MOTHERS' DAY BONUS POST

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Since I have today's homily already typed up, I'm sharing it with all of you at no extra charge.
I hope everyone had a good Mother's Day.


Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
Albert Holtz, O.S.B.     -    Newark Abbey   -     May 10, 2020
Gospel Reading: John 14:1-12  “I am the way, and the truth and the life”

Where is this whole pandemic thing going? We get the feeling that we’re being swept along  by circumstances way beyond our control. How can we plan for the future: When will our  churches be open? When will our classrooms be full again? When will the covid finally recede? What will life be like after the pandemic? Will any of my loved ones fall victim to the virus? The entire planet has been overwhelmed by the experience. It almost seems as if God has lost control of the situation. God might be as overwhelmed as you and I are!
We come to church this morning for various reasons. Some of us pray for healing or for safety for ourselves, others for our jobs, or for help with paying bills. But, looming over the whole experience is the sense of threat and danger.
Look at the gospel passage this morning: At the last supper, Jesus has just revealed to the apostles that someone will betray him, and that even Peter the Rock will deny knowing him, and that he, Jesus, will be leaving them. Imagine the terror they must have felt! This is where the gospel passage begins this morning, with Jesus comforting his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and afraid!”
We should listen hard to what he’s telling them, because his words are addressed to each of us this morning. As scientists around the world are scrambling to find a vaccine or an antidote to the novel coronavirus Jesus is offering us an antidote to our fear, foreboding and discouragement.
First, he tells them that everything that’s happening is part of God’s mysterious loving plan. It’s heading in a definite direction: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” There’s a key word hidden in here: The Greek for “dwelling place” comes from verb meno, John’s favorite verb for describing the intimate, permanent indwelling of Jesus and the Father.
He’s telling us that the place that we are heading is a share in this divine life. And if we are all heading toward that goal, then Jesus tells us “I am the WAY to that goal. “Have faith in me!” he tells his apostles in their fear. This is good advice for us as well.
Jesus is giving us a glimpse into the mysterious inner life of the trinity: God is relationship, God is Love. He’s giving us the key to everything, the truth about the universe: I am the Truth, I am the dynamism that lies behind and within everything and everyone. John’s gospel begins “In the beginning was the word,” the word through which everything came into being, the word of truth that says “God is love” pure, boundless, self-giving love. That is the ultimate truth.
“I am the way,” he tells us, “and I am the truth”. Then He goes on to reveal more of the unfathomable mystery: “I am in the Father, and the Father is in me; the Father and I are one.” The Father and I share this divine life with each other –-and with each one of you.  “I am the life” – and you participate in that life with and through me. So when you feel overwhelmed and at the end of your forces, be encouraged by Jesus who says, “I am the life that wakes you up every morning, that courses through your arteries, that fills your heart with love”.
In this terrible time of Pandemic, this time of fear and foreboding, when the future is a mysterious threat, let us  remember Jesus’ words to his apostles when they were feeling the same way that we are this morning. Christ, the second person of the Trinity, invites them and us:
“Follow me through this terrible problem, for I am the WAY that carries you forward.
“Hold fast to the truth that this experience is somehow all about the Father’s love.  For I am the TRUTH that fills you with courage.
“I am the Word that was present at the beginning, I am the very source of everything that is: I am life itself. I am the LIFE that fills you this morning with a new sense of vigor and energy and hope.
“Especially in the midst of this Pandemic, remember that I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.”