LOVE ONE ANOTHER

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13) Every time I hear or read this passage I can not help but think of my fellow service member's sacrifices.  It is especially true for me as we’re about to move into the Memorial Day weekend. 

Most people are excited for the three-day weekend away from work!  They’ll be gathering with family and friends for to celebrate the beginning of the summer season, picnics, vacations, no school.  Yet for some of us this tends to be a more solemn time as we remember a family member, a friend of the family, a comrade in arms who has paid the ultimate price.  Some will ask why, why does a young man or woman join the armed forces knowing the potential price?  I did a little research on why young men and women join the military, and to be honest my heart sank as I read the reasons.  I had visions of the love of country, family tradition, all for one and one for all, but the reality is it seems to be all about the first steady job, the trades training, the benefits to take care of their families, escape from poverty, travel, and adventure.  It was a this point I had to be honest with myself.  The later motivations are where I most fit at the time I joined the service.

However, what I learned over my 22 years of active service was how to love.  Yes, it’s that simple, at the core of it all the laws, the regulations, the disciplines were a lesson in how to love another who was often a stranger.  A love that called for putting someone else ahead of self.  A love so strong that you could find the supernatural strength to carry unthinkable burdens, the physical, psychological and spiritual wounds.  A love so pure that you’d be willing give up your very life for another human being.

This is the love that Jesus had for his disciples.  This is the love Jesus has for us as His chosen and beloved friends.  He chose us first!  He tells us two things in scripture today: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you." [you really must think about the level of this kind of love.  The Father is the Son and the Son is the Father.  It is a perfect union of being.] So he continues: “Remain in my love.” (Jn 15:9) Then he talks of our relationship with one another saying, “Love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12)

What a challenge it is to do those two things in our daily lives!  It’s really easy to forget that Jesus loves us as the day becomes intense.  The minute we forget we must remain in his love, subtly, we lose touch with His compassionate, His mercy.

When someone hurts or annoys us, when we’re dealing with a difficult person or someone who has made us angry, often we try to command the situation on our own, much like the disciples who went without mandate, to explain the law, the rules of the faith, only to the point of upsetting the gentile Christians of Antioch.  This behavior only blinds our ability to see people with Christ’s loving understanding.  When we stay in touch with God’s love, we can have empathy, forgiveness, and mercy.

It’s a giant step forward when we accept Jesus’ invitation seriously.  Can we stop just long enough to realize how blessed and loved we are, despite our own failings?  Even the stoniest heart melts in the face of such unconditional love.  Nothing else feeds our souls the way God’s love does.  Nothing can make us happier than abiding in the self-giving love of Jesus and sharing His love with others.

A PLACE OF BELONGING

Creating the perfect home means different things to different people, but for most of us, our domestic surroundings are where we can truly express ourselves. 

What makes a house a home?  A straw poll of friends threw up similar themes: ‘it holds all my favorite things and my favorite person in one place’, ‘it’s about having cool, smooth sheets but also feeling free to make a mess’, ‘it’s the place I retreat to for peace from the hectic, bossy outside world’, ‘it’s where I can spend the whole day in my pajamas watching the Golf Channel, QVC, Star Wars Trilogy, or HDTV if I so choose’.

It seems for many, creating a home is less about the building itself, its look or the area it is in, and more about the emotional connection and sense of comfort we’re able to create behind closed doors.[1]  It’s about having the space to be, to live out our own identity, a sacred space of security, love and belonging.

Paul is fighting an uphill battle: trying to convince an audience of Jews that Jesus is the fulfillment of their history, even though their religious leadership in Jerusalem do not accept Jesus.  He relies on his interpretation of the tradition and Scripture sacred to the Jews.  Jesus fulfills God’s promises and the enduring hope of the Jewish nation. Rejection of Jesus and his mission is rejection of Yahweh’s plan for his people.

As important as it is to have our sight on the event of Jesus’ Easter resurrection.  John’s Gospel focuses more on who Jesus is than on what Jesus did.  Christianity is not so much a religion as it is a relationship.  Jesus describes himself in ultimate terms: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6) All our rules, rituals, and writings are geared toward deepening our intimate relationship with Jesus the Christ.

Thomas’ melancholy question reflects the slowness of the disciples to understand. They have deciphered neither Jesus’ true identity nor the intimacy between the Son and the Father.  The disciples still do not know who Jesus is, but we do!  Jesus’ answer significantly focuses not on geography but upon a person, upon himself.

