Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

…whoever eats this bread will live forever;

I think it was Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque who said, “Anyone who receives the Eucharist even one time in her life will certainly go to heaven.”

I love her enthusiasm. She certainly caught it from the Gospel of Saint John.

But I want to retrace yesterday’s gospel as it follows into today’s. We heard Jesus say, Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me.

We understand nothing about Jesus if we do not see his obedience. When most people speak of God, at least in our western traditions, they are thinking of the all-powerful one who might be good but in any case does whatever he wants and gets everything he – and it’s usually he – wants.

Who is that? There are certainly many scriptural passages that speak of God as powerful, but only a culture obsessed with power would think that power is god and god is power.

When we turn to the New Testament, hearing it within the context of the Mass, we meet a God who is obedient.

That all-powerful, willful God is a medieval invention, which unfortunately (and briefly) became the god of philosophers, scientists, technicians and finally atheists. Once they realized that philosophy could explain everything about the universe without an all-powerful god, he was unceremoniously dumped; and only the misled Christian mourns his death. We no longer need such a god to control the weather, regulate earthquakes and start our automobiles – though he may have taken up residence as the poltergeist in my computer.

There is no harm in praying for good weather and machines that work, but the God of our faith comes to meet us face to face in our liturgies. I don’t expect God to show himself in the Shroud of Turin or the wood on Mount Ararat. Nor will we prove the Eucharist is really the Body of Christ with an atomic microscope, as one foolish priest proposed. Please! Spare me!

So what do we know about Jesus – he wants to save us because his Father has sent him to do so. He most certainly wants to save us because he loves us as his brothers and sisters. He loves us as a child loves his parents and a neighbor loves his friends. He has shown us his affection for everyone including his enemies, when he died on the cross.

But even more importantly, he saves us and loves us and forgives us in obedience to his Father. Jesus’ obedience is joyous and generous and enthusiastic. There is no hesitation in Jesus’ obedience. His Father cannot ask too much of him for he willingly gives everything he has and is back to his Father. Jesus hurls himself into the apparently infinite abyss of death with utter confidence that his God is worthy of the gift and worthy of such trust. He said, “Whatever may come of this god-awful crucifixion, it is Abba’s will and I will do it!”

This obedient God has shown us his Father and we believe he is no fool. AND he has shown us the Father who gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life.

This is the Triune God we meet in the Eucharist. Come, let us worship.

On this Earth Day let us pray that we will learn to appreciate our Sister/Mother Earth in the Spirit of Saint Francis.