Jesus was all about health! Last Sunday Jesus brought back to life a widow’s son. While the emphasis in that story is the son and the physical healing which occurred, imagine the emotional, psychological, and spiritual healing which came upon the widow herself? She was healed as well that day. She was on the corner of grief and despair, and Jesus brought her happiness and health.

In today’s readings from Samuel and Luke the context is spiritual healing. Both David and “the sinful woman” are compelled to acknowledge their sinfulness. David is confronted with his sin by Nathan the prophet. While he might not have been ignorant of his sin he certainly was ignoring its impact. I might add this is a prime example of social sin. David lusted after Bathsheba and basically had her husband Uriah killed so that David might fulfill his desires to be with her. Uriah certainly felt the effect of David’s sin. The “sinful woman” in today’s gospel takes the initiative with Jesus. She does not have to be confronted with her guilt and shame. She is amply aware of it. She needs no coaxing. She sees in Jesus someone who can heal her of her shame. The “sinful woman” desires to return to the corner of happy and healthy, and Jesus is more than willing to bring her there. She desires to be healed of the sickness of self-loathing. How many people out there suffer from this affliction? Perhaps it is the greatest illness out there. I believe that a lot of society’s problems stem from the self-loathing people have. If you don’t love yourself in a healthy and happy way can you truly love another?

Occasionally we find our spiritual lives at the corner of frustration and inconvenience or that other corner of guilt and shame. Today, Jesus offers us healing. Taking the initiative like the “sinful woman” is braver, but sometimes like David we need to be confronted. Regardless, Jesus is waiting, inviting each of us to the corner of happy and healthy.

All societies have rules about how people relate to one another. They originate to promote the common good and include, among other things, notions of class and gender. The time of
Jesus was no exception as we see in today’s gospel. The woman burying her only son has no living male relatives. Society held women had meaning only in relation to the men in their lives. Not named, this weeping, wordless woman faces a desperate future. As soon as Jesus sees her, his heart is moved with pity. Her very silence calls him to take up her cause. Jesus’ words bring comfort and his touch raises her son. Imagine this mother’s joy when Jesus gives her boy back alive. Jesus let his heart go beyond his culture’s human limitations to the boundless love of his Father.
Jesus intuitively knew that oppressive structures and attitudes hurt everyone, including the oppressors. He also knew the challenge of dismantling them. But his study of the Law and the Prophets had taught him this: real love is measured by care of the poor, the weak, and the marginalized. Blaming them for their pitiful lives neither addresses root issues nor takes away problems. Today we have learned that all of us–men and women, rich and poor, white and people of color–are socialized into attitudes of superiority or inferiority. We don’t choose these attitudes; they simply form without our even being aware of them. Only grace can draw us to recognize the good and evil they promote. Today’s scriptures raise questions about what we let ourselves see as we journey through our own lives.
The great-hearted response of Jesus gives us a glimpse of his Father’s boundless love. We are called by our baptism to see as Jesus sees. We are called to help bring about the reign of God in our time and place. We are given a share of Jesus’ own love and compassion. Jesus always shows us the wounds of sin and division among us. Perhaps this humble widow could motivate us to be still and let God’s Spirit show us our own narrow views and prejudices. May your healing work, O Lord, free us, we pray, from doing evil and lead us to what is right. Amen.

As a child I loved to help my mom make bread. In fact I had my first course in Trinitarian      theology during one of those sessions at our kitchen table. After mixing the dough, Mom kneaded it, gathered it into a ball, and returned it to the bowl to rise. Her final step was poking four holes in the dough in the form of a cross.  When I asked why, she explained, “To ask the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be in the baking and eating of this bread in our family.”  Mom was no theologian, but she lived and moved and had her being in the Triune God.

Just as she knew that yeast and flour and water made bread, she knew the Trinity somehow works in those who yield to God’s kneading. She believed the Creator stirs up the love of Jesus in people. She trusted Jesus to knead in the Spirit’s wondrous gifts. She counted on the Spirit to soften minds and hearts and to add what’s missing. Above all she knew that only the abiding grace of God’s three-fold presence dissolves self-centered and short-sighted expectations into bread to satisfy each day’s hungers and needs. Like the art of baking, this mystery can’t be explained; it is felt and learned by heart.

Dominican mystic and Doctor of the Church Catherine of Siena used another table in describing God’s three-fold presence. In her collected Prayers, Number 12 calls the Father the table that offers us the Lamb to nourish us in Holy Communion. The Holy Spirit, she says, is the waiter who serves us by enlightening our mind’s eye and inspiring us to follow. In her inspired way, Catherine knew mere words and definitions could never adequately capture the mystery of God. Her Dialogue proclaims:

“You, my God, are everlasting. You are a mystery as deep as the sea. You are the Eternal Trinity. …I can never be   satisfied. …All that I seek leads me to desire more.”

