Easter

"Do you know what I have done to you?" The Transformative Gift of Jesus in Washing the Disciples' Feet

"Do you know what I have done to you?" The Transformative Gift of Jesus in Washing the Disciples' Feet

When Jesus washes the disciples' feet at the Last Supper, his gift is also a task. This is the gift all disciples receive, and the task that all disciples assume. St. Francis of Assisi knew that.

This Easter, accept your call to mission

Christ did not rise from the dead so we could gorge ourselves on marshmallow Peeps. We knew that even before spending most of the weeks of Lent quarantined in our homes during global pandemic. After all, gorging is an act of singular enjoyment, and if we have learned anything together these past several weeks it is just how perilous actions can be when “I fill myself with what I want.” We are perhaps more prepared than ever before to accept the true measure of Easter joy, which is the degree to which the disciples of the risen Lord indulge in the good of others. The celebration of Easter is ordered to communion, so much so that Easter works centrifugally through Christ’s disciples: We move the joy outwards.

Read the rest at OSV.

Mary Magdalene, Doubting Thomas, and What It Means to "See the Lord"

Mary Magdalene, Doubting Thomas, and What It Means to "See the Lord"

At the end of John’s Gospel, the tensive relationship between shock and transformation is operative, beginning especially with Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene.

Long After the Prodigal Son's Return

Long After the Prodigal Son's Return

We love stories of a tragic fall and sudden return. When the homecoming occurs, the story is complete. It is, after all, the story of the Prodigal Son: the beloved younger child who went to the distant country and then came home again. That is the whole story, or, so it seems.

The Questions of Jesus: "What are you discussing as you walk along?"

The Questions of Jesus: "What are you discussing as you walk along?"

The irony is remarkable as they tell their story to the only person who has absolutely no need of an account of the things that have taken place. But Jesus asks, and he listens.

The Questions of Jesus: "Have you anything here to eat?"

The Questions of Jesus: "Have you anything here to eat?"

This is the last fish Jesus saw before he ascended to heaven, and he ate it. I wonder how many fish he saw during his 33 years. A lot, for sure, but still there is some kind of definite number that we simply cannot know. What we do know, however, is that this was the last fish in that number, and it was broiled. Jesus eats a lot throughout Luke's Gospel, but this is the only time Luke tells us of him eating after the Resurrection. And this fish, which once swam around in a school and was caught and then broiled, was consumed by the glorified body of the Savior. No other fish in his school or in the all the seas of the world could claim that. Blessed are you among fish.