Peace

A number of years ago they added a new feature to our email system at work.

You could specify some standard text.

And the system would automatically add that text at the end of each message.

We all take that for granted now, but it was new back then.

So we all added our name, phone number, maybe our address.

To save even a few more keystrokes we could also include a standard complimentary close.

(If formal letter writing wasn’t part of your elementary school curriculum,

The complimentary close is that message, those few closing words, we put before our name.

Like: Sincerely, or Yours Truly.)

We all tried to find a standard close that would be appropriate for most all messages.

Messages to bosses and staff, friends, colleagues and strangers.

Messages of good news and bad, agreement and disagreement.

I started using Peace.

Over the years, I got quite a few responses that closed with words like:

Yeah Man, Peace!  Or a more sedate Peace to You Too.

Only a few people ever asked what I really meant by closing my message that way.

But if they asked, I told them.

In our Gospel today, Jesus gives his Last Supper farewell.

And he says: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.

He indicates that he’s giving not just any peace, but a special peace.

Something more than just a temporary worldly peace—His peace.

What’s special about his peace?

It’s not just an absence of war or conflict.

It’s not a fragile condition that will last only temporarily.

It’s a comfort that grows from a deep-seated, abiding, confidence and trust in God.

It’s a knowledge that even when all is not well in this world,

We can count on God to make it well in the end.

Jesus left that peace to his disciples—to us.

How can we claim it?

St Paul gives us some guidance in his letter to the Phillipians.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

If you do this, you will experience God’s peace,

which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6-7 (NLT)).

Paul makes it sound pretty simple.

But we know that kind of peace can be elusive; for many of us, it comes and goes.

Some people may never experience that peace in this life.

But that’s the peace we hear about here at Mass.

The peace we offer each other after the Lord’s Prayer.

The peace we might wish for all our email recipients.

And not only for them.

But for ourselves.

And for everyone.

Tuesday of 5th Week of Easter

Jn 14:27-31                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

In His Hands

Little Laurie London had a hit record in 1958.

It went to #1 on the national charts.

I remember it clearly.

And I can remember being impressed that he was just a few years older than I was.

I remember that he had a very distinctive voice.

But it never occurred to me what I found so unique about it.

Actually, I didn’t remember his name.

It’s been over 50 years!

But I googled the song and found that he was Laurie London.

And that he was actually from London.

Maybe that's what I found so distinctive about his voice; a British accent.

As a 10-year old growing up in Kentucky, I guess I wasn’t very cosmopolitan.

As we hear in today’s Gospel,

Jesus too has a distinctive voice.

And as members of his flock we're able to recognize that voice.

But now it’s a silent voice, an internal voice.

What we recognize is not the sound of his voice

But the deep internal source and the message of his voice.

And following that message keeps us in the protective grip of his hand.

As Jesus said, No one can take them out of my hand.

That voice, the voice of the Good Shepherd, guides us.

And calls us back to the right path if we should stray.

Like those early disciples in our reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

There’s good news and bad news in that opening line.

Those who had been scattered by the persecution …

[Traveled far] preaching the word.

They didn’t have the courage to face the persecution.

They fled, they were scattered.

They were weak.

Yet God brought good out of that weakness.

Like the seed scattered by the sower,

The scattered disciples bore fruit.

They preached the word far and wide, and turned a great number to the Lord.

As the passage says,

The hand of the Lord was with them.

Despite the fact that they fled, they didn’t go too far astray.

They were guided by his voice and protected by his hand.

Today, we continue to be guided by his voice.

That distinctive voice that speaks to us from where he dwells—deep within.

And we continue to be protected by his hand.

Just as Little Laurie London’s big hit record assured us ...

He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands.

Hear Laurie London  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bbYFgf_pQc

Tuesday of 4th Week of Easter

Jn 10:22-30                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Be That Voice

Noise

Friday I walked over to the Union Station food court for lunch.

It’s school-trip season, so there were bus loads of junior high kids—thousands.

The noise level was intense.

An unbroken, chaotic, high-decibel din.

A sea of sound—no street noise, no equipment or machinery noise; just voices.

It was nearly impossible to hear any one voice.

The guy at Burger King was shouting out numbers as orders were ready for pickup.

The crowd of customers waiting for their food could hardly hear him.

After spending a half-hour or so there, it was good to get out.

Walking along the outside arcade, heading back to my office,

I passed a steady stream of people heading toward the station.

And I noticed that more than half of them had wires dangling from their ears.

There was a lot of private hearing going on.

But I wonder if there was much real listening.

Or whether there was even much worth listening to.

Back at my office I kept checking the Internet to see what was happening in Boston.

Earlier, I had heard about the situation in Watertown on Mt Auburn Street.

I used to live just off Mt Auburn and have a friend who lives there now.

I wanted to find out just where the commotion was, and hoped it wasn’t too near her house.

(It turned out to be a half mile further up the street.)

There was a lot of chatter from Boston on the Internet TV news sites.

Reporters and commentators filling the time with repetition and speculation.

