Recognizing Him Now

Often we are so distracted that we are not paying attention well to the person standing before us.  Often we are so preoccupied that we miss what we are being told.  We have eyes to see.  Do we see who is in front of us?  We have ears to hear.  Do we hear what the person in front of us is trying to tell us?  

In today's Gospel reading, we hear of such difficulties in perceiving and in being open to what God is trying to tell us.  There we hear that 

That very day, the first day of the week, 
two of Jesus' disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing 
about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
He asked them, 
"What are you discussing as you walk along?"
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to Him in reply,
"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?"
And He replied to them, "What sort of things?"
They said to him, 
"The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed Him over
to a sentence of death and crucified Him.
But we were hoping that He would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning 
and did not find His body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that He was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but Him they did not see."
And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into His glory?"
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
He interpreted to them what referred to Him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
He gave the impression that He was going on farther.
But they urged Him, "Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over."
So He went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while He was with them at table,
He took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him,
but He vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
"Were not our hearts burning within us
while He spoke to us on the way 
and opened the Scriptures to us?"
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
"The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!"
Then the two recounted 
what had taken place on the way
and how He was made known to them 
in the breaking of bread.*

As two of Jesus' disciples were on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus, Jesus appeared to them.  They did not recognize Him.  They were so caught up in their grief that they did not see the very man for whom they were grieving.  What and who we want may be before our very eyes, and we do not recognize what and who we long for.  

We may be wallowing in despair.  If someone shows up with the answer we require, will we recognize him as the helper we need?  Will we listen to the person who comes to assist us?  

Earlier this month a man who recently has been homeless, who I've met on multiple occasions, and who I'll call "Ed" here, showed up on our front porch here at the Catholic Worker House.  I saw him speaking with another man, who, I learned later, was going through a rough period.  Without being asked, suddenly Ed started counseling this troubled man.  Ed began saying, "My counselor told me, 'Ed, you deal with depression by getting things done, day after day.  After a few weeks, it becomes a habit.'"  Ed was sharing that by forming a habit of productivity, we can administer to ourselves an effective antidote to depression. 

Ed was relating the helpful advice he had received to the man standing before him.  Ed had recently been homeless, before he started staying in a shelter for homeless persons, and so some persons might not see him as someone worthy of giving advice.  If the recipient of Ed's guidance was proud, he wouldn't be able to benefit from Ed's assistance.  Conversely, when we are humble, we can learn from others.  

When we open our eyes, we can recognize the person standing in front of us as someone who is there to help us.  When we use our ears to listen, we can hear how someone else is trying to help us.  When we use our eyes and our ears, we can recognize Jesus coming to us through our neighbor.  When we open our hearts to Jesus, we can receive from Him.  When we open our hearts to God, we can receive the love He wants to give us.  When we open our hearts to our neighbor, we open our hearts to God.  

* Luke 24:13-35 

Fruits Of Discernment

This month I have reached some clarity in my discernment of my vocation.  At the same time, some questions remain.  

For the last few months, I was discerning whether or not God was calling me to serve poor persons in the context of consecrated religious life as a religious brother.  I have discerned that it appears that God is not calling me at all to consecrated religious life.  

I have come to this conclusion since I have discerned that God does not seem to be calling me to make a vow of chastity.  As best as I can see with my imperfect vision, indications are that God is not calling me to make this vow.  

In prior stages of discernment, I had focused on other vocational questions.  While I was at the hermitage, as I was discerning whether I would become a monk there or whether I was called elsewhere, I directed my discernment more prominently to my strong desire to return to ministering to poor persons.  Ultimately, I left the hermitage and returned to serving impoverished people.  

Once I had come back to being a Catholic Worker, the question arose whether I would not only serve impoverished people, but whether I would do so in the context of making vows in a religious order.  

I have felt strongly called to make vows of poverty and obedience.  For the first few months of this year, I felt like I was a piece of rope in a tug-of-war.  On the one hand, I felt as if I was being pulled by a desire to make vows to God.  On the other hand, I have felt an inclination to intimacy and affection with others.  