As we partake in this mystery, is knowing the way to the Father’s house, to the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us, to our true heavenly home, with all that a home means to us, the way is with, in, and through Jesus: this is the ultimate meaning behind his initial invitation, “Follow me” (Jn 1:43)

which leads us to a place of belonging.

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[1] “How to make your house a home” by Kara O’Reilly. June 11, 2012 Psychologies

CERTAINTY

Within 24 hours of the Challenger explosion, psychologist Ulric Neisser had 106 students write down how they’d heard about the disaster, where they were, what they were doing at the time, etc.  Two and a half years later he asked them the same questions.  25% gave strikingly different accounts, more than half were significantly different, and only 10% had all the details correct.  Even after re-reading their original accounts, most of them were certain that their false memories were true.  One student commented, “That’s my handwriting, but that’s not what happened.”

Certainty makes us feel good: it rewards learning, and it keeps us from wasting time thinking too much; but it impairs flexibility and vision.[1]

In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul, formerly known as Saul, is certain that the followers of “The Way” were non-conformists and a threat to Jewish law and tradition.  It is in Saul’s certainty he is determined to “bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.”  In his certainty Saul fails to see the presence of God in the people.  Jesus resorts to extreme measures to take Saul out of his certainty and points out that Saul is actually persecuting Jesus himself when he persecutes Christians, for Jesus, God resides in them.

Do we ever fall into this trap, failing to recognize the true presence of Christ here in our midst?  Christ is truly present on the altar as well as in our neighbor.  St. John Chrysostom is often paraphrased, “If you fail to see Christ in the beggar at the door, you will fail to see him in the chalice as well.”

One of the greatest treasures of our faith is the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  Here in this liturgy, as we gather in thanksgiving and the joy of the season, we are given the gift of Christ’s very self.  When we eat this bread and drink this wine, we are really eating his Body and drinking his Blood.  For Jesus tells us, “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him.”  We can be certain that not only are we receiving the Body of Christ, but we become it ourselves, and thus are called, nay, we are commanded to bring and be his Real Presence wherever we go, with whomever we meet.

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[1] “On Being Certain,” by Harriet Hall on May 6, 2008.  Webpage: Science-Based Medicine

LOVE OVER FEAR

Many believe there are only two primal emotions in the human being, love and fear, and that we cannot feel both at once. That in the same way light removes darkness, love can remove fear.

The choice to reject fear and choose love can feel like something that only applies to moments of crisis, but in truth, the opportunity to choose love and reject fear presents itself in the smallest moments of life, specifically, in the relationships with those closest to us. Love over fear is a choice every time someone tells us something about ourselves or has an experience of us that we don’t want to hear. Remember as Jesus and his disciples were heading to Jerusalem, how Jesus was trying to tell them that the Son of Man must be handed over, suffer, be killed and rise again.  Peter pulled him aside to tell him, “heaven forbid that this should happen, and Jesus told him get behind me Satan.

We hurt each other in intimate relationships—intentionally and unintentionally—that’s a fact.  Often, we discover we’ve hurt someone when they criticize us or tell us what (they think) is wrong with us.  In these cases, we generally feel blamed or attacked, as a result, it can be more challenging to listen, imagine the situation through their eyes, and often impossible to empathize with their pain.

After the resurrection, Peter who is most likely carrying the heavy burden of guilt for choosing fear when denying he knew Jesus, then witnessing his cruel passion and death, along with other disciples decide to go fishing?  Now it’s unclear whether Peter’s desire to go fishing is for the same reason Fr. Josh loves to go fishing to recharge to be able to reengage in ministry, or is Peter so grief struck and paralyzed by fear that he sees the situation like most humans where death marks the end, therefore, all that’s left is to move on with life.

This is the third time Jesus revealed himself to his disciples after the crucifixion and they still don’t recognize him. In last weeks scripture we heard about Thomas’ need for proof the Lord had risen and he was invited to, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." (Jn 20:27) It seems Peter is still so disappointed with himself he fails to grasp all that has occurred.  Yet, when Peter is told by the beloved disciple, “It is the Lord.” (Jn 21:7) Peter springs into action eagerly jumping into the sea to go greet his resurrected Lord once again.

