Things Are Gonna Get Dicey!

Today's Readings

"So [they] said to him, 'You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.' So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area. - John 8: 57-59

I am not a Scripture Scholar, and I don't play one on TV, but taking a quick glance at the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John, I can say with some sense of surety that one could entitle this chapter, "And Christ Did Push Their Button!"

There are four distinct sections or moments in this chapter, "The Woman Caught in Adultery", "The Light of the World", "Jesus, the Father's Ambassador", and "Jesus and Abraham".  Three of the four sections end with "THEM" wanting to STOP him from being Jesus, if you know what I mean.  

I AM CALLING YOU OUT!  "The Woman Caught in Adultery": The story of the woman ends with Christ telling "THEM" to go ahead and own up to their own sinfulness. (v. 11)  They departed the grounds outside the Temple with a grumble. (John 8: 1-11)  

WE'RE CALLING THE COPS!  "The Light of the World": Christ then visits the treasury area in the temple area, and reminds us of his place in the world as being light to dispel the darkness. (v. 12)  You can almost hear "THEM" saying, "Wait a second!  Are you telling us that this area is the "darkness" that you are dispelling?"  Needless to say, THEY weren't happy.  He wasn't arrested, but it sure sounds as if someone had the phone in THEIR hand ready to call "the cops"! (John 8: 12-20)

WHERE DID YOU GO TO DIPLOMAT SCHOOL?  "Jesus, the Father's Ambassador":  Christ's opening line as "Ambassador" would not gain him a degree in most of today's Schools of Diplomacy.  He opened with, “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin.  Where I am going you cannot come.”  Ouch!  But of the four sections, this third interaction with "THEM" had a somewhat nice ending in that "many [of THEM] came to believe in him."  This is a chance to highlight the reality that all Jesus was trying to do was talk straight to THEM, letting the world know that he was truly sent by the Father, to do the Father's will, making him the  "I AM" (v. 28) that THEY all have been seeking since the days of Abraham.  (John 8: 21-30)

I AM!  "Jesus and Abraham":  This final section continues his conversation with "those who believed in him", with Jesus affirming that they have been "set free", (v. 31-32) but THEY seemed to resent being called SLAVES.  They probed, and Jesus answered back, probing even deeper!  The idea that Christ could come to THEM and proclaim himself "I AM" was getting too much to handle.  One more time, Jesus tries to connect the reality that he has come from God, the Father who sent him, but then notices that THEY just can't understand, prompting one of the harshest responses that most "diplomats" learn never to use:  "You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies." (v. 44)  Can you hear THEM?  THEY yelled back, “Now we are sure that you are possessed." (v. 52)  Jesus tried to continue his line of Truth, but the logic was just too much, "so they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area." (v. 59) (John 8: 31-59)

Things are gonna get a little dicey this coming week!  Jerusalem, New York, Hong Kong, Toronto, Moscow, Brisbane, Buenos Aries, Birmingham, L.A., London, Afghanistan, Rome, Siagon, and ... Look out "WORLD", here he comes!

A Practice Homily: Trans-Figure-What?

This "Practice Homily" Series is offered in conjunction with my journey towards becoming a Deacon in the Catholic Church. While I still have a little less than a year to go, our formation program has called us to begin writing homilies, or reflections on specific Sunday readings.

Today's Readings

As we walk this Lenten journey together, I must admit that I love the people that God has brought into my life! I consider myself greatly blessed by God in the many wonderful relationships and friendships he has nurtured. The love of my parents, my wife and our children has given me the confidence that there are people who are with me every step of the way. Equally, I feel blessed by some very close friends, who know me better than most, and would do anything they could to support me, especially in times of need. Equal still, are the blessing of the many, many wonderful people that I work with, and see on a regular basis, as we share our efforts in doing our part to live and grow in community. We all have varied levels of relationships. Some are more intimate and special than others, yet all have their place in making our lives meaningful. Knowing that, our goal today is to explore how our call to deepen our relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ will only serve to benefit us, and what it is that He is trying to reveal to us.

Our first reading from Genesis offers a look at the unique and special relationship between God and Abram, specifically their covenant to one another. Today we see God reaffirming his promise to Abram to make his descendants as numerous as the stars, but God also seeks a reaffirmation of His own, seeking some reassurance of Abram’s commitment to the relationship. Abram responds, performing an ancient ritual sacrifice called “splitting”. This special ritual, which was traditionally used as a way of ratifying a contract, calls for one party to offer the symbolic sacrifice of an animal, split in two, as a way of offering himself and all that he has as a commitment to the covenant. The covenant is ratified when the other party walks between the split animal, acknowledging the sacrifice. In a sign of trust and his deep relationship with God, Abram splits a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a pigeon, and with much faith, waits for God patiently through the night, falling into a deep sleep, only to be awoken to see the fire that is God walking between the split sacrifice, sealing the covenant promising his descendants land of their own.

In today’s Gospel account of the Transfiguration, we see a unique coming together of God’s Law, His promise, and His Son, as well as another example of a true friendship. In this case, we focus on the special relationship between Jesus, Peter, James, and John, and how it is built on trust. Unlike the other disciples, these three came with Jesus because their relationship had grown, and their trust was mature enough to handle all that was about to happen, for in an amazing crescendo of God’s Word and grace, Christ gave them, and all of us, a glimpse of a new exodus from the enslavement of sin, and a new covenant for everlasting life.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that Luke’s Gospel likes to emphasize the action of the Holy Spirit and the importance of prayer in Christ’s earthly ministry. One unique to quality of the Gospel of Luke is that Jesus always spends time in prayer before major events like the Transfiguration. The Catechism says that Jesus’ prayer make for “a humble and trusting commitment of his [own] human will to loving will of the Father.” (CCC #2600) In this case he prays with His disciples Peter, James and John atop a mountain, a symbolic place for divine encounters. The divine encounter of the Transfiguration most likely happened on Mt. Tabor near Nazareth. (Concise Dictionary of Theology) It is called the Transfiguration, because “While [Christ] was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” (Lk. 9:29) Jesus was transfigured, which literally means that he changed form and appearance into a more beautiful and spiritual state of being. (Oxford Dictionary) The disciples, who had fallen asleep, awoke to a dazzling light and saw the transfigured Christ talking with Moses, representative of God’s Law, and Elijah, representative of God’s promise through the Prophets. This confirmed yet another special relationship, foreshadowing a new exodus and all that would take place in Jerusalem. Peter, James and John were blessed to witness this the intimate relationship between Christ, Moses and Elijah, because of their close relationship and their faith in Jesus Christ!

Today’s Good News is that God is ready to deepen His relationship with you, so as to call you to accept His grace and promise of a new life for you, your family, and all those you serve. But we need to become more than just acquaintances, or even “best friends” with the Lord. We need to trust and grow with Him, knowing, as the Psalmist sings, that only He is our light and our salvation! (Ps. 27) In our first reading, God’s covenant with Abram, promises us descendants as countless as the stars, and a land to call our own. The second reading asks the Philippians, and us to join others in imitating those who follow Christ, so as to try and be more like those who have truly deepened their relationship with Him, for in doing so, Paul promises that we will be transformed as “He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body” (Phil. 3: 21) Finally, in our Gospel, and in our upcoming celebration of the Eucharist itself, we see the benefit of having a close relationship with the Lord, as Peter, James and John, and all of us gathered here, are able to witness Christ in all of His glory as he confirms His union with the Law and the Prophets, revealing to us a glimpse of the new exodus, and a new covenant to come.