I have been driven with the desire to make vows to God because God has given me so much.  There is no way I can ever repay Him.  Since I feel so grateful to God, I want to give as much back to Him as I can.  We are called to love as much as we can.  Each of us is to love as much as we can within the context of the specific vocation each of us has.  Our fate will depend on how much we have loved.  Saint John of the Cross wrote that "At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love."  

For a while I endured the stress of feeling like I was being pulled in opposite directions, as I grappled with yearnings that were both undeniable yet irreconcilable.  I reached a point where I realized that I feel empowered by God to make vows of poverty and obedience, and those longings are part of me.  I acknowledged that I also desire intimacy and affection, which is also a part of me, and which I cannot ignore.  When I admitted that both of these desires are part of me, I felt great peace and calm.  I no longer felt tension.   

I had been feeling strain over this question since I had been trying to accept something that was not mine to have.  At times in the midst of thinking about this facet of my vocation, I have pondered words of Jesus which have been invoked regarding celibacy.  Jesus said, "Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."*  If this is yours to accept, then accept it.  If this is not yours to accept, do not try to accept it.  

In connection with this vocational question, back when I was still living at the hermitage, one of the wise monks there counseled me that you can't give what isn't yours to give.  If God hasn't empowered someone to be celibate, then such a person can't give that gift of celibacy back to God.  Similarly, if God hasn't endowed a person with the gift of a vocation to married life, then such a person is not equipped for such a life.  

Since making vows in a religious order involves three vows, namely poverty, chastity and obedience, and I feel I can do two of them but not all three, I will be making none of these vows.  I do not know of a religious institution in which members make vows of poverty and obedience but not chastity.  

However, just because I will not be making a vow of chastity, it doesn't mean I'm going to get married.  I like the idea of getting married, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen.  

It's not a question of "when."  It's a question of "if."  If God wills that I be married, then let it be so.  I am asking: what is God's will for me?  

It is not a question of improbability.  There is the temptation to think that, because I feel called to live in such simplicity, the potential population of compatible partners has been drastically reduced for me.  It is not a question of casting a line into the sea and hoping to net the perfect fish against the unpromising odds in such a large sea.  Rather, I hope I can listen, hear and follow Jesus when He tells me to cast my net into deep water or over the other side of the boat,** in whatever context He is telling me to do so.  I aspire to follow God's will in all matters, trusting in Him and having faith in Him.  If God wills that I be married, then let it be so.  For now it is in question whether it will be so.  

Similarly, the rest of my vocation also remains in question.  I continue to discern where God is calling me, to what ministry He is calling me, and with whom He is calling me to work.  In the meantime, I continue to enjoy a life of prayer and work amongst the homeless persons I have come to know and love, who I find right in front of me.  

* Matthew 19:12 

** Luke 5:4; John 21:6 

Gift Of Life

None of us would be here if God hadn't created us.  Our lives are gifts from God.  Owing all of our being to God, we are thus called to value and love our lives, and the life of every other person.  

If we realize that we have everything we have because they are all gifts from God, we treasure all that God gives us.  If we truly cherish what God gives, then we value all life, for all life is a gift from God.  

If we truly view all life as precious, then we seek to protect life which will come into being.  When we honestly consider all life valuable, then we seek to protect a fertilized egg which is called to be born as a human being.  

For a while now I have thought about how, once a woman is pregnant, if she takes no steps to intervene in what has already started, then she will give birth to a child.  A process has begun which will result in a human being in the world.  

And so, insofar as I hold dear and respect the sanctity of all human lives, whether they have already been born or will soon be born, for some time I have been wanting to protest against abortion.  Thus when I saw pro-life protesters outside an abortion clinic as I was driving home from Mass today, I pulled over and joined them.  

I walked up to some of the protesters and greeted them.  I picked up one of the spare signs they had resting in a box.  I held the sign as I alternately stood and sat on the sidewalk.  

We were gathered on a busy street.  In each direction three lanes of traffic were flowing.  The speed limit there is 35 miles per hour.  