Each week we gather around the Eucharistic table. We ask forgiveness and we are fed with the Word of God and the Bread of Life. We profess our faith and invoke the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to help us live what we believe. We are sent forth to extend the mission of Jesus’ peace and reconciliation wherever we go throughout the coming week. May this celebration of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ deepen our faith that God receives what is offered and transforms it into the bread of human solidarity.

There are two constitutive components to vocation: desire and ability. First a person must have a call to the married life, single life, or religious life. If the life seems appealing, chances are someone is not going to be attracted to the lifestyle. To desire one of these lifestyles implies that the person feels that the lived expression of the lifestyle I’m desirous of will bring me the most joy, fulfillment, and satisfaction. We all know people who should have remained single, but felt the pressure of family, Church, and society to get married. Typically, these marriages end in divorce. The same is true with the priesthood. I have personally known men who did not desire to be priests, and usually left after the person who had the true vocation passed away. Desire and passion are often viewed purely from the sexual perspective, but unless someone has the desire to be married, the desire to be single, or the desire to serve the Church as a priest, brother, or sister; they will feel unfulfilled.

The second component is equally important: ability. As I told the students today, “I have the desire to be a great artist. I simply lack the ability.” In this case ability is talent. Desire is not always sufficient. Do you have the ability? Without having experienced marriage I think I can safely say that there is a certain personality which goes along with a person who can be married. In the performance of more than 200 weddings, I would say that a good communicator, a person willing to compromise, and someone with an ability to commit for the long haul are essential elements of a person to marry. If they lack one or all of these abilities they probably shouldn’t get married until they master them. Recently a young man expressed interest in the priesthood. Knowing this young man, the question of desire was evident. I know he wants to serve God. My question was ability. While this person is adept in Math and Science I was uncertain of his propensity towards the Humanities, Theology, and Philosophy. My first thought was, “Can this person study Scripture or Christology?” I don’t believe that desire is sufficient. Desire is like a good intention, and we all know where the way is paved with good intentions.

We all have a vocation. We all have a religious vocation. Some of you may feel that this discussion is reserved only to those who have not made life choices. I would disagree. It is never too late to do the will of God. Remember that both Abraham and Moses were “advanced” in years when they began the work of God. Yes, it may not appear as you had imagined, but I would suggest that it did not appear that way to Abraham and Moses either. Responding truthfully and completely to one’s religious vocation will bring happiness, joy, and peace.

Preachers, theologians, and mystics try to connect the life of everyday Christians with the Paschal Mystery. We are told that what happened to Jesus will occur in our own lives. We are told that we die, and from the ashes there is new life. Many of us have experienced this in our own lives. We are well aware that mysteriously, even in the midst of death and darkness, we can eventually find and discover new life and God’s saving presence. Is this talk of our own participation in the Paschal Mystery nothing more than a pious platitude, and how does the Ascension fit into my own living of the Paschal Mystery? I believe the truth of the Paschal Mystery is more than a pious platitude.

Almost all adults have experienced it. Some have just not had the luxury of reflecting upon the truth of it in their own lives. The greater issue is the question of the role of the Ascension in our own lives. Jesus returns to the Father, but it is more than simply Jesus taking his place at the right hand of the Father. Jesus does not return to the Father empty handed. Jesus presents a redeemed humanity to the Father.

As we experience the Paschal Mystery in our own lives it might be easier to see what has died: a person, a relationship, a dream. It might even be easy to see the presence of the resurrection or new life: faith that the deceased is with God, the birth of a child, a new relationship, or a new possibility never before considered. I would suggest that the Ascension plays itself out in how we make our offering to the Father. Jesus suffered the cross because he knew that eventually he would present a restored humanity to the Father. In the midst of our suffering, do we assume the same patience, forgiveness, and assurance? Perhaps when I was told, “Offer it up!” what was really meant was to make a return of the suffering and new life to God the Father as a gift, an offering if you will. My point is that I believe that we participate in all three stages of the Paschal Mystery. What will you return to the Father?

It is ironic the early Church was concerned about upsetting converts with Christian observance when thinking about how upsetting Jesus was to the power structure of his day. I always find it interesting that the arguments were about minor observances such as circumcision, and not about important matters of faith. No one was questioning the divinity of Jesus. These converts were upset because they were being misled by others that the ritual observance of circumcision was as important as faith in Jesus Christ. They were not spiritually bothered, but spiritually upset. Being spiritually upset is unnecessary, and often used as a weapon of cruelty. Being spiritually bothered can be a great occasion of grace.

