SCRIPTURE JOHN 14:1-14

 last supper discourse

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith^* in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.  Where [I] am going you know the way.”^*

Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth^* and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.^b If you know me, then you will also know my Father.^* From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father,^* and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.ⁱ If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.

REFLECTION

Jesus prepares his disciples for when He ascends into heaven.  Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. What will that place look like?  I am sure most of us have imagined a place we have dreamed about here on earth that satisfies our worldly needs but knowing Jesus, I am sure it is going to be the perfect place for each of us. I am prepared to trust Jesus, what about you?  If there was a place for the Good Thief, there must be one for me. Do not let your hearts be troubled.

How do we get to our dwelling place in heaven? Where I am going you know the way.  What way is that Jesus? I am the way and the truth and the life.  I get it, conform to Jesus, imitate Christ, do what Jesus did, love God and my neighbor, be good to those who don’t deserve it, be merciful as the Father is merciful, mercy is love we don’t deserve.

 Philip said to Jesus “Master, show us the Father,^* and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?  Jesus and the Father are one. The will of the Father is the will of Jesus.  The Father sent the Son as His most dramatic revelation of Himself, a word incarnate that could be seen, heard, embraced, and followed in his footsteps.  If we know Jesus we will know the Our Father.

Jesus promises whoever believes in me will do the works that I do so that His Father will be glorified. so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:11 Jesus says, ask anything in my name and He will do it.  Believe it, pray over it.  Trust in Jesus!

SCRIPTURE JOHN 14:15-31

 the advocate.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate  to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.

Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him. Judas, not the Iscariot,^* said to him, “Master, what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. I have told you this while I am with you.

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

You heard me tell you, I am going away and I will come back to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.  I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world (Satan) is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me…

 REFLECTION

 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. The law will never save us because we continue to break the law.  That is why we needed a Savior.  But Jesus does tell us we show Him love by keeping the commandments, denying ourselves and choosing God’s will instead.  All we take with us when we die is what we have given away.  Love God and your neighbor by keeping the commandments for a happy whole life.

Jesus promises not to leave us orphans when He leaves this earthly life.  That is good to know we won’t be left alone to just stumble around in a quagmire of sin.. But what does this mean?  When Jesus goes to the Father, He will ask the  Father to send the third person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the advocate, to coach us, to guide us, to guide the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. Through the Sacraments God dwells in us.  We are alive in Christ!  We were not left orphans!

The Advocate (Holy Spirit) will teach you everything and remind you of all I told you. Not only that, it is the Spirit that convicts us of our sins through our conscience and calls us to conversion.

Before departure Jesus offers his disciples peace not as the world describes it but peace of union with God

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. Jesus must go now that the world may know that He did just as the Father has commanded me.  Not my will but thy will be done!

 

 

SCRIPTURE JOHN 15 1-17

The Vine and the Branches.

“I am the true vine,^* and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. 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. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.

By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends,^* because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.

REFLECTION

When I look at the picture above I am reminded of how many great saints attached to the vine of Christ bore good fruit.  They are our ancestors and models of discipleship. I Am the True Vine is the last of the seven I Am declarations of Jesus, found only in Gospel of John.  The I Am declarations point to Jesus’ unique divine identity.

Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus reminds us that we have life only when we are attached to Him. “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.

For the Hell deniers, Jesus throws in, “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.”

Next time we meditate on crucifix/crucifixion rather than concentrating on pain and suffering of Jesus dig deeply into the love God has for us that He lay down His very life to save us from sin and death  that our joy may be complete,

 “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.    The fruit that remains is our love for one another! “By their fruit you will know them” Matthew 7:20

SCRIPTURE JOHN 15:18-27

JESUS’ DEPARTURE WARNING ABOUT THE WORLD’S HATRED

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;    but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.

…No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you….And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me….Whoever hates me also hates my Father If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father….

