Ascension Sunday - Abbot Daniel Maloney, OSB
 
Mel Gibson, the actor and film director who produced the film The Pasion of the Christ in 2004, is about to release a film on the Resurrection of Jesus.  The Apostles Creed, an ancient creed that goes way back to the late 1^st or 2^nd century says that after Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate and died, he descended into hell.  Mel Gibson attempts to portray this in his new film.  Some Evangelical Protestant pastors who were invited to preview the movie declined to watch it saying, "Jesus would never go to a place like that.”  The word “hell” in the Bible and in early creeds refers to the place of the dead in Jewish thought, a place that included the just and the unjust alike, although the two groups were separated.  Some early paintings of the Resurrection show Jesus pulling people like Adam and Eve out of hell into heaven.  Biblical expressions can be confusing to the modern Christian.  Today we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven.  We can view the Ascension of Jesus in at least two ways: (1) the final appearance of the risen Lord to his disciples 40 days after his Resurrection and (2) the entrance of Jesus into glory, which began in connection with his Resurrection into heaven.  Both of these aspects of the Ascension of Jesus are involved in today’s feast.
 
First of all, the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes Jesus’ final appearance to his disciples and his ascension into heaven.  Jesus had appeared a number of times to his disciples after his Resurrection to convince them that he was still alive, but in a different way.  He would die no more.  Jesus also used this time to instruct his disciples more fully in regard to his teaching and the future mission of the apostles.  He told the apostles to stay in Jerusalem and wait for “the promise of the Father,” that is, the Holy Spirit.  He told them that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem . . . and to the ends of the earth.”  We celebrate that event next Sunday on the feast of Pentecost.  Although the Ascension was the final visible appearance of Jesus to his disciples, he did not abandon them.  He would return to them in a hidden way.  In the Gospel reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus says,” And, behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
 
Secondly, the Ascension of Jesus refers to his glorification and his new status as Lord and King of the Universe.  In Biblical terms, Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father.  The most important advisor to a king in ancient times sat at his right hand.  The Father has given Jesus full authority over the universe and over the Church.  In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus says, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  The second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians says that God the Father has raised Jesus and has seated him “at his right hand in the heavens,” far above all angels, and “has put all things beneath his feet.”   In his risen body Jesus is not subject to the limitations of time and space as he was during his public ministry and his life here on earth.  Jesus is now able to appear and disappear as he wishes and can be everywhere in the universe at once.  He is able to help us no matter where we are.
 
Lastly, the feast of the Ascension reminds us of the mission of the Church, of which Jesus is the head.  In our Gospel reading, Jesus says to his disciples, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  The mission of the Church is a difficult one, but we have divine help to assist us.  In the past 2000 years the Church has spread throughout the world.  I noticed one example of this recently in a magazine put out by the Extension Society.  In the early part of the 20^th century, a priest from Michigan named Fr. Francis Clement Kelley noticed that Catholics in many parts of the United States were struggling to establish a parish and to have their own church.  So, in 1905 Fr. Kelley, with the help of the Archbishop of Chicago, established the Extension Society to help churches around the country and to give different dioceses financial help to carry out their mission.  The Extension Society has met with considerable success for over 100 years and continues to help 87 dioceses in the country, with the help of many benefactors.  Jesus, the risen Lord, sends us forth today to bring the Gospel to the world around us by word and action.
 
So, today, we give thanks once again that Jesus rose and ascended into heaven and that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him.  We give thanks for the help he gives to us and to the Church for our mission here on earth.  We pray that the Lord Jesus will help us to live as faithful disciples and to carry out his commands.  We pray that we will someday enter into the fullness of his Kingdom.
 

May 17, 2020
6^th Sunday of Easter - Abbot Daniel Maloney
 
Bishop Fulton Sheen, who is now a candidate for beatification, was a well-known preacher and speaker.  He once was asked to give a retreat to male prisoners in a penitentiary.  He wondered how to begin his first talk under these circumstances.  So, he began by saying, “Gentlemen, there is one difference between you and me.  You got caught, and I didn’t.”  In terms of today’s liturgy for the 6^th Sunday of Easter, we can say that there is one difference between those of us who are Christians and those who are non-Christians.  We have the Holy Spirit and they don’t.   The Gospel reading today from the Gospel of John continues the passage from the Discourse at the Last Supper.  Jesus promises to send his disciples and us “another Advocate.”  We might wonder first of all who the other Advocate is.  Secondly, we can ask who the second Advocate is and what he does for us.  Also, there is a concern about our relationship with Jesus after his death and Resurrection.
 
