than inside. Look at the churches on Sunday. Many empty, many filled with the few and the aged. Look at the denominations. They’re out there making every accommodation possible. They’ve changed core beliefs, long held doctrines — perhaps not because of belief in any of it but rather as a marketing ploy. Everyone is running about and is trying to fix the club. But, we can’t fix it, not that way. Jesus is presenting us with a big challenge and He’s fixing our bad habits. The world has changed. We expected folks to join the club just because its a club — but it doesn’t work that way — it probably never should have.

The big club

Jesus challenge is to recognize the big club, the fact that all are entitled to the club. The fix Jesus is looking for is that we knock down the self-containing walls and that we get active — invite those we consider non-members into the club. Our call is to everyone regardless of what they call themselves. Jesus’ message is for all and all are entitled to hear it.

To do that we need to get busy. We need to remove the labels and the classifications of outsider and insider. We need to take the message of the Church to all, to the unbelievers, disbelievers, and believers in whatever else may be out there. We need to say that we are here, this is what we believe, and here’s how we live.

But…

But people will be offended, they’ll resist…

Certainly and we cannot force people into the club. Our membership is free. We have a free association of those who hold the faith. If someone were forced to be here we’d have diluted the truth of the faith — God’s open invitation through grace to be regenerated.

Our message is that the unchurched and the non-believer, the person caught up in a destructive way of living, the lonely, the sad, young, old, the rich, poor, and the in-between, the smart and the ordinary – everyone, everybody, everywhere is invited, that they have a place, a role in the Church. Our job — to invite all, to give them the opportunity to choose to believe as we believe and to uphold charity toward those who choose differently.

The message:

Our saying may be perceived as hard, and we can’t change who we are as an accommodation to the world. What we represent is all Jesus said and taught, the words of everlasting life.

The hard saying is a challenge because it initially confronts selfishness, the comfortable place a person has found, the easy chair of pre-conceived notions — but in the end the challenge is found to be an easy and light burden.

Think of the person who responds to your call by saying: —How can I be a member of the club, I’m too far gone.— At first we might think that sad. Rather than sadness we need to act, to invite: —You’re already a member and you are my brother. Come with me without cost.— We can echo the words of Isaiah 55:1:

come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.

Everyone, everybody, everywhere — our job, Jesus’ challenge, go out and invite them, sometimes over and over, and let them know that they are as much a part of us as we are of them in God’s kingdom. Some may not choose belief, membership, but our job, to put aside separateness and to offer belonging. Amen.

First reading: Proverbs 9:1-6—¨
Psalm: Ps 34:2-7
—¨Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-20
Gospel: John 6:51-58—¨

—Come, eat of my food,—¨and drink of the wine I have mixed!—¨Forsake foolishness that you may live;—¨advance in the way of understanding.—

  

Choices:

Proverbs says that we have a choice between foolishness and the food and wine God gives us. Today we learn that Jesus is the food and wine. In reality our life giving food is His body and blood. Now we have a choice, we can get up, run out of here, and throw-up, we can feast on Jesus’ body and blood, or we can play pretend. Which are the foolish choices, which is the wise one?

Run away:

Running away wouldn’t be unheard of. As Catholics we do things that people think are rather disgusting.

The early Christians were faced with a great amount of criticism because of all that. Justin the Martyr, writing in about 150 to the Roman Emperor, his sons, philosophers and the whole Roman people made defenses of all that Christians do. Writing on the Eucharist to refute the claim that Christians were cannibals he says:

And this food is called among us the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.

Everything we do was criticized at one point or another. Even the exchange of the sign of peace was once purported to be an exchange of immoral sexual acts.

The funny thing is that the life we are called to is far harder, far more difficult, because its demands are exacting. We abstain from immoral behavior, we sacrifice, we love those who hurt us, we get slapped on both cheeks, we choose to die for the faith, we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ so as to be, as Justin said, transmuted, that is changed by it.

If anyone were to run away they would run because they are called to take up their cross and follow Christ. If our goal however is eternal life, to live forever, running away would be a foolish choice.

