Preferring Nothing to Christ

JOHN 10:1-10
‘I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture.’

Biblical scholars tell us that the shepherds of Jesus’ day took the safety of the sheep so seriously that they would lie themselves across the entrance to the sheepfold at night. This would stop both the sheep escaping and any predators entering. The shepherd really did lay down his life for his sheep.

Since the beginning of the pandemic being ‘safe’ has taken on new levels of meaning for us. So many ordinary things have had to be rethought. We have stood at the threshold of life and death. We had to accept that we couldn’t go ‘freely in and out’. I certainly saw our monastic enclosure in a new light. We were and are fortunate to have just about everything we need inside the monastery.

In the quotation above it’s the last few words which really strike me, ‘be sure of finding pasture’. The success of the shepherd depends on providing safety and finding pasture. Finding new grazing would often involve a degree of risk. The Israelites were originally a nomadic people and it was only entry into the Promised Land that began the process of them settling. I’d always assumed that the settled people were the more prosperous, but in ancient Israel the fact that nomads could risk setting out on a journey indicated that they were more secure. They lived closely to nature and knew the movements of the seasons and the risks involved in the terrain that they crossed.

In our own lives finding the pasture that we need isn’t always easy. Many times things can feel barren and as if we have journeyed to the thinnest of grass and the smallest source of water. Often it’s only in looking back that we can see that we were sustained and have grown.

Where have you ‘found pasture’ in this past week?

Fourth Sunday of Easter

John 10:27-30

A local farmer grazes his sheep on our land. I asked him once if he named his sheep, he said, ‘No’. I asked him if the sheep ‘know’ him, he said ‘They know that I bring food.’ We can often romanticise Jesus’ words about being a shepherd and knowing his sheep.

For the hearers of John’s Gospel the image of a shepherd will have invoked a whole world of meaning. Being in charge of a flock of animals and making sure they survived was not just a job but a way of life. The well- being of your flock and your own well-being were intimately connected.

Today’s Gospel speaks to me of the closeness of relationship that Jesus wants with each one of us. Like a shepherd, he is prepared to go to any lengths to ensure that we are safe and well fed. At its very best this is also a metaphor which the Church uses for leadership. It’s easy to hear this Gospel and see the ways in which the Church has failed in her leadership.
Perhaps today we could apply the metaphor to ourselves. How have we shepherded the people in our care? How have we ensured that people had the ‘food’ and ‘water’ that they needed? How have we brought them to safe pasture.

John 6:60-69

Then Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’

Often in liturgy we are holding several time frames at once. I am very much aware of this today when I read Peter’s response to Jesus. The scene from last Sunday’s Gospel at Tiberias and the depth of encounter between Jesus and Peter is so fresh in my memory. We can read back and forth between today’s text and that scene. We know too that in between comes Peter’s denial.

Peter’s profession of faith roots him firmly in the thought world of both the Old Testament and New Testament. He recognises that the life he longs for has been promised to his ancestors and is now found in the person of Christ.   

Imagine Jesus asking you: ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’

How do you respond?

John 6:52-59

‘He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him.’

When we gather together to give thanks to the Father and to share bread and wine we make a statement about who we are as individuals and who we are as community. We receive Christ’s broken body as a pledge of love and hope of healing for the world. Christ lives in and among us. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration you may hear these words: Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life. As we leave the church we are commissioned TO BE the Body of Christ.

The Church Fathers were quite clear about what this meant for believers:

Do you want to honor Christ’s body? Then do not scorn him in his nakedness, nor honour him here in the church with silken garments while neglecting him outside where he is cold and naked. For he who said: This is my body, and made it so by his words, also said: You saw me hungry and did not feed me, and inasmuch as you did not do it for one of these, the least of my brothers, you did not do it for me. [Mat 25:34ff].

( St John Chrysostom, Homily 50)

In our world today we don’t have to look far to see Christ’s broken body.

Where can you be the Body of Christ today?

Photo by Sylvain Brison on Unsplash

John 6:44-51

‘Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not die.’

It’s worth reading the whole of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:22-66) in one sitting to get a sense of the flow of the argument. The lectionary spreads it over a week, but with two feasts this week it can feel a little disjointed.

