Reflection for Sunday, April 10, 2016 by John Mark Keyes

Reflection for April 10, 2016 by John Mark Keyes
Third Sunday of Easter

For printable version: 3rd Sunday of Easter
Today’s Gospel reading from John, like so many of his readings, focuses on love. But it presents some interesting perspectives that might help think about this central concept in our lives.

Last Sunday, Father Richard helped us imagine what it must have been like for Jesus coming back to find the apostles hiding out in a locked room.

He presented a Jesus who understood their fears, but nevertheless encouraged the apostles to go forth and preach the good news.

Today’s Gospel gives us an account of the third encounter between Jesus and the apostles after the resurrection.

The apostles have left the confines of their locked room, and appear to have resumed some aspects of the normal life they had led before they met Jesus. They are fishing.

Jesus is, one again, patient and understanding – he gives them a very useful fishing tip that pays off with a net full of fish.

But he is equally determined that they should pursue a new line of work.

So he shifts the conversation to a question about whether Peter loves him.

Why a question about love? And why Peter?

Have you ever asked somebody if they love you?

It’s a potentially dangerous question. It’s rather presumptuous. Why would you ask the question unless you hoped or expected the answer to be yes?

A negative answer is likely to be very disappointing, if not devastating.

And does the question presuppose the questioner loves the person they are asking?

Asking someone whether they love you is asking about the deepest, most fundamental relationship possible. It’s not about whether someone likes you, or can work with you or wants to spend time with you.

It’s about love: which encompasses so much more. It’s about a depth of commitment that is unparalleled, that is unconditional.

The question may also be hard for the recipient to answer. It can be disarming and may raise further questions about what sort of love the questioner has in mind and why the question is being asked.

I would guess that the question “do you love me” does not get asked very often. Far less often than the statement “I love you” is spoken.

So what can we understand about this question from the mouth of Jesus to Peter?

Peter answers without hesitation: “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus then asks him to “feed my lambs”. So the love that Jesus asks of Peter is tied to Jesus’s mission, to nourishing the flock of followers that has already begun to form.

Loving Jesus is here expressed in terms of continuing his work of good news and salvation. It isn’t just an emotion or a feeling. It commands action.

And the first reading from Acts reminds us that feeding lambs was not necessarily a relaxing pastoral idyll. It would incur the wrath of the authorities and ultimately lead Peter to his death.

The Gospel story does not end with a single question. Jesus asks the question again. Peter gives the same answer.

And then Jesus asks the question a third time. At this point, Peter begins to betray his humanity. His answer has a tone of annoyance and the Gospel says he was hurt – “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you”. The third time also recalls the three times Peter denied knowing Jesus. The question strikes a nerve. But it does not shake Peter’s love.

If anything, it strengthens his love, recalling how he almost lost Jesus and now loves him all the more.

I used to think Peter was not the greatest of apostles. He seemed to be the one who got on Jesus’s wrong side. He cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. He denied Jesus repeatedly. He was the one who always had to answer the questions, like a poor student who annoys the teacher in school.

But the more I reflect on Peter, the more I think he was so much like us. He made mistakes. He gave simple answers. He let his emotions get to him.

And the more I see him as a model for us all in loving Jesus more than anything.

Is this why Jesus picked him to lead the apostles? Is this why the Pope is his successor?

We don’t normally associate the Pope with someone who has human frailties. Papal infallibility does not sit well with these things.

And yet, today we have a Pope who really seems to live what Peter was about, who is sensitive to what it is to be human, who puts compassion before so many other things, who isn’t afraid to ask questions.

And last Friday, he wrote a letter to us all about the family. He entitled it the Joy of Love.

I am pretty sure Pope Francis has thought about Jesus’s questions to Peter. And I wonder what these questions mean for us too. I don’t think they were addressed only to Peter.

Do you love me?

Don’t answer too quickly. Think about it. And answer from your heart.

JMK

Reflection for Sunday, March 13, 2016 by Joan O’Connell

Reflection for Sunday, March 13th, 2016
Fifth Sunday of Lent

For printable version: Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Lent 2016

 

We have almost completed our Lenten journey.  If you have been following along with Development and Peace, you will recall that we were invited to undertake a Lenten pilgrimage this year based on Laudato Si and the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

I don’t know about you but I am confused about mercy.  I can’t quite wrap my head around it.  I wonder if it’s because only the heart and not the head can fully grasp mercy.

