Continuing Jesus' Ministry

05-29-2022Weekly Reflection© J. S. Paluch Company

The celebration of the Ascension of our Lord occurs distinctively this year, when the two most detailed descriptions of the event, both written by Luke the evangelist, are brought together in today’s readings. We hear both the concluding verses from Luke’s Gospel, the first volume of his work, and the first verses of Acts, his second volume. For Luke, the Ascension is the hinge of his two-volume work. The evangelist apparently thought the story of the Ascension was important enough to tell twice.

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Peace

05-22-2022Weekly Reflection© J. S. Paluch Company

The sixth Sunday of Easter moves us toward the feast of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit to the early Church. Today’s Gospel describes Jesus at the Last Supper, foretelling the coming of the Spirit to the community of Jesus. Jesus combines the promise of the Spirit with his gift of peace to his disciples. He foresees that the community must be grounded in his love, which provides peace, to face the tumult of the Crucifixion, and later, the trials of the early Church.

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Glorify God

05-15-2022Weekly Reflection© J. S. Paluch Company

In the first sentence of today’s Gospel passage from John, Jesus’ address at the Last Supper, the words “glorify” or “glorified” appear five times. For John, glory has to do with honor and reputation, the primary characteristic of a person. John thus invites us to reflect upon what God's glory fully means. God is glorified when God's truest nature is revealed, as the God who loves.

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We Belong to God

05-08-2022Weekly Reflection© J. S. Paluch Company

In the time of Jesus, when multiple flocks of sheep would be gathered, protecting the flock depended heavily on the shepherd’s personal recognition of individual sheep, by sight and sound. In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses this imagery to speak of how Jesus — with the Father — protects those whom God loves —that is, everyone. Forces that pull us away from God are ultimately no match for the fierce love that God has for us.

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Church

05-01-2022Weekly Reflection© J. S. Paluch Company

The Easter season provides us an opportunity to reflect upon who we are as Church, in light of the first experiences of Jesus’ followers. From today’s Gospel, we realize that all we do is founded on our friendship with and trust in Jesus, as witnessed in Jesus’ dialogue with Peter. From Revelation, in the image of Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb, we can anticipate suffering for the sake of love for God and for others.

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