Hughs reflection on the readings for Sunday, November 2, 2014 All Souls Day Wisdom 3:1-9 Psalm 23:1-6 Romans 5:5-11 John 6:37-40 What a message for this weekend! If the readings sound familiar, it may be you have heard them recently. Often they are the mainstay for many funeral Masses simply because the readings are a joyful message that transcends the immediacy of loss to reach what is truly lasting, eternal life. The Wisdom reading expounds that the apparent ending of our life is only a stop on the way. We are cared for even while the process of death and separation from all we know is occurring. We think “final,” yet it isn’t. Psalm 23 tells us not to be afraid, for we have the good shepherd to guide us, and that only, “…goodness and kindness shall follow us….” I want to focus, however, on the Gospel message, particularly toward the end when Jesus proclaims, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life…” A skeptic could scoff at the impossibility for anyone now, then, to be saved...for how can we see Jesus now 2000 years after he left the earth? Where do we even look? There is a place to look, however and it isn’t so far away as some 2000 year old memory of an event passed through the ages. The Exercises of St. Ignatius shines a light through this darkness during the first week as one faces their sins and understands the offset to them isn’t something we can do, but something God did and is continuing to do. I would like to suggest that what we would see is the deep love God has for us, personally, uniquely, individually, unconditionally. For most of us (me included), the depth and truth of the love of God is inconceivable, for we do not love like God does. We stumble with disappointment and frustration or our own pride and it affects the way we love. But God loves us in a way that is redemptive. It is something completely different than our understanding of love and well beyond any way for us to measure here. It is said we connect our understanding of most everything, including our knowledge of love, to the things we experience and perhaps that is true. But if it is true, it cannot also be true that we have to wait until after we die to experience God; to see him. Jesus invites us to see him now in many ways in the relationships and experiences of living, in the moments of prayer where we sense the presence of the Holy Spirit, in sincere times of gratitude and yes, in the Eucharist. There are perhaps, more ways that we can count to witness him here and for sure, there is a way for you. At one point, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do the people say that I am…” This week the question is turned around as we hear God inviting us to ask, “Who do you, Lord, say that I am…” It is a risky question and we may be afraid of the answer. We are reminded by the Psalm of the truth: You are the person he created to love. Do not be afraid. The experience of seeing Jesus is only a question away. Give yourself over to it. His answer of love is captured in the cross and his invitation to join him in love is in the resurrection. Spend time this week talking to the Lord. Ask him your most important questions and rely on his promise, for you are made in the love of your creator. Write your conversation in the margins of your Bible. Don’t miss the chance. God Bless, Hugh
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 11:06:37 +0000
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