At a meeting I was at the other day, someone said that mercy is not a word that we use or even hear in every day conversation.  As a life-long Catholic, l grew up hearing that God will be merciful to me.  But I never use the word myself and am still not so sure how or even when to show mercy.  I guess that is one of the reasons why I am on a Lenten pilgrimage.

Fortunately, today’s Gospel is very instructive.  The Pharisees were just itching to see what Jesus would say given the conundrum they presented to him about the woman.  Instead, Jesus gave us yet another example of his third way of responding, responding with mercy.

Instead of getting caught in the Pharisees’ damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t set up, Jesus by passed the false choice of condemning or not condemning the woman and instead presented the Pharisees with a choice of their own.  “Let whoever is without sin cast the first stone”.  And then he goes about writing on the ground.

After all the Pharisees walk away, Jesus looks up and asks the woman, “Has no one condemned you?  Neither do I condemn you.  Go your way and do not sin again”.

When the woman received mercy from Jesus, she actually received three gifts – first, actual life itself as she was not stoned to death, and then an opportunity for a new kind of life by a prod to change her ways.  But she also learned something.  She witnessed firsthand what it means and what it looks like to be merciful.  I wonder how she may have put that lesson into practice in her own life.

So as we seek to understand mercy, we see that in this case it was a gift that had a concrete result, it did not judge and it incorporated a teaching moment.

The woman may not have been the only beneficiary of Jesus’ mercy that day.  Richard Rohr, the Franciscan teacher and theologian, said that he believes that Jesus’ writing on the ground was another demonstration of mercy – towards the Pharisees this time – as they did not have to see a look of condemnation in his eyes and thereby feel shame.  He spared them from that.

Mercy here was kind.  It was also subtle, with a lesson that was there to be noticed and learned, or not.

So how are mercy and this Gospel reading relevant to us today on this Solidarity Sunday when we have the annual collection for the work of Development and Peace?

For some of us in the social justice and activist communities, maybe it is an opportunity for a re-think of our own about what mercy could mean for us.  Because we want so badly to right injustices, because we hear the stories of difficult struggles from our partners and the unfairness of them, it is easy to see villains everywhere.  I mean how can you not get incensed when hearing of the shocking assassination last week of Berta Caceres, a Honduran Indigenous woman who was a defender of indigenous rights in Honduras and an advocate for the environment.  She was standing up for her people’s lives and livelihoods against a mega hydro-electric project and lost her own life as a result.

At times like this, we might want to cast stones like the Pharisees did.  But maybe it is precisely then when it is most difficult that we need to learn from Jesus’ example of a third way. When we don’t feel merciful, that’s when we must be and try even harder to find a way to infuse a spirit of mercy into our advocacy work and our search for justice.

Pope Francis has said that we have to do a better job of caring for the Earth, our common home, as people all over the world – especially the poor – are suffering from our neglect and wastefulness.

He also said that mercy is “the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life.”

Through the stories that Development and Peace has been sharing all through Lent, we have been able to look into the eyes of our brothers and sisters in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, at least a little bit.  We have learned about their lives, their families and their challenges and goals.  We have also learned how support from local organizations that are partners of Development and Peace, has helped them in achieving these goals.

The Share Lent donation that you make today or the Share Year Round contributions that you make every month enable this to happen.  They also allow us to advocate for changes that will lead to a more just world.

As a member of Development and Peace, I hope that you will look with eyes of mercy and support our work and the mission that the Canadian bishops gave us almost 50 years ago as we work to create a climate of change.

Sunday Homily – 4th Sunday of Lent

Fourth Sunday of Lent

March 5th, 2016

When we hear Scripture passages often, we sometimes fall prey to the temptation to tune out – we’ve heard it before, we know what the parable is, and we start working on our grocery list for the trip to the store after Mass or our to-do list for the coming week.

However, we must remember that the Word of God is living and active, that it speaks to us in a new and different way each time we encounter the Word. So we might ask ourselves, what does the Parable of the Prodigal Son say to us today, as individuals and as community, in St. Joseph’s Parish in Ottawa.

Luke uses a phrase in his story of the younger son that is informative for us today. He says “he came to himself” when he was at his lowest and saw no future for him feeding the pigs in the field. We can use this phrase to reflect on who God made us to be and continues to call us to be each day of our lives. What is this journey to which we have been called, and where are we on the journey?