In the Acts of the Apostles, I believe the important lesson we should take away is how after a group became upset they sat down and talked about it. There was a conversation and dialogue between opposing camps. There was discernment and ultimately consensus about what faith in Jesus Christ really meant in connection with the practices of the Mosaic Law. Too often today there is no dialogue because so many enter into the conversation with the “truth” on their side. Any time we are in an argument perhaps a rule of thumb should be that if the opposition isn’t willing to dialogue they probably have nothing to contribute. We live in a time when the alternative for many people to being spiritually upset is simply abandoning the faith altogether. The fastest growing religion in America is those labeled “no religion.” Have you upset someone spiritually? To bother someone or even goading someone might be a good thing occasionally, but making someone spiritually upset simply because you know how could actually be a source of sin.

At a certain level we all have authority issues; it is called growing up or gaining maturity. When adolescents no longer want to take orders from others, especially parents, there are issues with authority. Independence is a natural progression in the psychological development of a person. Does having “issues with authority” mean disobedience? Unfortunately, teenagers often act out their immaturity with acts of disobedience. I used to often tell my high school students that this was not the most advantageous way to handle situations. The reality is we have lots of authority figures in our lives: parents, teachers, police officers, supervisors, TSA agents, priests, rabbis, and ministers. I have several authority figures in my life: my provincial, the bishop, and the Pope. That is a lot of people to have issues with on a daily basis. To paraphrase Thomas Hobbes, will we live in a state of war with everyone?

The first reading from the Third Sunday of Easter speaks about issues of authority and obedience. The disciples were brought before authority figures of the Temple and were punished for their disobedience to the rules and demands that the high priest had placed upon them. Did Peter, James, and John have issues with authority figures? What was their justification for the disobedience? It is better to obey God rather than man. God was on their side, but that became a slippery slope. Who becomes the arbiter of God’s mind? St. Luke gives us the answer in the Acts of the Apostles: it is the Holy Spirit who becomes the interpreter of God’s mind and will. Does this access to the mind of God come only from those in authority? Absolutely not! Just because a person has a position of authority doesn’t mean that they are any more knowledgeable than the average person. I find it interesting that those who have already acquired an affinity to Pope Francis as being a direct conduit to the mind and will of God have taken his every word and action as Gospel. I actually happen to be an incredible fan of the new pope. My point is Pope Francis (as an authority figure) is no less or no more immune to the outside influences of society and bias than Pope Benedict XVI. In the Roman Catholic Church we believe and trust that the Holy Spirit resides in the Church even within those authority figures of the Church.

“God of everlasting mercy, who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast, kindle the faith of the people you have made your own, increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed that all may grasp and rightly understand in what font they have been washed, by whose Spirit they have been reborn, by whose Blood they have been redeemed.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.”

As I first reflected incorrectly upon the words of this prayer, I understood the prayer to say that God’s mercy comes to us only in the paschal mystery of Jesus, suggesting that prior to Jesus, there was no mercy.  When you read the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament,) in my opinion, there is a long history of God showing mercy to the Israelites. Despite centuries of infidelity, God was merciful and faithful. God was certainly merciful when He sent Moses to Egypt. God was merciful when He convinced Cyrus of Persia to free the Israelites from the Babylonian captivity, thus allowing them to return home. The Davidic Psalms speak of mercy, and the words of the prophets announce and proclaim God’s mercy.

What I believe the Opening Prayer is trying to say to us is that God’s mercy comes to us in a new and unique way in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Mercy has moved from the abstract to the concrete. In a very intentional and effective way, Pope Francis has been reminding us that our faith rests in a transformative encounter with the person of Jesus. God’s mercy becomes incarnated to the world in the person of Jesus Christ. It was and is in the Spirit of Jesus that we have been reborn. It is in the Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, that we have been redeemed. God definitively and perfectly shows His divine mercy in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. God had vaguely shown His mercy in other ways, but it is in Jesus Christ that God’s mercy is absolutely clear and concrete!

As we remember and celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, I ask you to consider granting mercy or clemency to someone with whom you have the power to do so.  Imitate God and demonstrate your faith in Jesus Christ by showing “Divine Mercy.”  If the recognition that we have been washed, reborn, and redeemed by God’s mercy doesn’t “kindle the faith,” then we have truly lost something. Let us all pray for the grace of mercy!