“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1Cor. 1:18)

To the Romans and the people of Jesus’ day, the cross was a symbol of dominance, suppression, and death.  To Christians, the cross is a symbol of love, giving of self, and the ultimate sacrifice.  God’s power and wisdom are made visible in love, sacrifice, and the subordination of our will to his. 

Out of love for the Father and us, Jesus subordinated his will to the Father and sacrificed his life on the cross.  As a result, God overrode the physical laws of nature and raised Jesus to life, an exercise of power that the world had never seen before, nor has it ever been able to replicate.

When the world exercises power, the consequences are experienced and then fade, becoming just another chapter in history.  Throughout history we have seen worldly powers come and go, but the power of God remains.  God’s power in a kind word, an act of love, and a surprising healing last forever.  Not so with the power of the world. 

We lament our sins and those of others, but the cross of Jesus is the antidote to our lament. It may seem as foolishness to the world, but to us, both individually and collectively, it provides the inspiration, instruction and saving power of God.  No matter what has happened in our lives, it provides the opportunity for forgiveness, redemption, and healing.    

Just this past week, a good friend described how she solicited many people to pray for her daughter-in-law who had a brain tumor which was discovered in connection with the treatment of a less serious medical condition.  The tumor was connected to major blood vessels in the brain and required very delicate surgery to remove it.  My friend sent 35 separate requests to friends on Facebook Messenger.  She had 15 nuns and 30 missionaries praying in the Dominican Republic. She sent requests to 150 people in a Christian community to which she belonged.  With all this prayer supporting excellent medical care, the tumor was successfully removed, and her brain was cancer free. 

These prayers may have seemed foolish to some, but it was the cross of Christ being embraced and the power of God being displayed.

How have you embraced the cross in loving and serving God and others?             

“And one of them struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said in reply, ‘Stop, no more of this!’  Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him.” (Luke 22:50-51)

The Gospel of John says that the servant’s name was Malchus. (John 18:10) Jesus had just finished praying on the Mount of Olives when a large crowd sent from the chief priests came to arrest him. 

Imagine if you were Malchus.  You have accompanied a group of soldiers in the dark of night to arrest Jesus whom you have been told is an enemy of the Jewish religion and Israel.  One of Jesus’ followers attacks you with his sword, cutting off your ear. 

Then this Jesus, your supposed enemy, reaches out and touches your ear and it is fully healed.  One moment it is hanging there, bleeding, about to fall off, and the next moment it is completely restored.  One moment your adversaries are acting as you would expect adversaries to act, and the next moment Jesus, the object of your arrest, is reaching out to you, not to do you harm, but to undo the harm done by one of his followers. 

How can Malchus not be affected?  It had to be life changing.  Since John identifies him by name in his Gospel, it is likely that Malchus became a follower of Jesus and was familiar to John and the people for whom he wrote his Gospel. 

As with Malchus, Jesus is always ready to reach out to us.  In the most unlikely of circumstances, he is there, always inviting, ready to heal or respond to a need we have not anticipated.  In the ordinary and extraordinary, he is there.  Whether it is to open our life to him for the first time, or to go deeper in our relationship with him, he is present.

Like Malchus, I had an unexpected encounter with Jesus many years ago when a priest at a healing mass invited us to imagine that we were alone with Jesus and to give to him any need we might have.  For whatever reason I imagined that I was on a country gravel road south of Kansas City, Missouri on the way to my wife’s grandmother’s farm.  Jesus was standing there. 

I asked him if he would take away a sin in my life, and he did.  As a result, I invited him into all areas of my life, including my professional life, and my life has never been the same.  If you asked my wife, she would tell you that from that point forward, all my priorities began to change, as I sought God’s will in each area of my life as a husband, father, and an attorney for a large oil company.

Are you willing to be surprised by an unexpected encounter with Jesus? 

“It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of thieves.” (Mt. 21:13)

All four gospels relate the story of Jesus going up to Jerusalem at Passover and clearing the temple courts of cattle, sheep and doves, and the people who are selling them and exchanging money.  Obviously, he felt passionate about protecting the sacredness of God’s temple, and he was compelled to clear it of anything that detracted from that sacredness.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen in his book, Life of Christ, observes that it was naturally a problem for people who came to the temple to offer sacrifice to get ahold of the material of sacrifice.  Accordingly, a flourishing trade in sacrificial animals gradually developed closer to the temple and, for the sake of convenience, eventually moved inside the temple courts.

Three different times in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, he declares that we are God’s temple or that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Co. 3:16)  If, as St. Paul says, we are a temple of the living God, then there may be things that need to be cleaned out from our lives in order to maintain the sacredness of our temple.

Like many a building or structure, we may have allowed things to accumulate that get in the way of our relationship with God.  Perhaps we have allowed anger, bitterness and unforgiveness to take up some of our space, maybe an addiction to alcohol, opioids or pornography?  Have we allowed work or some other activity to become an idol detracting from our responsibilities to family and others?   Have we allowed our busyness and other activities to get in the way of a regular time of prayer with the Lord each day?

When I was boy, I remember my mother doing “spring cleaning” every April.   She would take down our lace curtains to clean and stretch them, wash the windows and thoroughly clean the whole house.  My father would clean out the garage and basement of things that had accumulated over the winter. 

Similarly, we may need to do a periodic cleaning of our temple of the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes it may require just a good vacuuming or a little dusting; other times, a junk removal service may be needed. 

We can be confident that Jesus, who is experienced in clearing temples of things that don’t belong, will assist us in making our lives a fitting residence for the Holy Spirit and the presence of God!

What needs to be cleansed from your temple? 

“Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name…” (Mt. 6:9)

When was the last time you listened closely to the words of the Lord’s Prayer?

Before COVID I used to take communion on Sundays to Catholic residents at a nearby nursing home, including a few residents in various stages of Alzheimer’s.  Some of the Alzheimer residents are not able to receive communion, or are often asleep when I arrive, so I usually just say a short prayer with them.  

One Sunday, when I came to one of the women who had her eyes closed (let’s call her Alice for the sake of privacy), I gently touched her on the shoulder and asked her if she would like to say the Lord’s Prayer.  She opened her eyes in a kind of blank stare.  I knelt beside her, put my hand on her hand, and started to slowly recite the Lord’s Prayer.  Her eyes opened and she started to say the words with me.  Her eyes became wider and wider as she saw herself remembering the words.  A slight smile spread across her face.  She appeared as if she were proud of herself for remembering the words.  As we finished a small tear appeared in the corner of one of her eyes.  I said, “Alice, would you like to receive communion?”  “Yes,” she nodded, and I placed the Eucharist on her tongue. 

This was the first time that I had ever seen Alice receive communion.  It was as if the Lord’s Prayer had awakened her soul and memory, enabling her to recite the entire prayer.  It made the back of my neck tingle.

I was impacted by seeing the power of Jesus’ words on Alice, words Jesus suggested to his disciples when they asked him how to pray. (Luke 11:2) Perhaps for some of us the Lord’s Prayer has become so familiar that we may let the meaning of the words bounce right off our mind and heart.    

When I first started to take communion to the residents of this nursing home, I was uncomfortable with the Alzheimer’s residents.  In fact, on my second visit I skipped going to their floor. But after seeing the impact of Jesus’ words on Alice and watching how those words awakened God’s presence in her, I received a new love for Alice and all her fellow residents.

How do you maintain the meaning and power of the Lord’s Prayer in your life?