An occasional new fact, but mostly a lot of noise.

When I got home, I spent the whole evening listening to that noise.

Such is life today in America, and in much of the world.

We’re bombarded with noise.

So accustomed to constant noise that when it's absent we seek it out.

When faced with the threat of quiet, many of us stuff mind-numbing speakers into our ears.

Music is good.

Books on tape are good.

But so is observing and thinking.

And being fully present and conscious of our current time and place.

Yes, we can multi-task.

And a little personalized background theme music might add flavor to our daily activities.

But in moderation; in balance.

We miss a big part of life when we let our ear buds block it out.

Despite all the artificial noise, we can still manage to hear.

And even to listen.

But with environmental and self-inflicted noise at such high volumes in quantity and decibels,

It becomes harder to focus on what’s important in what we hear.

The noise can actually drown out our hearing, or at least distract our listening.

Jesus says today, in the Gospel:

My sheep hear my voice.

When Jesus came to the temple area in Jerusalem, it was probably a noisy place too.

Especially at the feast times, when people would flock there from the countryside.

When the markets would be crowded and busy.

But in those days there was a lot more quiet time.

More quiet places and more time to spend in them.

It was easier to escape the chatter.

And there was less opportunity and less temptation to tap into the noise channels.

But Jesus was talking to all of us.

Those of us living today as well as those two thousand years before the iPod.

And still today, if we make it a priority, we can find the quiet and the time.

Voice has a number of meanings.

It can refer to the physical sound that comes from a person’s throat and mouth.

Or to expression in words by means other than speaking, such as writing.

Or voice can refer to a point of view or to actions.

The dictionary even includes voice as an utterance of a guiding spirit.

And indeed, still today, the Spirit—the Trinity—dwells within us and speaks within us.

We still hear his voice from within, and we still know who’s speaking to us.

We hear his voice when we listen in prayer.

We hear his voice perhaps most audibly when we come to Mass.

His words spoken in a physical voice; his point of view expressed.

We hear his voice when we read the Scriptures.

We hear his voice in daily life.

When we receive advice or comfort or guidance.

We hear his voice in the song and laughter and even in the sorrow around us.

We hear his voice in nature.

His voice fills the world.

With practice we might even hear his voice in the noise itself.

But, we owe it to ourselves to make that quiet time.

To give ourselves a chance to absorb and understand what we've heard.

To really appreciate what we've heard.

Perhaps to hear his voice more clearly.

We'll know when we've been hearing well enough and listening well enough.

We'll know when we've become true disciples—faithful members of his flock.

That will be when we can not only clearly hear his voice, but faithfully be his voice.

4th Sunday of Easter

Jn 10:27-30                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Show Me

I’m from Missouri.

Not really, I’m from Kentucky (and Connecticut and Massachusetts and Virginia and DC.)

But I share a human trait that those folks from Missouri are proud to claim.

Their state is known as the “Show Me” state.

They’re realistic, practical, skeptical folks.

They’re not going to be easily taken in by some scam or ruse.

This past Sunday we had our parish Confirmations.

Bishop Gonzalez confirmed eight young teenagers.

Young, but mature enough to make their own informed commitment to their faith.

I held the Sacred Chrism for the bishop as they knelt, one by one, at his chair.

It was my privilege to be right there, nearly touching them.

To see their faces and feel the power as the bishop called the Holy Spirit down on them.

They wore ribbons with their Confirmation names.

Joan of Arc, Elizabeth, Michael, and others.

Years ago, when I was confirmed, I chose the name Thomas.

Partly because I just liked the name.

But also because I admired, and felt an affinity with, two great saints with that name.

More admiration for St Thomas Aquinas—who seemed to have everything figured out.

More affinity with St Thomas the Apostle.

The doubter and skeptic—but ultimately a convinced skeptic.

So, I can’t feel too critical of the crowd in today’s Gospel.

They say they need a sign before they can believe in Jesus.

But he had already performed many signs or miracles.

And this crowd had heard about them.

Just a day earlier, many in this crowd had been with Jesus across the Sea of Galilee.

They were among the 5,000 people he’d fed with only five loaves and two fish.

They also knew he didn’t have a boat, but here he was now, somehow across the sea.

How many signs should it take to convince a skeptic?

Is this guy a magician or the real thing?

But wouldn't we all be skeptical?

Jesus is making the most outlandish, radical claims imaginable.

Is there any more questionable, earth-shaking claim that could be made?

He’s claiming to be God.

The creator of all things—our creator.

The master of the universe.

The one who holds our eternal fate in his hands.

But, here he is; standing right in front of us.

Seemingly just a man, like us.

And yet, his story adds up, it makes sense.

A story of love and forgiveness and redemption and eternal life.

A story that’s believable, but for some, too good to be true.

We have the faith to accept that story—we've embraced it.

What responsibility do we have regarding those who are too stuck in Missouri?

3^rd Tuesday of Easter

Jn 6:30-35                                    Read this Scripture @usccb.org   

Nick at Nite

Nicodemus is a ruler of the Jews, a highly influential member of the Sanhedrin.

