You Know the Way
Easter's fifth Sunday
Dear Saints,
First, as always, important announcements:
We're on again this Sunday for our Drive-In Mass. In fact, this time there will be two! Join us in the Walmart parking lot at 9:00am or 11:00am. If you are interested, please check out the new page on our website for more information.
The Outside Confessional carries on. In fact, it was featured on CBS2 this week. Our Confession schedule remains unchanged: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 10-11:30am and 3-4:30pm.
Visit our Mission Hub for up-to-date information during these Church-in-exile days.
This weekend's Gospel passage, this Fifth Sunday of Easter, packs quite the punch. In it, we hear Jesus speak powerfully, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life.
But before that leads us to pride - that we have it right over and against other people's opinions - let's situate Jesus' claim in its original context. Here's what comes before this weekend's passage in the Gospel of John:
John 13.1-20: The Washing of the Disciples' Feet
John 13.21-30: Announcement of Judas' Betrayal
John 13.31-35: The New Commandment (love one another)
John 13.36-38: Peter's Denial Predicted
So what is the way, the truth, and the life if not love all the way through? There's simply no room for arrogance in our hearts and lives when we hold fast to Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life.
Is this life of loving service to the point of self-sacrifice difficult? No. It's impossible. But Jesus has blazed the trail for us, and by giving us his Spirit he inspires us to follow him into fullness of life.
Jesus Washing Peter's Feet
Ford Madox Brown, 1821-1893
Before I close, let me wish a Blessed Mother's Day to all of our mothers!
On May 9, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, he established the day as a time for “public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”
Mothering love is self-forgetful and sacrificial. It is the natural love that best mirrors the love of God we have come to know in Christ Jesus. A love that is totally for the other.
It is more than fitting that we offer our Masses on Mother’s Day weekend for all of our mothers, living and deceased. In this way we thank God for the gift of their mothering love, and honor their many sacrifices for us, as we draw inspiration from their living the total self-gift of Jesus' way, truth, and life.
I love you, my friends. And I look forward to seeing you soon.
In the Peace of our Risen Lord,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
PS We dedicate the month of May to Mary. If you'd like to learn how to pray the rosary, check out this page from the USCCB.
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Fifth Sunday of Easter