Pretend:

I’ve often wondered about the pretend exercise the Protestant Churches go through. They hand out cups of wine or grape juice and chunks of bread and say that their followers should remember what Jesus did. What’s the point of this pretend exercise?

I can imagine a big sign up front saying: —Come in and let’s play pretend.— In my book this impeaches the Gospel they preach. It allows people to think that the Gospel is a series of choices, I like the loving and happy stuff, the Jesus fish fry, the walking on water, the wine into water, and the partying Jesus but I think I’ll hold off on the suffering, sacrificing, turn the other cheek Jesus. Oh, and definitely, I’m not eating this flesh and blood stuff, He didn’t mean it, just give me a hit of that grape juice.

One might think that they get to eat with no unpleasant body and blood aftertaste. The funny thing about the pretend game without the body and blood aftertaste is that it leaves no memory, makes no change at our core.

If our goal however is eternal life, to live forever, we have to consume Jesus’ flesh and blood. Pretending would be a foolish choice.

Eat:

So we are faced with eating as the wise choice. We choose to forsake foolishness and to eat in all its reality. In eating we are changed and by that eating we obtain everlasting life:

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life

A long way from May:

We are a long way from May when first communions remind us of the reality of what we are eating and drinking. The Holy Church is taking this opportunity to remind us of this reality and to assist us in answering the question of why we eat.

From time to time we need to explore these choices and the alternatives to partaking in the Bread of Life. We can run from it, we can pretend its not real, but if we are true to ourselves, to what we know, then we eat.

What to we know:

I think if we are true to what we know, to what we experience, we must say that this eating has changed us. Let’s sit back and think of our first communion, the first time this grace of God infused us. We suddenly experienced an onrushing joy, a closeness to the awesome majesty of God, and a partaking in the eternal banquet. That rush of experience, although it is far away, is as true today as it was then. This is an opportunity to re-experience the reality of what we do every week.

In our Canon we pray that the angels take our offering to God’s altar in heaven and bring down from it the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Picture that. The bread we present, we make, we offer being carried from this altar to the heavenly altar. In return we receive from that altar the perfect bread and the perfect cup and from the eating of that bread and cup we are made new.

Advance:

Proverbs asks us to advance in the way of understanding. By making the right choice, by rejecting foolish choices we advance in understanding. We don’t run, we don’t pretend, we eat and by eating we become more and more human, more in line with the person of Jesus Christ. By eating we find the hard road of the Church to be a happy road and the hard choices become joyful choices. By eating we gain this understanding and clarity. We understand because the eating imparts the grace necessary for understanding.

In eating we advance, we are transmuted, changed by the eating. Jesus tells us that by eating we have life in us. By eating we have Jesus in us and we become in Him. That is a joy filled advance on our road to heaven — the whole reason we eat. Amen.

First reading: 1 Kings 19:4-8—¨
Psalm: Ps 34:2-9
Epistle: Ephesians 4:30—”5:2
Gospel: John 6:41-51—¨

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him—¨

Recap:

Today I would like to recap the journey we have been on since mid-July. It is a story of revelation and today Jesus crosses the line.

The start:

In mid-July we listened to Jesus as He sent out His disciples. They had minimal instruction, just what they had seen and heard from Jesus – mostly miracles. They went out to preach repentance. What do you think they did?

They went out and the repentance message was secondary. Instead they did miraculous things, healing and casting out demons. Rather than repentance they focused on the power of this great man waiting in the dessert. They told people that they had to check-Him-out, they intimated that there was great power awaiting them.

What happened?

The disciples came back and told Jesus all they did. Focus on that, all they had done. Wasn’t their job to preach repentance? They came back to tell Jesus, to tell God, that they felt powerful and that they did stuff. Ooops…

No wonder the crowds were waiting. Jesus said that they should go to a secluded place to pray and rest. As soon as He said that He turned around to see a massive crowd. They heard the disciples all right and they’d come for the power show. It was hot, the big ticket, the event everyone wanted to get in. There they were, and Jesus fed them with a few loaves and fish. He preached and taught, but they didn’t hear Him over the expectation in their minds and hearts.