The very group of leaders who are looking for a way to have Jesus killed.

And yet he comes seeking Jesus, at night, hoping to learn from him.

He says he knows that Jesus is from God and has God with him.

The signs have convinced him of that.

He's not ready to take the risk of being seen with Jesus.

But he's hungry for greater understanding.

Jesus tells him that to see the kingdom of God he must be born from above.

Born of water and the Spirit.

Nicodemus takes that most literally, and says that once born, one cannot be born again.

And then Jesus goes into the somewhat critical response we hear in today’s Gospel verses.

Nicodemus may deserve credit for coining that now-popular Christian description
—Born again.

He may also have been one of the first Christian theologians.

Theology has been defined as faith seeking understanding.

That seems to describe precisely what Nicodemus was doing that night.

He already had faith—at least some faith; he believed that Jesus was from God.

But he wanted to learn more.

He was driven to seek a greater understanding.

All of us who have been baptized have already been born again
—born of water and the Spirit.

For most of us, that was quite some time ago.

And we probably had little or nothing to say about it.

But then most of us have also made our Confirmation.

And that did involve some studying and demonstration of some understanding and desire.

Beyond that, we've racked-up many years of life experiences.

We've had joys and sorrows, ups and downs.

We've been hot and cold in our faith and our service.

We've also experienced some moments of conversion and insight and understanding.

And hopefully there are more of those to come.

We have the gift of faith.

Faith is not belief based on concrete incontrovertible proof; it is not knowledge.

Faith is belief based on testimony; the testimony of Scripture and Tradition.

Belief based upon evidence and logic: the test of time;

The examples of our companions and of the hundreds of millions who have gone before us;

The teachings of the great scholars;

The voice of our own reason and the voice of the Spirit within us.

We have at least the seed of faith, and we're called to nurture it.

We're all called to be lifelong theologians; seeking out Jesus like Nicodemus. did

Asking the hard questions, listening for answers that help us grow in understanding.

The reward for our effort is increased faith.

Which brings with it a greater sense of peace and serenity.

Peace be with you is the repeated greeting we hear from Jesus throughout this Easter season. 
Faith in our benevolent God gives us great comfort in the most trying times of this life.  
It assures us that there is something far better yet to come—for ourselves and for our loved ones.  

Tuesday, 2nd Week of Easter

Jn 3:7b-15                                 Read this Scripture @usccb.org 
 Jn 3:1-7a                                 Read this Scripture @usccb.org  

Only Want to Know

Why'd you choose such a backward time

And such a strange land?

If you'd come today

You could have reached the whole nation

But Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.

—Tim Rice’s 1970 lyrics for Jesus Christ Superstar.

And communication technology has come even further since 1970.

If Jesus had waited until today to come, we’d all be able to see him and listen to him.

Follow him on eye-witness news, read his blog.

Attend one of his world-tour appearances.

Get his constant Facebook and Twitter messages on our smart phones.

Considering the claims he made, the authorities would be sure to get scientific proof of his death.

His tomb would be monitored with surveillance devices.

Probably round-the-clock live TV coverage.

His Resurrection would be almost indisputable.

So why did he come to backwater Judea 2,000 years ago?

I don't know—evidently God saw that as the opportune time in His plan.

People were just as intelligent and questioning and skeptical and clever as we are today.

Communications and travel were certainly much more limited than today.

But they were sufficient to record the Gospels and spread them throughout the world.

In the long history of mankind, Jesus was to be present in the flesh for only one brief period.

And as it turned out, it was not during our time.

To our great fortune, he came before our time rather than after.

So we have the benefit of knowing all about him and his teachings and his Good News.

If Jesus' Resurrection happened today, would the whole world be forever convinced?

Even with the TV coverage and the DVDs and YouTubes,

There would still be doubters and conspiracy theorists.

And not just a few cynical super-skeptics.

Like those who still disbelieve the moon landing videos and Obama's birth records.

But many, who've learned that we can no longer believe everything we see.

Thanks to Hollywood and Photoshop and all kinds of electronic wizardry.

We've learned to temper our trust and faith in visual evidence with a reasonable skepticism.

As it is, we don't have to deal with that high-tech evidence—we don't have any.

What we do have today is the testimony of those who were eye-witnesses.

Those who knew Jesus when he was here in the flesh.

Like Mary Magdalene and Peter and John and the other disciples who went to the tomb.

They were expecting to finish his burial, not to learn of his Resurrection.

But they, and many others, were transformed by seeing and speaking with the risen Christ.

They were convinced; they radically changed; they acted differently.

Peter went from fearfully denying that he even knew Jesus,

To boldly admonishing the crowds for crucifying their Lord and Christ.

We have the words of Sacred Scripture, recorded and passed down to us by those first disciples.

We have the attraction to the truth and wisdom and comfort of the message Jesus brought.

And most of all, we have the power to accept and nurture the gift of faith that is offered to us.

Tuesday, Octave of Easter

Jn 20:11-18                                 Read this Scripture @usccb.org