It's a busier street than the one where I go with other Catholic Workers to protest at least once a month outside the facilities of a manufacturer of armaments.  Thus I suppose it's understandable that today in this pro-life protest, I witnessed more feedback, both positive and negative, than all the reactions I've seen in the dozen or so times I've protested outside the arms manufacturer's location.  

I am not the only Catholic Worker who protests both war-making and abortion.  I see a common thread in protesting both war and abortion, namely the sanctity of life.  I protest nuclear weapons because I value life so much that I do not want human beings to be vaporized by nuclear warheads.  I protest abortion because I value life so much that I do not want fetuses to be robbed of the life they will experience as human beings outside of the womb, which they are already on the path to experiencing.  

In short, I value life.  I oppose abortion.  I aim to stop the arms trade.  I am not in support of people executing anyone through the death penalty.  I do not favor physicians helping patients to commit suicide.  I respect and honor all life; I oppose all attempts to prevent and extinguish life.  

I want to encourage others to value life.  I am glad I was born; I am grateful to God for the life He has given me.  

Life comes into being when a man and a woman choose to share in the reproductive act and thus participate in the miracle of life.  If this process has started, it should be allowed to run its natural course.  What God has allowed to come together, let no person put asunder.  

God holds each life in the palm of His hand.  Let us trust in God to let each life unfold according to His divine plan.  

Let us value the life we have, in our bodies, and in the bodies of others.  Let us appreciate the gifts God has given us and others.  Let us value the lives others can live; let us give them the chances we have had.  Let us value others' lives as we value our own lives.  Let us love others as we love ourselves,* as Jesus has instructed us to do.    

* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 

Hopefully Arriving Now

We hope for what we do not see.*  We reach for what we cannot grasp.  Now we cannot go to the place we desire,** but we can be there now.  If we open our hearts to you, O God, we can taste the inner sweetness of your goodness, despite the outer bitterness of circumstances in which we find ourselves.  O God, if we but listen with our hearts, we will hear You speaking the Truth of Your love for us in the depths of our hearts.  When we hear the Truth, and embrace the Truth, and know the Truth, it sets us free.***  Liberated from our false ideas that we can rely on ourselves, we are empowered to do all things through You, O God, who strengthens us.****  Sure in the faith that You love us, therefore totally trusting in You, when we thus embrace You, O God, in the deepest recesses of our being now and in every moment regardless of what happens, now we can enter into the eternal life and into the joy You promise to us.  My Lord and my God, may Your will be done, now and always.  Amen.  

* Romans 8:25 
** John 8:21; John 13:33; John 13:36 
*** John 8:32 
**** Philippians 4:13 

Trust Yields Joy

Yesterday I met up with a friend of mine who's a non-denominational Christian pastor here in Redwood City.  We were drinking coffee together at a cafe downtown.  

We were discussing our faith.  We shared with each other the challenges we face as we strive to love God and our neighbor.  

We both spoke of people who are tremendously joyous.  I mentioned that years ago I had read how a Jesuit priest had written that he had met a joyous man in Africa.  The priest asked the young man why he felt such joy.  The man replied that he deeply treasured his relationship with Jesus.  This man utterly trusted Jesus.  When we totally trust God, and have complete confidence in Him, we empty ourselves of our delusions about our capabilities.  Admitting that only God can deliver us, having emptied ourselves of our insistence on independence from God, God can fill our hearts with His joy.  

God wants us to bask in deep joy.  Once we are in Heaven, we will exult in abundant joy.  However, God would like us to abound in joy now.  Jean-Pierre de Caussade advises us that we may be sanctified, drawn into more intimate communion with God, by embracing the duty of the present moment.  When we welcome what the current moment offers us, we feel peace and joy, which we experience when we trust in God no matter what happens.  

People ask why there is such suffering.  Persons ask how there can be God when there is so much suffering.  

If we trusted God, and opened our hearts to God in the present moment, our suffering would be transformed for us.  If we show the humility God desires, God gives us grace.*  If we recognize and embrace who we are, and who God is, we humble ourselves before God.  When we acknowledge that we must have God's help, God gives us what we need to do His will.  Then we are overflowing with joy.  

