Meeting the needs of the 21st century church
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?" (John 21:15 ff).
If we imagine the final discourses in John’s Gospel as executive management training for the Apostles, today’s story of Peter and Jesus on the beach by the Sea of Tiberias is graduation.
“I want them to be with me…” (John 17:24).
Every human face conveys both history and mystery. A thousand generations peer out at us from within the genetic legacy each person carries in their facial characteristics, color and unique combination of variables that make us both ordinary and original. Over time an aging face sculpts its own experience and personal choices into the texture of its skin, revealed in laugh lines, scars and folds. Some faces move us to pity, or inspire us to awe, or make us fall in love.
“I gave them your word, and the world hated them…” (John 17:15).
“I call you friend” (John 15:16).
Charles Morse' 1971 book Whobody There? (St. Mary’s Press, Winona) tells the story of two children waiting for their grandparents to arrive for a visit. In the hours leading up to this joyful reunion, many others come to the door, but they are just “somebodies” or “anybodies.” In one instance, they think someone is at the door but it is “nobody.” Finally, Grandma and Grandpa arrive, and they are welcomed with hugs and kisses because they are “whobodies,” two very special people the children know intimately.
“Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech” (John 16:29).
“As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up” (Luke 24:52).
The image of Jesus ascending into heaven recalls the departure of Elijah in 2 Kings 2:8ff, his mantle falling to his understudy Elisha, who has asked for a “double portion” of his spirit. Jesus departs in the same way from Bethany, blessing his disciples as he ascends into heaven. They will receive his Holy Spirit and become his presence in the world.
“When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has come” (John 16:21).
"A little while and you will no longer see me ..." (John 16:16).
The imagery behind today's feast of the Ascension describes a triumphant leader ascending the throne, his enemies captive at his feet, dividing the spoils among his loyal followers.
As Jesus once parodied the victorious procession of a conquering hero by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, we should expect the same kind of paradoxical twist regarding his ascension.
“We should like to hear you on this some other time” (Acts 17:32).
The threshold from reason to faith is perhaps the most difficult one to cross for an intelligent and naturally skeptical mind. Aquinas saw theology and philosophy as pursuing the same reality, but knew that logic has its limits and the passage to faith, especially Christian faith, involves a gift that, once accepted, can then be explored by human understanding.
“It is better for you that I go…” (John 16:7).