Sunday Reflections

I write this reflection in Rome in the midst of the 33^rd General Chapter of the Congregation of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a grace-filled time to be gathered at this Chapter with delegates representing Resurrectionists from all over the world: Canada, U.S.A., Poland, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Australia, Tanzania, Germany, Austria, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Israel, Slovenia, and Italy. It is a time to celebrate the ways that we see the presence of God in our community and the hand of God in our ministry.

For Catholics, the Feast of Corpus Christi is an important one.  We celebrate with joy the great gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, given to us at the Last Supper.  This bread and wine, elements used in the Jewish Passover meal, were now transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Just as we need to eat well in our homes in order to have strength; the ability to concentrate and work; and to live well, so too we need to eat in the House of the Lord to have spiritual strength; the ability to learn and understand the ways of the Lord, and work for the building up of

As we live in new awareness of God in all God’s expressions as Father, Son, and Spirit, Trinity Sunday calls me to the life of active love: love for my neighbour and community, love for my nation and for the world. There is no other path shown us by Jesus than this if we are to embody God's Trinitarian life in the world. So contemplation and action belong together, as indivisible as loving God and loving my neighbour. Our spiritual lives will deepen, our vision of God’s kingdom will expand, and the work that God has chosen for us will take on a new vitality and urgency.

We celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven as if we were those first disciples, left staring into heaven as the Lord Jesus is taken up into the heavens.  We are those disciples of today, and the witnesses of the Good News today.  Jesus bestowed upon them, and us, the power and grace to not only share in His life, but to share it with others.   This mandate is a great responsibility, but we do not do it alone.  Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to work within us and to produce the gifts and charisms that will build up His Church.  So, now ...

What with newspapers, CNN, Twitter and “fake news” it is not hard to recognize that negativity is what attracts our attention.  Let’s face it “good news” does not sell newspapers or hold our attention! How often is the front page covered with good news? Unfortunately the good news is delegated to a few pages in, if there is any to be found! Have you ever seen a picture of a couple celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary on the front page or the healthy birth of a long awaited child after numerous miscarriages? No! What part of the newspaper are you?

             The first of our eight principles of Resurrection spirituality proclaims that God loves us unconditionally.  Reflecting upon this principle, we recognize that God has taken the initiative with us, and loves us beyond our understanding and imagining.  This can be difficult for us to believe because we are often deeply shaped by our own experiences of not being loved, not being valued, and not being forgiven.  Or, similarly, God’s unconditional love for us can be difficult to believe because we find it har

Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and we rejoice in sharing in the life of His flock.  He calls us each by name to share in his life.  However, in our human condition we sometimes do not listen, and wander off from the flock, and from his life of grace.  Then we are in peril, as we think that we know better, and put ourselves into the hands of strangers and thieves.  Our challenge, though, is to truly listen to the voice of the Shepherd.  We may 'hear' his voice, but 'listening' speaks of an acceptance of what we hear, and a following of it.  'Lis

The third Sunday of Easter has one common, encouraging theme: No matter what happens in our lives, the risen Jesus is always with us.  God is near to those who seek Him and who want to live in His presence, doing His will.  The Emmaus incident is the story of a God who will not leave us alone when we are hurt and disappointed. In the gospel, we see the disciples living in the past, the old ways (better?), but hoping for future ways of living. The bottom has fallen out of their dreams. Shattered dreams now! They miss Jesus in their presence.

Resurrectionists are called to build, and to teach others to build, a Christian community “in which all can experience the hope, joy, and peace of Christ’s Resurrection” (Charism Statement of the Congregation of the Resurrection).  Our gospel today focuses on the peace that the Risen Lord longs to bestow upon the early disciples and upon us today.  Like the early disciples, we can find ourselves anxious and disturbed, not only by the trials and tribulations of our daily lives, but also by the troubling events of our world.&