Crossing the sea:

The crowds turned around and the show was gone. He had crossed the sea to Capernaum. They went after him. In plain language they tell Jesus that were there to seek a sign. They say: —What sign will you perform for us?— The crowd is hyped up and they want the power show. Part the sea, move the mountain, destroy Rome, heal our sick, raise the dead, give us the whole nine yards.

Jesus tells them that He will feed them with real bread and they are confounded. They don’t get it. Where’s the loaf Jesus?

Crossing the line:

The crowds aren’t getting it. Jesus is telling them that He is the bread from heaven. All they see is a carpenter’s son. All the works, everything He had done — it wasn’t enough.

Up until now they saw Him as a worker of tricks. It was water into wine, voices from the sky, healing the sick. They had their eye on Him but in sum He was no more than an itinerant teacher schooled in scripture. They’d seen tons of those guys before. They did tricks too.

Jesus could have lived a comfy life in the countryside. He could have done parlor tricks and made statements about love, peace, feeling good, or kindness. He, like those before Him, could have talked about loving God, giving to charity, going to synagogue on Friday evening and temple at Passover. But He crossed the line, He said He wasn’t there to entertain them, that He was there to feed them in a way they had never been fed.

The ticket they bought, the show they expected was over. Jesus told them how it is. Ever go to a show only to find out that the main act was missing? Imagine going to find out that the main act was someone completely different, someone you didn’t expect, someone there to upset your life philosophy.

—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.—

Jesus crossed the line — now He was dangerous.

What we don’t get:

Similarly we get upset when the God’s Church challenges our life philosophy.

It is important that we constantly reflect on what the Church asks in Jesus’ name. If it’s uncomfortable, off-putting, challenging, if it crosses the line it is the voice of God. Fasting, prayer, charity, Sunday morning, Holy Days of obligation, sacrifice, loving enemies, taking the hand of the poor and the immigrant, saying no to what we want, what the government wants, what TV wants and replacing it with what God wants?

We are constantly challenged to get past the feel good buddy Jesus and see Him as the only one who can feed us.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever

Next week Jesus will tell us to actually eat His body and drink His blood, to be one with all He is. To do that, to fill up on Jesus we need to cross the line from casually spiritual Christians to the Body of Christ, the Holy Church. We need to make a distinction because we are separate, apart, we aren’t the show the world wants but the message the world needs. If we don’t get that point we need to.

When we cross the line:

We cross the line when we are regenerated, when we are born again of water and the Spirit. When we become that new man we become the people Paul spoke of: imitators of God living in love.

We live in love not as exclusivists, alone in a wilderness, behind church walls praising God amongst ourselves for our own benefit, but as a people apart yet in the world because we must change it.

Everyone has bought a ticket and has their expectations, even certain people who mistake what Christianity is. We need to remind them that the real ticket lies in body of Christ, in His teaching, in His incorruptible and eternal message.—¨

We cross the line when we give that message, when we will live as Christians, at home, at work, in the marketplace, in school, in bed. Hard, yes, rewarding — at times even in the world, glorious — yes and forever. The Holy Spirit has drawn us to Jesus’ Holy Church. Let’s get out there and cross the line every day. Amen.

First reading: Exodus 16:2-4,12-15
Psalm: Ps 78:3-4,23-25,54
Epistle: Ephesians 4:17,20-24
Gospel: John 6:24-35

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.—

Why do we travel?

It is summer time and we’re in the peak travel weeks. I’d like to consider travel today. Why do we travel? From short hops to long trips, to world tours our travel usually has a purpose. We may need to jump in the car to pick up a few groceries, or go to the doctor, or go to work. We may walk for exercise. We may travel to see family, a tourist spot. As Christians we are a people of travel —“ we go on pilgrimages to holy places, the places Jesus visited, the great buildings created to give God glory.

Many of us have traveled to Scranton, to visit the final resting place of Bishop Hodur, to take part in Church activities, or to pray in the cathedral built by immigrants to the glory and honor of God. We come here each Sunday, to this holy place, to offer God our time and attention, to put our focus on Him.

Travel has a purpose. It may be travel for an immediate need or for the dream, once-in-a-lifetime vacation we’ve always wanted to take. It may be for eternity. It may be for our destiny.

