Author: The Anchorite

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Who Is My Shepherd?

Fourth Sunday of Easter (C):  John 10:27-30

We are His people; the sheep of His flock.  – Psalm 100:3

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. This is because the Gospel reading for this Sunday is always drawn from John 10, where Jesus speaks at length about Himself as the Good (or True) Shepherd.

For us, the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is consoling and comforting.  We imagine Him, gentle and humble of heart, smiling and tending to His sheep. We picture cute lambs romping in meadows, amid wildflowers of all kinds.  A very peaceful, totally non-threatening image.

There is a great deal of truth in this image, of course.  Jesus is all these things for us, and more. We forget one “minor” detail, however. What was the result of Jesus’ original sermon on how He is the Good Shepherd? What kind of reaction did He get? Were people all starry-eyed and smiling dreamily? No. Read on for a few verses past our Gospel reading for today. They wanted to kill Jesus. Continue reading “Who Is My Shepherd?”

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Healing and Mission

Third Sunday of Easter:  John 21:1-19

 

What keeps us from living out, fully and completely, the mission the Lord has given us?

Through baptism, the power that sin and death have over us has been shattered. We have become sharers in the very life of God, and made members of the Body of Christ, the Church.  Our baptism also gives us a mission: to witness to all that God has done for us in Christ and through the Church. Each one of us lives out that mission in a different way – in marriage, as ordained, or in consecrated life, to name a few examples.  We have a sense of what our mission is. Christ empowers us for our mission by the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist; by the support of fellow Christians; by Scripture; by prayer; by a host of other means.

And yet…   Continue reading “Healing and Mission”

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The Mercy of the Risen Lord

Divine Mercy Sunday:  John 20:19-31

 

Once we reach this day, also known as the Second Sunday of Easter, we have completed the Octave of Easter: the eight days when we celebrate, in a most special way, the victory that Christ has won for us through His Passion, Death and Resurrection. Sin and death no longer have ultimate power over us. They can do their worst, but God in His merciful love comes down to us and saves us.

During the Octave of Easter, the Church – so to speak – invites us to take a victory lap with Christ. Sin is overcome. Death is defeated. The way is now open for us to receive the very life of God and to know a peace and joy and love beyond all understanding. As St. John Paul II once remarked, “We are an Easter People, and Alleluia is our song!”

So. Ready to take that victory lap with Christ? Continue reading “The Mercy of the Risen Lord”

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“Stop Holding On To Me!”

Tuesday of the Octave of Easter: John 20:11-18

 

It is easy for us to sympathize with Mary Magdalene in this Gospel story today.

From the time she first encountered Jesus – when He freed her from those seven demons that tormented her (Luke 8:2) – she loved Him with a love that was at once chaste and passionate. A combination that people, past and present, would dismiss as impossible – which is why rumors persist in some quarters about Mary Magdalene and Jesus having had some form of relationship, perhaps marriage.

It was her love for Our Lord – at once chaste, passionate, and insatiable – which led her to follow Him all the way to Calvary, to be near the Cross with Him, to see where He was buried, and then to come with two other women on that first day of the week to finish anointing His body. Even when they encountered an empty tomb and were filled with amazement, not knowing what to make of it, Mary Magdalene remained. Peter and John came and went, but she remained. She would not stop looking until she had found Him. Continue reading ““Stop Holding On To Me!””

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The Cross of Autism

Palm Sunday (C)

The Lord said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness”. I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.  – 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10

For this post, I am doing something different. I offer you a post by Aimée O’Connell, the founder of The Mission of Saint Thorlak, called “The Cross of Autism”.  Although her post focuses on the experience of people on the autism spectrum, it can also apply to anyone seeking to follow the Lord more faithfully in their lives. I include this not only because I find it quite well-done, but mainly because it is an example of how autism ministry is not only about what the Church as a whole can offer to those with autism, but also about what those with autism can offer the Church as a whole.

And so, without further ado, here it is! Continue reading “The Cross of Autism”