“’Crucify him.’  Pilate said to them, ‘Why?  What evil has he done?’ They only shouted louder, ‘Crucify him.’”  (Mark 15:13-14)

If you were present at Jesus’ trial, where would you see yourself?  Would it have been with the disciples who were absent out of fear?  Would it have been with Pontius Pilate who found no basis for the charges brought against Jesus, but did not have the courage to resist the crowd?  Would it have been with the crowd shouting, “Crucify him?”

If I had never met Jesus, I might have been with the crowd.  Have I not demonstrated my lack of support for Jesus in my sins?  Have I not denied him in my failure to love and serve others on various occasions? 

Even if I had met Jesus, I might have been no different than the disciples who were hiding, or like Pontius Pilate, going along with the crowd.  How many times have I failed to speak up for Jesus or my Catholic faith in a hostile environment? 

Unfortunately, the crowd seldom gets it right.  How often do we see conventional wisdom that is not wise, popular opinion that does not reflect the truth, and consensus that leads to the wrong result?  

So, how do we resist the crowd of our culture that is becoming increasingly hostile to the practice of our Christian faith? 

It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the courage to resist both the crowd and sin.  It wasn’t until I personally experienced the renewal of the Holy Spirit in my life that I was given understanding, motivation and power that makes it now possible for me to resist the crowd.  I am still capable of stumbling if I don’t stay close to Jesus in daily prayer, the sacraments and surround myself with other like-minded Christian brothers and sisters. 

The crowd yelled, “Crucify him!” But the crowd got it wrong.  God redeemed the wrong and took the cross, a symbol of Roman cruelty and oppression, and transformed it into a symbol of love, sacrifice and hope.

What person would you be at Jesus’ trial?

Jesus often refers to himself in scripture as the “Son of man,” although the disciples did not understand what he was talking about.  “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of man will be fulfilled.  They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.  On the third day he will rise again.” (Luke 18:31-33)

Luke goes on to say, “The disciples did not understand any of this.” (Luke 18:34)

Twenty-one centuries later, we as Christians have the benefit of scripture, the writings of the church fathers, and the teaching of the church to realize that Jesus was talking about himself.  For the disciples, it was not so clear.  So, when Jesus tells them that the Son of man will be delivered up to the Gentiles, mocked, scourged and killed, but rise on the third day, they did not understand him. 

As we approach the next two weeks, let us remember the humanity of Jesus who willingly endured being brutally beaten, forced to carry the instrument of his death, and nailed to a cross to die an agonizing death.  All this he did for us, to offer a path for us to seek forgiveness for our sins and our inclination to sin.

Thank you, Lord Jesus!

There is a notion among many Christians that the kingdom of God is only to be experienced after death.  Yes, if we abide in God and seek to do his will, there is a heaven that awaits us upon our death to this life.  But so much of what Jesus said to the disciples and people of his day exhorted them to advance the kingdom in their present lives by living according to his word. 

When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘there it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”  (Luke 17:20-21)

In other words, we can experience the kingdom now if we follow Jesus’ words.  As he says in the first petition of his Lord’s prayer, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is heaven.” (Mt. 6:10) 

A few years ago, I learned that a particular friend had lost his wife to cancer.  While speaking with someone who has just lost a loved one can be awkward, I felt like the Holy Spirit was nudging me to go see him.  When he came to the door, I said, “I came to give you a hug.”  We hugged and he invited me in.  He appeared to be all alone.  For the next hour, I listened to him talk about the last few months of his wife’s suffering, the last few hours of her life, and all the support he had received from friends, his pastor and medical personnel.  I listened as he reminisced about their life together. 

My time with him, as well as the subsequent funeral celebrating her life, was an example of the reality of the kingdom of God in the present moment!

How do you experience the kingdom of God here and now?

“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linens and dined sumptuously each day.  And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.”  (Luke 16:19-21)

Both died.  Lazarus was taken by angels to Abraham’s side, while the rich man ended up in hell.  In torment, the rich man asked Abraham to let Lazarus come and dip his finger in water to cool the rich man’s tongue.  Abraham reminded the rich man that in life he had received good things and Lazarus only bad things, but now Lazarus was being comforted, and the rich man was in torment.  Furthermore, there was a great chasm, separating them that neither could cross.

It didn’t appear that the rich man had violated any of the Ten Commandments per se, but he violated Jesus’ commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.

The rich man’s sin was not that he was rich.  It was his indifference. Even though Lazarus lay at the rich man’s door, the rich man never noticed him each day as he passed by.  The rich man let his wealth and way of life separate him from the people in need of his day.

By historical and worldly standards, even the middle class in America today would likely be considered rich.  We do not want for food, shelter or clothing.  We have employment that enables us to live in a home we have purchased and provide for our families. 

Our circumstances may have the effect of separating us from people like Lazarus.  They still exist, but we don’t see them.  We do not see them in our neighborhoods.  We don’t see them at work or in our churches.  There may be the occasional homeless person begging at an intersection or Metro stop.  But for the most part, unless we take some affirmative action to step outside of our circumstances, our default response tends to separate us from the very poor of our world.

When I read this story I struggle with how much my life is separated from those in need, and the consequences that can result if I do not seek to make up for that separation. 

So, we write checks and give used clothes to various organizations assisting the poor.  I keep some dollars handy in the console of my car for the homeless soliciting at an intersection.   But do these things fulfill Jesus’ message from the above parable?

Do your life’s circumstances separate you from the poor, and if so, what can you do about it?

“I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father, I have made known to you.”  (John 15:15)

What an amazing promise Jesus offers to his disciples and to us.  He has made known to the disciples the wisdom of God.  Through the disciples and their gospels, he offers us this same wisdom and friendship.  If we seek his wisdom and try to live by it, he offers us his friendship. 

Please read A Friendship That Transcends by Yours Truly at www.billdalgetty.com, which shares how this friendship is possible. 

Numerous passages from scripture are illustrated by personal stories encountering God’s presence:

• Praying with an employee planning to have an abortion
• Experiencing God’s voice after a child is born with Down syndrome
• Declining a career advancing promotion for family considerations
• Praying with people who are dying
• Seeking God’s will in business decisions  
• And many more. 

As one of the endorsers said, “This book will inspire you with wisdom, hope and spiritual insights.”