They looked for Jesus:

Today we hear of need. The Israelites were not happy, out in the desert without food. They grumbled because they had a need. God, feed us! And He did.

The people Jesus had fed in the wilderness came looking for Him.

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,—¨
they themselves got into boats
—¨and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

They and the Israelites in the desert had to travel to get what they needed.

While in the wilderness the Israelites got up and traveled throughout the camp gathering manna. In the twilight they got up to gather the quail. It didn’t just appear on their plates all ready to eat, they had to travel, to go and get it.

Likewise, Jesus didn’t sit back on the mountainside handing out loaves and fishes. Jesus traveled on, going to Capernaum. The people’s response was to get up, to travel on further (remember they had left their homes and things behind to follow Him into the wilderness in the first place). The people went further from home to find Jesus.

You’ve come a long way:

At Eleven today Eva Ann is going to join us. She’s traveled a good distance to be here, to do something remarkable. Eva Ann has traveled to Albany from Tennessee to find eternal life. I find this fact simply remarkable.

In this age Baptism has been turned into quite a business. The world says: Sure it’s a nice ceremony and all, but it’s really an opportunity to party. To the world it is no more than a baby naming ceremony in a fancy building with pretty clothes —“ and of course the party afterwards.

This event, in our parish today, is something more. It is more because Eva and her family traveled a great distance to be here. If this were just a thing they could have done it, and had a party, back home. You can have a baby naming ceremony in practically any church building without a lot of questions. I’ve got kids and I know it’s a lot easier to have your children at home, in their familiar surroundings, with all the stuff you need all around. So why travel. Why come to Albany, to Holy Name of Jesus Parish, to the Holy Polish National Catholic Church, if all you want is a nice ceremony and a party?

Makes no sense does it? There must be something more.

What did they hope to accomplish?

Eva Ann’s parents obviously hoped to accomplish something here. They traveled to this city, and are coming to this holy place. They invited friends and family to join them. They left the comforts of home and Eva’s crib, her toys, her changes of clothes. They traveled with her on pilgrimage, walking the walk thousands of generations of Christians have walked. They will climb the steps of this church to accomplish Eva’s destiny.

What if:

I would ask Eva’s parents to think back to the day she was born, to that moment they first held her. The doctors, nurses, technicians, midwives, all the commotion is going on but they feel as if they are in a place all by themselves. Bang! They’re startled out of the special place. Here’s Deacon Jim crashing through the room, banging into trays of instruments, tripping over something, clumsy as anything, but he’s got something to tell them.

I say: Your daughter is a princess. They say: ‘Well ok, we know that, yes she’s beautiful, but why are you here?’ I say, ‘No, you don’t understand, she is a princess, beautiful, clothed in royal garb, there’s a castle waiting, she’ll be happy every day of her life, and she’ll live forever.’

Since I don’t look like one of the good fairies from Sleeping Beauty they quickly assume I’m crazy and ask the nearest nurse to call security.

But, I insist I am right.

To accomplish this:

I said that Eva’s family traveled, hoping to accomplish something. I said that they’ve traveled to fulfill Eva Ann’s destiny. What they will accomplish, will fulfill, is to make everything I’ve just said true.

Destiny is this:

Eva Ann is to be a princess, a beauty. She will be clothed in royal garb, and there is a palace that awaits her. She will be happy every day of her life, and she will live forever. Today she will meet her destiny.

Today, as she is bathed in the waters of baptism and anointed with sacred chrism she will become a princess in the body of Christ, in the Holy Church.

Her beauty is perfection because she will be regenerated, made new in the life of faith.

She will be clothed in the royal garb that has marked Christians throughout the centuries. It is the white garb worn by every Christian ruler, kings, queens, princes, and princesses. It is the garb worn by knights, it is the garb washed in the blood of martyrs. Every saint, every man, woman, and child claiming Christ wears this royal garb.

She will be happy because she has the assurance that no matter the event, no matter the momentary sadness she has our Lord and Savior to cling to. Jesus will stand with her and His Holy Church will support and pray for her. Jesus absolutely, 100% guarantees that her happiness will be forever if she is regenerated and believes on Him.