The First Letter of John 2:12 tells us that if we sin, “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.  He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.”  So, Jesus is our first Advocate.  The Greek word for “Advocate” is “Paraclete.”  The word “Paraclete” is hard to translate into English as it can have different meanings.  In the legal sense, a Paraclete is an Advocate, that is, a defense attorney or an expert witness at a trial who can help us to defend ourselves in a good way.  At the abbey, we have a civil lawyer and a canon lawyer to help us with legal matters.  Sometimes, a Paraclete is one who comforts or strengthens us when we are going through a difficult time.  Thus, sometimes the word Paraclete is translated as “Comforter” or “Helper.”   Jesus as our Advocate intercedes on our behalf and helps us in various ways.  During his public ministry, Jesus revealed his Father to us through his teaching and example and helped his disciples through his intercession.  He offered himself for our salvation during his Passion and death on the cross.  As the risen Lord, he continues to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father. 
 
When Jesus says that he is going to send us “another Advocate,” he also calls him “the Spirit of Truth.”  Thus, we usually identify this second Advocate as the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.  The Holy Spirit comes to us in Baptism, and his role is strengthened through the Sacrament of Confirmation.  We will hear more about the Holy Spirit in the next two weeks as we prepare for the feast of Pentecost.  In the Discourse at the Last Supper in the Gospel of John, there are five passages referring to the Spirit of Truth.  The Holy Spirit helps us to know the truth about Jesus and to know the truth about the right action to take.  The Holy Spirit helps us realize that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and what he says is true.  So, the Holy Spirit can have an important role in our lives.  The first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles talks about the evangelist Philip, one of the seven assistants to the apostles, preaching in Samaria.  The Samaritans were descendants of Jews intermarried with Gentiles, and their religion had many errors, although they accepted the first five books of the Old Testament.  However, many of the Samaritans were converted through the preaching of Philip, and they were baptized.  However, the Church leaders in Jerusalem sent the Apostles Peter and John to pray for these Samaritans so that they could receive the Holy Spirit, which did happen.  The early Church realized the importance of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believers.  In the second reading today from the First Letter of Peter, St. Peter tells us to be ready to give an explanation for our faith.  The Holy Spirit can help us do that in a gentle and reverent way.  The Holy Spirit can also give us courage if we suffer because of our faith.  In modern terms, the Holy Spirit can help us to form our conscience correctly and to act in accord with our conscience.
 
While Jesus promises to send another Advocate, he will not abandon his disciples or us after his death and resurrection.  He says that he will not leave us orphans.  The world will no longer see him, but he will appear to his disciples after his Resurrection.  Also, he promises to be with us and in his Father.  Jesus will be within us and enable us to have a special relationship with his Father.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit will be within us.  This is what theologians call the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity.  This indwelling will bring life to us and help us to experience God’s love for us.  However, Jesus does stress the need to keep his commandments for us to experience this divine love in a fuller way.  What are his commandments?  His commandments seem to be to have faith in him and to love one another as he has loved us.  Jesus laid down his life for us, so our love for one another should be a sacrificial love that makes us able to suffer and to make sacrifices for the benefit of others.  We do have the help of divine grace to enable us to keep the commandments of Jesus and to experience his love in this life and in the world to come.
 
So, today we are to give thanks for the salvation that Jesus was won for by his suffering, death, and Resurrection.  We also should give thanks that Jesus sent another Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, who can help understand the truth about Jesus and about our role in life.  We are also called to give thanks that Jesus continues to be with us in a special way, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  We pray that we can live as disciples of Jesus in our daily life and that someday we will experience the fullness of his Kingdom in heaven.
 

