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The Abundant Life
My Dear Family in Christ,
First, allow me to wish all our mothers, grandmothers, godmothers and maternal figures, a blessed and joyful Mother’s Day. Today is a beautiful day to celebrate the moms in our lives, be they biological, adopted, spiritual or a combination! No replacement exists for the embrace or advice of our dear mother figures. We give thanks to God for the gift they are to us!
All mothers share a desire for the happiness of their children. Our moms want us to live happy, healthy and holy lives. Holiness is the real root of our happiness. Jesus shares this desire with our parents for he tells us in the Gospel, “I told you this that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” But what is the this? “Remain in my love” and “keep my commandments.” The path to the abundant life follows the way Jesus marks out with his own life of sacrificial love. For this reason it is so pivotal for Catholics to raise our children to imitate Jesus and follow the ways of the faith, so that they may walk the narrow road to true joy in Christ. It is not the easy life, but the abundant life we seek.
Connected?
My Dear Family,
Is it just a euphemism to speak about us like a family? During liturgy, when we say “friends in Christ” or “sisters and brothers,” are we just being nice? No, not exactly. But the question helps us to ask just how we are connected. Through Baptism, we have become children of God and members of the Body of Christ, the Church. This week in the Gospel Jesus uses a beautiful analogy to help us see how we are connected. He teaches: “I am the vine, you are the branches.”
Connection is so important these days. We learned long ago (in the pandemic) that screens are a poor alternative to real face-to-face communication. Granted, 20 years ago, the best we could manage was dial-up internet on the phone line. Remember that sound? The cool noises the modem would make and then you were probably connected via AOL and the phrase “You’ve Got Mail!” The Instant Messenger program could be considered, I guess, the first version of WhatsApp or another messenger platform. Now, all this and more, even video conferencing, is available on our phones. Yet, for all the blessings of technology, we acknowledge that nothing takes the place of real human connection. Maybe with the advent of VR we might move in the direction of Ready Player One , but I doubt that anything will ever feel like the sun on our faces or the smile of a friend.
Sacrificial Love and the Eucharist
My Dear Family in Christ,
This weekend we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday. On the fourth Sunday of Easter, we move away from the hours and weeks after the Resurrection of our Lord and more deeply into what new life in Christ looks like. This weekend every year we hear a part of John chapter 10, which contains very memorable lines, such as: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” and, “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me,” and, “he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
For me Good Shepherd Sunday speaks strongly of the reality of the priesthood. Pope Francis reminded us that the shepherd must have the “smell of the flock,” a rustic image about being among and close to those entrusted to our care. It reminds me of the obligation to be close to the flock but more importantly of the love needed to serve as a shepherd (not a hireling).