After breakfast, Jesus seeks to touch the wound of Peter’s denial with reconciling love.  Their threefold dialog gives Peter, and us, the opportunity to choose love over fear, to reaffirm our love for Jesus and to boldly accept his call to mission. 

Jesus asks one question 3 times, receives a response, and gives a call to mission.  My beloved children, “Do you love me?” (Congregation responds), “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.”  Don’t say it if you don’t mean it!  Remember there’s a call to mission and a cost to being Jesus’ disciple.

My beloved children, “Do you love me?” (Congregation responds), “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs.” Learning to love God and others starts in the home.  In Deuteronomy Moses tells the people of Israel at Mount Horeb, “…be very careful not to forget the things your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart as long as you live, but make them known to your children and to your children’s children…” (Dt 4:8-10) St. John Paul II, in his Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consortio wrote, “…the family has the mission to guard, reveal, and communicate love, and this is a living reflection of and a real sharing in God's love for humanity and the love of Christ the Lord for the Church His bride.” (17)

My beloved children, “Do you love me?” (Congregation responds), “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” “Tend my Sheep.”  On the way to Jerusalem Jesus told Peter, “I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:32) As a Christian community we need to support one another.  As we approach these sacred mysteries, we need to bring our own weaknesses, our own wounds, and our own fears of the cost of discipleship and leave them at the foot of the altar.  We must intentionally remain connected as full and active participants of worship, connected in prayer groups that deepen our knowledge of God’s love for us, and to lift each other up in times of doubt and fear.

My beloved children, “Do you love me?” (Congregation responds), “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” “Feed my Sheep.”  Like the ripples from a pebble breaking the surface of a glassy pond, our love must reach beyond ourselves to the wider community.  There is plenty of fear in our world, love is the only antidote.  Peter was changed by Jesus’ reconciling love, as his bold exchange with the Sanhedrin makes clear.  Peter is able to give blessing, honor, and glory to the Lamb, no matter what the cost.  We can show the depth of our love in our day-to-day fidelity to what we know to be right and by remaining obedient to whom we know is Love, no matter what the cost.  This Love always out shines fear.

KNOWING

Great leadership is a skill rooted in authenticity and there are as many ways to be a great leader as there are people in the world. But before you can lead others, you must first be able to know, embrace and embody your true self.

According to leadership expert and scholar Peter Drucker, the most common characteristic among great leaders is integrity. Integrity is the natural result of being authentic and fully yourself. Meaning, the best way to become an effective leader is to find congruence between what you think, say and do. That said, in order to become an effective leader, you have to know who, you are: your values, your strengths, what you stand for, why you stand for it, and what your ethics are. Then act on them.[1]

Why all this talk about leadership on the Feast day of Saints Philip and James?  Because, although the Church considers itself as built on the foundation of apostolic witness, the apostles as individuals play relatively minor roles in the Gospel stories of Jesus’ ministry.

What we do know of these chosen apostles is that James is the son of Alphaeus, and is known as James the Lesser to avoid confusing him with James the son of Zebedee. We know that Philip came from the same town as Peter and Andrew, Bethsaida in Galilee.

Like the other apostles, Philip took a long time coming to realize who Jesus was.  Twice Philip takes center stage in John’s Gospel.  In John 6, the story of the multiplication of loaves, Jesus tests Philip by asking, “where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” (Jn 6:5) and today’s Gospel where Philip asks plainly, “show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” (Jn14:8) But is it enough?  Father David writes, “It is easy to forget what Jesus promises us—and act as if we were nothing but human beings.”

John’s stories are not a put-down of Philip or the other apostles.  It’s simply necessary for these men, who were to be the foundation stones of the Church, to see the clear distinction between humanity’s total helplessness apart from God and the human ability to be a bearer of divine power by God’s gift.

So for us, how well to do we know, embrace and embody our true selves in Christ?  Do we believe all that we profess in the Creed?  Do we believe in God, Jesus, & Holy Spirit?  Do we believe in the one holy, Catholic, & apostolic Church?  Do we believe in the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?  Then we must live this belief in our everyday lives, willing to be the living stones of the Church, with these little-known Apostles, that are built on the one foundation of the Church, Jesus.

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[1] The Ability to Lead Others Starts With The Ability to Know Yourself by Jennifer Racioppi, Chart Your Success