Yet when we do not trust God, we deprive ourselves of joy.  When we refuse to trust God, we separate ourselves from God.  

God loves us, and thus will not force Himself upon us.  God wishes that we will exercise our free will to trust in Him.  

We are told by Saint Faustina of God's desire that we trust in Him.  Earlier this week, I was reminded of this good counsel.  A couple of nights ago, at the Catholic church where I usually go, I saw a multimedia performance in which Saint Faustina was depicted in the midst of her visions of Jesus.  In the performance, Saint Faustina shared that God is most saddened when we decide not to trust in Him.  

Of course God is sorrowful when we choose not to trust in Him.  When we opt not to trust in God, we turn away from Him, and thus reject the joy He would pour into our hearts by virtue of our trusting in Him.  

Sometimes it might seem that it is impossible to feel joy in this life.  At times it may appear that we will never feel joy until we arrive in Heaven.  

We need not wait until we get to Heaven to be enveloped in magnificent joy.  Right now, in this life, we can be clothed in wonderful joy.  If we turn to God now, and trust in God in this moment now, we can live a life of joy right now.  Amen.  

* 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6 

On Loving Ourselves

This morning when I returned from Mass, I was pleased to find a particular homeless woman who I'll call "Sally" sitting on the steps of our front porch here at the Catholic Worker House.  Sally is a rather sensitive woman, which is why I think I have so enjoyed speaking with her over the months I've known her here in Redwood City.  

However, this morning she seemed different.  In the instant when I first beheld her sitting on the steps of our porch, I sensed that a change had come over her.  

Seeing that she had been transformed, I slowed in my tracks.  Realizing that a change had transpired in her, I came to a halt, out of respect for the wonder presented to me.  

She noticed the alteration of my approach toward her.  She acknowledged the shift in my behavior, noting, "You seem cautious."  

In that moment, I was mystified why she was saying so.  Nor could I fully appreciate why I had been stopped in my tracks.  

While she continued to sit on the steps of the porch, and as I kept standing there, we talked.  We spoke of whatever came to mind, including what she had found on the porch, the repairs she had made to her bicycle last night, and the colorful clothing she was wearing.  

As we conversed with each other, I kept noticing how joyous I felt.  When we were saying goodbye, I told her that it was wonderful to see her.  

After we had parted ways, I realized one reason why I had felt so nourished when speaking with her.  In the past, she had appeared so fragile, and her voice had wavered; often she had seemed as if she was about to cry.  Today she showed composure and calm, apparently at ease.  

I cannot help but suspect that her demeanor was different because she had come to value her own worth.  This is the woman I have mentioned in a prior blog post who had been suffering domestic violence at the hands of her previous boyfriend.  A few weeks ago, in referring to his having left town, she expressed satisfaction at his having moved away, saying that he and she "needed to be done with each other."  

Rather than attempting to reunite once again with him, as she had done time and again over months, she let go of him.  She released her grip on the image of herself she had had.  She decided she was worthy of respect.  She had begun to respect herself.  She started to love herself.  

Today I felt such joy at witnessing the confidence she felt as she respected herself.  My being rejoiced as I saw the love she showed herself.  

In loving herself, she showed love to me.  She demonstrated to me she was loving herself.  She reassured me that I need not worry about her, since she is taking care of herself.  In loving herself, she loves me.  In loving ourselves, we love our neighbor.  When we love ourselves, we can do as Jesus has taught us.  

Love your neighbor as you love yourself.*  Love yourself, and love your neighbor. 

* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14 

The Risen Christ

Today someone asked me, "What does the Risen Christ mean to you?"  

The Risen Christ is a sign of God's love.  God so loved us that He became human and died for us.  Jesus rose from the dead, and thus He conquered death,* and therefore we have nothing to fear.  

* 2 Timothy 1:10 

Timing Of God

In what unfolds in our lives, there is a timing which is at work, even when we think the clock in our lives is broken.  God operates in His own timing, not on our timing.  