Eva Ann will enter the body of Christ today in this community, she will be regenerated, and she will live forever. Jesus has prepared a place for her, a royal palace. From that palace her royal beauty will stand eternal; and she will stand with the whole community of saints in her white robes raising the eternal hosanna. That is her destiny. That is our destiny.

I will ask Eva Ann’s parents, godparents, family and friends, and I ask this community to consistently remind her and ourselves of our shared destiny. Let us thank God that our parents and godparents traveled to give us, to accomplish this, destiny. The world lives for the here and now, and people don’t consider destiny, but Christians know their destiny, for eternity is in our grasp. Amen.

First reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44
Psalm: Ps 145:10-11,15-18
Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-6
Gospel: John 6:1-15

Jesus said, —Have the people recline.—

Other things alluded to:

There’s a lot in every set of readings and you can take a few of Jesus’ words or actions and write whole books on the subject. Scripture is very dense – meaning that it is filled with instructions for the totality of the life we are to live with God. That’s what God wanted, that’s the reason He came to us, to give us His word, His instruction. The prophets and the patriarchs cooperated with God in getting the word out. The Apostles carried the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Jesus gave us the whole message — the message from the Father’s mouth.

Looking at today’s readings and Gospel we see a lot. We find the consternation, confusion, and doubt of the Apostles — how would so many be fed. We see the faith of a boy who stepped forward with a few loaves and a couple of fish, offering that to Jesus, for the multitudes. We see the hunger of the crowd, following Jesus into the wilderness, not for food but for His teaching. We see the power of God in the miraculous feeding of the multitude; Jesus’ miraculous action in dividing the little into plenty.

A place for everything and everything in its place:

Looking at the Gospel I think we often overlook a secret ingredient. Jesus put everything into its place and found a place for everything. Jesus was more than just the message of God among us, He was the great organizer and the master of the disciplined approach.

Jesus feeds everyone, everyone has a place to recline, there’s enough food for everyone, and nothing goes to waste, but is gathered back into baskets. There is no mess and no waste. Jesus, who prayed that not one of His sheep would be lost assured the welfare of all the sheep and the loss of nothing.

Jesus the great organizer:

In today’s Gospel we see Jesus the great organizer. We don’t consider Jesus as an organizer but think of this: You have Jesus, a few followers, and at least five thousand out in the wilderness. People certainly followed prophets in those days, and there were mass journeys to Jerusalem for Passover and other festivals, but you didn’t see a rag-tag group of thirteen leading five thousand into the middle of nowhere. Jesus did.

Think about the times. Certainly Rome with its army and political muscle could have gathered and organized a large group. Perhaps the Chief Priest, Sanhedrin, and the Temple Guard could have organized something, but a penniless group of thirteen led by the promise of a word, of a teaching, of a miracle? No one would have believed it if it hadn’t of happened. It did.

Jesus is in fact the great organizer. Jesus didn’t need to rely on His infinite knowledge and infinite power. He didn’t depend on His command over an army of angels, but organized this large group in the wilderness based on something else. All He had was His word and His words: —Have the people recline— organized five thousand plus.

What Jesus relied on was the faith response of the crowd. In faith and in hope they followed Him. In faith and hope they placed complete trust in Him. They left the food, the shelter, everything back home and followed on blind faith. They journeyed many miles on foot, just to hear. We must respond similarly.

Jesus seeks our faith response to His presence. He doesn’t use the power of heaven and an army of angels to get us to respond. He doesn’t create miraculous visions for us. He simply offers us an opportunity to respond, to say yes, to follow Him, to trust Him — and if we do we will hear.

The discipline of Jesus:

Jesus took the faith and hope of that crowd just as He takes our faith and hope and turns it into discipline. Come together, listen, come to me, be healed. Gather in small groups, recline, eat. Jesus turns humanity’s faith response into action that brings us paradise, eternal life, perfection, the life we were meant to live.