May 10, 2020
5^th Sunday of Easter – A
Abbot Daniel Maloney, OSB
 
About this time of year, many schools have a graduation ceremony.  Graduation will be different this year in most places.  Some schools have canceled graduation, while others have graduates and others watching by video, and some have graduates and others separated in some way.  Some people may not realize that these alternate forms of graduation are a genuine graduation.  At the Last Supper in the Gospel in John, Jesus gives what Biblical scholars call a “Farewell Discourse,” which goes on for several chapters.  We might say it is a graduation speech in that Jesus will suffer and die shortly after he and his disciples leave the Upper Room and the disciples will be sent forth to proclaim the Gospel message.  The disciples may not have recognized that it was a farewell speech.  They seemed to be unprepared for what was to come, although Jesus tried to warn them and prepare them for what would lie ahead.  A graduation speech often talks about the opportunities that graduates will have and the challenges that they may face.  At the Last Supper, Jesus does something similar.  However, Jesus is aware that he and his disciples face a crisis within in a very short time.  The dictionary says that a crisis is “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending.”  I read somewhere that the Chinese word for “crisis” is composed of two letters or characters.  One letter is the one for “danger,”   while the other is the one for “opportunity.”  How true that is I do not know, but it does fairly well describe what Jesus and his disciples were facing.  There were some dangers ahead but also opportunities.  Jesus is telling his disciples and us that we are to have faith in God the Father and in Jesus.  There is danger in that Jesus will be leaving this life and returning to his Fathers and the disciples will be grieving and confused.  But there will be opportunities for Jesus and for his disciples.
 
First of all, we are called to have faith in God the Father and in Jesus.  Jesus is going to prepare a place for us, which seems to refer to our heavenly home.  This passage from the Gospel of John is often used at funerals to give hope to those left behind.  Jesus also shows us the way to this eternal home in that he is “the way, the truth, and the life.”  It was necessary for Jesus to go through suffering and death in order to be glorified by his Father and rise from the dead.  Jesus in his risen body can do much more that he could when he was involved in his public ministry with an unglorified body that was subject to many of the limitations that we face.  Jesus is telling his disciples and us that we have to go through suffering and death in order to attain glory and life in heaven.  In the process, we may have to deal grief and doubts and other difficulties.  But we can have confidence that God watches over us and will guide us safely to our eternal home.  In terms of a pandemic, such as the COVID-19 virus, expert medical people say that it is helpful to have a medical person or a scientist act as a spokesperson, as we can more easily put our trust in that person than in a political leader.  Political leaders are not usually scientists or medical experts.  In regard to our spiritual journey, Jesus is the one who can be trusted to show us the way that leads to eternal life.
 
Secondly, there are dangers in the situation that Jesus and the disciples faced.  Jesus was about to be arrested by Jewish authorities, put on trial and unjustly convicted of treason, and undergo very painful suffering, to be crucified and to die.  The disciples were in danger of losing their faith in Jesus, as they were thinking in human terms and looking for worldly success.  Peter, the leader of the disciples, would deny Jesus three times, and many disciples fled in fear.  On the surface, it looked like Jesus had failed.  In a pandemic, like the flu of 1918-19, many people die and it looks like nothing can be done to stop the danger.  But, usually there is a vaccine that is developed that can be very helpful to ease the situation.  Jesus would rise on the third day, as he had promised.  He would come back again, as he said at the Last Supper.  As we go through life, there can be dangers in that we may face opposition and persecution, as Jesus did.  There can be problems of various kinds, such as illness or economic difficulty.  But Jesus is there to help us in our need, and we may receive help from others as well.
 
But, lastly, there are opportunities in the situation that Jesus and the disciples faced and in our situation.  Jesus, as the risen Lord, can now be everywhere at once and can share his life with us in a new and different way.  The disciples are sent forth to continue the mission of Jesus and are given special help to accomplish their task.  They are members of the Church.  As the second reading today from the First Letter of Peter tells us, they are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own.”  We also are members of the Church and share the same destiny.  We are special to God, and he will care for us.  We have the example of the saints to inspire us and the teaching of the Church to guide us.  We can support one another.  We can accomplish great things, despite our limitations.  In the Gospel passage for today, Jesus says to his disciples and to us that “whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I go to the Father.”  With the help of God’s grace, the Church has spread throughout the world and has many million members.  We have the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, to strengthen us on our journey through life.
 
In our Eucharist today, let us renew our faith in God the Father and in his Son Jesus, who is present in our midst.  We ask for divine help to overcome the dangers we face each day and to make good use of the opportunities that are given to us.  Let us pray that we will be faithful followers of Jesus and that someday we will enter that heavenly home that he has prepared for us.
 