Let’s look at each character in the parable and reflect on those questions. As we look at the two sons, we can also look at the father in relation to the sons, as well as looking at him on his own.

First, we have the younger son. The younger son cannot wait to be away from his father. He makes a choice that is almost incomprehensible. He tells his father that he cannot wait for the father to die in order that he can receive his inheritance. In effect, he is telling the father that he is already dead in his own mind, and he wants his inheritance now! His greatest desire is to be away from the father and to live life in the way he chooses, without reference or restraint. The father gives his son the freedom to make his own choices – for good or for bad. He respects his son’s freedom, no matter how much the choices the son makes might grieve his heart. He lets the son go. As we look at the son, we realize that his motivations stem from self-centeredness, greed, lack of respect and love for his father and family and heritage and a stubborn unwillingness to respond to the wisdom offered by the father and community. To what extent do I give in to those same inclinations? What are the areas where I need healing, forgiveness and continued growth.

Finally, Luke says, the younger son “came to himself”. He determined to go back to the father. His decision doesn’t come from remorse for his actions toward the father, but simply because his situation is no longer bearable. His main concern is to fill his empty stomach. So he decides to go back and bargain with the father for a job as one of his hired hands. Repentance, sincere repentance, is not really the motivation to return to the father. Again, how often do I “bargain” with God – I will go far enough to escape punishment, to get what I need for the moment, but I’m unwilling to enter into true repentance and conversion, the kind that leads to a change of attitude, life and relationships.

In this parable, Jesus challenges us to respond to the Father’s mercy, compassion and love with all our hearts and to become people who choose to live in a loving intimate relationship with God and with others. We are created in God’s image and likeness, God breathes the gift of life into us, and we are called to grow into that image and live that life fully.

The father in the parable is an image of God – God who gives us life, who loves us unconditionally and is always with us on the journey of life. Having given us the gift of life, the Father gives us the Word and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to help us to live this gift fully. As we watch the father in the parable, we realize that the son left home and left his father, but the father did not leave him. In many ways, the father was with the son along the way, and was watching and yearning for the son’s return. Notice how the son doesn’t need to go into his long confession and bargaining session. The father, who gave the son the freedom to make his own choices, welcomes and forgives him – in fact the gift of forgiveness was always there and the father was simply waiting with longing for the son to accept the gift. The father rushes out to meet the son when he finally is able to see him returning home; he doesn’t wait for the son to come crawling to the door. We are assured by the father’s actions and words in the parable of God’s unwavering, unconditional love for us and God’s desire for us to be in relationship with God.

We are called to have the same kind of love and compassion for one another. How do I react to the people who have hurt me? Am I willing to forgive and help the relationship to grow, or do I forgive only grudgingly, holding on to the hurt and anger and resentment? Again, who are we called to be? Jesus challenges us to be holy as our Father is holy; to forgive as we have been forgiven. To what extent am I willing to enter into that journey of forgiving another and growing in that holiness to which I have been called. Pope Francis, is declaring the Jubilee of Mercy, challenges us to “be mercy”.

And finally, we have the older son. Anything about him sound familiar?! He is the “dutiful” son, but we soon realize that his adherence to his duty comes out of everything but love for his father: guilt, fear of losing his inheritance, simply living out his duty to get what he hopes to get in the end and all of this done with a certain amount of frustration and even anger. He grudgingly does what the father asks of him, and does not recognize the wonderful love the father has for him. As the father reminds him, all the father has is his and the father always wants to be in communion with his son. We see a certain amount of admiration on the part of the father toward the son, but none in the other direction. God invites us into relationship, but God wants a free, loving relationship, not one that is motivated by fear or simply doing our duty in order to get our ultimate reward. This son’s unwillingness to forgive his brother or to even acknowledge his younger brother grieves the father, but the son is not ready to be moved. We are called to move beyond this kind of stubbornness and judgmental attitude to the same kind of openness and compassion displayed by the father. Again, the father allows the son to make his own choices, but is grieved by the choice and invites the elder son to ”come to himself”, to reflect his identity as his father’s son.

As we continue our Lenten journey, we hear the call to examine our attitudes and respond to the call to repentance and conversion and to grow into the people God calls us to be.

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