When we endure troubles, we need not fear, since we can do all things through God, who strengthens us.*  God won't give us more than we can handle, because God will give us the grace we need to do His will, if we humbly request it of Him.**  

* Philippians 4:13 
* 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6 

Light Has Risen

Light has risen on us; we are no longer in darkness.  When we were in darkness, darkness clouded our vision.  Now, although we are not in darkness, but in light, yet because we mistakenly think we are in darkness, we cannot see.  Due to the darkness we think is around us, we cannot see despite the light which has already risen, which we do not yet recognize.  When we see so narrowly, we cannot see our loved ones when they are not standing before us.  When faith, hope and love permeate our being, then we see our loved ones even when they appear to be gone.  When we have faith, we welcome the Spirit at work in, through and around us, and see the Spirit transform us.  

We hear of these challenges of perception and vision in today's Gospel reading for Easter Sunday.  In this Gospel reading, we hear that 

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb 
early in the morning,
while it was still dark, 
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter 
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, 
"They have taken the Lord from the tomb, 
and we don't know where they put him."
So Peter and the other disciple went out 
and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter 
and arrived at the tomb first; 
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, 
but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him, 
he went into the tomb 
and saw the burial cloths there, 
and the cloth that had covered his head, 
not with the burial cloths 
but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in, 
the one who had arrived at the tomb first, 
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture 
that he had to rise from the dead.*  

Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus so early in the morning that it was still dark.  When we are in darkness, we cannot see.  Jesus had just died.  Mary Magdalene thought she was in the midst of a dark time.  When we think we are in darkness, we cannot see.  

Yet Jesus had already risen from the dead.  Mary Magdalene incorrectly thought she was immersed in a dark hour.  Actually, Jesus had dispelled the darkness.  The light had risen.  Yet since Mary Magdalene was convinced that she was in darkness, she did not realize that the light had risen.  

Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb and saw that the huge stone, which had been blocking the entrance to the tomb, had been rolled away.  She went and told Saint Peter, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, who was Saint John, and told them that they had taken the Lord Jesus.  She did not know where He had been taken, for she did not see Him.  

When we do not see who we love, we think they have gone.  Those we love live in our hearts.  Those we love live through us, in our thoughts and prayers.  We help those we love to live through the words we speak.  In our actions, we can give love to those we love, and let them live through the love we give.  We can honor the memory of those we love by allowing them to live on through us.  

Even though Saint Peter and Saint John saw the empty tomb, they still did not understand the Scripture passages which said that Jesus had to rise from the dead.  They did not realize that the Holy Spirit had raised Jesus from the dead.  

The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us as long as that Spirit dwells in us.**  I can testify to the transformative and healing power of the Holy Spirit.  When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco, I read the entire Bible: day after day I would read a little of the Bible, so that after months had passed, I had read the whole Bible.  As I did so, I was purged of particular sinful tendencies I had had for decades.  After I had left Morocco, I looked back and I marveled, and was amazed and puzzled by how I had been purified of certain sinful inclinations I had had for so long.  When I lived at the hermitage, I related to one of the wise Camaldolese monks there how I had been rid of these sinful habits I had had.  I shared with him how I wondered at how I had been freed from the chains of slavery to sin which had bound me for so many years.  This sagacious monk pointed out to me that I was liberated from these sinful patterns upon reading the Bible.  He explained to me that I had been cleansed by The Word that God had spoken to me.***  

When we welcome the Word of God into our hearts, miracles happen.  We are transformed.  The Spirit of God flows into and through us, and frees us from what has been enslaving us.  

Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives.****  If we simply consent, God will set us free.  If we turn to God with all our hearts, if we open our hearts to what God has to say to us, God will loosen the bonds which have been holding us back.  If we want God to help us to come to Him, we must do our part: we must welcome Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.*****  When we do so, God transforms us.  

Jesus came to give sight to the blind.******  If, living in utter simplicity, we uncomplicate our lives and simply assent to God, He will show us The Way which gives us the light we need to see as we journey back home to Him.  

