"Remain in Me"

I am pondering this quote today:

Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. 

--John 15:4-5

 

It is one that I often return to and I feel that the whole image of the vine and the branches is rich enough to keep me there for some time. Jesus will add later the words, "Remain in my love." That is all that He asks of us and He tells us that He has chosen us that we may bear fruit. We have not chosen Jesus - Jesus has chosen us. That is an encouraging thought when we think of ourselves as poor and empty. Jesus tells us to remain in his love and all will be well.

Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary...actually, every time we say the "Hail Mary" we are remembering the feast we celebrate today. Usually it is March 25, but Holy Week and Easter dates often cause this feast to be moved until after Easter week. Let us think of what happened to Mary when the Angel Gabriel greeted her: "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee!" Mary was not expecting an angel and was greatly troubled by his words. Then the angel tells her not to be afraid for she has found favor with God. And then adds, "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him Jesus."

What a message! Every time I think of this scene I marvel at the faith of Mary. The Holy Spirit comes and Jesus is conceived in her womb. What a mystery and what a gift for all of us. God so loved us that He sent His only Son to be one of us.

Divine Mercy Sunday

The second Sunday after Easter is now "Divine Mercy" Sunday. The responsorial psalm is taken from Psalm 118 and the response is: "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting."
It begins, "Let the house of Israel say, 'His mercy endures forever.'"

It is a consoling feast and I love the Gospel as Jesus comes to the Apostles on the first day of the week and says to them, "Peace be with you." Then He showed them his hands and his side. He also tells them: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

He breathed on them and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sins you retain are retained." Jesus gives us the Sacrament of Reconciliation so we may always find His Mercy and live in peace and joy.

Thomas was not with the others so John tells us how Jesus comes again a week later when Thomas is present and how Jesus tells Thomas 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." Then Thomas said, "My Lord and my God!"

So many of us make this same act of faith at the Consecration in the Eucharist each time we go to Mass.

The Emergent Christ

I am reading the Chapter on the Resurrection and Transformation in "The Emergent Christ" for at least the fourth time. It is a book that I go back to, hoping to understand more each time. This year some friends have come each month to discuss a chapter of the book and we have had some great spiritual, theological and ecological discussions. What each reading does for me is deepen my gratitude for the faith I have. I know that Jesus rose from the dead and that each of us will also have new life after death. We are made for God who loves each of us with an infinite, tender, and unconditional love; yes, God loves us just as we are and wants us to be happy both here and for all eternity with Him.

This week after Easter has been full of joy in seeing how Jesus is present in my life, now. We are never alone. We can always go to the Heart of Jesus to draw out what we need, even if it is what He asks of us. He told Sister Josefa: "Come to my Heart and there find all you need, even if it is what I have asked of you."

A favorite scene

The disciples had gone to Galilee as Jesus had instructed them. They are bored sitting around and waiting so Peter announces that he is going fishing and six of them go with him. They toil all night and catch nothing. Jesus waits for them on the shore and has even prepared breakfast for them. He calls to them to ask if they have any fish. When they answer in the negative, he tells them to cast their nets and this time the catch of fish is huge. John at once realizes that it is Jesus on the shore and Peter cannot wait for the boat to reach land but throws himself into the sea. Then Jesus tells them to bring more fish to his fire as he knows they are tired and hungry. After breakfast, he will ask Peter three times. "Do you love me?"
How many times does Jesus ask me the same question?

Jesus ends Easter Sunday with a visit to his disciples

Jesus suddenly appears in the midst of his disciples even as the two from Emmaus are recounting how they had walked with Jesus and recognized him in the breaking of the bread.
Jesus says, "peace be with you", but they are so startled that Luke tells us they thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus asks them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." Then Jesus showed them his hands and his feet.

Since they still are incredulous for joy, Jesus asked them if they had anything to eat. They gave him a piece of baked fish and he ate it. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

Jesus comes to us and we seem to not recognize him so often and we need to touch him in the Eucharist. He wants to share his joy with us and often says to us, "Let not your heart be troubled."

Do we recognize Jesus as He walks with us?

Two disciples were walking and discussing how disappointed they were with all that had happened in Jerusalem and how Jesus had been crucified. Jesus approached them on their way and asks them why they are so downcast. Then he shows them the Scriptures and how they were fulfilled. They reach Emmaus and Jesus seems to be going further but they invite him to stay with them as it is late. He sits down with them to a simple Sunday supper, takes bread and blesses it and gives it to them and they recognize him in the breaking of the bread. Then he disappears and they are aware of new energy to rush back the seven miles to Jerusalem to tell the others that they had seen Jesus and their hearts were burning in them as he spoke to them on the way and opened the Scriptures for them.

It is so like Jesus to seek out these two who were foolish and slow of heart to believe. He joins them to console them. And they do not recognize him until the breaking of the bread. We, too, often have Jesus walking with us and do not recognize him.

Be creative, invent 14 stations of joy

A few years ago I read the suggestion of making stations of joy for after Easter. The Magnificat Mass Booklet now gives fourteen stations of the Via Lucis, The Paschal Way of the Light.
They are by Richard Veras. I am sorry I do not have my own 14 stations of joy, but I am happy to share his. I suggest you make your own during this Easter season. You have fifty days and need a Scripture quote, a short meditation, and a prayer for each station.

1.Jesus rises from the dead.
2. Disciples find the empty tomb.
3. Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene
4. Jesus walks with the Disciples to Emmaus
5.Jesus reveals Himself in the breaking of the bread.
6. Jesus appears to the disciples
7. Jesus confers on his disciples the power to forgive sins.
8. Jesus confirms Thomas in the faith.
9. Jesus appears to his disciples on the shore of Lake Galilee.
10. Jesus confers primacy on Peter.
11. Jesus entrusts his disciples with a universal mission.
12. Jesus ascends into heaven.
13. Mary and the disciples await the coming of the Holy Spirit.
14. Jesus send the Spirit promised by the Father to the disciples.

Easter Monday

Jesus appears to the women and sends them off with these words:

"Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." (Mt 28:15)

Jesus is always telling us not to be afraid. He sends the women to be his messengers and calls his disciples, "brothers", even though they had left him and fled and even now are behind locked doors.

I am sure that Jesus spent the first Easter morning giving joy. He must have gone to His Mother first of all. Then He rewards the women who had gone to the tomb early that morning. Later, He will appear to the two disciples who have left Jerusalem feeling discouraged because they thought Jesus was dead and they had lost hope. He appears to Peter and that must have been a tender and forgiving Jesus embracing a humbled, contrite Peter. Finally, he appears to the disciples on Easter Sunday evening and gives them His peace and also gives us His peace by instituting the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Now, we will continue to stay with Jesus as He encounters His friends and count on encountering Him in our lives this week as we ponder His words and actions.

Easter Sunday

Alleluia, Alleluia! This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. Jesus is risen today and this is the reason we celebrate Easter!

We are celebrating with a brunch in our community for the other RSCJs in our expanded community.
May we all be filled with the joy of the Risen Jesus!

Holy Saturday

Today is another day to just be quiet and contemplate what the death of Jesus meant for His Mother, for the apostles who had fled from fear, for each of us...

Good Friday

Today we stay with the Lord in silence. It is a day of prayer and fasting and just being with Jesus as He faces the last hours of His life in suffering and then, finally, an agonizing death. "Greater love no one has who gives his life for another." Jesus has died for us to show His love for us. He reveals God's love for each of us.

We, too, pray "Lord, remember us as you come into your kingdom."