Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Today is the last Tuesday that falls within the Easter Season. Next week we will again return to the marvelous liturgical riches that we have awaiting us in Ordinary time, with all of its many feasts. As we approach Pentecost Sunday, we find a growing emphasis on the ministry of the apostles. Indeed, in today’s Gospel reading from the Gospel of St. John, we find a passage from before Jesus’ Easter resurrection. In fact, the reading occurs in Jesus’ prayer to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, before His death on the cross. This prayer is an important one, but we’re only getting a brief excerpt for today’s reading.
In today’s portion of Jesus’ prayer we see the emphasis of the glorification of the Son, of Jesus. And of course, in St. John’s Gospel, Jesus is glorified on the cross. The crucifixion of the Son of Man displays His glory for all to see. From the cross, Jesus transforms suffering into love, and through our sacramental incorporation into Christ, we too can transform all of our suffering, all of our joys and sorrows, all of our works and good activities, into loving acts of prayer. Jesus specifically prays for His disciples, for those who follow Him closely, because Jesus is glorified in them.
In the first reading for today from the Acts of the Apostles, we find St. Paul discussing his impending sufferings. He clearly describes the proximate danger he is in. Sometimes we will have to suffer in order to follow God. Jesus’ suffering shows us that obedience to God does not mean that everything will be easy, nor that our lives will cease to involve suffering. Christianity is not Buddhism. In Buddhism, the goal is to escape suffering. In Christianity, the goal is heaven, which indeed is absent of suffering, but Christianity transforms suffering from a useless vain evil into a sanctifying reality through which we can emerge healed, whole, renewed, truly alive.
These truths are something to keep in mind as we approach the end of the Easter Season and the Solemnity of Pentecost. Easter is the season of hope. Jesus is the messenger of hope to a world torn apart by violence, suffering and fear. Jesus is not only the messenger, however, but He is also the message itself. We see this in St. Paul’s preaching, and we see it throughout the New Testament. Jesus and the hope He brings must be our message as well. In many ways, Pentecost is a sending out, a commissioning for mission.
As we approach the end of Easter and the beginning of Ordinary time, let us pray about ways in which we can bring Jesus to the ordinary world around us. Most of us will not experience the many supernatural miracles St. Paul experienced throughout his missionary activities as depicted in the Acts of the Apostles, but we are all called to serve others and bring the same message of hope with the love with which St. Paul served. In bringing Jesus to others we will be continually glorifying Jesus in our actions and words. Let us finish the Easter Season strongly, by deepening our prayer life and deepening our sense of mission.
- Jeff Morrow