by   Berta Hernández

     Looking at Jesus, our King! I used to feel all kinds of sad and negative feelings when I gazed upon our King on the Cross, but this past Lent I meditated intently on Jesus  and found some things that had been hidden from me.

     Jesus, Our Humble King:

— suffers in silence

—although falsely accused never responds in anger to His tormentors

— He offers His “back to those who beat Him; He does not hide His face from insults and spitting.” (Isaiah 50:6)

—extends His hands to those who crucify Him

— gives Himself freely for those who have rejected Him; including me!

— endures mocking and cruelty of sinful men for sins not committed!

     Jesus, Our Merciful King:

— instead of a crown of gold; wears a crown of thorns

—His precious blood flows down from His head, hands, back, feet!

—suffers unjustly, but forgives and prays : “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

—takes away sins of the world, including mine

— forgives even though we do not deserve it.

     Jesus, Our Triumphant King:

—faithful to the end

— no one takes His Life; He gives it freely

—gives us Mary, His Mother, as our own, from the Cross

—proclaims His victory: “It is finished.” (John 19:30), and hands over His Spirit, trusting His Father to raise Him up

—gives up His own life so we might live

—returns in triumph in three days. Our Lord. Our Love. Our Savior.

— He makes it possible for us to become sons and daughters of the Father.

— we become His brothers or sisters. He gives us His Spirit to guide us and He promises never to abandon us!!!

     As I have continued meditating on Jesus on the Cross I have had a sort of epiphany. The Cross used by the Romans was for torture and death, but because of who Jesus is, the Cross has now become a throne for  the King of Kings!  Now as I pass a crucifix all I can see is what all leaders should be like. Our leaders should all have Jesus as their guide. They should be sacrificial, caring, generous, kind, compassionate . They should each be an example, a teacher, a healer, and a lover of his or her people. 

     I hurt when I see a cross because  I know what it was originally used for. Now I see Jesus triumphant! I see Him as the King this world needs. I see Him as a Savior! I see Him as my King!

     Jesus , Son of the Father, I trust in You!

This meditation was inspired by the reflection for Good Friday 2023 in the magazine The Word Among Us.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5)

In the Farewell Discourse Jesus prepares his disciples for his new presence among them–in signs and sacraments. Some of those signs come from the human world. Jesus is the Shepherd who forever cares for his flock. Other signs come from creation. The vine is a sign of life that feeds and nourishes other life. Water, bread, light are part of the signs that reveal God’s plan. Learning to appreciate signs is part of the sacramental age we live in. Today, as Pope Francis reminds us, we need a greater appreciation of signs, schooled as we are by a world disposed to science and scientific thinking.

This icon, Christ the Vine, was painted by a famous fifteenth-century Cretan iconographer Angelos Akotantos (d.1450) before the Byzantine Empire collapsed, leading to the separation of Eastern and Western churches. The icon is a call for unity of the churches.

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

The Last Supper Discourse from John’s gospel, read as a mystagogic catechesis, begins appropriately in our lectionary today with Jesus washing his disciples’ feet– an act of mercy– and continues with a reminder of human sinfulness and  betrayal. He did not call perfect disciples; he does not eat with perfect disciples, nor does he send out perfect disciples.

Jesus took the form of a slave when he came among us today’s gospel says.  At every Eucharist he comes to wash away our sins we’re reminded in the initial rites of the Mass. At the same time we’re call to be merciful, following him.

“You were sent to heal the contrite, Lord have mercy.                                                                You came to call sinners, Christ have mercy.                                                                          You plead for us at the right hand of the Father, Lord have mercy.”

When Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, he said to them:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master
nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.
If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.
I am not speaking of all of you.
I know those whom I have chosen.
But so that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.
From now on I am telling you before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. 
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send
receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” (John 13:16-20)

The Last Supper Discourse is a wonderful way to reflect on the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. 

“Is this it?” St. Ambrose begins one of his catechetical sermons to his newly baptized Christians as they begin their new life of faith. “Is this it?”The Christian life may not be the vision of Paradise they heard described in the scriptures. For now, Christian life is a life of signs, the signs of sacraments, and they are wondering “Is this it?”

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, another of the great catechists of the early church, heard the same question in his church when he was instructing catechumens. In his catechetical sermons after Easter he told them to look for Christ in the scriptures as Jesus told his first disciples to do. The Holy Spirit will reveal him to you. he told them..