If we acquiesce to being humbled by God, He will exalt us.*******  When we agree to the plan God has for us, God abundantly rewards us.  Upon welcoming what God has in store for us, we feel a deep and profound joy.  Here we dwell in the knowledge of who we are and who God is.  Here we have deep peace, and a joy which no one will take away from us.********  This is Heaven.  Let us, then, in this life now, enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and enter into eternal life.  Amen.  

* John 20:1-9 
** Romans 8:11 
*** John 15:3 
**** Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18 
***** Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27 
****** Luke 4:18 
******* Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; Luke 18:14 
******** John 16:22 

Hoping Against Evidence

Today, on Holy Saturday, we witness to hope.  Yesterday, on Good Friday, we memorialized in a special way the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Today we especially remember His body in the tomb.  

Today we have the advantage of knowing that Jesus rose from the dead.  However, on the day in history when Jesus had been crucified the previous day, His disciples did not fully understand how He had told them that He was to suffer and die, and after three days rise from the dead.*  

In the midst of what seems like it can be nothing but tragedy, we face an immense temptation to despair.  It is at such overwhelmingly challenging moments that God calls us to hope.  
Recently I heard Cardinal Schonborn relate how our Blessed Mother Mary remained in her faith even on that first Holy Saturday.  The day after Jesus died, even then she had hope.  The Cardinal noted that tradition tells us that only our Blessed Mother kept the faith during that dark hour.  In the midst of what seemed like total defeat, she refused to give up hope.  

Our Blessed Mother Mary was hoping despite the evidence.  She hoped although what she saw was to the contrary.  We hope for what we do not see, and we look forward to it with persevering confidence.**  We look not to what is seen, but to what is unseen.***   

I hope for what I do not see with the eyes of this physical body.  And yet I can tell you that I hope for what I can see.  I can see my hope with my spiritual eyes.  I am being reassured of my goal, where I am striving to reach.  I cannot explain to you how I am being encouraged by those I cannot see, but I assure you, I am being drawn forward.  Although here is evidence which would never be admissible in any court of law, still I am presented with evidence.  On the basis of this evidence, I move forward in faith.  Thus emboldened by those who I somehow hear, and somehow I am inexplicably strengthened as I strive on toward the goal, as Saint Paul wrote, and in so writing, he implicitly incites us to do the same.****  

We proceed onward boldly in faith, hope and love, for we are empowered to do so by those who have gone before us.  Yet we also choose to define ourselves right now when we aim to think, pray, speak and act out of faith, hope and love.  We shape our own world right now, in the present, in this very instant, by our own individual choices.  

I have shared with you how Saint John of the Cross advised us, that where you do not see love, there put love, and there you will find love.  Now I say to you, where you do not see hope, there put hope, and there you will see hope.  

Similarly, I have repeated how Gandhi told us that you must be the change you wish to see in the world.  Now I say to you, you must be the hope you wish to see in the world.  

It has always been this way.  Two thousand years ago, when Jesus was crucified and was buried, His mother was faced with this choice, between despair and hope.  She chose hope.  Soon, and very soon, she was richly rewarded.  The Son she mourned rose from the dead, having been glorified by His Heavenly Father.  

In time she was abundantly rewarded in Heaven.  She was crowned in the midst of the glory of God, to the praise, honor and glory of God.  Our Blessed Mother Mary provides us with a model of faith, hope and love; through her example, she also consented to allow others to be illumined through the light shining through her.  She showed how hope is rewarded, through how she was crowned.  Upon this crowning Christians meditate while praying the rosary.  In so pondering and keeping these things in our hearts,***** we welcome the Holy Spirit to help us choose hope rather than despair.  

Each and every human being is presented with this choice, between despair and hope.  In how we respond, we determine how we contribute to shaping our world.  

We help the world become a better place through our thoughts, prayers, words and deeds.  But now is a dark hour, you say.  How can I possibly have hope?  In effect, in asking such a question, you ask how you can imitate our Blessed Mother Mary.  

