If we look to the early church for evidence of what it means to be a disciple or follower of Jesus, we see several things. They prayed daily in the temple and elsewhere. They fellowshipped and took communion together. They lived in common or at least saw to each other's needs as they grew into a larger group. They attracted new believers through preaching, healing and miracles. The healings and miracles served to confirm the fact that the power of Jesus, who had been crucified and was risen from the dead, was now with his disciples. Healings and miracles were not for the sake of showing power, but so that people would be drawn to listen to the gospel. After hearing the good news, people were being baptized and their sins forgiven. Lives were changing. The gospel still has the power to change lives today if we are not afraid or reluctant to share it with other people. If coming to have a personal relationship with Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to us, why do we hesitate to tell others about him? We don't want to be pushy about it, though, as Peter says, "Always be prepared to given an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15). For reflection: Do I have my answer ready if someone asks me? Let us pray. Lord Jesus, you promised to give us all that we need and to give us words when we need them. I am trusting in your promises. I need boldness, gentleness, respect and the right words.
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"What must we do?" This was the question asked by those who heard Peter preach on the feast of Pentecost. His answer? "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Peter knew immediately that what Jesus had given them was for everyone. "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call" (2:39). The prescription seems simple enough: repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus to have your sins forgiven, receive the Holy Spirit. Repent - turn away from sin. Be baptized - turn toward Jesus. In return receive a part of God himself. Not a bad exchange: give up your sin and get a share of the Divinity. The reward that God promises us for giving up our sins is so tremendous, so mind-boggling, how can we resist, how can we hesitate? What a deal God offers us! For reflection: What sins do I need to give up? Let us pray. Jesus, I want to give you my sins. I give you . . . . I'm sorry for hanging on to these sins for so long. They hurt you and others. Thank you for taking them from me and forgiving me. I ask now for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Righteousness, the Spirit of Healing, the Spirit of Comfort. Come, Holy Spirit. Staying with the Ascension account, let's back up a few verses from where we were on Friday to Luke 24:44-49. "He (Jesus) said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.' Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Jesus makes his claim to be the Christ. He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. He is the one who has been foretold, the one sent by the Father to bring forgiveness and salvation. In order to understand this, the disciples needed another gift - the gift of having their minds opened to understand the Scriptures so that they can see Jesus the Christ more clearly. For reflection: Do I read all of the Bible so that I understand how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets? Let us pray. Jesus, I want to see you more clearly. Open my mind to understand the Scriptures. In our examination of Jesus' appearances after his resurrection, we have not paid much attention to what Jesus said during that time. Obviously just as the Gospel accounts vary in the number of appearances of Jesus, and to whom he appeared, they vary in what Jesus said. A common thread, though, is "Peace" or "Fear not". No doubt it was a fearsome thing to have Jesus appear to you individually or in the midst of a group. Or perhaps he said that because they were hiding in fear. When he walked with the two people on the way to Emmaus he explained the Scriptures to them and how they applied to him (Luke 24:27). John has Jesus breathe on the disciples to impart the Holy Spirit and send them out. "'As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.' And with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven'" (John 20:21-23). But Matthew has Jesus say something similar earlier in his gospel (Matthew 16:19, 18:18). In most of the post-resurrection accounts, though, I think the emphasis is on the fact that he appeared, proving he rose from the dead, and that he ate and drank and spoke to show that he is truly alive. He was publicly executed, yet he lives. He was buried, yet he lives. Even death cannot hold him down. For reflection: If even death cannot hold Jesus down, what is holding me down? Let us pray. Jesus, I repent of being afraid of you and being afraid of others. I repent of (whatever is holding me down). Please forgive me. I want to experience the freedom of being raised from the dead with you. Be with me now as you were with your disciples then. Continuing with our story of Jesus fixing breakfast on the shore for the disciples who have been fishing, we come to the well-known talk that Jesus has with Simon (John 21:15-19). Three times Jesus asks Simon, "Do you love me?" Three times Simon Peter answers, "Yes, Lord." Jesus instructs him to "feed my sheep." Aside from the fact that these three questions parallel the triple denial of Jesus by Peter, what else might they signify? To me they show that although Peter failed Jesus miserably in his hour of need, God's call on Peter's life still remains. Peter's failure did not negate the call of God on his life. God has not given up on Peter. Jesus then says to Peter here at the end of the gospel the same thing he said