The discipline of Jesus begins in teaching. We begin in listening to His Word, the awesome sacrament offered by our Holy Polish National Catholic Church. We gather in a crowd to listen to Him, to be enlightened by Him. It certainly isn’t me — for I have no gift. The word we hear is the voice of Jesus teaching. He teaches at length, He teaches steadily, He teaches us in this day and age in the same words His Apostles heard. He hasn’t modified His message. He presents it to us in its simplicity telling us — make this part of your life. Eat this bread, my word for eternal life. In His word our faith response finds fulfillment, it finds its home, its completion, its happiness.

The discipline of Jesus is completed in our common meal. He tells us, recline in small groups and eat. Waste nothing. Gather from what you have eaten and fill many baskets carrying them into the world so that others may be fed.

Why we need Jesus:

We need Jesus. The armies of the world cannot organize us in this way, taking our faith response and turning it into fulfillment. You see the error of those who take faith and turn it to political action, corrupting the message of Jesus to serve political masters. The false priests, their guards, and their temples cannot organize or fulfill our faith response. They ask us to respond to their their temples of stone, of gold, or of corruption. Those who put their faith in those places find no food to fill them, find no home.

We need Jesus, who has the power of heaven at His call, but who organizes and disciplines us according to His word, the teaching and food He has given. It is the only place that our faith response can find peace.

Where are we without Him?

All of our inner longings, all of our desires are fulfilled in Jesus. Our faith response is our search. We search for meaning, for sense, for organization, for discipline. We seek to quiet the inner torments of our soul. We can only find the place, quiet that torment, when we find Jesus, when we hear His word, when we eat His bread.

Our natural drive is to seek that place of fulfillment, the place we are complete. Without Him, without His word and food we are unhappy, seeking like people in a room with no light. We bump against everything yet nothing fulfills. Nothing makes us completely comfortable.

Jesus creates:

Jesus breaks darkness and makes sense of our search. He enters that dark place. He appears in the valleys and on the mountains where we conduct our search. He takes us by the hand and shows the way. He organizes us, disciplines us, leads us, teaches us, fulfills us, and feeds us.

To create organization is to create sense out of chaos. Jesus is the great organizer who makes sense out of our chaos, who gives us the promise only God can give, eternal happiness, eternal fulfillment, perfect sense, perfect peace. “Lord, give us this bread always.” Amen.

First reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm: Ps 23:1-6
Epistle: Ephesians 2:13-18
Gospel: Mark 6:30-34

In Christ Jesus you who once were far off
have become near by the blood of Christ.

The Good Shepherd:

We’re a quite a few weeks away from Good Shepherd Sunday. In the midst of the Easter season we read of the Good Shepherd. We ponder this Shepherd who came to us, took care of us, sacrificed Himself for us, and finally showed us the promise of the resurrection. What happiness, to hear of the goodness of Jesus as shepherd in our Easter joy.

Today’s first reading alludes to that Good Shepherd, the shepherd the Father sent to gather the remnant of my flock; to bring them back to His meadow; to bring them to the place where they will increase and multiply. The Father promises the Good Shepherd Who will free His people from fear and trembling; Who will ensure that none go missing.

This promise in Jeremiah tells of the Lord Jesus Who is the righteous shoot to David; the King who reigns and governs wisely, Who does what is just and right in the land.

With Jesus Judah is saved and Israel dwells in security.

Reminding us of the bad:

Jeremiah also reminds us that bad shepherds do none of this. They mislead and scatter the flock. The bad shepherds are the complete opposite of Jesus.

God says that He will deal harshly with the bad shepherds, those who mislead the flock and scatter them, but let’s not be too melodramatic about that punishment. We are simply reminded that the bad are in for a bad end. It isn’t an end created by God who is all good; it is an end the bad shepherds create for themselves.

The bad shepherds’ misleading words and falsity lead them and their followers out of the light. The bad shepherds punish themselves and doom their followers to the darkness of unbelief, to solitary caves of darkness, to separation.

How different:

That dichotomy, that difference is the clear distinction between the ministry of the Good Shepherd and the ministry of bad shepherds.