May 3, 2020
4^th Sunday of Easter - Abbot Daniel Maloney, OSB
 
I grew up on a farm northeast of Devils Lake, North Dakota, but a lot has changed in American agriculture in recent years.  Farms are much bigger, with fewer family farms, farmers are often using no-till approaches instead of fall plowing, and farmers are making much more use of computers to determine what to plant and where to plant.  If we can notice big changes in agriculture in recent times, there is an even bigger change in agriculture from the way it was at the time of Jesus.  The 4^th Sunday of Easter is often called “Good Shepherd Sunday,” since the Gospel readings are from the Good Shepherd passage in the 10^th chapter of the Gospel of John.  We have the first part of this passage in Cycle A.  The role of shepherd at that time was different from what it is today.  The shepherd went in front of the sheep, with the sheep following him, instead of having the shepherd at the rear.  Also, the flock often stayed in a sheepfold with other flocks of sheep.  That meant that the sheep had to recognize the voice of their own shepherd and follow him, rather than some other shepherd.  Sheep at the time were kept mainly for their wool, so they could be part of a flock for many years.  The shepherd and the flock developed a close relationship.  The shepherd knew the members of his flock by name, and the shepherd had a distinctive voice and combination of sounds that the sheep could recognize.
 
Just as sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd, we are to do the same in regard to Christ, the Good Shepherd.  The first thing involved is to realize that Christ is our shepherd.  Secondly, we must recognize his voice in the various ways that it comes to us.  Lastly, we must follow Christ, that is, follow his teaching and example.  As Christians and disciples of Jesus, we are to realize that Jesus is the shepherd who cares for us and who can lead us to life.  In the ancient world, a shepherd would lead his flock to good pastures, and he would protect them from wild animals and from thieves.  Shepherds needed to be courageous and concerned for their sheep.  King David in the Old Testament started out as a shepherd, and he had killed wild animals to protect his flock.  A shepherd carried certain weapons with him, such as a staff and a sling with a bag of stones.  Political leaders of Israel were known as shepherds, since their role was to protect the people and to act in their best interest.  Jesus cares for us, and he suffered and died on our account.  As the risen Savior, Jesus is able to share his divine life with us.  A recent survey by a research group at Arizona Christian University indicates that a lot of people, including many Christians do not have a clear idea of who Jesus is.  Almost half of the people who were part of this survey did not have a clear idea of the traditional Biblical view of God.  Many of the people thought that since Jesus shared our human nature, he must have committed sins.  They did not fully realize that Jesus had a divine nature as well as a human nature and that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.  If we realize that the risen Jesus is the Son of God, then we can understand that Jesus is able to help us in a way that no human shepherd can.  Jesus gives us divine life and is with us everywhere and at all times to guide and protect us.  So, it is important to commit ourselves to Jesus and to follow him.
 
But to follow Jesus, we must be able to recognize his voice, which is not easy to do in the world in which we live.  We hear the voice of Jesus in Scripture and in Church Tradition and through the leaders and shepherds that Jesus has given us.  Jesus speaks to us through the leaders of the Church, through the pope and the bishops and pastors in union with the pope.  The word “pastor” comes from the Latin word for “shepherd.”  Jesus can also speak to us individually, especially through our conscience.
 
While it is important to hear the voice of Jesus correctly, it is perhaps even more important to heed that voice and to follow the teaching and example of Jesus in our daily life.  We are tempted in different ways to commit sin and to go against what Jesus is calling us to do.  Even Church leaders can set a bad example, as recent history has shown us.  We are to set a good example ourselves, even if this leads to opposition from others.  Many Christians in the world today face persecution and opposition from the society in which we live.  Yet, with the help of divine grace, it is possible both to hear what Jesus is calling us to do and to obey his commands each day.  Our first reading today, from The Acts of the Apostles, finds Peter urging the people of Jerusalem to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  This leads to forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  In the second reading today, from the First Letter of Saint Peter, we are told that we may have to suffer for doing good, and thus follow the example of Jesus.  Jesus is indeed the shepherd and guardian of our souls.
 
In our Eucharist today, we are called to give thanks that Jesus has risen from the dead and that he is present in our midst, especially in the Eucharist, where we are fed by his Body and Blood.  We also give thanks that Jesus, the risen Savior, is also the Good Shepherd who can lead us to everlasting life.  We pray that we commit ourselves to him, that we hear his voice, and that we follow him in our daily life.  We pray that the help of God’s grace we will be faithful followers of Jesus in our daily life and that we can share our faith with others by word and example.  We pray that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will lead us to eternal life now and in the life to come.