When Jesus speaks of manna he is reminding his hearers of the formative time in the desert when the Israelites relied directly on the providence of God. Jewish scholars say that the manna was thought to taste like whatever food one most craved. I like this detail. It speaks to me of a God who knows us and provides for our individual needs.

In the Eucharist Jesus offers us something even greater than manna. He offers us something that will sustain us now and always. While this is a gift which is personal to each of us, it is also a gift with a communal dimension. Benedictine, Godfrey Diekmann, sums this up in a sentence:

“What difference does it make if the bread and wine turn into the Body and Blood of Christ and we don’t?”

The Eucharist invites us to become what we receive. How can you do this today?

Matthew 10:17-20

At baptism when we were anointed with chrism these words were said:

‘God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin, given you a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into his holy people. He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation. As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet and King, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life.’

The English Martyrs whom we celebrate today lived their baptismal promises to the full. They imaged Christ so completely that they gave their lives for him. Few of us will be asked to make so great a sacrifice, but what we can do is reflect regularly on what it might mean for us to be anointed Priest, Prophet and King. Anointing strengthens for all that lies ahead.

In the Gospel text for today we are reassured that should the time come for our faith to be tested, then the Spirit of the Father will speak in us. We take this on trust.

We pray today for all those in our own lives who have shown us courage and fortitude and been prepared to carry what we could not.

How can you be open to the Spirit of your Father speaking in you today?

‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’

If you Google this famous quotation you’ll get quite a few pictures of roads and paths. It is the easiest of the three concepts to illustrate. We know where we are with a clear path. When Jesus says he is the Way we have a reasonable idea of what this means. The earliest followers of Jesus were called followers of ‘The Way’. Implicit in this is word is the idea that every part of your life is orientated to Christ. Christ informs the manner of your life, the choices you make and the company you keep. It’s a whole package.

In a lyrical flourish in the Prologue to his Rule St Benedict too uses the image of a path:

‘As we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commands, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.’ (Rule of Saint Benedict, Prologue v 49)

This is a grand vision, but one which is certainly worth the effort. The whole of the Rule could be understood as guidelines for expanding the heart and growth in love. St Benedict knows that it won’t be easy and that we are bound to stumble. One of the ways in which the monastic is strengthened for running on the path is by learning to listen to God, to the superior and to others in community. This three-fold listening is how St Benedict understands obedience.

The disciples too are being schooled in love and obedience. Philip’s plea: ‘Let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied’ comes from the deep desire to understand what Christ is saying and to follow him.

How can you follow Christ more closely today?

John 6:22-29

Today’s Gospel is the beginning of a long passage in which Jesus talks about himself as the ‘bread of life.’ We know at the outset that there will be confusion. Jesus is talking about much more than having physical hunger satisfied.

Today I can’t get passed the first level of meaning of these words:

‘I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.’

So many in our world don’t have all the bread they need, never mind want. It’s likely that many who heard Jesus preach were living hand to mouth too. Their well-being wasn’t guaranteed and they lived with the demands of the occupying Romans. A significant percentage of the wheat they grew was sent to Rome. So when Jesus multiplies bread for them its both actual and symbolic. He feeds their physical hunger and gives them spiritual hope that God wants a world ordered by His ways and not the emperor’s.

When you eat bread today take a moment to thank God and to a imagine a world where the values of the Kingdom prevail.

Here’s really helpful article by Sr Maria Boulding osb

John 21:1-19

Simon Peter, do you love me?

In English we have one word ‘love’ and it can mean a whole variety of things. If we want to be specific we have to qualify it.  Greek has at least 7 words for love. Our passage from John’s Gospel uses two of these: agape and philia. Agape is unconditional, sacrificial love. Philia is the affectionate love of friends.

When Jesus asks Peter the first time if he loves him he says ‘agapas me?’.

Peter replies, you know that I love you (philo se).

Jesus asks Peter a second time ‘agapas me?’ and he replies ‘philo se’.

By the third time a shift has occurred. Jesus says ‘phileis me?’

And Peter replies ‘philo se’.

It’s that simple. Jesus has come to Peter’s level. Jesus meets Peter where he is and doesn’t demand a type of love that he isn’t able to give.

This Gospel challenges me to make space for others. It challenges me to remember that you can’t demand love from another. People need space.

Can you be like Jesus?