Easter time is the church s time for mystagogic catechesis, a big word for remembering and reflecting on the presence of Jesus in sacraments. When Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples and other witnesses and showed them he was alive.  Yet even as he appears to them risen, Jesus begins to wean them away from knowing him physically. His resurrection appearances are occasional. None of them are long.  All of them verify he is risen body and spirit. He’s alive. 

Those who saw him bodily had to learn to see him in another way –through signs, like bread and wine, water, gathering together to remember him, in the scriptures that speak of him, in the poor and suffering who are wounded like him, in the signs of the times that unfold before them.

That’s the way Jesus will remain with them, and that’s the way Jesus remains with us.  Ascending into heaven, he returned to the right hand of the Father, but it also ended one way of seeing him and began another.

From Easter to Pentecost this is the myste the liturgy unfolds so beautifully. In our readings these last few days we’re told we will hear the voice of the shepherd rather than see him.  On Thursday, we’ll begin reading the Last Supper discourse from John’s Gospel for the remaining days of the Easter season.

Some commentators, like those in the Jesus Seminar, question whether Jesus actually spoke the words of the Last Supper discourse in John at the Last Supper; they claim it’s a prime example of the historical inaccuracy of the New Testament.

Should we see instead John’s Last Supper discourse arising from the new presence of Jesus in sacraments, and so  an early mystagogic catechesis?

In Peter’s important discourse after meeting the Roman soldier Cornelius in Caesaria Maritime, he says: “This man God raised (on) the third day and granted that he be visible not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” (Acts 10:$0-41)

 Peter and the others ate and drank with Jesus after his resurrection. He invites Cornelius and his household to be baptised. Doesn’t he also invite him to share in the continuation of the Last Supper meal, to eat and drink with Jesus who shares his body and blood in signs, whose voice is heard in signs?  He is present. His presence is real, a sacramental presence. 

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

The Good Shepherd 

During the Easter season the church remembers Jesus in symbolic ways, ways he speaks of himself in the gospel: “I am the vine,”  “I am the Bread of Life,” and the description of himself he gives in our gospel today: “ I am the Good Shepherd.” 

Jesus spoke of himself in these ways because they’re the ways we know the Risen Christ now, not by seeing him, but in signs and symbols. His own disciples had to learn to know him in these ways after his resurrection. We must learn them too.

You can see Jesus weaning them away from knowing him physically in the way he appears to them. How occasional and fleeting they are. None of them are long.  All of them verify he is risen body and spirit. He’s alive. But besides proving he’s alive, Jesus in his easter appearances weans his followers away from seeing him bodily.  “Do not cling to me,” he says to Mary Magdalene. “Stay with us, Lord,” the disciples say to him at Emmaus” but after breaking bread with them, he disappears from their sight.

Now, they’re going to see him in another way –through signs, like bread and wine, water, in gatherings where together they remember him, in the scriptures which speak of him, in the poor and suffering who are wounded like him, in the signs of the times that unfold before them.

That’s the way Jesus will remain with them, through signs, and that’s the way Jesus remains with us. 

The Good Shepherd who cares for his sheep is a good description of Jesus with us today., He is the shepherd, we are his sheep. Most of us are not experts in shepherds and sheep but we do know enough about them to recognize ourselves in them and Jesus in the shepherd.

Sheep, at least those domestically raised, need to be cared for. They don’t seem to know the best places to graze. They need to be directed to good grazing land. Sheep seem to be animals that have their eyes fixed on the small plot of life before their eyes.

I’m sure most of you have seen pictures of those wonderful shepherd dogs that are raised to watch the sheep, to corral them, to keep them together.

 Speaking for himself, Jesus says he is a shepherd who cares for his sheep. Not only does he care for them but if one is lost he goes in search of it. When he finds it he cradles it tenderly in his arms and brings it back to the flock, and rejoices. However far the sheep strays, he will go in search of it. However far we stray, he will search for us and lead us back to be safely in his presence.

Jesus was himself fulfilling that beautiful prayer we sang as our responsery song today.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

In verdant pastures he gives me repose;

beside restful waters he leads me;

he refreshes my soul. 

He guides me in right paths

for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk in the dark valley 

I fear no evil; for you are at my side. 

With your rod and your staff

that give me courage

You spread the table before me

in the sight of my foes;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows. 

Only goodness and kindness follow me

all the days of my life;

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

for years to come.

That’s what Jesus does. He is our shepherd. He leads his sheep and guides us through “a dark valley” into experiences and ways we  weren’t expecting. Robbers and thieves threaten our way. But we hear the voice of the shepherd, calling us each by name. We can hear his voice.