We can enumerate the things the bad shepherds offer. They start with the promise of self-aggrandizement. From there they lead people through the dark valley, with no rod or staff to show the way, searching like blind men for a promised reward but finding emptiness. Their promised rewards and their paths do not connect to anything or anyone. Will riches, power, unconnected sexuality, gluttony, laziness, theft, or murder make anyone happy? Will those things reveal connections of any type? Will they make us truly happy?

Bad shepherds throughout the ages have touted the rewards of falsehood. In our day the purveyors of falsehood, the bad shepherds, are in the millions. You have a question or a problem; they have an answer, a book, a philosophy, a technique. You will not find the Good Shepherd in any one of those. They avoid Him completely. If they mention Him they make Him into something that fits their philosophy. They never fit to Him or follow Him as Shepherd.

Together:

Good Shepherd gives us the direction, the choices that bring us together, that build family, friendship, human relationship. In our God given gift of freedom and with the inspiration and grace of the Holy Spirit let us choose the path described in St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Paul tells of a people who have been made one. He talks about the Shepherd who brought unity, who eliminated division. Paul tells us that in Him we are one in peace, we are one, no longer divided by enmity. In Jesus we are in a new unity established in peace and reconciled with God. In Jesus no one is near while others are far off — all are near to God.

The Good Shepherd unites. The choices we find in Him bring us together. We don’t dwell apart, lost in dark caves, but together in the light, guided in all we do.

Jesus sent them:

Last week we read that Jesus sent the twelve out. He sent them on a shepherd training mission. When He sent them He didn’t say, ‘go preach what you will, make it up as you go along.’ If He had done that He would have created a whole bunch of really bad shepherds. Judas would have talking about power through betrayal and the purse. Peter would have told the flock to go out and cut peoples ears off — power through the sword. Thomas would have pointed to the god of confusion and doubt. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, would have told everyone that they could sit at God’s right hand, that they could be Jesus.

Rather, Jesus sent them with clear and distinct instructions and a specific message. That is why the Holy Church is hard for so many, because we can’t have it our way, we can’t make it up. We have scripture and Holy Tradition handed down from our Lord, to His Apostles, to the Bishops, and to us. It is certainly old stuff — very permanent stuff — and most especially true stuff, the teaching and way of the Good Shepherd.

Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand. Love God and love your brother as yourself. Pick up your cross and follow me. Die to yourself, to the world, and find life. Eat My body, drink My blood. Be meek and humble. Take the last place.

They came back:

J.. Jee… Jesus! Jesus!!! You should’a seen it. We did this and this and people actually listened. People were cured. Oh my!

He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”

They were tired and they needed a retreat, a time to integrate all that had happened. They needed to rest in a quiet place so Jesus could make sense of their awesome experience.

But…

But… the crowds came. They tried to walk to a private place and the crowds blocked the way. They got on a boat and the crowds reached the other shore first. What did the Good Shepherd do?

he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.

The crowds were in need. The leaders weren’t leading, the qustions weren’t getting answered, and the people were relegated to dark caves, apart and alone. Yes, Jesus taught them, but the why of His teaching is key today. He came to shepherd them, to bring them together, to help them in fulfilling their humanity. He showed them the way. Jesus didn’t give them a silly or self-serving message, just something they wanted to hear, but the message that was for eternal life.

Getting of the boat Jesus (note that He, the Shepherd, got off the boat, not the Apostles) —was moved with pity.—

Pity isn’t pity as in our definition of the term. This sense of the term pity is used both in the Old and New Testament and is only used in reference to God. Men have mercy, God is the one and only who is moved with pity. This ‘pity’ is not a feeling; a sense of condolence or sorrow for a persons situation. It is not reactive. In God it is proactive, a divine action by which God restores the life of those who have lost it.

Jesus comes to the shore to restore these people’s life. He came to the shore, and to the cross, to restore our life. Jesus came as the Good Shepherd, bring the dispersed flock together as one, and in doing so he revealed the reality of life in God.

We are the beneficiaries of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, who came to the shore to bring us together, to make us one. We are one and not apart. One in the Body of Christ, one in the Christian family of faith — a family open to all. As St. Paul reminds us again:

In Christ Jesus you who once were far off
have become near by the blood of Christ.

Near to each other and near to God, one in living in the light. Amen.