Friday of Fifth Week in Easter, May 11, 2007

Scripture: Acts 15:22-31. Psalm 57. John 15:12-17. Lectionary # 289:

Recently, I discovered a new book on the Gospel of John that gets to the
heart of its message. It is quite helpful for meditation, reflection, and
contemplation. Fr. Demetrius Dumm, O.S.B. of St. Vincent's Monastery in
Latrobe, Pennsylvania is the author of " A Mystical Portrait of Jesus": New
Perspectives on John's Gospel,( Litugical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota,
2001). I was able to pray the Gospel easily with the help of this book.
The author is convinced that by understanding the Passion, Death, and
Resurrection of Jesus first, we then can be ready to pray and contemplate
the Johannine writing. This leads us to realize that Jesus shows us
"unselfish love" and wishes us to follow such love in all of our
relationships with God and with one another. I imagine this would be the
meaning of the "new commandment" Jesus is teaching us through the great
symbolic act of the washing of his disciples feet which we are to do for
one another through humility and unconditional love. An impossible task
for us without the presence of Jesus within us motivating us to such love.
During the Easter season the Gospel of John and the other writings of the
Johannine tradition are our food for the journey; this includes the Book of
Revelation in the Prayer of the Church or the Divine Office (formerly known
as the breviary). I like to frame all of the readings of this season with
the beginning of the Book of Glory in John which starts at chapter 13 verse
1. I offer my meditative translation here of that first line which frames
my own approach to chapters 13-17 before the Passion Narrative (chapters
18-19) and the Resurrection appearances (chapters 20-21). And now, here is
my translation of that important sentence: "Before the Feast of the
Passover, Jesus knowing that his hour had come for him to pass over from
this world to the Father, having loved his own disciples completely who
were in the world. he continued to love them with the depth of his heart's
intimacy."
I wish to share with you the following passages from what I read this
morning from Fr. Dumm's book: "In the apparent weakness and vulnerability
of his dying, we discover the most truly powerful act in all human history"
(p.25). Then in his reflection on John 19:18, "There they crucified him."
We have this sentence, "In that context of baptismal faith, it is clear
that the lifting up of Jesus is a sign that challenges all his followers to
imitate the love that is most clearly manifested in his total self-giving
for the sake of others" (p.26). And as a Marian scholar, I appreciated what
he said about the central scene of Mary and the Beloved Disciple at the
foot of the Cross: "This dramatic scene is also intended to show how
Jesus, at a time of personal agony, is nonetheless thinking of others and
is solely concerned with providing for their welfare. In other words, at
this moment of extreme weakness, he is exercising the unparalleled power of
his unselfish love. This fact directly challenges our secular culture's
despair in the presence of weakness and death, just as it reminds us that
the possibility of loving continues even when strength begins to ebb and
may even be more fruitful than before" (p.29). Yes, there is no greater
love than that which Jesus has given to all of us through his death and
resurrection. Only this is required of us, to have open hearts to receive
such love. Finally, as a postscript, John uses the verb agapan 71 times
in the Johannine tradtions, which is more than 50% for the entire New
Testament! That should tell us something about Jesus most sacred heart
filled with unselfish love. Amen.