Let us look at her life, then.  She was a lowly maiden.  She accepted her humble station in life.  When the angel appeared to her, informing her that she would give birth to Jesus, she obediently gave her assent to the will of God.  While she did not understand how she was to come to give birth, and she wondered how it could be so, still she promptly acquiesced to the will of God.******  God calls us too to submit to His will.  He has ordained all things for the good of those who love Him.*******  Thus we trust in Him who deeply loves us, who is loving us infinitely, and therefore far more than we can understand.  

When we realize that God's designs are far beyond our understanding, we are on the road to humility.  Once we are humble, we trust in God.  Turning over to God all that is occurring, and all that is to happen, we have hope in God, since, knowing that God is love,******** it is clear that we rest secure in the hope of the infinite love who is God.  Safe and secure in faith in God, confident in the hope of His promise, we journey surely on The Way home to Him.  Regardless of what seems to be occurring all around us, we strive on confidently certain toward the goal of resting forever in Him, in eternal love, in eternal life, now and forevermore.  Amen.  

* Matthew 20:19; Mark 8:31; Mark 10:34; Luke 18:33 
** Romans 8:25 
*** 2 Corinthians 4:18 
**** Philippians 3:14 
***** Luke 2:19 
****** Luke 1:26-38 
******* Romans 8:28 
******** 1 John 4:8, 16 

Reverence The Truth

Know thyself.  Assert who you are; declare the truth.  Proclaim your identity, no matter how much it costs, for the state of your soul depends on how you express yourself in this way.  Say and show who you really are, and you will feel a joy no one will be able to take from you, no matter what happens.  State the truth, and reverence the truth in how you act, and you respect the deepest recesses of your being.  

We hear the truth honored in these ways in the Gospel reading today, on Good Friday.  In today's Gospel reading, we hear that 

Judas got a band of soldiers and guards 
from the chief priests and the Pharisees 
and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.  
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, 
went out and said to them, "Whom are you looking for?"  
They answered him, "Jesus the Nazorean."  
He said to them, "I AM."  
Judas his betrayer was also with them.  
When he said to them, "I AM, " 
they turned away and fell to the ground.    

So he again asked them,
"Whom are you looking for?"
They said, "Jesus the Nazorean."
Jesus answered,
"I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go."
This was to fulfill what he had said, 
"I have not lost any of those you gave me."
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, 
struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear.
The slave's name was Malchus.
Jesus said to Peter,
"Put your sword into its scabbard.
Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?"  

So the band of soldiers, the tribune, 
and the Jewish guards seized Jesus,
bound him, and brought him to Annas first.  
He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, 
who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews 
that it was better that one man should die 
rather than the people.  

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus.
Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, 
and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.
But Peter stood at the gate outside.
So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, 
went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter, 
"You are not one of this man's disciples, are you?"
He said, "I am not."
Now the slaves and the guards 
were standing around a charcoal fire
that they had made, because it was cold, 
and were warming themselves.  
Peter was also standing there keeping warm.  

And they said to him,
"You are not one of his disciples, are you?"
He denied it and said,
"I am not."
One of the slaves of the high priest, 
a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, 
"Didn't I see you in the garden with him?"
Again Peter denied it.
And immediately the cock crowed.  

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.
It was morning.
And they themselves did not enter the praetorium, 
in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said, 
"What charge do you bring against this man?"
They answered and said to him,
"If he were not a criminal, 
we would not have handed him over to you."
At this, Pilate said to them, 
"Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law."
The Jews answered him, 
"We do not have the right to execute anyone, " 
in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled
that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.
So Pilate went back into the praetorium 
and summoned Jesus and said to him, 
"Are you the King of the Jews?"
Jesus answered,
"Do you say this on your own 
or have others told you about me?"
Pilate answered,
"I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What have you done?"
Jesus answered,
"My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world, 
my attendants would be fighting 
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.  
But as it is, my kingdom is not here."  
So Pilate said to him, 
"Then you are a king?"  
Jesus answered, 
"You say I am a king.  
For this I was born and for this I came into the world, 
to testify to the truth.  
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."  
Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"  

When he had said this, 
he again went out to the Jews and said to them, 
"I find no guilt in him.  
But you have a custom 
that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.  
Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"  
They cried out again, 
"Not this one but Barabbas!"  
Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.  