at the beginning, "Follow me." But now Peter knows what "follow me" entails - persecution, being an outcast, danger, trials and death. Peter had already passed one small test since his denial and Jesus' resurrection: he fished on the other side of the boat when Jesus told him to. Now Jesus gives him a much bigger task: follow me and feed my sheep. For reflection: My failure does not negate the call of God on my life. Let us pray. Lord, I may not always be successful, but I want to be faithful. Don't let my failures keep me from trying to what you call me to do. There is some confusion among the Gospels and Paul's letters about the exact order of the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection. So in the next few weeks we will be moving around in the Scriptures to cover these stories. Evidently after appearing to the women at the tomb, Jesus next appeared to Peter (see Luke 24:34 and 1 Cor 15:5). The Scriptures don't tell us what Jesus and Peter talked about on that first meeting. Perhaps Peter never told anyone. I suspect they had a little conversation about Peter's actions during Jesus' trial and crucifixion. Peter had denied three times even knowing Jesus - as Jesus had predicted. And Peter was evidently not there when Jesus died. Regret and forgiveness must have been on Peter's mind. Maybe Jesus asked Peter, "Why?" I've often thought of the differences and similarities between Peter and Judas. Both were close associates of Jesus. Both sinned against Jesus. Their sins were not too different from each other. But their actions after their sins were very different. Judas went to the Jewish authorities looking for forgiveness. Receiving none (he had not betrayed them after all), he despaired and killed himself. What if Judas had gone to Jesus for forgiveness? I believe Jesus would have forgiven him. Peter, no doubt, asked Jesus to forgive him. They must have cleared the air in that first private meeting. For reflection: For what do I need God's forgiveness? From whom else do I need to ask forgiveness? Let us pray. Father of Mercies, please bring to mind the actions for which I need to seek forgiveness. Help me to make amends. I'm posting something different today. The YouTube video below is about Good Friday - but Sunday's Coming! I heard this used as the homily at a Good Friday service and thought it was worth sharing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YByT6wfdhJs In re-reading our text, Genesis 17:15-22, I am amazed at God's patience. God waits while Abraham laughs at the notion that he and Sarah will have a child at their advanced age. Then Abraham suggests to God that the covenant be established through Ishmael. God calmly replies, "No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son." So the covenant will be established through Isaac. However, God does not forget Ishmael. "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous." God does not appear to be offended by Abraham's laughter nor by his suggestion that the covenant be established through Ishmael. He patiently explains that Abraham's legitimate wife, not Hagar, will have a son, as He said all along. It was Sarah who lost patience with God's promise and her infertility. God shows himself more patient than Abraham and Sarah both. For reflection: How and when has God been patient with me? Let us pray. Lord of Patience, thank you for all the occasions that you have been patient with me. . . . Forgive me for all the times I have been impatient with you. Our choices sometimes have enormous consequences. Genesis 16:1-16 tells the story of Sarai and Hagar. Sarai, an old woman at this point and unsuccessful at bearing her husband Abram a child, gives her slave Hagar to Abram to bear a child in her place. Sarai made her choice; Hagar the slave had none. Hagar did as she was told. Neither woman appears to be a model of Godliness in this episode. When Hagar discovers she is pregnant, she gets uppity with Sarai. Sarai is confronted with the fact that the infertility in her marriage stems from her, not Abram. No woman wants to have that staring her in the face every day. And Abram refuses to get caught in the middle. Sarai treats Hagar so badly that Hagar runs away into the desert even though she is pregnant. We each are faced with decisions every day, large and small. Like Sarai, Hagar and Abram, we face the consequences of those choices. But what do we do when those consequences are not what we anticipated? Do we take our frustrations out on others, as Sarai did? Do we wash our hands of them like Abram? Or do we run away? Let us pray. God of Sarai, Hagar and Abram, we have made some poor choices in our lives. We want to fix the damage we have caused. How do we make amends? (Your comments are welcome.) In the passage we last considered (Genesis 3:1-13), there is a question which should not be overlooked. God asks Adam, "Where are you?" Adam and Eve are hiding after they have sinned, and, in response to God, Adam admits he is afraid. Adam and Even had only "been away" from God for a day or perhaps even less. Yet they were already afraid to seek God out. So God went looking for them. No matter how long we may have been away from God, he is seeking us every day, every hour. We don't need to be afraid to say, "Here I am" because he loves us. |
AliceI started this website and blog on May 1, 2012. I am a Catholic who has been in ministry for many years. I first developed what I would call a close relationship with Jesus in the early 1970s. Ever since then I have been praying with people for healing and other needs. It is because I have seen so many of these prayers answered that I am so bold as to offer to pray for you individually through this website and phone line. Archives
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