REFLECTION

 If they persecuted Jesus they will also persecute followers of Jesus.  This is the cost of discipleship. We may not confront the world, the flesh, and the devil to the extant Jesus did but we are still a threat to worldly ways. Jesus warned us, “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” Matthew 10:16

 Be smart, trust in Jesus, and be humble, don’t try to make it on your own.  When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:19

 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy

both soul and body in Gehenna.

Matthew 10:28

 GOSPEL OF JOHN CHAPTER 16

THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT, THE ADVOCATE

SCRIPTURE 16:7-33

“I have told you this so that you may not fall away. ….. now I am going to the one who sent me….^*it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation…I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears…He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you…..

‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you……For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”…..

Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.

REFLECTION

While Jesus’ physical presence has departed earth until end times, we are not left orphans.  We have the sacramental presence of Jesus and the advocate, the Holy Spirit, who convicts us of our sins, inspires us in hope of eternal joy, and assists in our daily struggles in the head wind of worldly delights.

This passage of Scripture brings to the fore, the Most Holy Trinity, the Father who sent the Son to save us,  the Son who sends the Holy Spirit who will guide us to all truth. While the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, I address them at times in their various persons.

God the Creator to protect our environment and food supplies to the poor.  The Son, Jesus Christ, to pardon my sins and lead me to repentance.  The Holy Spirit to help me pray, to discern God’s will, and give me courage to follow it.

When we see Jesus again we will be filled with joy of the woman who has given birth to a child.  All love has some suffering that accompanies it whether it is sacrifices of our will to God’s will or grief over the loss of a loved one. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me.

 Is God’s love enough for us?   Worth pondering! 

And if not why not?

 

LAST SUPPER DISCOURSE PRAYER OF JESUS

SCRIPTURE JOHN 17:1-8

When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. “I revealed your name^* to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.

REFLECTION

Knowing Jesus and the one who sent Him is eternal life! “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known.”1 COR. 13:12

Knowing Jesus is heaven on earth.  Why wait, let’s get started! To know Him is to Love Him!

 SCRIPTURE JOHN 17:9-17

I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, (Father), because they are yours,and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.

When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.  I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.

REFLECTION

 We do not belong to this world but to the one above! We live in this world of toil and calamity, pressed by worldly desires but Jesus is victorious over this world of sin and death.  Often, Jesus would tell His flock,

Do not be afraid! He was not telling us to be reckless but rather trust in him; faith and fear cannot coexist, For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7

Fear not, little sheep, the Good Shepherd hovers over us!

 SCRIPTURE JOHN 17-18-26

As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.

FATHER AS YOU SENT ME I SEND THEM

Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

 REFLECTION

 We are sent into the world to magnify the Lord as Jesus did! We go out in union with Jesus.  His face shines upon us and those we meet.  Not only. are we invited to share in His Passion but we are invited to share in His glory and share that glory with others.  What a mission if we choose to accept! 

 See, I have today set before you life, and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I am giving you today, loving the LORD, your God, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and ordinances, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.  DEUTERONOMY 30:15-16

 CHOOSE LIFE!

 

 

SCRIPTURE JOHN 18:1-14

 JESUS IS ARRESTED

 When he had said this, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. Judas his betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons., knowing everything that was going to happen to him, Jesus went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?”

BETRAYAL ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.”^* He said to them, “I AM.” Judas his betrayer was also with them.

When he said to them, “I AM,” they turned away and fell to the ground. So he again asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.”Jesus answered, “I told you that I AM. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill what he had said, “I have not lost any of those you gave me.”

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?” So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him, and brought him to Annas first. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.

REFLECTION

When asked who they seek, Jesus answers with affirmation that he not only is Jesus but also I AM, an affirmation that He is God; even the pagans fell on the ground.  Do I worship Jesus in awe?

To think it is God himself that saves us is too awesome to ever stop contemplating.  God so loved the world as to send His incarnate Son, word made flesh. It took one with both divine nature and human nature to save humanity from sin and death,

Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”  Calvary comes before Easter Sunday. Am I prepared to drink of that cup?  With God anything is possible!

