Hi Everyone,
Updates:
1. I hope everyone enjoyed the gorgeous weather that we had this weekend! It was a cheering, hopeful dash of sunshine.
2. The bishop plans to allow churches to remain open for private prayer beginning Monday, May 11th, a week from tomorrow. I'll be planning out the details in the coming days, but I just wanted to let you know at least that much good news!
3. Upcoming week: for the Masses this week, there are still some slots for Friday. Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-bKcQr7kx8KBN0Z3TtGYWeUG5dkX6amKRNV7BunBSrc/edit?usp=sharing
4. The other Masses are full. Stay tune for the days and times for confessions and Through Saintly Eyes!
Reflection (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050320.cfm)
At the end of the Gospel today Jesus says, I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. Isn't it funny that Jesus needs to remind us of that? Up and down the Old and New Testaments, we find reminders that God's plans for us are plans for our benefit and not for our woe. Jeremiah tells us, For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. St. John reminds us that this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. The psalms ring with the praise of God's law. How often God's word reminds us that He is a God of love!
It seems to me that this reminder is especially needed for a specific class of Christians. Think for a second of the parable of the prodigal son, who gets the inheritance early and then goes and parties it away. The older brother, the dependable, hardworking older brother, is upset when the younger brother returns. Why? because it seems to him that the younger brother is getting off easy. His brother has gone of partying, while he stayed at home working hard, and in the end the younger brother seems almost better off! The older brother thinks that the younger brother is unfairly being allowed to have his cake and eat it too!
There lies the mistake of the older brother. He thinks of the younger brother's time away as one of joy and freedom. He views his own time as one of drudgery and toil. He sees his life with the father as a burden, not a blessing. His heart is really in exile with the younger brother. The older brother is exactly the one who needs to be reminded that the commandments of the Lord are a blessing. They are given for our fulfillment and flourishing. I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
So who is it that needs this reminder that God's law is for our benefit? It is especially for those who are earnestly striving to accomplish God's will. It is not particularly helpful, it seems to me, for those who are not looking to fulfill God's law. But for those who are, for those striving to fulfill the commandments of God, there is oftentimes an older brother lurking in the corner of our hearts, asking why the commandments are so difficult, why they are a burden, upset when God generously gives to those who have not labored as we have. In this frame of mind, the mercy and generosity and gift of God's way of life begins to hide. His requirements seem like burdens, not blessings.
For those of us working hard, then, at following God's commandments, let us hear the words of our good shepherd: I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
May God bless you all!
Fr. Rensch