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns 
and placed it on his head, 
and clothed him in a purple cloak, 
and they came to him and said,
"Hail, King of the Jews!"
And they struck him repeatedly.
Once more Pilate went out and said to them, 
"Look, I am bringing him out to you, 
so that you may know that I find no guilt in him."
So Jesus came out, 
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.  
And he said to them, "Behold, the man!"  
When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out, 
"Crucify him, crucify him!"  
Pilate said to them, 
"Take him yourselves and crucify him.  
I find no guilt in him."  
The Jews answered, 
"We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, 
because he made himself the Son of God."
Now when Pilate heard this statement,
he became even more afraid, 
and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, 
"Where are you from?"  
Jesus did not answer him.  
So Pilate said to him, 
"Do you not speak to me?  
Do you not know that I have power to release you 
and I have power to crucify you?"  
Jesus answered him, 
"You would have no power over me 
if it had not been given to you from above.  
For this reason the one who handed me over to you
has the greater sin."
Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; 
but the Jews cried out, 
"If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.  
Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar."  

When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out 
and seated him on the judge's bench 
in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And he said to the Jews,
"Behold, your king!"
They cried out,
"Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!"
Pilate said to them,
"Shall I crucify your king?"
The chief priests answered,
"We have no king but Caesar."
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.*  

Who are you?  When He was asked, Jesus said who He is.  He did not deny who He is, even with the great price associated with saying who He truly is.  He knew that the price, the sacrifice He was making of Himself through His death, is part of who He is.  Be ready to say who you are, no matter what the cost.  Do not forfeit your own happiness and joy, which comes from the fulfillment that arises from living out your true identity, the identity given to you by God.  

Others worry about the cost to us.  Saint Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus when soldiers came to arrest Him.  Our friends and our family want to save us from peril.  Yet when we embrace the duty of the present moment, as Jean-Pierre de Caussade notes, then we are at peace.  We abide in great calm regardless of what occurs, for then we live well aware of the truth that God ordains everything for the good of those who love Him.**  

Sometimes we might be so concerned with the cost to us and to others that we deny the truth.  When we deny the truth, we deny ourselves.  When we deny the truth, we condemn ourselves to death.  Saint Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus.  Don't deny who you are.  Don't deny who you follow.  Don't deny The Truth.  Yet if you do, God will forgive you if you wholeheartedly repent.  If you turn to God with all your heart, God will forgive you.  As Pope Francis has told us, the name of God is mercy, for God is love,*** and love shows mercy.  

We see love in how Jesus led His life.  In how He ministered to people, by teaching them and healing them, and from how He died for us, He showed that He loves us.  Jesus showed us that God is love.  How do we reply to the gift of love which Jesus has given to us?  Each and every one of us must choose how we respond to Jesus.  

Every human being must decide what they think of Jesus.  All people define themselves by how they relate to The Truth.  Pilate asked Jesus what truth is.  We can pretend that we don't know what the truth is.  Yet The Truth remains the truth.  We cannot escape the truth, nor can we escape the consequences of how we relate to The Truth.  

Pilate declared the truth.  He proclaimed that Jesus had done nothing wrong.  Yet we assert our relation to the truth not only in what we say, but also in what we do.  Although Pilate stated the truth, that Jesus had done nothing wrong, after so stating, then Pilate acted out of step with the truth.  Even though Pilate knew that Jesus had done nothing wrong, Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified.  

Show who you are in what you say, and in what you do.  When we fully focus on the duty in the present moment to tell the truth, we are strengthened with serenity and peace.  When we reside utterly in the present duty to witness to the truth, we remain calm in the face of adversity, and courageously proclaim the truth.  When we firmly declare our loyalty to The Truth, we abide in deep peace, since we are embracing Jesus deep within us.  Then we speak from a place of safety and security deep within our being; then we state The Truth in accord with Jesus.  When we remain loyal to The Truth, we turn to God, and our souls are saved.  Amen.  

* John 18:3-18:18; John 18:25-19:16 
** Romans 8:28 
*** 1 John 4:8, 16