 SCRIPTURE JOHN 18:15-27

PETER’S DENIAL

 Simon Peter and another disciple (John) followed Jesus. Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus. But Peter stood at the gate outside. So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.

Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter, “You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made, because it was cold, and were warming themselves. Peter was also standing there keeping warm.

The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his doctrine. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather, and in secret I have said nothing. Why ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said.”  When he had said this, one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm. And they said to him, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately the cock crowed.

THE COCK CROWED!

 REFLECTION

How many times I have denied God’s will and chosen my own will to my peril! I didn’t hear a cock crow call me to conversion but the subtle voice of the Holy Spirit.  The world is a sinful place, and one of the Holy Spirit’s tasks is to convict the world of its sin.

No amount of preaching or pointing of fingers will bring about the conviction of sin, unless the Holy Spirit is at work in the sinner’s heart. John 16:8 The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin with the express purpose of reconciling them to God; the devil brings condemnation with the express purpose of shaming people into running away from God.

PRAYER

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful

and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.

And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit,

did instruct the hearts of the faithful,

grant that by the same Holy Spirit

we may be truly wise

and ever enjoy His consolations,

Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

 SCRIPTURE JOHN 18:28-38

THE TRIAL BEFORE PILATE.

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was morning. And they themselves did not enter the praetorium, in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring [against] this man?” They answered and said to him, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” At this, Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” The Jews answered him, “We do not have the right to execute anyone,”^*

in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.

So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”…..

WHAT IS TRUTH!

REFLECTION

“I am the way and the truth^* and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. JOHN 14:6  

Jesus says, everyone who belongs to the truth, listens to His voice,   Do I Listen to Jesus’ voice even when He might have tough love?

What is truth for me? Do I seek it wherever it may be found? In my daily readings, viewings, errands, people I meet. problems I encounter…. Do I bring Jesus into all aspects of my life? to seek the truth, Jesus!

SCRIPTURE JOHN 19:1-7

THE SCOURAGING AND CROWNING WITH THORNS

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly. Once more Pilate went out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him. So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.

BEHOLD THE MAN!

And he said to them, “Behold, the man!” When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

REFLECTION

Behold the Man! “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness  and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” Philippians 2:6-7

God becoming man to save us! “What is man that you are mindful of him? Psalms 8:5

SCRIPTURE JOHN 19:8-16

PILATE HANDS JESUS OVER FOR CRUCIFIXION

Now when Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid, and went back into the Praetorium and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate said to him, “Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?” Jesus answered [him], “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”  When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out and seated him^* on the judge’s bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

SHALL I CRUCIFY YOUR KING?

It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.^* And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” They cried out, “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

REFLECTION

 “We have no king but Caesar.”  What are the Caesars in our lives that we may put before God?  Is Jesus truly the king that we worship and serve foremost?  Do we really reflect on and mean the words of the prayer Jesus taught us, “….thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”?

SCRIPTURE JOHN 19:17-30

THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS.

 So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.  Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be,” in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled [that says]: “They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots This is what the soldiers did.

JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED 1 CORINTHIANS 2:2

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother^* and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son. ”Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled,^* Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished. And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

 REFLECTION

 “Bowing His head He gave up His spirit….” Jesus completes the Father’s mission of redemption. The gates of heaven are unlocked. We are given the Way, the Truth, and the Life, in Jesus Christ crucified. ….. keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith  Hebrews 12:2. We too may enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Pray we may hurdle any roadblocks and make straight the path from any detours.

SCRIPTURE JOHN 19:31-42

DEATH AND BURIAL OF JESUS

 Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, ^sbut one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows^* that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may [come to] believe. For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: “Not a bone of it will be broken.” And again another passage says: “They will look upon him whom they have pierced.”

After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds.

JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by.

REFLECTION

Jesus is now laid to rest as we all will one day.  Jesus will rise from the dead in glory from mission accomplished.  We pray one day we too rise from the dead to our heavenly home.

“Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them [as their God]. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, [for] the old order has passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4

 

SCRIPTURE JOHN 20:1-10

THE EMPTY TOMB.

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.  So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.  Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned home.

PETER AND JOHN RETURN HOME

REFLECTION

The apostles saw and believed.  They did not fully understand.  Nor would we!  Our faith has undergone centuries of development from Jesus’ teaching and fellow Christians, witnessing to the mystery of the Resurrection.  As St Paul says in First Corinthians, if Christ had not raised from the dead, our faith is in vain.  Life would be totally meaningless. A life without meaning, God save me from such a fate.

 SCRIPTURE JOHN: 11-18

THE APPEARANCE TO MARY OF MAGDALA

 But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.”

I HAVE SEEN THE LORD

When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”  She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”^* which means Teacher.

Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,^* for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’  Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and what he told her.

REFLECTION

I have seen the Lord!  What that must have been like!  Do we have special moments where we feel we are closer to Jesus or his Mother Mary? What do we say to them in those moments?  Do we ask for these special encounters where we can really relate and open our hearts to Jesus and Mary? Do we share with others like Mary Magdalen did with Jesus’ disciples?  Are we witnesses and evangelizers like Mary Magdalen?

 SCRIPTURE JOHN 20:19-23

APPEARANCE TO THE DISCIPLES

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  [Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

PEACE BE WITH YOU

 REFLECTION

 “Peace be with you.  The Peace Jesus gives us is an inner peace reconciled to the Father. Now Jesus sends his disciples into the world to forgive sins as the Father sent Jesus into the world for forgiveness of sins. Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. For his mercy endures forever!

SCRIPTURE JOHN 20:24-29

 THOMAS

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “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.”

MY LORD AND MY GOD

 Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

REFLECTION

 Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Here is our challenge as Christians who have not seen the Lord in person, much less put our hands in his wounds. But we have Jesus’ promise that if we believe, WE WILL BE BLESSED! Is belief sufficient?  I think not.  Jesus said to come follow Him which means taking up our daily crosses and imitating Jesus in his love of the Father and our neighbor.

CONCLUSION. JOHN 20:30-31

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

 

 

 

 

 

SCRIPTURE JOHN 21:1-14

 THE APPEARANCE TO THE SEVEN DISCIPLES.

After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way.

Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.

So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.

COME HAVE BREAKFAST AT THE SUPPER OF THE LAMB

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three^* large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him,^* “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time^h Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.

 REFLECTION

When Jesus tells us to cast our net, follqw Jesus wherever He may lead. It always will lead ultimately to abundant life.  In fact, if we pay close attention, it may break our nets  (hearts) with fullness of the Lord.

Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more. With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen. (Padre Pio Pietrelcina) 

SCRIPTURE JOHN 21:15-19

JESUS AND PETER

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”^* He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep.

DO YOU LOVE ME? FEED MY SHEEP!

Amen, amen, I say to you,^j when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”

 REFLECTION

The obvious meaning for Peter here is he is given chance by the good Lord to make  amends for his three denials.  When we sin do we repent and tell Jesus we truly love him and to help us amend our ways?

The other thing that comes to my mind is after Jesus asks if Peter loves him to feed his lambs.  The message here for me is I must prove my love for Jesus by feeding my neighbor with love and forgiveness.

 SCRIPTURE JOHN 21:20-23

 THE BELOVED DISCIPLE

 Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?  

THE BELOVED DISCIPLE

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?^* What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours?”

 REFLECTION

Why are we concerned how God may treat others?  He is God after all and I am only one of his small creatures. I wasn’t there when he filled the sky with stars, sun, and moon or all earthly plants and creatures for that matter.(Book of Job)  All I know is God has promised to never give me more than I can handle and His word is true!

God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it. 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13

 CONCLUSION OF GOSPEL OF JOHN

It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them,^* and we know that his testimony is true.ⁿ

There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.